The Emmy race for Best Drama Directing appears to belong to Pluribus, based on Gold Derby prediction data, but the lineup is unusually open: each nominated series is represented by a single contender. That means passionate support could be enough to secure a win, particularly for presumptive Best Drama Series front-runner The Pitt.
There is a also the potential for some history in this category: Salli Richardson-Whitfield is the first Black woman to be nominated twice in this category in the same year, and the third Black director overall after George Schaefer in 1966 and Paul Bogart in 1967. If she manages the win, she’d enter the Emmy record books.
Here’s our full breakdown of the directing category — presented in order of Gold Derby’s odds.
Vince Gilligan for Pluribus
Episode: “We Is Us”
Synopsis: An apocalyptic virus spreads across the world, transforming nearly everyone into a positive hive mind.
Emmy history: This is Gilligan’s 26th Emmy nomination and his fourth for directing. He is also nominated for writing and producing Pluribus, and was previously nominated for Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, The X-Files, and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. He is a four-time Emmy winner, winning twice for producing Breaking Bad, and twice for Better Call Saul Employee Training.
The series premiere establishes its tone immediately, with Gilligan meticulously depicting the virus’s origins through precise blocking and carefully composed camera angles. As the uninfected protagonist Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) struggles to comprehend what is happening around her, fluid tracking shots and overhead views follow her from the bar to the hospital. Amid the escalating chaos, a striking two-minute oner captures Carol driving home with her dead spouse, while residents continue their everyday activities in the background — an unsettling homage to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Noah Wyle for The Pitt
Episode: “12:00 P.M.”
Synopsis: The medical staff reels from the death of a beloved patient.
Emmy history: This is the 10th Emmy nomination for Wyle, and his first for directing. He is also nominated for acting and producing The Pitt, both of which he won last year, and was previously cited for his performance in ER.
This episode opens with a bang as the team tries to resuscitate beloved patient Louie, who is suffering a hemorrhage due to liver failure from alcoholism. Ultimately, their efforts are futile and his death hangs over the rest of the hour as the staff tends to other matters. The episode captures the rhythm of a hospital emergency department, where personal and professional crises unfold alongside the constant need to prepare for the next patient. Meditative and deeply poignant, it culminates with the staff honoring Louie one final time.
Saul Metzstein for Slow Horses
Episode: “Scars”
Synopsis: The team tries to stop a terrorist from orchestrating a deadly attack.
Emmy history: This is Metzstein’s second Emmy nomination. He was nominated in this category in 2024 for directing Slow Horses.
As with any Slow Horses season finale, this installment is action-packed, filled with shootouts, chase scenes, and characters with guns to their heads, as the MI5 tries to capture a terrorist. Last year, Slow Horses‘ Adam Randall beat out dual contenders from both The Pitt and the favored Severance in one of the ceremony’s bigger surprises, and this episode hits many of the same beats. “Scars” features the shows trademark blend of suspense and humor, along with quieter character moments, down to the final shot of Jackson Lamb’s (Gary Oldman) foot, which reveals a major piece of his backstory.
Salli Richardson-Whitfield for Task
Episode: “Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, There Is a River”
Synopsis: The task force and the Dark Hearts engage in a lengthy, deadly shootout.
Emmy history: This is the fifth Emmy nomination for Richardson-Whitfield, who made history being the first woman nominated twice in this category in the same year, also up for directing The Gilded Age. She is also nominated for producing The Gilded Age and was previously recognized for directing Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.
The season’s penultimate episode doesn’t waste a minute, opening with a 15-minute shootout between the FBI and a criminal biker gang, resulting in surprising deaths, including a major breakout character. Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) presses on with his investigation even after his task force is deemed unnecessary, while also trying to identify a leak within his team. The episode sustains its suspense from beginning to end, layering in escalating twists against striking nature photography and scenes set in sunlit, confined spaces. It concludes on a gripping cliffhanger that sets the stage for the finale.
Hanelle M. Culpepper for Paradise
Episode: “Exodus”
Synopsis: Alex is finally revealed and the characters try to prevent nuclear meltdown.
Emmy history: This is the first Emmy nomination for Culpepper.
This season finale is a race against time as the characters face a critical reactor meltdown that forces an emergency evacuation of the bunker with the militia approaching. We also learn that Alex is an AI quantum supercomputer that manipulates time and accurately forecasts future events. This installment does not waste a beat: there are explosions, hallucinations, and scenes involving hundreds of extras frantically trying to escape the doomed Paradise. This is all captured by intense close-ups and bird’s-eye perspective shots, and ends with the collapse of one bunker and, in a final twist, the revelation that there is another.
Salli Richardson-Whitfield for The Gilded Age
Episode: “My Mind Is Made Up”
Synopsis: George Russell’s life hangs in the balance after a shooting, and the characters prepare for a ball.
Emmy history: This is the fifth Emmy nomination for Richardson-Whitfield, who made history being the first woman nominated twice in this category in the same year, also up for directing The Gilded Age. She is also nominated for producing The Gilded Age and was previously recognized for directing Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.
The season finale unfolds much like The Pitt, opening with George Russell (Morgan Spector) fighting for his life after being wounded in a shooting. Though he survives, George insists that the upcoming ball proceed as planned while a private detective investigates the attack and competing theories emerge about who is responsible. The ball becomes a pressure cooker of personal conflict, marriage proposals, reconciliations and a pregnancy. The episode’s visual language contrasts the urgency of its opening life-or-death sequence with expansive, elegant shots of the Russell household and the glittering ball that follows.
Drama Directing
1.
2.
3.
Task
Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, There Is a River
4.
5.
The Gilded Age
My Mind Is Made Up
6.
Pluribus currently maintains a 65%-35% lead over The Pitt, according the Gold Derby experts. As noted, however, this is a category where historically anything can happen. The Television Academy directors’ branch have previously awarded the series leader over the flashy technical achievement in years past, which would favor The Pitt, but there is always room for a surprise, especially after last year’s shocker.
The Primetime Emmys will air Sept. 14 on NBC.
