Emmy Category Review: Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

The lineup in this category was fairly expected, and it’s a superb list. Four of these actresses are here for the last – and in three cases, first – time for these roles, while the other two are past Emmy winners returning to the field of nominees. This race is worth watching because the past two years have resulted in thrilling upsets, first with Jodie Comer for season two of Killing Eve and then with Zendaya for Euphoria. Two nominees from likely Best Drama Series winner The Crown makes things more competitive, paving the way for another potential vote split after Olivia Colman went head-to-head with Jennifer Aniston last year and neither won. Could Mj Rodriguez beat Emma Corrin, or will someone else triumph? 

I’ll try to avoid major plot details in my analysis – but if you’d like more spoiler-filled descriptions, click on the episode titles. Let’s consider each nominee… 

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Would you rather?

Because we like to share celebrity instagram photos we like there has to be a gimmick built around it. --  Impromptu reader polls. This cute image of Nicole Kidman announcing that filming has begun on Being the Ricardos is not included bin in the following poll ecause you can't "interact" with it in your imagine. But we wanted to gaze upon it anyway.

Would you rather...

• marry Emma Corrin?
• wear your own merchandise with Samuel L Jackson?
• groom with Kate Beckinsale?
• shower with Chris Lowell? 
• get a giant leg tattoo with Ricky Martin? 
• eat cake with Olivia Munn?
• try on outfits with Leslie Jordan?
• exchange naughty texts with Halle Berry?
• go parachuting with Clemens Schick?
• garden with Alan Cumming?
• do your own stunts with Sebastian Stan? 
• get wet outdoors with Matthias Schoenaerts?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide!

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"The Crown" S4: An(other) Acting Showcase

by Cláudio Alves

As a staunch antimonarchist and someone who despises Thatcher and her legacy, watching The Crown's fourth season was an oft-frustrating, sometimes fascinating, exercise. Peter Morgan and his team haven't shied away from looking at the dark side of British history and this latest series is no different. However, time constraints, an episodic structure, and attempts at historical ambivalence often result in a lackluster, superficial, occasionally rushed, experience.

Still, the production values are always immaculate, and the dramatization of the 80s features some of the best costumes the program has ever shown. Nevertheless, what always brings me back to The Crown isn't its analysis of politics, its melodrama, or pretty clothes. The show's greatest strength is its cast, with the actors excelling even when their material is lacking. When faced with some of the royal family's most tumultuous years, the performers upped their game and delivered a masterclass in screen acting…

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