The Golden Globes: A Case for Stranger Things to Beat The Crown

While many focus on the sweep La La Land accomplished at the Golden Globes, one has to wonder why The Crown took home an award over Stranger Things.

In case you have some how managed to avoid the internet for the past 24 hours or so, the Golden Globe Awards took place last night. Meryl Streep made a speech; La La Land took home a lot of awards; The Crown won for Best TV Drama…wait, what? In that stacked category, you mean to tell me that The Crown won? 

For reference, the other nominees were as follows: Game of Thrones, Westworld, This is Us, and Stranger Things. Yes, science fiction and fantasy made up over half of the nominated shows. One supposes that could be considered a win in and of itself. Sure, it’s not like the Golden Globes are the Emmys or anything, but it does represent some more respect for those two genres, right?

There, that’s all out of the way. Now, I’d like to take some time here to make the case that The Crown actually shouldn’t have won. Nor am I about to put together an impassioned defense of Game of Thrones or Westworld. Game of Thrones nailed its last two episodes but had a somewhat weak middle. Westworld had a really weird fixation on a plot twist everyone figured out within two episodes. Neither show is terrible by any stretch of the imagination, and either still would have made a better victor than The Crown.

No, I’m here to make a case for the other Netflix nominee, Stranger Things. In its eight hours, Stranger Things tells a tight, cohesive story. It’s both nostalgic in its homages to the ’80s and fresh in its interconnected storylines that all come together at the end. Perhaps most importantly, things happen in Stranger Things. Friendships become strained. Nancy grows up. So does Steve.

I say this because the ultimate sensation of The Crown is that very little actually happens in its ten hours. What does happen does so over and over again. Think about how many times Elizabeth has to change her mind or give in to something. How many times does she hear that she must give up her old self? The general response is “over and over again”.

Admittedly, The Crown looks visually stunning. Claire Foy does a wonderful job as a young queen and holds her own against John Lithgow’s Winston Churchill. But calling it the best TV drama of the year seems like a stretch when it felt like a chore to watch, at least in the opinion of yours truly.

Next: Biggest OMG Moments of the Golden Globes

Next year, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, don’t be afraid to get a little stranger.