BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2021: Outstanding Writing of a Drama Series

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

Check out the nominees and winner from 2020!

This year's nominees are:

YAHLIN CHANG, The Handmaid's Tale "Home" (Hulu)

JON DORSEY, This is Us "Brotherly Love" (NBC)

KATORI HALL, P-Valley "Murda Night" (Starz)

JANET MOCK, STEVEN CANALS & BRAD FALCHUK, Pose "Take Me to Church" (FX)

PETER MORGAN, The Crown "War" (Netflix)

JONATHAN D. WILSON & PETER MORGAN, The Crown "Fagan" (Netflix)

MATT WOLPERT & BEN NEDEVI, For All Mankind "The Bleeding Edge" (Apple TV+)

And the Winner Is...

PETER MORGAN

The Crown "War" (Netflix)

The fourth season of The Crown was its most captivating yet thanks in large part to the Charles and Diana storyline. So the series finale with the showdown between the two polar opposites was the culmination of a season's worth of tension. None of us were in the room for the fight between the real Charles and Diana but a lot has been chronicled about their fights so Peter Morgan had to make it something that would play well as a TV episode while also honoring the reality. It was a great writing job that focused on the most essential moments of the argument. The episode also featured the end of the Margaret Thatcher reign and there was a great scene between the Prime Minister and the Queen that was another highlight between two opposites. The acting throughout the season and episode were great but acting can only get you so far if there isn't a good script on the page.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

"War" was one of two episodes of The Crown that made the nomination list. The other was the "Fagan" episode which featured tons of great material for Olivia Colman and guest star Tom Brooke. The "Home" episode of The Handmaid's Tale featured an unbelievably good monologue for Elisabeth Moss. "Take Me to Church" was a really strong and heartbreaking episode of Pose that explored so many elements of Pray Tell's life. "The Bleeding Edge" on For All Mankind expertly explored the downfall of the character of Gordo and featured some of the best writing the show has seen to date. The season finale of P-Valley took the series in some different directions and also wrapped up the strong first season very well. Finally, while the "Brotherly Love" episode of This is Us was a bit heavy-handed at times, I thought it did a very nice job of two characters having an honest conversation and the show wasn't afraid to let large swaths of the episode be that conversation.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Directing of a Limited/Anthology Series!