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BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2024: Outstanding Writing of a Drama Series

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

Past Awards in This Category: 2023   2022   2021   2020

This year's nominees are...

JOANNA CALO & CHRISTOPHER STORER, The Bear "Fishes" (FX/Hulu)













NATHAN FIELDER & BENNY SAFDIE, The Curse "Young Hearts" (Showtime)













KELLY GALUSKA, The Bear "The Bear" (FX/Hulu)













PETER MORGAN, The Crown "Sleep, Dearie, Sleep" (Netflix)










ALEX RUSSELL, The Bear "Forks" (FX/Hulu)











FRANCESCA SLOANE, Mr. & Mrs. Smith "Couples Therapy" (Prime Video)










GRAHAM YOST, Silo "Freedom Day" (Apple TV+)









And the Winner Is...
ALEX RUSSELL
The Bear "Forks"
The Bear had a brilliant second season and the best episode of that second season was "Forks." I wasn't totally sold on Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Richie in the first season but the show did a lot of work to give him more depth and then gave him a spectacular showcase with this episode. What was most impressive with the writing was how they managed to fill the entire story in one, short-ish episode. We saw Richie struggling to fit into the high-end restaurant life and slowly win over and be won over by his colleagues over the course of the episode. Yes, Moss-Bachrach's performance played a big role but this episode was so expertly planned out and timed and that's a testament to the writing.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:
"Forks" was one of three episodes of The Bear in this category. The famous holiday episode "Fishes" and the season finale "The Bear" were also excellent episodes that were the The Bear's patented mix of drama, character development and frenetic and exhausting scenes. Among non-The Bear contenders, I thought the series finale of The Crown wrapped up the series nicely after an uneven season with good poignant moments. The pilot episode of Silo had so much plot packed in it and it handled it well. The penultimate episode of The Curse had some spectacularly awkward dialogue scenes. Finally, the "Couples Therapy" episode of Mr. & Mrs. Smith had wonderful dialogue for Donald Glover, Maya Erskine and guest star Sarah Paulson.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Writing of a Comedy Series!
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