AFT Awards: Best Directing for a Drama Series

This is the thirteenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Television Awards, my personal choices for the best in television during the 2014-2015 season. Finalists and semi-finalists are included to recognize more of the impressive work done on television today. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.

Best Directing for a Drama Series

Last year’s nominees:
Pilot (Almost Human), Granite State (Breaking Bad), All Shot to Hell (Justified), 4C (Person of Interest), You Are My Sunshine (Sons of Anarchy)

Emmy nominees: Eldorado (Boardwalk Empire), Mother’s Mercy (Game of Thrones), Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken (Game of Thrones), From A to B and Back Again (Homeland), Method and Madness (The Knick)

Semi-finalists: Arms of Mine (12 Monkeys), Gladys (The Leftovers), Guest (The Leftovers), Hardhome (Game of Thrones), Main Justice (The Newsroom), May God Bless and Keep You Always (Parenthood), Mother's Mercy (Game of Thrones), Pilot (12 Monkeys), Pilot (The Flash), Run (The Newsroom), S U C K (Ray Donovan), Sunny (Ray Donovan), The Captain (Ray Donovan), The Forecast (Mad Men)

Finalists: Fast Enough (The Flash), Certain Agony of the Battlefield (Orphan Black), Tribal (Banshee), Episode 9 (The Affair), Collateral (Justified)

The nominees:

If-Then-Else (Person of Interest)
Five-O (Better Call Saul)
Episode 7 (The Affair)
Rakshasa (The Bridge)

Format was key in the CBS procedural that showed multiple variations of what could happen in the most exciting and gripping way. AMC’s freshman drama filled in a very important backstory in dramatic fashion. Showtime moved its show along with blistering honesty, and FX’s short-lived drama had its most action-packed and impactful episode yet.

The winner:

The Garveys at their Best (The Leftovers) was an utterly devastating penultimate hour of the rapture drama that provided a heart-wrenching flashback to fill in all the important backstory at just the right moment.

Next up: Best Writing for a Drama Series