BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2021: Outstanding Directing of a Drama Series

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

Check out the nominees and winner from 2020!

This year's nominees are:

KARENA EVANS, P-Valley "Perpetratin'" (Starz)

LIZ GARBUS, The Handmaid's Tale "The Wilderness" (Hulu)

LUCA GUADAGNINO, We Are Who We Are "Right Here, Right Now #8 and Last" (HBO)

JESSICA HOBBS, The Crown "War" (Netflix)

SERGIO MIMICA-GEZZAN, For All Mankind "The Grey" (Apple TV+)

JANET MOCK, Pose "Take Me to Church" (FX)

TIM VAN PATTEN, Perry Mason "Chapter 1" (HBO)

And the Winner Is...

LIZ GARBUS

The Handmaid's Tale "The Wilderness" (Hulu)

The season finale of The Handmaid's Tale was not just a strong end to the season but there were elements in it that were satisfying for fans who have been watching for four seasons. (SPOILERS AHEAD). The final scene where June and the handmaids beat the Commander to death was an extremely well directed scene. The Handmaid's Tale has always focused on extreme close-ups and the death scene that mostly focused on the perspective of the Commander was a great choice. Also, I'm not sure if this was the director or not, but the decision to bring back "You Don't Own Me" from the first episode credits was a brilliant one as well. The Handmaid's Tale can sometimes veer a little too far into torture elements but this was a really satisfying and different scene compared to all the others.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

A couple of these nominees also received writing nominations because they were the best episodes of the season of their respective shows. That includes my winner for writing, the season finale of The Crown which had its expert script aided by great direction especially during the major showdown between Charles and Diana. "Take Me to Church" on Pose put together some great musical numbers and captured the ups and downs of small town life for someone like Billy Porter's character. The finale of We Are Who We Are (and the whole series really) always gave the scenes a chance to breathe for maximum effect. The season finale of For All Mankind was probably the closest to beat Handmaid's for the win with a really ambitious effort. Finally, the openings of Perry Mason and P-Valley established the visuals for the show and also brought us into a very specific world with a very specific directorial vision.