Game of Thrones Emmy submission snubs

“The Bells” for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

HBO put forward three episodes for consideration in this category:

• “The Iron Throne.” Directed by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
• “The Last Of The Starks.” Directed by David Nutter
• “The Long Night.” Directed by Miguel Sapochnik

I get what they’re doing here; they want the three directors who worked on the season represented. But I don’t think they made the right picks. While there’s some very well-directed stuff in “The Iron Throne,” particularly Daenerys’ death scene, I just can’t get past the wild tonal swing in the middle, which was just as much a directing blunder as a writing one.

“The Last of the Starks” suffers from a similar issue; the bulk of the episode is slow and steady — I liked the funeral scene and the feast scene — but after Daenerys heads south, events happen so quickly there’s no time for anything to sink in or take on weight.

And also Rhaegal’s death scene is still nonsense. Again, these are mostly writing problems, but I’m not sure why HBO would submit this episode for Nutter when the much cleaner, more enjoyable “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is left off the list.

And then there’s “The Long Night,” which presents a problem. We’ve heard a lot about how hard everyone worked to make this episode happen, but does that matter when it’s so hard to see? It’s a shame, because I have no doubt that the cast and crew put their blood, sweat and tears into creating the Battle of Winterfell, but the darkness can’t be overlooked.

I’d argue that Miguel Sapochnik’s other season 8 effort, “The Bells,” was a lot stronger from a directorial standpoint. You could see everything that was going on, for one, and even if I had problems with Daenerys’ sudden heel turn, the sack of King’s Landing was horrifying and thrilling.

Before signing off, I just want to clarify that I don’t know how how these submission decisions were made. I don’t know if they come directly from Benioff and Weiss, or if it’s an HBO marketing person, or something else. I do know that I wish different decisions had been made. What do you think?

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