Pop Culture(d)

Wrapping things up and rounding out my 2020 picks with the ones that moved me the most and left me wanting more.

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Well, it’s finally that time again: The last of my 2020 Dream Ballots has been checked, and the countdown to tomorrow’s announcement of the Academy’s official nominees is on. Tick tock on the ol’ golden clock, Hollywood.

The year in drama was a wild one indeed, complete with plenty of memorable breakthroughs, breakouts and breakdowns (the latter courtesy of just about everyone on Big Little Lies giving their larger-than-life best). But when I sat down to sort through it all, an unexpected pattern emerged: With a few exceptions, I found that what registered on my awards-worthy radar and resonated the most were not-so-new series and performers vaulting to renewed dramatic heights despite a glut of good first-season shows.

But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t room for some big inaugural players to get their due for keeping up with– or, in some cases, surpassing – these already-established TV and streaming staples.

So, one more time for good measure: My final Dream Ballot, still wet with a tear or two from these heart-tugging drama honorees.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

The Crown

David Makes Man

The Handmaid’s Tale

Killing Eve

Ozark

Pose

Stranger Things

Succession

Behind My Ballot: This category, like Outstanding Comedy Series, was surprisingly easy to sift through to get down to a list of eight contenders that are all worthy of Emmy gold. A proper five of my final picks – The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Killing Eve, Ozark and Stranger Things – were firing on all cylinders in their third seasons, all of which have also been nominated in the category before. The ‘category,’ as it were in the case of Pose, was Continued Fierce Ferocity as the show kept pace with its stellar first season in its sophomore outing, while Succession’s second go-round eclipsed its first season’s borderline boring boardroom antics to rocket to the top of the heap. But there was one new show that rose to the level of this excellent crop of vets (if not hovered above it): David Makes Man, a superb, moving and utterly unique ‘lyrical drama’ that is true on-screen poetry-in-motion, with a canvas of deftly developed characters that grab you by the gut and never let go. 

If I Could Pick One More Contender: The Morning Show   

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show

Alana Arenas, David Makes Man

Olivia Colman, The Crown

Jodie Comer, Killing Eve

Laura Linney, Ozark

Mandy Moore, This Is Us

Behind My Ballot: If you’re looking for well-drawn, complex portraits of strong women who drive the narrative, all you have to do is watch any one of these emotional gravity-defying ladies. Jennifer Aniston’s return to TV was well worth the wait in a tailor-made role that showed off every note of her wide dramatic range. Olivia Colman reminded all of us why she won the Oscar in yet another masterful portrayal of queen in crisis, while fellow Brit Jodie Comer hit the gas even harder as a now-iconic assassin after taking the statuette in this category last year – and slaying her show’s third season in the process. Laura Linney and Mandy Moore one-upped their already skilled work as mothers who delicately threaded the needle to balance conflict between family needs and personal convictions, while Alana Arenas burnt up the screen as she brought her character’s bone-deep journey and daily struggles as a single mother and struggling addict into devastating focus.

If I Could Pick One More Contender: Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Brian Cox, Succession

Akili McDowell, David Makes Man

Tobias Menzies, The Crown

Billy Porter, Pose

Jeremy Strong, Succession

Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us

Behind My Ballot: For creating perhaps the most darkly dynamic and dangerous father/son duo since Shakespeare, Succession’s Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong easily locked-in their spots on my list, while Milo Ventimiglia’s naturalistic work as a father of a much different stripe was, once again, undeniable as the beating pulse of This Is Us. Billy Porter serving as a surrogate parental figure to the ballroom community as they faced the tragic loss of one of their own was dramatic fire, while Akili McDowell started the season with a spark that gradually and seamlessly exploded into an all-engulfing firestorm in a carefully calibrated performance beyond his years. Finally, Tobias Menzies also brought a specific brand of quiet reserve with outward longing to The Queen, proving himself a perfect on-screen sparring partner for her royal highness.

If I Could Pick One More Contender: Aaron Paul, Westworld

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown

Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale

Julia Garner, Ozark

Melora Hardin, The Bold Type

Holly Hunter, Succession

Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve

Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies

Tessa Thompson, Westworld

Behind My Ballot: Real talk, guys: Of all the categories I’ve tackled in my Dream Ballots this year, this was the most competitive with 22 – yes, 2-2! – finalists jockeying for one of only eight slots on the list. Sadly, I had to slide over so many wonderfully worthy performances to the ‘no’ column that I’m sure the Academy will deem worthy, but after all my watching (and shell-gaming), IMHO this group is the better of the best. Helena Bonham Carter brought mischievously brooding darkness to Princess Margaret’s ongoing struggle as she traversed being someone of perceived power who doesn’t actually have any. We finally got a glimpse into the heartbreaking motivation that spurred Ann Dowd’s Aunt Lydia to her monstrous place near the head of a dystopian dynasty, somehow making us feel sympathy for a character who exhibits none. Fiona Shaw slowly let her in-charge steel slip away as the unbridled anguish of losing the child she loved the most took hold, while Meryl Streep illustrated what grief-fueled revenge looks like at its most campy as a matriarch mourning the murder of her abusive son. Tessa Thompson convinced me why she deserves her movie star status in a tightrope performance as a yearning, regretful mother who infiltrates the system she helped to create that has betrayed her, while betrayal is the central motif in Holly Hunter’s work as a self-interested merger puppeteer whose strings eventually get snipped. And last year’s winner, Julia Garner, literally took charge as a casino boat boss lady whose personal entanglements collide with business for big impact. Finally, there’s Melora Hardin, who took us beyond the editorial boardroom to the bedroom in the first half of The Bold Type’s fourth season to show gripping, grounded new dimensions as her marriage crumbled in the shadow of success in a realistically of-the-moment, flesh-and-blood performance.

If I Could Pick One More Contender: Lesley Manville, World On Fire (Masterpiece)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Kim Bodnia, Killing Eve

Vincent Cassel, Westworld

Kieran Culkin, Succession

Nathan Lane, Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels

Josh O’Connor, The Crown

Mandy Patinkin, Homeland

Tom Pelphrey, Ozark

Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid’s Tale

Behind My Ballot: Another hard category with a bunch of tough calls. But it turns out that, despite all but one of these men hailing from returning series, six of the eight would be first-time nominees in this category. The nomination vets are Mandy Patinkin, who pulled together the threads of all eight seasons of Homeland in a boffo finale performance, and the always-fantastic Bradley Whitford (formerly a nominee for The West Wing) as an ally(?) of the resistance with motivations of his own. Three more long-admired men – Kim Bodnia, Vincent Cassel and Nathan Lane – all registered something new in their complex sketches of guys on varying sides of good and bad, while younger startups Kieran Culkin, Josh O’Connor and Tom Pelphrey managed to singularly stand out within best-in-class ensembles in their first major TV series roles – and all entirely deserving of taking the long walk to the winner’s podium.

If I Could Pick One More Contender: Billy Crudup, The Morning Show