All right, for better or
worse – and considering the vast field of Limited Series out there, I think it’s
the latter – there will only be five nominees in this category. So unlike the
previous two years when I overpredicted, I’m sticking to five nominees and one
long-shot.
Now as to which five
nominees…
I’m in agreement with two
of the major nominees this years having seen them both. The other three
contenders agreed upon are Dahmer, Daisy Jones & The Six and Fleishmann
is in Trouble. Nothing will convince me to see the first series no matter
how many nominations it gets. I’ve started on the second and I am persuaded by
its quality. Those of you who read my
column last week know how much I initially loathe Fleishmann and am
hoping it is not one of the major nominees.
For that reason, I’m going
to forge my own path more than with the previous two categories. I’ve seen more
than my share of Limited Series this year that are worthy of multiple award
recognition but that might slip under the radar in this particular category. I
intend to lean in to many of those nominees and some of the others I saw then
the rest. I can only hope the Emmys see the wisdom of this, but we all know how
they tend to think. Here are my choices.
Beef (Netflix)
It doesn’t shock me that
this extraordinary blend of drama, comedy and outright rage is rising fast in
the predictions for Best Limited series. After just five of the ten episodes in
its run, I’m more than willing to consider it one of the best shows of
2023. I know that this series has
deservedly receive a huge amount of attention for its primarily Korean-American
cast, who from Steven Yeun and Ali Wong down, are exceptional. But the reason I
think Beef has universal appeal is because I think that as horrible the
actions of Amy and Danny go in their determination to destroy each other – and how
their actions keep bringing out the worst in everyone around them – there is
not a single reaction that I find unrealistic. Extreme to be sure, but not
unrealistic. So many of the problems our
society faces is because we bury our emotions, particularly rage, beneath the
surface, and then are astounding by the inevitable consequences. This series may be part of the Asian American
community, but all of us are Danny’s and Amy’s in our own ways. Of the likely
nominees in this category, Beef is the one I hope ends up winning. Not
because its necessarily the best of all the nominated series this season (there
are some I’ll list among potentials that are better) but because it has a
message we all need to hear particularly in this era of rage.
Black Bird (Apple TV)
This is the story of a
serial killer that I hope gets as much
recognition from the Emmys as possible.
I honestly think the reason it hasn’t already has as much to do with
timing than anything else. When it
dropped this summer, it ended up competing against The White Lotus in
Best Limited Series. By the time it was competing in Best Limited Series in the
Critics Choice, for reasons that boggle the mind, it was not nominated for Best
Limited Series where it might very well have been able to win. That’s unfair
because it was one of the best series of 2022.
Taron Egerton was magnificent as a criminal making a deal with one devil
to try and illicit a confession from another. Paul Walter Hauser deservedly has
won both the Golden Globe and the Critics Choice for his unforgettable turn as
the enormous, soft spoken, harmless seeming Larry Hall, one of the most
frightening killers you’ll ever meet. The series featured several superb
performances, including one of the last turns from Ray Liotta and a tremendously
undervalued performance from Greg Kinnear as the only investigator who
recognizes what a threat Larry is. This
is one of the most wrenching experiences on TV you’ll ever see. Forget Dahmer,
this is the serial killer show you want to watch.
Love & Death (HBO Max)
Another year, another David
E. Kelley limited series that the Emmys will likely ignore for the top prize. But they’re going to have to make some real
effort to do so considering that this was one of the Best shows of 2023 – which
is remarkable considering this story was told by Hulu just last year. Elisabeth
Olsen portrayal of Candy Montgomery, the 1970s Texas housewife whose affair
with a friend leads to horrors she can not imagine is one of the great master
classes of this year, both before and after the crime at the center. It features
some of the best supporting performances of the year from a memorable cast:
Jesse Plemons as the unlikely adulterer who seems both shallow and deep, Lily
Rabe in a fascinating turn as the betrayed woman, Tom Pelphrey as the attorney
who ends up taking her case on. We may never know the truth of what happened in
the Gore home that sunny morning, but as Kelley makes clear, what started out
as something that was not supposed to hurt anybody ended up in a bloody death
and the destruction of so many lives. This was HBO Max’s last original series
before the HBO was dropped. It was a hell of a way to go out.
The Patient (FX on Hulu)
The Patient is the first limited
series I’ve seen in more than a decade you could easily see being done as a
play. Essentially it was a two character piece featuring two of the greatest
performances in 2022: Domhnall Gleeson as Sam, a character so emotionally empty
that it seems natural that he would kidnap a shrink to try and stop him from
killing, and Steve Carell as Dr. Strauss who finds that being abducted and
chained to a bed is just the beginning of an unending nightmare. Gleason’s performance is so terrifying as he
shows no empathy and consistently blames Strauss for his lack of improvement
and Carell is up to the challenge as death continues to loom closer, finds himself
facing his own flaws as a father. The final episode of the series was devastating
but slightly hopeful as we saw that both Alan and Sam have realized their
greatest flaws – even though neither will be able to redeem them. There will be major series dealing with
serial killers nominated this year for Best Drama. I’d prefer if this one got
the nod over Dahmer.
White House Plumbers (HBO)
This is a long shot
compared to Fleishmann or other series such as George & Tammy but
having watched it I think that this series gave the Watergate conspiracy and
the Nixon White House exactly the treatment it deserved, if not as well
as Gaslit last year. Perfectly led
by superb performances by Woody Harrelson as Howard Hunt and Justin Theroux as
Gordon Liddy, this series treated everything the Plumbers did with the seriousness
it deserved – which was none. So much of
what these two men did in their doing ‘black ops’ for the Administration was so
farcically done, so badly performed and done with such utter incompetence that
it deserved to be played as a comedy. Both played it as various levels of
buffoons and the entire cast -particularly Lena Headey as Dorothy Hunt, the
only one in the bunch who knows who idiotic what her husband is doing for the
country – is absolutely remarkable to watch.
Did we learn the wrong lessons from Watergate? It looks like it with
each passing year. What Plumbers tells us that it is truly tragic that
these men who made the Keystone Cops look like MENSA were every given responsibility
by the government to make sure an election that was in the bag was won.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Accused (Fox)
Admittedly this anthology
did not turn out to be the masterclass of television I thought it could be when
I first reviewed it in February – that is the curse of the anthology series. But
there was more than enough good stuff to make it fundamentally watchable week
after week, particularly considering it was broadcast TV which long since
yielded the high ground on this kind of work more than a decade ago. I’m also willing to grant a high grade for
effort, and I have to tell you watching this series you could definitely see
it, particularly with all of the guest actors we saw every week: from Michael
Chiklis in the series premiere to Keith Carradine in the season finale and so
many others from Jason Ritter to Abigail Breslin and Betsy Brandt. And I do
give Accused a lot of points for trying, when every series is either
serialized or procedural, to actually spend each of its stories dealing with
issues that are relevant and need to be talked about more than ever, from mass
shootings to white supremacy to homophobia to teen pregnancy. I was so glad
that Accused was renewed for a second season. Asking for an Emmy nomination
is probably too much, but I wish there was a place for it.
Tomorrow I deal with Outstanding
Actor in a Limited Series. Expect some major disagreements with the masses here
too.
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