Yahoo News Can ‘The White Lotus’ Compete Against the Drama Titans in Emmy Craft Categories?
The good news for HBO’s critically acclaimed “The White Lotus” is that it grabbed 11 Emmy craft nominations, second only to HBO’s “The Last of Us,” which led with 12. The bad news for “The White Lotus,” which took home five craft wins last season, is that it switched from Best Anthology to Best Drama for Season 2’s transition from Hawaii to Sicily. Now it goes head to head with contemporary rivals “Succession” (HBO), “The Last of Us,” and “Wednesday” (Netflix).
To its credit, Mike White’s exotic resort hotel black comedy successfully pivoted from money to sex in Season 2 with pretty much a new ensemble cast. While its Emmy wins the first time out were primarily in the anthology category (casting, editing, Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s original score, and sound mixing), it additionally won for de Veer’s main title theme music.
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This season “White Lotus” scored noms for casting, contemporary costumes (“That’s Amore”), editing (“Abductions” and “Arrivederci”), contemporary hairstyling (“Abductions”), main title design, contemporary non-prosthetic makeup (“That’s Amore”), original score (de Veer’s “In the Sandbox”), music supervision, contemporary production design (“Ciao”), and sound mixing (“Arrivederci”).
The series continues its assault on wealth and privilege in Season 2 but with more visual opulence. As IndieWire’s Sarah Shachat points out, the season hits its stride with the sly operatic twist in “That’s Amore.” This competes for contemporary costumes and non-prosthetic makeup. However, the final two episodes, “Abductions” and “Arrivederci,” are the high points and are represented by contemporary costumes, editing, contemporary hairstyling, and sound mixing.
Looking at last year’s wins, you’d expect “The White Lotus” to likely be competitive again in casting, editing, score, and sound mixing. This is bolstered by this season’s new noms for contemporary costumes, contemporary hairstyling, and contemporary non-prosthetic makeup.
However, the prospects look much more daunting when stacked up against these favorites:
Casting: There’s the heavily favored “Succession,” with its great ensemble team returning for its final season, and the buzzy “The Last of Us,” led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
Contemporary Costumes: “Wednesday,” the popular comedy horror series from Tim Burton, starring Emmy-nominated Jenna Ortega, is the favorite for Oscar-winning costume designer Coleen Atwood and co-costume designer Mark Sutherland. Yet it’s nice “Succession” gets a breakthrough nom for costume designer Michelle Matland (“Church and State”).
Editing: “Succession” leads the pack with three nominations apiece for editors Jane Rizzo (“America Decides”), Bill Henry (“Connor’s Wedding”), and Ken Eluto (“With Open Eyes,” the series finale and favorite).
Contemporary Hairstyling: “The Last of Us” is the favorite for its poignant flashback love story (“Long, Long Time”) between survivalists Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett).
Contemporary Non-Prosthetic Makeup: The favorites here are the “Star Trek: Picard” finale (“Võx”) “Wednesday” (“Woe What a Night”), and “The Last of Us” (“Long, Long Night”).
Original Score: Composer Nicholas Britell is the heavy favorite to win his first original score Emmy for the final season of “Succession” (“Connor’s Wedding”).
Sound Mixing: “The Last of Us” (“When You’re Lost in the Darkness”) is the favorite here, but there’s competition from “Stranger Things” (“The Piggyback”) and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” finale (“The Testi-Roastal”).
Best Drama: The competition is now tougher for “The White Lotus,” as it becomes an underdog against the “Succession” behemoth and the horror-infused stylization of “The Last of Us” and “Wednesday.”
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