Emmy Nominations - Writing

While I lament the lack of nomination for Pedro Pascal, I am rather pleased with some of the nominations for writing and directing.  There is no Emmy for best episode, so these categories sort of combine for that honor.  Here are the nominees that have entries on here.

Writing

"The Children"
Thwunk

Game of Thrones Season Four episodes were often about moving storylines and characters into place, while punctuating it with a big scene.  The nature of drawing source material from three books, plus the content of that material, plus original material, plus breaking ten episodes made this the natural way to plot the season.  And with a cast of a billion or so, filmed across many continents, it's not surprising we don't see some characters for a week or two.  Given that, this season didn't have as many fun character development scenes like Season Two's Arya and Tywin scenes (though Tyrion's and Jaime's in the dungeon were pretty good).  "The Children" was a great blend of plot, character, source material and original material, all pulled together to move the story forward and perhaps for the first time end on an oddly hopeful note.

"Ozymandias"
Look upon my works, ye mighty and despair

I had occasion to visit Percy Bysshe Shelley's grave in May, and it says a lot my first thoughts go to Breaking Bad.  All of Walt's work, manipulating, lying, ego puffing and violence comes crashing down as gets caught, is responsible for the death of his brother in law, is rejected by his wife and son and loses most of his money to boot.

"Felina"
Blacker than night were the eyes of Felina wicked and evil while casting a spell
...
Back in El Paso my life would be worthless, everything gone in life nothing is left 
...
Maybe tomorrow a bullet may find me
Once everyone caught up on this show, it made this episode the event of the year.  The only competition would be the "Reigns of Castamere" but that would be considered the previous "season".  Walt seeks redemption to the fullest extent possible, able to put aside his ego for a minute to ensure some fraction of his money gets to his children via uber-Heisenberg methods.  Always one to hold a grudge, Walt goes to settle some scores and in his last moments before taking the bullet that would allow him to escape before the coppers ever get him, he saves the life of the show's conscious.

"The Secret Fate of All Things"
Time is a flat circle
Featuring 1995, 2002 and 2012 storylines, the episode both closes and reopens the Reggie Ledoux/Dora Lange case.  We've sensed we're not getting the whole picture and it's confirmed when Marty and Rust go full unreliable narrator as they relate the Ledoux compound firefight.  Mixing in some rambling/Nietzsche and making as good of use as one can of different literary devices, we get as many questions as answers in these sixty minutes.  Even more impressive, this follows "Who Goes There?" and delivers after expectations are raised incredibly high.

To choose is to choose a favorite child or pizza topping.