Now That It's Finally Over I Ask One Last Time, What Was Euphoria's Purpose? (2900th Article)

 

I take a certain pleasure that even before the final season aired, many critics were beginning to wonder if they had been wrong about Euphoria during its first two seasons. By the time it was two episodes underway all the critics who had once raved about it were having similar doubts. And by the time it staggered to its final episode last May the entire world had turned on it. No one, as far as I know, was unhappy that Sam Levenson had announced this was the end of the road.

In showing just how far Euphoria had fallen it plummeted off the list of contenders for Best Drama and indeed most other awards by the time the show was over. After receiving 18 nominations as well as a nomination for Best Drama for Season 2 it was only nominated for six Emmys and only Zendaya was nominated for Best Actress among the major cast. Colman Domingo received a final nomination for Best Guest Actor but that is far more likely to the immense respect Domingo has earned in TV in the interim between seasons.  Any realistic chance of Zendaya managing a three-peat seems unlikely as Rhea Seehorn and Keri Russell have all the momentum behind them.

So now that Euphoria has sputtered to its conclusion I think it's well past time to ask the question that really should have been asked from day one: just what did so many people see in this show that awed them for so long? Because almost from HBO's decision to greenlight it, it seemed like it was a horribly flawed concept.

Much of the anticipatory buzz for Euphoria was the fact that for the first time in two decades HBO was doing a teen drama. That itself should have raised the Jeff Goldblum meme: everyone was so impressed that they could no one considered if they should.

Because HBO and the teen drama were not things that could never go together. Teen dramas in the 21^st century on network television were increasingly being accused of over sexualizing its teenage actors, having them talk with immense adult dialogue and deal with increasingly unrealistic situations. There'd been a lot of controversy over many of the  WB's shows and Glee and those were network dramas. For a network that was known for having 19^th century Americans use what seemed to anachronistic profanity, had showed ancient Rome with an incredible amount of gore, and who had done every kind of perverse act of sexuality imaginable in Westeros doing a show set in high school was a bad match for a reason.

And that's because Euphoria was the first teen drama ever made that no teenager should have watched.  Now I accept that teenagers watched Game of Thrones all the time it was on the air and that the V-Chip and TV ratings have been basically bandages when it comes to controlling the viewing habits of young people. But if you're going to make a show about teenagers there's an argument that it should not  have the same level of profanity, violence or depravity you got on every other HBO show.  I understand the major plus on working for HBO is that they give you the artistic freedom to do whatever you want with no rules. But there's a difference for doing it for mobsters and dope slingers and teenagers at a high school.  I'm honestly stunned that there was no real backlash from any of the critics at the time about any part of it, not the least of which there were so many sequences that stretched the charges of teenage pornography to its limits – and those were just between the student body.

This brings us to the next issue I have with Euphoria: if you take away the aspects of it being a teen drama there wasn't a single issue that hadn't been explored in nearly every other HBO drama in the first two decades of the network's entry into great drama – and had  been done much better.

Let's just start with the main reason Sam Levenson said he wanted to tell the story of drug addiction. That was a feature of every HBO drama from OZ right up to Boardwalk Empire. The seedy underbelly of drugs and the consequences of it have been at every level, most notably in everything David Simon ever did for HBO, but we also saw Christopher famous deal with an addiction to heroin throughout The Sopranos, Alma Garrett's addiction to opium in Deadwood and the issues Claire Fisher had with drugs throughout the first season of Six Feet Under.  If you want to make 'addiction' a broader term, Brenda famously had an issue with sex addiction in Season 2 of Six Feet Under and we all know that vampires have an addiction to a very specific uncontrolled substance.  And it wasn't as though we hadn't seen the effects of addiction on teenagers done so well in The Wire, both the addicts and those in the trade itself.

And that's just HBO. Showtime dealt with the world of drugs quite a bit in its comedies, in perhaps too lighthearted a vein in Weeds, a more serious one in Nurse Jackie and we saw two members of the Gallagher clan end up going to AA by the time Euphoria debuted.  And there was the cartel in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, hell FX debuted Snowfall which dealt with the crack epidemic in LA during the 1980s.

The difference between all of these shows and what Rue was going through in Euphoria was the difference between the kind of dramas HBO made when it transformed television in the 2000s and the kinds of shows it was making by the time it greenlit Euphoria. If you came of age watching these shows you know that what made HBO extraordinary was how it looked at the darkest and seediest underbelly of the America we lived in, whether it was in Oswald Maximum Security or the camp in Deadwood. It was looking at America at the darkest and more importantly working class level of it, with all its failures.

But by the 2010s HBO had essentially moved away from that kind of TV in both comedy and drama, with the sole exception of David Simon who kept to his standards with Treme and The Deuce.  During that era HBO began to move, for whatever reason, towards upwardly mobile and upper class America and their angsts and misfortune. The comedies were essentially all variations of this from Girls to Veep to Silicon Valley while the dramas took this whether we were in Westeros or Waystar Royco.  There were exceptions – Insecure, the first season of True Detective – but basically those were the kinds of TV HBO was making in the 2010s and Euphoria was greenlit during that period.

It's no secret I found much of this programming overrated but it's only recently I've figured out why. HBO was at its best during the 2000s when it look at the darker side of America and compared the struggles of the criminals and thugs in America as something necessary in the decline of the American dream. But by the middle of the 2010s it had basically turned away from those kinds of shows to looking at those struggles from the perspective of white upper-class America, the Masters of the Universe. It's one thing to argue the characters in The Sopranos or The Wire are not bad people, they're just trapping in a horrible broken system and its easier to believe because it involves the less fortunate, and those left behind. But the shows of Armando Iannucci didn't bother with that distinction, and we were being asked to be entertained by people who had all of the power and the wealth in the world – and yet somehow were still unhappy with their lot in life.

Levinson might want to argue that he was trying to paint a world of just how miserable contemporary teenagers were. But it doesn't change the fact that every single one of the high school students was in a world of privilege that everyone in every teenage character from the previous decade of HBO dramas would find them all spoiled kids who don't know how good they have it.

And it's not like there weren't a lot of well-portrayed teenagers during that first decade. Meadow and AJ Soprano were well illustrated in the first few seasons of The Sopranos; Lauren Ambrose's work as Claire Fisher was a force of nature and The Wire was full of brilliant teenage actors who broke your heart ("Where's Wallace?!") Indeed Big Love, a vastly underrated HBO drama, featured the breakout role of Amanda Seyfried as the eldest daughter of the polygamist Hendrickson clan. Clearly Bill's favorite, as the series progresses she becomes increasingly desperate to escape from the quicksand that is their increasingly toxic world. I've never forgotten her incredible breakdown during the classic 'Come, Ye Saints' episode where she suffers a miscarriage from the pregnancy she was hiding from everyone.

All of them would look at Rue in the series premiere when she's just gotten out of rehab again and forces the head of her NA meeting to sign her card and would be appalled. Bubbles would be horrified at her lack of respect. The system was so broken that the best he could hope for is being able to attend an NA meeting after being sent to jail and going to a halfway house. Rue's mother managed to get her into a rich treatment center and she can't even bother to stay sober for a week! Zendaya might be bi-racial but everyone in Baltimore would be exasperated. "All that white privilege and you ain't even using it!" I could see Kima Greggs saying if she busted her.

After Euphoria came to an end Levenson would argue that at a certain level all of the teenagers and adults were dealing with addiction in some form. But that isn't an original insight either. In one of the first episodes of OZ  Augustus Hill argued that everyone was an addict in a sense: "Some people mainline wealth! Some people snort politics." Indeed it was a theme that Fontana came back to quite a few times on OZ and it had weight because the system was so badly broken.

Levinson would also argue that much of Euphoria was based on his own personal journeys. I hate to say this but that's a truth universal to almost every addict and we've read more than our share of memoirs and biographies on it. Not every recovering addict is as fortunate as Levinson to survive and almost none get to make an HBO TV series about their journeys.

None of this would have bothered me if Levinson had any real insight or something original to say with Euphoria.  What we got, honestly, was the same kind of excess that so many viewers were getting on shows like True Blood and Game of Thrones only it was in a contemporary setting and almost entirely focused on teenagers. During the first twenty years of HBO's existence much of the greatest drama came from writers pushing the boundaries of cable TV to tell stories of great substance. Deadwood and Six Feet Under were among the masters of this.

 Euphoria, by contrast, was nothing but an exercise in style and Levenson seemed to use all of this excess to hide that he had really nothing original to say. Even before Season Three debuted many critics were beginning to question Levinson's continuous leaving plots open for an entire season and even beyond that.  Such excesses could be excuse if they were involving adult dramas but because the show was set in a high school it was clear Levinson had left reality three exits back.

It's clear much of the focus was based on so many of the brilliant young things that came out of Euphoria: not just Zendaya, but Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schaffer and Maude Apatow.  But none of this hid the fact that we were seeing the same level of excessive nudity and sex that we were getting in any other HBO show and it absolutely should have been questioned given that it debuted during the so-called 'reckoning' in Hollywood in the post-Trump America. People have been questioning some of the excesses of shows like Game of Thrones by that time: Euphoria was infinitely worse in that regard by the end of Season 2 – and no one in Hollywood said boo.

I think by the time Season 3 debuted and by necessity the characters were all essentially twenty-somethings that the critics were forced to realize something that made so much of their raves about the first two seasons. Once all of the characters were adults and in the adult world, then it became very clear just how absurd the show was. All of the storylines Levinson told in Season 3 were even more ridiculous then in the first two seasons but now what seemed like insight into teenagers now really did seem like a bunch of whining Gen Z young adults.

By this time the bloom was well off Levinson as a writer. His follow up series The Idol had become arguably the biggest disaster in HBO's history of original programming, a show so horrible the network canceled it without ever even running the final episode. Levinson was getting horrible behind the scenes press from people who'd worked for him and there were constant complaints that many of the actors such as Zendaya and Sweeney weren't speaking. There was huge anticipation of the third season, mainly because of how he had chosen to shoot it and the storyline.

It became clear almost immediately just how terrible the final season was: critics turned on it with an incredible hostility even though the ratings remained as high as ever. And its worth noting by the time Season 3 debuted HBO had transformed yet again.

During the 2020s HBO had moved far closer to the working-class dramas of its first Golden era. To be sure The White Lotus and The Gilded Age continued to look at the wealthy but there was more of a humanity to it then we got with Iannucci's work. The Last of Us was a different kind of apocalyptic show, more based on paternal relationships and how love makes us do horrible things than zombies. The previous year Somebody Somewhere, one of the great shows in HBO's history, had come to a conclusion and Hacks a far more charming comedy was one of the network's greatest performers. And The Pitt  had just managed a Best Drama victory because it took place in a real world, not the one of Euphoria.

Even in the leadup to Euphoria's final season HBO was continuing to illustrate how the network had changed. Task had been a huge success, examining the messy world of crime and the FBI and Tom Brandis was a complete contrast to the antiheroes that HBO was known for. Knight of The Seven Kingdoms was a complete different side of Westeros, one that seemed more interested in ordinary men becoming knights then struggles for the Iron Throne. And just before Euphoria debuted America fell in love with DTF St. Louis, a series that also involved bizarre sexual fantasies and the internet but had none of the pretension of the former show and didn't take itself seriously for one moment.

Compared to those series the heavily stylized world of Levenson didn't just seem like it came from a different era, it seemed fake and utterly behind the times compared to what the average viewer was getting. The story of Rue's struggles with owing $150 million dollars to her drug dealer from the start of the show seemed like a parody compared to what we'd seen Tom Pelphrey doing during Task. And compared to how silly and light the struggles the love triangle at the center of DTF St. Louis was Sydney Sweeney's OnlyFans market honestly seemed, well, childish. (The conclusion of that story paled compared to how a similar one played out in the Season 4 finale of Industry a few months earlier.)

And all of the horrible mutilations and deaths that followed throughout Season 3 just really seemed like they were par for the course for any other HBO drama during the last quarter of a century. And the series finale didn't even seem like it had any connection to the show those who had stuck with it to the bitter end had started with. It seemed like it belonged in a different show altogether. Season 2 of True Detective was subtler than the finale of Euphoria.

And it basically destroyed the one good character throughout the entire series. Colman Domingo's sponsor of Rue really did seem like he belonged in a different series then this one.  I never believed that anyone would spent so much time trying to help a girl who relapsed time and again, who betrayed his faith over and over, who made it clear she absolutely didn't want to be saved.  There's no way I can read the series finale as anything but how Rue destroyed yet another life along with all the people she hurt during her struggles with addiction.

That's the biggest problem I have with Euphoria. If Levinson's story was just that of an addict and how perilous the journey  is, he could have told this story far simpler in a film. Instead he took three seasons to basically tell you what anyone could have taken away by the end of the Pilot. Rue was a hopeless addict and she was going to destroy anyone who came into her orbit. If the show had ended with her finally turning around it would have been one thing. Instead Levinson took the longest, ugliest and most exploitive journey possible between two points – and then tried to sell her death as some kind of happy ending. There's only one thing worse then a morality tale and it’s a morality tale that doesn't even have a moral. And that's what Levinson gave us over three seasons.

When I get back to it I'll never understand what so many people saw in Euphoria for so long. All I know is what I saw in it was an exploitive demonstration of excess that bordered on child pornography written by a nepo baby who had nothing to say and who HBO allowed him to keep saying it for three seasons over the better part of seven years. Its clear the cast has a great future in front of them and based on all of their non-Euphoria projects they all clearly deserve the accolades come for them down the road. As with so many actors in projects I dislike its clear to me that for performers such as Sweeney and Domingo the show was holding them back from their true potential and I'm glad to see them realizing it in other works.

As for Sam Levenson, whatever buzz he had from the early seasons starting dying after The Idol and the final season almost certainly crushed it. I hope that HBO is done with him after this. They've already made it clear the kinds of dramas they're airing now and have in their lineup are not the kind of shows Euphoria is and the network will be better off for it.

And for the love of God HBO, never do another teen drama again. Stick to what you're good at. Which at this point is basically everything but teen dramas.

 

Decision 2026 Gubernatorial Edition Can Four Governor Races This Cycle Offer the Democrats A Path Back To National Power?

 

You have to hand it to the Democratic Party: we're consistent. Regardless whether we win or lose any election the explanation for the result will always favor the left-side. This is clear when it came to our interpretation of Barack Obama's historic 2008 victory.

The explanation that the left chose to take away was that the Democratic Party's win was based on assembling a multi-racial coalition because we had carried overwhelming majorities of the African-American vote, the women vote, the LatinX vote and what was then considered 'the gay and lesbian vote'.  Because the left has always preferred the idea of diversity in its politics – and because it has always had a contempt for the white working class -  the lesson that became canon was that the Democrats were going to be the permanent party based on our country's seemingly inevitable path towards becoming majority minority.  Therefore the Republicans were doomed and our path forward was now to only focused on making identity politics identical with political power.

This was always going to be a dangerous path to follow as it made the categorical assumption that this coalition would permanently hold together and that the GOP was just going to roll over and take it. Neither of those things happened and as we saw two years ago Trump and the Republicans managed their biggest gains in almost every major identity group in decades.

Our focus should have been the one that focused on electoral math and honestly there was a bigger lesson from both of Obama's wins we should have taken. In the 2008 election 96 of the 365 electoral votes Obama received were from the Midwest essentially mirroring Clinton's path to victory in 1992 and again in 1996. Furthermore Obama had carried Indiana, the first time any Democrat had managed that feat since LBJ's landslide in 1940 something Clinton had not managed to do in either of his wins.

This should have been the biggest news. With the exception of Illinois none of the states in the Midwest have the kind of urban or ethnic populations that have been the Democrats strong suit since the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Indeed many times during the era of Democratic dominance (1932-1968) many of these states were key electoral strongholds for the GOP.  FDR had trouble carrying many of these states in his 1940 and 1944 runs for the White House and Kennedy basically split the Midwest with Nixon in 1960.  In the era since the signing of the Civil Rights Act had sent the South to the Republicans the Democrats return to power had been aided by their making inroads into the Midwest. Carter wouldn't have won in 1976 had he not carried Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

So for an African-American nominee for President to essentially sweep all of these states should have been the clearest sign that it was not diversity that was a winning formula for Democratic candidates but the neoliberal path that Clinton has mastered in his win. And it's worth noting Obama's reelection four years later happened in large part because he nearly duplicated his success in the Midwest carrying six of those seven states and losing only Indiana. It was clear what the path forward was.

But leave it to the Democrats: as always we chose to listen to our far left flank and you can see where it's taken us ever since. And sure enough the more we embraced the multi-racial flank the more it cost us the Midwest. Only the more diverse Illinois and the far left Minnesota have been consistent ever since and while its clear how necessary Wisconsin and Michigan are to any electoral victory most of the left refuses to admit why.

Some will admit that the Democrats need to win the rest of the Midwest not just Ohio but also Iowa and Missouri. What they refuse to do is give any ground to the right to do so. The path to the victory is always to the left and it's not their fault the voters in those states reject it.

But despite the fact that half of 'The Squad' – Ilhan Omar and Rashida Taib – are from Minnesota and Michigan, the path of the Justice Democrat has rarely done well for them. In addition to those two candidates the Justice Democrats ran fourteen other candidates in the Midwest and only Matt Morgan and Rob Davidson (who ran unopposed in Michigan's 1^st and 2^nd districts) and Randy Bryce in Wisconsin's 1^st won their primaries. All three went down to defeat that fall. They have rarely made an effort to compete in that area since. Morgan Harper ran in Ohio's 3^rd district in 2020 and Nina Turner would tried in Ohio 11^th in 2021. Both lost. Donovan McKinney managed a primary victory in Michigan this week.

None of this should be surprising. While there are progressive roots in some of these states the overwhelming majority of the population is basically white and rural with little inclination to that of the Sanders-Warren wing of the party. This is an area that a mix of the Rust Belt and the Farm Belt which has suffered the most from the loss of jobs that only expanded from the financial crisis. There is nothing in the Justice Democrats platform or that of the Sanders campaign that offers them a way forward and indeed many of their ideas such as the Green new deal and their positions on gun control are diametrically opposed to their values.

The left wing of the party has essentially done what it always does: it chose to dismiss them as inconsequential, part of flyover country. And as a result the Democrats have been suffering at a state and local level in many of them ever since Obama's administration was completely over. The left can afford this attitude. The Democrats do so at their peril.

If there is a way back for the Democrats at a national level the Midwest is clearly the best place to start, if only because it is a more populous region then out west and our roots there have not atrophied the way that they have in the Deep South. And while one might be able to prevail at the Congressional level in some of these states, a big step forward would be win at the gubernatorial level as well. And in one of the biggest steps forward for the party during this cycle there is a possibility that they might – emphasis on 'might' – be able to take the governor's office in four of the most critical states in that region, two of which are swing states, two of which have been under Republican control for the majority of the 21^st century. It's worth looking at the four men and women who will be running this cycle because their potential success could illustrate a path back to the electoral control for the Democrats at a national level.

In Iowa, as I've written before, Rob Sand is the Democratic nominee the current auditor of the state. He considered running against Reynolds in 2022 but opted to run for reelection and was the only Democrat elected to a statewide office in Iowa that year. In 2020 an audit conducted by Sand found that Reynolds misspent $21 million on COVID relief fund, leading them to return the money. Almost as a line of attack the legislature passed a law designed to limit the power of the Iowa state auditor which Sand claimed was done to target the only statewide Democrat left in office.

Sand is running on a policy of 'common sense reform' pointing to the declining economy of the state and the exodus of college educate students. His campaign has drawn the attention of the New York Times considering his appeal to more conservative voters by focusing on issues such as clean drinking water. And as of this writing the governorship seems to be his to lose: he is currently leading his Republican opponents Zach Lahn by an average of six points and the state is listed as Lean Democrat.

In Michigan Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee for Governor, has served as Secretary of State of Michigan since 2019.  In that election she beat Republican Mary Treder Lang by nearly nine percent becoming the first Democrat to hold the office since 1995. During her tenure voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing Election Day voter registration and unrestricted absentee ballots which put her at odds with Trump's administration. She would establish and Election Security Commission and a Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force. During the 2020 election she mailed absentee voter applications to all 7.7 million registered voters in the state. That same year then President Trump particularly targeted her mailing efforts. Ever since she has been the recipient of  constant threats from election deniers.

Aside from that she has advocated for ethics reform and increased transparency in the state government. She has advocating for improvements in the election system and stricter penalties against those who harass election workers. Despite numerous threats she was reelected Secretary of State by 14 points the largest margin by any candidate in Michigan in 2022. Considered a potential contender to replace Debbie Stabenow in the Senate she announced in March of 2023 she would not enter the race. Instead in January of 2025 she announced she would run for governor and overwhelmingly won the nomination with 83 percent of the vote.

She is overwhelmingly the favorite to defeat the Republican nominee John James. In 2022. James has already twice lost as a Senate nominee in Michigan losing to Debbie Stabenow in 2018 and Gary Peters in 2020. Though both elections were closer polls show Benson with anywhere from a five to ten point lead and the state considered Safe Democrat in most polling sites. While the race for Senate in that state may be a tossup the governor's race is not.

One state where the fortunes of the Democrats were see-sawing at the gubernatorial level was Wisconsin. When socialist Francesca Hong was the front runner for the Democratic nomination within a week the state went from toss-up in most polls to Lean Republican. But the voters chose to see reason and by a narrow margin chose to make David Crowley their nominee for governor to run against Republican Tom Tiffany. Within a week of the primary the state swung back to Toss-Up.

It will be a challenging battle given the circumstance but an easier one for Crowley then for Hong. Crowley has been working in Wisconsin politics since he campaign for Russell Feingold's failed 2010 campaign for reelection. He first ran for elected office in 2016, running for a seat on the Milwaukee Common Council. He came in third in the nonpartisan primary that February. However later that month his employer Harris Dodd announced she wouldn't see reelection and in a chain of events he would run in the Democratic primary in the 17^th Assembly district, winning the primary and running unopposed in the election.

While in his second term he won run for Milwaukee County executive narrowly winning by 1026 votes in the April election. As executive he worked along Wisconsin organizations and was responsible for state funding agreement. The result was 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, which allowed the county to raise a sales tax from 0.5 percent to 0.9 percent. He signed legislation provided free legal representation to those facing eviction or foreclosure, distributing $11 million in opioid settlement funds and Milwaukee's County's Climate Action Plan.

Crowley actually began his campaign for governor the day after Tony Evers announced he wasn't seeking reelection. He very quickly raised money and was in a strong financial position. But despite that he couldn't gain support in opinion polls. On July 8^th he suspended his campaign and endorsed Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez who won the poll. But days later Rodriguez suspended her campaign and Evers tried to get Crowley back in the race. When Mandela Barnes suspended his campaign.

Crowley is the first African-American of either party to be the nominee for governor in the state of Wisconsin. And while it was a mess he will be a great contrast to the Republican Tom Tiffany, one of the most conservative members of Wisconsin's delegation if not Congress as a whole. Early polls show Crowley with a four percent lead over Tiffany and the odds are shifting in his favor.

The candidate with the least chance of taking the governorship among these four is Amy Acton of Ohio. A physician and researcher her first position in politics was as Mike DeWine's director of the Department of Health. During 2020 Acton was an adviser to DeWine involving Covid, saying cases could peak in late April to Early May. DeWine would defer to her for questions on the virus and its spread. But because of the protestors who showed up at her home multiple state legislators and the Speaker introduced bills restricting the power of the governor and Acton. She would receive the Profile in Courage Award from Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg.

In January of 2025 she announced her candidacy for the governor's race and had raised over $5.3 million by the end of 2025. Her campaign stresses affordability and health care. Still many felt she would easily be defeated by Vivek Ramaswamy, a rising star in the Republican party who was their nominee for governor.

In large part Acton has been helped immensely by the fact that Ramaswamy, who has never run for statewide office, has very quickly become a far weaker candidate then the Republicans had thought given how much appeal he'd shown during his run for the Republican nomination three years earlier. Yet almost from the start the polls have showed the two of them practically running in a near tie with an average of less than one percent between them. Every single political site considers the race a toss-up and considering that Ohio hasn't elected a Democratic governor in 20 years that's almost a miracle. Of the four candidates her Acton faces the most uphill battle but with the President's approval numbers continuing to crater the road keeps getting more level by the day.

While there is little doubt that the RNC and the administration will label the charges of all candidates as part of 'the radical left', this will be a harder charge to land on any of them. In candidates such as Crowley it is nearly ludicrous while for Benson she will no doubt face the burden of who some of the politics of some of the candidates on the ballot with her. Some like Benson and Acton are linked to policies that have made them targets of contempt, if not hatred from the MAGA movement. But the fact is Trump's approval numbers have already hit the low thirties as of the end of August  and the parties attention will be necessity be more focused on the Senate then the governor's races.

In the case of Sand and Benson their popularity may have the affect of coattails lifting up Josh Turek and Abdul El-Sayid up in races that are currently considered toss-ups for the party in the Senate. It's possible the reverse may be true for Acton as Sherrod Brown is currently comfortably ahead of Jon Husted in the race for the Senate in Ohio. All four candidates are running in states each  with quite a few Congressional swing districts that will lead to control of the House something that will be helpful this November.

There is also the fact that in the 21^st century the Democratic Party has suffered from the fact of having qualify candidates at the governor's level. Most of the names have either been associated with the coast (Gavin Newsom, Kathy Hochul) or New England both of which bare the mark of being too liberal for much of America to take seriously. In order for the party to recover nationally in a post-Trump America it can only help to have Democrats who can win a governorship in swing or red states. There are gubernatorial candidates running elsewhere this cycle who may be able to achieve this such as Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia or David Jolly in Florida but having a bloc of them in the Midwest can only help our cause. Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota and JB Pritzker of Illinois are heavy favorites to win their states so any more winners that come from this region can only help make us recover nationally in 2028 and beyond.

The biggest weakness of the left-wing candidates in the last decade – whether they are progressive, DSA or pure socialist – is their inability to win elections at a statewide level. We saw this with how badly El-Sayid underperformed compared to Benson in Michigan and how Hong lost the primary to Crowley in Wisconsin and I have little doubt we'll have quite a few more examples by Election Day. The best path for the Democratic Party is going back to the center and that is just as true for these four candidates running for governor as any of those I've backed for Senate this cycle. We have to win back the center and there are few better places to do this -  quite literally – then in the Midwest with these gubernatorial races. For the sake of the party we should hope for their success.

 

 

Homicide Rewatch: Sins of the Father

 

Written by Daryl Lamont Wharton ; story by James Yoshimura & Julie Martin

Directed by Mary Harron

 

Rewatching Homicide nearly thirty years later is often fascinating in terms of the murders our detectives are called into investigate.  More than a few seem like harbingers of future events, some are ripped from the headlines of that period, some – though not many – almost seem anachronistic. Looking at Sins of the Father nearly three decades later  I'm inclined to wonder something different: Someday a murder like this is absolutely going to happen if it hasn't already.

It's fitting that for a drama that was always at the forefront of race in America that the writers choose to deal with America's original sin: slavery itself.  And honestly this could only work if the show had been set in Maryland. This was one of the border states where Confederate and Union sympathizers were side by side, where the bloodiest battle on American soil took place at Sharpsburg, where slavery was one of the states directly affected by the Emancipation Proclamation. None of this is mentioned in the series but it hangs over Sins of the Father like the darkest possible cloud, one that even after 135 years (the episode aired in 1998) can never fully be displaced or ever be truly resolved.

The circumstances of the murder of Martin Ridenour are enough to make both Falsone and Cox say: "Wow." Ridenour is found hanging from the rafters with his hands tied and bruising on him, which makes it clear that this is the most bizarre murder anyone has seen. His cash and all his valuables are still on his person, he's wearing an $800 suit and he's a business partner in a prominent advertising firm. This leads to the usual jokes: "What's he doing hanging around these parts?" "He's fit to be tied" but much of it comes from the two white people. Lewis, who's the secondary on this case, seems somewhat troubled even as he jokes. With good reason. Ridenour was found in one of the poorer black sections of Baltimore, a part of town he has no earthly reason to be in. There's a drug dealer nearby but Ridenour wasn't a customer.    When they reached the mansion the Ridenour called home both Falsone and Lewis are baffled – and when Meldrick sees the very prominent Confederate flag displayed he is understandably upset.

Pamela Ridenour is considerably baffled as to what her husband was doing in West Baltimore and can't come up with a motivation for the murder. When Lewis asked if her husband knew any black people the wife says very quickly he doesn't. Then we learned that Martin traced his family back to the 1790s as a hobby (there was neither Ancestry.com nor Henry Louis Gates in 1998). Falsone is the primary and keeps asking the questions about the present but Meldrick keeps looking at the photos of a woman on a  horse, Martin's great-great-great grandmother who fought for the South and his wife seems proud of it. "Not all southern belles sat on the porch sipping mint juleps." Lewis tries to find out if Martin was part of the Sons of the Confederacy (okay that part seems more foreshadowing) and his wife says she's sorry if the 'history is making you uncomfortable'. Falsone calls him out on this because to him this is a case at the far end of the 20^th century.  Lewis, who has always been less open about race then Pembleton or Giardello, makes it clear he's not used to going into a home in Baltimore and seeing Stonewall Jackson. Falsone actually wants to know if Lewis wants off this case. Falsone actually scores a point when Lewis asks what his great-great-great grandfather was doing during the War Between the States. "Stealing chickens in Palermo." That breaks the tension.

There are financial reasons for Ridenour's murder. He had stolen a couple of prominent accounts that would have netting the firm at least $20 million and given him a considerable commission. Ridenour was an up and comer and there were some junior partners who were pretty upset. They acknowledge it’s a cutthroat business but Ridenour's boss doesn't think they'd actually cut some throats after losing.

Then they go to Cox. After some jokes that aren't jokes "If we have a suspect in custody it's murder, and if the suspect is unknown it’s the worst case of suicide imaginable." Cox gives more details that make the death more troubling. Ridenour was whipped before he was killed. He had his shirt off and at some point he was allowed to put it back on. As Cox points out: "if you were black and this were 1948, we'd call that a lynching." With a white junior executive in 1998, Lewis calls it a mess.

Giardello tells Lewis and Falsone to go back to the crime scene and recanvas, even go up and down a few blocks. He points out for the first time that this murder wasn't random, it was planned.  "Your victim is hanging in a rowhouse for a reason. You just don't know what the reason is." Indeed that recanvas gives them two clues: one from the past, one from the present.

After another discussion with our local drug dealer he says he's going to go down the block and when he comes back he wants to know something he doesn't. After the canvas they find out that not far away is Orchard Street Church, a historic site that was part of the Underground Railroad. Lewis just wants to go in to wash off the stink of the Johnny Reb stuff from yesterday. Once again the episode reminds us of both sides of the Civil War: Abolitionist and Confederacy.

After they leave the church their drug dealer comes back and tells them that a white van was there the night of Ridenour's death. The van has records and notes on it and they trace it to a local business. One of the vans wasn't dropped off until today despite being off on a gig. The driver was Dennis Rigby. The man looked responsible but he was always talking craziness. When they go to the Rigby house they learn the son is a college graduate with honors. He's a virgin in Baltimore, never arrested, never in trouble, no sign he would be near the rowhouses with the drug dealers we just saw.  On an excuse to use the bathroom he checks out the Rigby home – and in Dennis' home finds a shrine to the black power movement with pictures of Malcolm X and Frederic Douglass very prominent. The moment they leave Lewis is certain Rigby is the killer.

In Giardello's office Lewis summarizes his suspicions of what the case is about and you can't blame him for the fact it sounds very much like one of the conspiracy theories his first partner used to go on about. Pembleton has been called in and he initially agrees with Gee: "Money, sex, drugs, that is the unholy trinity." It's fascinating that usually Al and Frank are the ones to talk about race and Meldrick is spinning about history.  Falsone wants to pursue the money angle and Pembleton agrees – until he learns the victims name was Ridenour. This causes Frank to think about an old song his gramma said:

"Hush your mouth, go to sleep. Old Patty Ridenour take you back deep."

In her house Patty Ridenour was one of the great boogeymen of all time – she was a lady bounty hunter, chasing down runaway slaves, shooting them beating them and engaged in horrible acts of cruelty.  And it is that last bit that connects it for Meldrick.

In one of the best montage segments (see on the soundtrack) Meldrick manages to figure out that Rigby knew about Patricia Ridenour, her connection to Martin and what he did. After multiple searches and no sign of Rigby despite having no money, no means of transportation Meldrick knows exactly where to find him. Meldrick starts banging on the wall with his experience from the Underground Railroad knowing what he's going to find –  in a hollowed out section Dennis Rigby is patiently waiting.

Rigby uses the speech of the proud black man, saying he's part of the other 50 percent, black man has been in chains. Rigby seems to believe he is superior to those who have been arrested for possession. Lewis makes it clear it didn't make a difference to Martin Ridenour.  Rigby wants a lawyer but Meldrick convinces him that this was a righteous killing…"it was history reaching out and biting Martin Ridenour in the ass." Giving the setting and nature of the killing Rigby uses a West African saying, "You must study the past."

Patricia Ridenour, in addition to everything else, didn't just hunt slaves but freed blacks. She kidnapped freed blacks, sold them back into slavery and stole their property. His great-great-great-grandfather was born free and education. He used $400 in sailor's wages to buy his own farm before being abducted and sold into slavery by Patty Ridenour. Rigby saw his Martin's name in the paper and did his homework. Dennis stalked him and killed him in  a way "to leave the circle unbroken." He waited in his office with his gun, and after he was in the van he began to beg thinking this was still a robbery. He tied him up and blindfolded him, bullwhipped him on his knees and then he made him get him on the chair, and pulled the blindfold off to make sure that Rigby was the last thing Ridenour saw.

Lewis's response is one of the coldest things Clark Johnson ever said: "You are a sick son of a bitch."  Falsone reminds him: "You killed an innocent man over something his long dead ancestor did to your long dead ancestor." To Rigby this was justifiable because his distant ancestor died in slavery a year before the Civil War ended, hanging himself. Lewis points out Ridenour's death does nothing to atone for what happened to him and Rigby. As Lewis points out all that Rigby has done has start a different vendetta rather then end the old one. And by doing so the Rigby name will end with him.

 

 

The secondary story starts with Frank and Tim meeting for breakfast. The two of them are discussing whether or not to charge an 84 year old woman with murder for a hit and run or send it back to traffic. While this is going on Ballard shows up for breakfast and then Frank, as much as the viewer, is reminded of how Tim has spent his nights. He already questioned him about his dinner with Chris Rawls and when Ballard shows up and the two of them start flirting, Pembleton's even more baffled so he decides to leave. He makes a reference to the case saying: "things are already too complicated."  After that Pembleton asks what's going on between him and Ballard and when Bayliss talks about Laura in terms of 'smoldering', and says he's attracted to her Frank says one of the first casually callous things we've heard: "Who aren't you attracted to?"

At that point we actually get a direct link to the past, way back to the classic episode 'A Many Splendored Thing' and that perfect speech Frank gave to Tim early in their partnership.  It takes Frank a moment to get there and then his first reaction is "So what? You're thinking Ballard in leather?" After taking a moment to say how attractive that fantasy is he reminds Frank of exactly what he told him about being a good murder police. "You Tim Bayliss have a darkness inside of you. You gotta know the uglier, darker side of Tim Bayliss… You gotta love them because they're part of you because they along with your virtues make you who you are." It's interesting that Frank separates this from who he was before his stroke and the writers don't make it clear if Frank genuinely doesn't remember what he said or if he does but doesn't particularly want to be held responsible for Tim's experimentation because it bothers him. Listening to him you think it’s the former.

But if actions define a man more then words we get a different version in a conversation with Gharty the next time we see Frank. Gharty says the old lady got the 'gas pedal confused with the brake – kind of like Bayliss." Then Gharty starts implying he hears things about Bayliss. Pembleton plays dumb and asks for Gharty to 'indulge him'. After being told Bayliss is a 'switch hitter' (arguably the nicest euphemism you could get away with in 1990s network TV) Pembleton smiles for a moment and then tells Gharty: "I hear he's interested in Ballard…What do you make of that?" The wide grin on Gharty's face freezes and suddenly he starts getting very scared. "So if Bayliss is swinging from both sides of the plate, where's your partner?" Gharty gets defensive and to his feet while Frank remains remarkably calm. "You look kind of pissed." Then he asks Gharty to come around the table. At that moment Giardello shows his face. Immediately after he leaves Pembleton knocks the water he was drinking over the table and Gharty's paper. The lines are drawn. Regardless of his own issues Frank has made it clear that his partner's off limits when it comes to these rumors. Since by this point viewers knew Andre Braugher was planning to leave the question was raised: how will this be handled when Frank is no longer there for his partner on this?

We get a sense of this when Gharty tracks down Ballard rather frantic and is alarmed by how quickly she seems to have fallen under Tim's charms. When she says strange the first word out of Gharty's mouth is 'queer' while Ballard says 'thoughtful'. Gharty isn't wrong when he says that it's not good to get involved with another detective. (Indeed he's actually foreshadowing a controversial storyline involving Ballard in the final season.) The problem is Gharty, while right about things becoming 'part of the permanent record', might be overcorrecting. Ballard assures him its professional and he moves on. Of course he doesn't know how the episode ends with Ballard and Bayliss at an art gallery, looking at 'contemporary primitive art'. We will later learn this is their first date.

Pembleton and Bayliss are trying to figure out if an old lady driving late at night who killed a man accidentally mistook for the accelerator for the brake. Miss Nichols comes in with a lawyer and cookies to the detectives. The woman practically implores Bayliss not to send him to jail and she does seem to get away with it. They decide to revoke her license because you can't charge an 84 year old lady with murder. This is the contrast to the alternating justice system: a white lady can get away with killing an innocent man but a black man can't.

At the end of the episode Falsone and Lewis are chewing over the murder. Meldrick, rarely philosophical, is upset that somehow America can't apologize for slavery. (I seriously doubt he'd consider the fact that Juneteenth is now a federal holiday good enough.) "We had slavery in this country for over 400 years. As long as we got a memory of it, black or white, we ain't never gonna get past it." And the sad truth is, he's absolutely right.  No matter what Falsone says – and we know it's true – Lewis just refuses to hear it.

And the thing watching the final images where Patty Ridenour beats a slave and Martin Ridenour is beaten to death I just know this will happen someday. An African-American is going to use 23 and Me or some other site to research his history. Then he's going to look at his white boss or the owner of a company in his neighborhood or hell, maybe his next door neighbor. And this scenario is absolutely going to play out.

And thirty years after this episode we still won't have an idea of how to move on.

 

NOTES FROM THE BOARD

'Detective Munch': His big moment comes when he and Kellerman are looking at the car driven by the old woman who was responsible for an auto fatality "Little old lady from Pasadena," he uses the old spiel of what was one used to sell used cars.

On The DVD: The montage where the search of the Rigby home takes place is scored to the classic 'Sinnerman' recorded by the Nina Simone Group.

Mary Harron, who directed this episode, was known in 1996 for directing the classic independent film I Shot Andy Warhol. She would eventually direct episodes of OZ, The L Word and Six Feet Under. She would later  write and  directed the underground classic American Psycho, the Notorious Bettie Page, The Moth Diaries Her most famous work in the age of streaming was Alias Grace for Netflix and the horror miniseries The Expecting for Quibi.

A scene that was cut from this episode took place in the gallery where Ballard and Bayliss are. While talking with Ballard Bayliss eyes stray to a gay couple. At this point in the series the producers were still ambivalent as to how they wanted to take this story so Bayliss would be pushed to the background for the next few episodes, focusing on other characters. The show would deal with it indirectly a few more times this season but it was clear NBC was uncomfortable with it. Perhaps after greenlighting Will & Grace that fall the network would have less trouble with the idea of Bayliss exploring his sexuality and they'd deal with it more directly in the final season.

Kellerman mentions Juliana to Bayliss at one point but Tim fobs him off. They'll deal with it directly later this season but Mike's going to have more pressing problems starting in the next episode.

My Predictions for the 2026 Emmys Week 1 Conclusion: Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Et Al

 

First of all having seen all seven performances in this category, damn you Emmys for making me have to choose. I can take some measure of relief that for five of the nominees we'll be seeing them again in years to come but still, no one should have to make a choice like this.

Now on a more serious note there is a clear favorite in this category but the dark horse is gaining momentum as we speak (I'll actually be talking about that when we get to her). There are also a couple of X factors working against the favorite, some of which is beyond the scope of her work which was, as always, a master class. Still never has the phrase: "It's an honor just to be nominated' been meant with more sincerity then in this category, much as has been the case for the entire decade so far.

With that in mind let's deal with the nominees for Supporting Actress first.

 

Dale Dickey, Widow's Bay. For Playing: Rosemary, the perpetually put upon assistant at the Mayor's Office who knows a lot and will gladly tell you. Pro: Brace yourself. This is Dale Dickey's first Emmy nomination. Can you believe it? This year alone she had roles in The Hunting Wives, The Lowdown, Fallout, Bosch: Legacy and Dutton Ranch. I've marveled at her in Unbelievable, Vice Principals, she's had roles in True Blood… why did it take this long? Most of the actors in Widow's Bay have clearly been cast both on their appearances and deadpan delivery and Dickey has always been great with both. She's not as showy in her brilliance as all the other actors (its who she is) but as always she can make clear with so few words just how great a talent she is. Witness her wonderful moments during Tom's mushroom trip when she stops off at a convenience store and between flashes its clear Tom has raided the place – and she's still scratching off lottery tickets unperturbed. She's a joy to watch in this like everyone else. Con: Look Rosemary was fun during the party but come on, we all know that if someone from this category wins it's going to be the one who won the dancing competition.

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks (EXPERTS PICK). For Playing: Ava Daniels, trying to help Deborah Vance realize her legacy while striking out on her own. Pro: If you can separate the politicizing of the performer about social justice (which I can but others may not be able to) Einbinder's work in the final season of Hacks was just as magnificent as Jean Smart's final season. With the fighting between them behind it became clear that Ava was Deb's best friend as much as Deb admitted she was Ava's. And we got to see her do her usual humiliating hysterical bits all season: her preferring to take a male escort until she learned he was a magician, her trying to find a way to do her own series by stealing the salt and pepper shakers of Deb, her magnificent work in 'Montecito' where she really leaned into playing Deb's lesbian lover and making Deb uncomfortable while absolutely wanting to hit Leslie Bibb. And this was balanced perfectly by the series finale when she learned about Deb's plan to end her own life after a European vacation and spent much of it in denial and then deciding to enjoy it with all the fun she could get. Of course she tried to talk Deb out of it, but then she decided to support her – and then remarkably what brought them together in the first place – comedy – saved Deb's life for the second time. Einbinder has not gotten nearly as much respect as Smart has at the Emmys (though to be fair this has been an incredibly crowded field) and she deserves one more Emmy. Con: It's not so much her politics that may hurt her as the momentum from at least one and possibly two of the nominees in this category. She did win the Astra for Outstanding Supporting Actress earlier this week against a crowded field but she's won twice before and it came to nothing.

Janelle James, Abbott Elementary. (MY PICK). For Playing: Ava Coleman, the vice principal of Abbott Elementary, facing increasing professional challenges with her new personal life. Pro: James was stunned back in January when she managed to win in this category at the Critics Choice Awards over Einbinder who'd won the Emmy a few months earlier. I wasn't. James has been the comic spark that has kept Abbott rolling for five seasons. In her second administration (and yes, there were quite a few jokes about the White House this season) Ava did everything to show both immense professional growth while trying to ignore it. She managed to find a mall when there was a water heater break for school and then tried to ignore the attacks of parents, before working to get them back to Abbott. She engaged in another battle with her great rival over no homework, which ended disastrously. And she ended up fighting to save Abbott against her will in the season finale – and did. This was balanced by a great personal growth, not only with her colleagues (though she really doesn't want to call them friends) particularly her meddling with Janine and her increasing love for her working class boyfriend which has caused her more to put herself front and center in that relationship and even acknowledge "he's a good looking man with a good heart." I've wanted her to win since Season 1 and I think it's time. Con: This is an extremely crowded category with a lot of incredible performances. Don't take her lightly but I don't think it's happening this year.

Kate O'Flynn, Widow's Bay (DARK HORSE…AND RISING FAST). For Playing: Patricia, the town outcast trying to help the Mayor while boosting her popularity. Pro: Ever since the already classic 'Beach Reads' episode aired Kate O'Flynn has been skyrocketing in the odds for an Emmy. With good reason. For much of the first season you can tell that Patricia has spent her entire life as a doormat, believing nearly being the victim of The Boogeyman should give her cache but no one in the town thinks so. It's clear that Tom's subtle bullying has been a weight on her all her career as well. So she leans into Sunset Cocktails as a chance to help boost her. Then she ends up finding a book in her bookmobile that is clearly right out of the Hiro Murai set of things you know are lying to you. And so she manages to arrange a wonderful party, that seems to go very well, that leads to an incredible dance number, a toast where she seems to have achieved everything she ever wanted – and then of course, she learns she's been manipulated by dark forces into a leading a human sacrifice. In the episodes that follow you can tell just how ridiculous she's been taking by everybody around her and that she seems to be more upset about how badly her party went then the dark forces surrounding the town. This week she took prizes from both the Dorian Awards and the TCA (for Best Comedic Performance) and I think the momentum is shifting to her. Con: The question is if O'Flynn and Widow's Bay can overcome the sentimentality for the gorilla that is Hacks. It's a close question.

 

Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo's Got Money Troubles. For Playing: Shayenne, the single mom of a soon to be also single mom trying to get married while her old life hangs in the background. Pro: Under other circumstances I would absolutely be pulling for Pfeiffer to win in this category. For one thing her husband has been hogging the spotlight in TV for the last decade, I think she should get some of the credit for once. For another, in what is her first major TV role in her career Pfeiffer is clearly having the time of her life. Her husband has always written well for women of a certain age and Pfeiffer absolutely nails every line she says, whether trying to support her daughter for doing what she did as a teenager, trying to reinvent herself for her new churchgoing husband, having no use for Margo's father showing up after her granddaughter is borne (with good reason as it turns out) and an utter discomfort with her grandson the whole time. The season finale is magnificent for her, particularly in the courtroom where so much depends on her grandson not crying as he has done on every occasion he's been put in her arms. Throw in the fact that we get to hear her belt out 'Angel of the Morning' with Elle Fanning and so many other musical numbers and its wonderful to see her back in form. Con: We all know how unsentimental the Emmys are. But the show has been renewed for a second season so it's pretty safe to say she'll get another bite at the apple eventually.

Meg Stalter, Hacks. For Playing: Kayla, trying to hold on to her role and her own agency among increasing challenges from her father. Pro: Over the course of the series Stalter's Kayla has become Hacks secret weapon. Few character have shown more emotional growth yet while being intellectually clueless at the same time as Stalter's incredible work as Kayla. Unapologetic about everything she says or does, she is willing to do the wrong thing for the right reason every single time and she takes the fact that her father is cutting her off for denying the Schaffer name incredibly personally. The final half of the season shows Stalter at her absolute best, showing her real friendship if near sibling bond with Jimmy, helping Deb achieve her dream and in the series finale taking back what's hers with an incredibly rousing speech with Jimmy – in which they have to share a microphone. I've been pulling for Stalter being nominated for the last three seasons in this category: the fact that the Emmys finally gave it to her as a valedictory is a triumph for both her and for the Academy. Con: We all know if someone from Hacks is going to win in this category it will be Einbinder and for all her brashness in her onscreen persona I suspect Stalter is fine with that herself.

Jessica Williams, Shrinking. For Playing: Gabby, branching out into a new form of psychiatry and then experiences a setback so bad it hurts her professionally and personally. Pro: For the third consecutive season Williams has been nominated in this category for her hysterical and heartfelt work as Gabby. She has been spreading her wings throughout the third season, hoping to venture into trauma psychiatry and a better personal relationship with Derrick #2. But that led to tragedy when after weeks of helping build a relationship with a patient that was hard to get to open up that patient overdosed and she spent the last third of the season struggling to recover. Williams work has always been hysterical and she's as much the beating heart of this series as anyone else. Someday she'll win in this category. Con: But that ain't this year. Williams' misfortune is that she has been nominated in what every year in the decade has been a category filled with incredible talent and that hasn't changed in 2026. There are going to be some winners from Shrinking this year but she won't be one of them.

 

My Prediction: It's a close call and Einbinder may hold on to win but I think the Emmys might very well want to give Patricia a moment in the spotlight. O'Flynn is given a slight edge.

 

OTHER PREDICTIONS

Guest Actress in  A Comedy

I've seen all seven nominees, in part because five of them were in Hacks. I think Kaitlin Olson will finally get her moment in the Emmy sun. Sorry Betty Gilpin, I would love to see it.

 

Guest Actor in A Comedy

Michael J. Fox already won the Astra in this category. He gets this one going away.

 

For Outstanding Directing Widow's Bay gets this for the season premiere. For Outstanding Writing, Hacks gets this for the series finale. The latter seems a shoo-in considering that Hacks has won in this category twice already at the Emmys. The latter they've only won once in and let's be honest Widow's Bay is a technical masterpiece.

 

Next week I'll be dealing with Drama and the battle between The Pitt and Pluribus.

 

 

 

Emmy Watch 2026 Phase Three Conclusion: 2026 Dorian TV and TCA Awards Announced

 

We are in the final countdown of pre-Emmy Awards. This week the last two groups that give awards that are relevant to this year's Emmys announced their winners. In fact one of them did so on the same day as the Astras. (I don't think that's the reason almost no one was there.)

On Saturday GALECA gave its relatively new Dorian TV Awards for 2026. As you might expect some of the awards are more influenced by the fact that it is primarily an LGBTQ+ group but as has been the case throughout its short history, less than you might think. Here are the relevant winners:

BEST TV DRAMA: Heated Rivalry

BEST TV COMEDY: Hacks

BEST LGBTQ TV SHOW: Heated Rivalry

BEST TV MOVIE OR LIMITE SERIES: Half Man

BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE TV SHOW: Squid Game

BEST WRITTEN TV SHOW: Hacks

BEST TV PERFORMANCE – DRAMA: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus

BEST SUPPORTING TV PERFORMANCE – DRAMA: Francois Arnaud –

Heated Rivalry

BEST TV PERFORMANCE COMEDY : Jean Smart, Hacks

BEST SUPPORTING TV PERFORMANCE – COMEDY: Kate O'Flynn, Widow's Bay

BEST GENRE TV SHOW – Widow's Bay

BEST ANIMATED SHOW – South Park

MOST VISUALLY STRIKING TV SHOW (tie) Alien: Earth/ Pluribus

CAMPIEST TV SHOW: The Hunting Wives

Throw in the fact that Hannah Einbinder was given the Wilde Wit Award and it seems that Hacks and Widow's Bay got the boosts in comedy while Pluribus got a boost in drama. Personally I have give props to GALECA for recognizing shows that the Emmys didn't like Half Man and The Hunting Wives, considering how much I advocated for both in my predictions for the Emmys.

Then yesterday the Television Critics Association gave their awards for 2026. Again I will highlight the relevant awards.

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Heated Rivalry

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Widow's Bay

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: The Pitt

OUTSTANIND ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI SERIES OR SPECIALS:

Death by Lightning

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY, Kate O'Flynn, Widow's Bay

OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL SERIES: Squid Game

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ANIMATION: Long Story Short

For the record both groups also gave Outstanding Reality Show to The Traitors and both of them honored Stephen Colbert: The Dorians did so for current affairs; the TCA with late night and talk

Aside from the fact that Heated Rivalry is ineligible for Emmys we do get a sense of certain awards being locked down. The race between Hacks and Widow's Bay would appear to be tightening, though the fact the Astras also honored the final season would appear to think it still has the edge. The Pitt is more or less putting the icing on its inevitable Best Drama win.

These last two awards in my opinion make it clear that the award for Emmy in Best Drama is officially Rhea Seehorn's to lose. Keri Russell might have built some momentum at the Astras but Seehorn just snatched it back.

The biggest change is that both these awards demonstrate is in Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy. With Kate O'Flynn taking both awards from both organizations and beating Smart at the TCA, I think the momentum for her winning Best Supporting Actress has shifted away from the favorite Hannah Einbinder. We'll have to see it holds up but it's pretty clear there's an edge.

That's it for all the pre-Emmy Awards. I'll be dealing with the Emmys themselves the next three weeks. Keep watching this space.

My Predictions For the 2026 Emmys, Week 1, Part 4: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy

 

Everyone in this category has been nominated at least once by the Emmys. Three of them were nominated last year, two of them have been nominated multiple times in this category and two others are seasoned veterans who only in recent years have the Emmys started to catch up with their caliber of work. With last year's winner ineligible we will have a new winner in this category for the third straight year.

As with last year there is an overwhelming frontrunner and I'd really like to believe he'll win this year – but we were down this road last year and the exact same set of circumstances apply. That said, it's hard for me not to believe the stars are aligned.

So here are the nominees.

 

Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons. For Playing: Danny, half of a gay couple going on vacation every year. Pro: The 2020s have witnessed Hollywood's overwhelming recognition of Colman Domingo after decades. He's already won an Emmy, been nominated for 2 Oscars and has been nominated in both comedy and drama this year for roles he's already made iconic. Domingo's versatility is honestly more on display as Danny as he gets a chance to do a kind of heartfelt comedy that has been missing from the intensity that we associate him with. Four Seasons has become something of a sleeper hit in large because of Domingo's work and in the future it's the kind of role I hope to seem play more often. Con: It's the same problem he had last year, really: Domingo is the sole nominee for his show and that really does work against these nominees. But, as he is currently the frontrunner for Best Guest Actor in a Drama for his work in Euphoria, I think there's a good chance he won't go home empty handed.

Paul W. Downs, Hacks. For Playing: Jimmy a Hollywood agent dealing with a business that shifting everyday and facing his past coming back hard. Pro: It's amazing how much Jimmy has grown during the run of these series. Facing his agency's near collapse he spends as much time in the final season trying to help his two favorite clients succeed while dealing with the fact that the business he's been trying to build is suffering from boycotts from last season. In the second half of the season his old boss cut the legs out from under his agency financially and forced him and Kayla to return to their old stomping grounds and him taking a final blow by sending him to the mailroom. And yet that humiliation led to his ultimate triumph as he and Kayla managed a coup in the series finale that gave them the power we knew they were capable of having. A role that might have once seems like a mere cameo has grown to the point that people want a spinoff with him and Kayla. A great triumph. Con: The thing is Downs is also the writer and co-producer of Hacks along with his wife which means he's already gotten quite a few Emmys for writing and producing by now. Considering that Hacks is nearly assured to win Best Comedy and Best Writing for the series finale that probably means he'll be getting two Emmys anyway. He's not going away from Emmy night empty handed so he doesn't need an acting win.

 

Harrison Ford, Shrinking. (EXPERTS PICK, MY PICK) For Playing: Paul, a legendary psychiatrist facing the end of his career but perhaps a happier life. Pro: He should have won last year; all due respect to Jeff Hiller. And as always every moment watching Paul in Season 3 demonstrating that he is still capable of being the funniest man on the screen when he's working with some of the funniest people in TV history. And as he came to accept how his professional life was ended it looked like his personal life was improving. He finally married the doctor he's loved, he began to embrace a real relationship with his daughter and he showed that he was capable of being a good friend and colleague and the kind of person you need to lean on even as he's reluctant to do so. That's before you consider the fact that Ford has never won anything in his entire life and we want to hear what an acceptance speech is from Han Solo and Indiana Jones. He received the lifetime achievement award from SAG-AFTRA this year so we got a hint and he has already won Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy from the Astras. And come on, he's now so comfortable with his own history that Paul can walk into his office singing John Williams theme music and we all love it. Con: The thing is every single thing I said this year can just as easily be applied to this year. Now I'm thrilled Jeff Hiller won but I also have mentioned the Emmys lack of sentimentality. Ford deserves to win on the merits but considering so does everyone else in this category that may not be enough.

Nick Offerman, Margo's Got Money Troubles. For Playing: Jax, a former wrestler and heroin addict who comes back into the life of the daughter he left behind when she gives birth. Pro: Since there was a time that the Emmys basically chose not to nominate Offerman no matter how great his work was, I'm thrilled to see that he's double-dipping this year. (We'll get to that.) And it's good to see him doing a role that's more of a mix of comedy and drama then we've gotten as he plays a man who comes back into his daughter's life when she needs him and yet can't stop getting in his own way, either overcompensating as a father or when his failures come ending up relapsing to heroin. We also see the good in him, with his acceptance of Margo's purpose in Only Fans and being willing to help her when her mother leaves the field for a bit. He gets to play the gentle giant he hasn't quite yet managed to do on TV in a while and you see every real part of him as well as the fracturing relationship with all the women in his life, whether its his daughter and both his former loves. It's a superb performance with genuine soul. Con: I can see Offerman winning in this category eventually but I just don't see it happening this year. Margo's already been renewed for another season so we know he'll get another bite at the apple. Or maybe we'll get a second season of Death By Lightning…but one thing at a time.

Stephen Root, Widow's Bay (DARK HORSE) For Playing: Wyck, the old fisherman in Widow's Bay trying to convince the mayor that there's a curse on this town. Pro: Okay if it weren't for Ford being here I'd absolutely be pulling for Root who's been acting just as long as Ford in TV but gotten far less credit. As someone who grew up watching Newsradio and King Of The Hill and who really loved his work as 'The Raven' on Barry just a few years ago I know just how extraordinary an actor, comic, dramatic or otherwise Stephen Root. And honestly he's absolutely perfectly cast given that his last major job was in Barry a show that was just as capable of using surrealism and horror, which is Widow's Bay whole oeuvre. Refreshingly he gets to play someone whose essentially a good guy here and who is right on everything even though no one initially takes him seriously. And Root is so good at Wyck that you absolutely believe he is the kind of man who would dig up the grave of the town founder, be non-plussed said founder is still alive, have issues taking him out on the sea to drop his corpse, then deliver a monologue giving his entire backstory as a warning to what not to do – only to learn that its been completely disregarded, then give the only natural response. Root deserves to win as much as Ford does. Con: That said, the show has been renewed for a second season so he'll get another chance. And I think if he loses he won't set the theater on fire.

Michael Urie, Shrinking. For Playing: Brian, a gay man facing fatherhood while trying to mix with the friendships he's built. Pro: Let's not kid ourselves. If it weren't for one other prominent name I'd absolutely be pulling for Urie. His work as Brian is very much the comic highpoints and there's so much ego and narcissism but also a very big heart. We see it as he tries to be strong and push the surrogate of his child out of their life but can't, gets terrified in the delivery room when Ava hasn't signed the adoption papers yet but eventually does, the way his friendship with Derek and Liz has become a small joy (I love their bond) and the way he's stunned his father can be accepting of his granddaughter in a way that's never happened before. Throw in the fact its always hysterical every moment he's on screen and the wonderful recreation of a duet from Les Mis with him playing Javert that absolutely should be shown in the Emmy highlight reel and he definitely deserves to win. Con: Urie, however, is not Brian. We know like everyone else he wants his co-star and co-nominee to win in this category. And as we saw last year he was just as thrilled when Hiller won and I suspect it'll be just as great to see his reaction this year if Ford does.

 

Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary. For Playing: Gregory, a teacher moving forward professionally and personally. Pro: First of all, still pissed he didn't get nominated last year. And only slightly less irritated he has yet to notch a win in this category. Williams work as Gregory is one of the standout comedy performances of this entire show far more when he's not saying anything then when he is saying something. And he spent a lot of time saying some funny dialogue this year too particularly with his relationship with Janine. We saw it when he realize her ex-boyfriend had so much of his old stuff at Janine's place, then tried to move without saying he wanted to move. We saw as he and Janine started fighting over their trip, then broke up, and then he ended up getting drunk and partying down in a way that was just as hysterical as Janine's rage. Then they worked things out and got back together and now it's clear he's thinking of proposing in Season 6. And of course, he keeps moving forward professional while just always making the wrong moves so much of the time, and that's funny, first when he says that he could do a better job teaching Barbara's class as well as creating 'Serious Day' as a countermove to April Fools Day. He ended up becoming Vice principal achieving his professional dreams to. So could we place get around to giving him an Emmy? Con: To be clear much as I'm frustrated with the lack of recognition I really do think there's someone in this category who deserves it more. And I think Williams would be fine losing to Han Solo.

 

My Prediction: The experts think its going to happen and so do I: we're finally going to hear Harrison Ford give an exception speech.

 

Tomorrow I will wrap things up in comedy when I deal with Outstanding Supporting Actress in this category and make my own preferences known for Guest Actor and Actress as well as writing and directing.