Column: Are TV dramas ... OK? The Emmys nod to cynical visions of a world beyond our control
LA TimesIt would be nice to view the Emmys as a moment of escapist fun. In “Squid Game,” “Severance,” “Stranger Things” and “Yellowjackets,” the protagonists are trapped by outside forces greater than themselves: a lethal economic system embodied by a game; a mind-altering corporate system embodied by a terrible office space experiment; an alternate universe controlled by a lab-created demon; the possibly possessed wilderness in the wake of a plane crash. But as “The West Wing” gave way to “The Sopranos,” award-winning television took a darker turn, leaving us in recent years with the nakedly vicious power struggles of “Breaking Bad,” “Game of Thrones” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Kevin Alves and Sophie Nélisse during a bleak moment on “Yellowjackets.” Even in that context, this year’s nominee list is alarming, though perhaps not surprising. “Squid Game’s” horrific examination of poverty and capitalism; “Severance’s” chilling metaphor for the increasing demands of the American workplace; the growing strength of an alternate universe literally called the Upside Down in “Stranger Things”; the perils of addiction ; and the corrupt nature of the 1% — this year’s Emmy nominees all cut far closer to the bone than “The Sopranos” or “Breaking Bad” or “Game of Thrones” ever did. “‘Don’t come at me with this fairy-tale thing about right and wrong, and that those who cheat get punished,’” Linney said, mimicking her character’s lack of contrition in a recent Times interview.
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