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BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2023: Outstanding Directing of a Drama Series

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

Past Awards in This Category: 2022   2021   2020

This year's nominees are...

PETER HOAR, The Last of Us "Long, Long Time" (HBO)











NATALIA LEITE, The Handmaid's Tale "No Man's Land" (Hulu)













CRAIG MAZIN, The Last of Us "When You're Lost in the Darkness" (HBO)













MARK MYLOD, Succession "Connor's Wedding" (HBO)











ANDRIJ PAREKH, Succession "America Decides" (HBO)













WENDY STANZLER, For All Mankind "Happy Valley" (Apple TV+)













CHRISTOPHER STORER, The Bear "Review" (FX/Hulu)











And the Winner Is...
CHRISTOPHER STORER
The Bear "Review" (FX/Hulu)
It's hard to go up against all-timers with "Long, Long Time" and "Connor's Wedding" but the "Review" episode of The Bear was such a feat in directing. The penultimate episode ran at a very, very crisp 18 minutes (unheard of for a streaming show) and was done in a single shot. As the crew prepares to open their shop, chaos unfolds in the kitchen. The episode packed so much into its 18 minutes and it was so much more enjoyable than an overwrought length for an episode (I'm looking at you, Ted Lasso). Anytime things are done in one shot, it is always impressive and you know the work that went in to making it happen but it's so fun to watch and thing about all the mechanisms required to make it work. Christopher Storer did very impressive work on this episode.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:
There were two entries each from The Last of Us and Succession. I've already talked a fair amount about the two episodes mentioned above but they were top to bottom excellent, including direction. The pilot of The Last of Us was very impressive as well with very tense scenes while the "America Decides" episode of Succession was terrifying in an entirely different way and Andrij Parekh really did a nice job of helping us feel the chaos that was unfolding. Natalia Leite had some beautiful shots for the "No Man's Land" episode of The Handmaid's Tale while the ambitious "Happy Valley" episode of For All Mankind showed us a literal space race.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Directing of a Comedy Series!

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