“The Underground Railroad” (Amazon Prime)
Kyle Kaplan/Amazon Studios
“The Underground Railroad” lost the Emmy to “The Queen’s Gambit” in the category for best limited or anthology series.
Barry Jenkins, the creator behind Amazon’s “The Underground Railroad,” also lost the Emmy for best directing in a limited series to “The Queen’s Gambit.” Jenkins burst onto the filmmaking stage with his Oscar-winning movie “Moonlight” in 2016, and then directed Regina King to an Oscar with 2018’s “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
“The Underground Railroad” continues this streak of brilliant filmmaking from Jenkins, but with his lens crafting a 10-episode limited series instead of a movie. His signature ability to create wounding, gorgeous visuals and compelling character moments was on full display with this series. It was perhaps the biggest misstep of the 2021 Emmys that his work went unawarded this year.
“It’s the most worthwhile 10 episodes of TV given to us in a long while,” critic Melanie McFarland wrote in a review for Salon.