BENJAMONSTER AWARDS: Outstanding Directing of a Drama Series

Today's award is Outstanding Directing of a Drama Series!

The nominees are:

BRADLEY BUECKER, 9-1-1 "Sink or Swim" (FOX)

MIMI LEDER, The Morning Show "The Interview" (Apple TV+)

SAM LEVINSON, Euphoria "And Salt the Earth Behind You" (HBO)

MARK MYLOD, Succession "This is Not for Tears" (HBO)

KEN OLIN, This is Us "So Long, Marianne" (NBC)

KEN OLIN, This is Us "Strangers" (NBC)

ALIK SAKHAROV, Ozark "All In" (Netflix)

And the Winner Is...
KEN OLIN
This is Us "So Long, Marianne" (NBC)
Ken Olin, best known for his on screen role in Thirtysomething, has directed 22 episodes of This is Us and was nominated twice in this category. His best work of the season and the best directing work of the season came in the Thanksgiving episode, which was the first one to really deal a lot with Rebecca's (Mandy Moore) memory issues. As Rebecca was in a fog wandering for a lot of the episode, the directorial work made us feel like we were in a fog. Nothing quite made sense or added up and the way the show was filmed and the way Moore was directed made it a confusing episode in the best way possible before giving us some explanation at the end in a twist ending that of course is a hallmark of This is Us. Olin did a really great job of bringing Rebecca's struggles to life while also directing nice scenes in other stories for the episode.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:
As mentioned, Olin was nominated twice. His other entry was the season premiere of This is Us which also seemed confusing at first by intention as we met so many characters we had never met before but Olin managed to make it interesting and mysterious. Mimi Leder's direction of the season finale of The Morning Show was probably the closest competitor with its high stakes style as everything came to a head. Sam Levinson's direction of the season finale of Euphoria was consistent with the high quality production of the series and even included a staged musical number. Bradley Buecker effectively directed a tsunami on 9-1-1 that could easily have come across poorly and didn't. Alik Sakharov directed a pivotal and shocking moment in an explosive season finale of Ozark. Finally, Mark Mylod did a great job directing the season finale of Succession though that was a bigger triumph in writing, which is why it won that award.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited/Anthology Series!