This yr’s Emmy Awards, airing Sept. 14 on CBS, are set to shine a highlight on 25 completely different classes in the principle broadcast. This enterprise may take over three hours. However it might take a lot, for much longer to honor each nice scene, efficiency and quirky coincidence to look on TV within the final yr. There are such a lot of exhibits and so some ways to be compelled (and typically repelled) by their content material.
And so, cue the trumpets! Right here, The Envelope presents its personal, deeply subjective awards honoring the best moments in tv in the course of the 2024-25 season — a minimum of people who received’t get their correct recognition on the massive present. Welcome to the 2025 Envy Awards!
Most Cracking Use of an Easter Egg: ‘The Gorge’
Anya Taylor-Pleasure and Miles Teller in “The Gorge.”
(Laura Radford / Apple TV+)
A hidden in-joke in a film or TV sequence is one factor; burying two slickly executed Easter eggs out of your stars’ earlier hits takes issues to a different stage. Within the Emmy-nominated “The Gorge” (Apple TV+), Anya Taylor-Pleasure and Miles Teller play assassins slowly attending to know one another remotely, and spend time sharing their hobbies in a montage which may spark some déjà vu in followers of the actors. First, they’re proven taking part in chess throughout an abyss — a transparent shoutout to Taylor-Pleasure’s Emmy-winning 2020 restricted sequence “The Queen’s Gambit.” Seconds later they’re banging makeshift drums at one another — an equally clear nod to Teller’s Oscar-winning 2014 movie, “Whiplash.” Coincidence? We expect not — this one was executed as easily as a success man’s bullet fired right into a mutant monster.
Most Thrilling Use of a Weapon in an Elevator: ‘Squid Recreation’
Park Gyu-young in “Squid Recreation.”
(Dong-won Han / No Ju-han/ Netflix)
Who knew weapons with hair triggers may very well be so shockingly deadly in elevators? OK, possibly everybody. However there was robust competitors this yr on this class. In Apple TV+’s Emmy-nominated “Severance,” Mark (Adam Scott) holds a gun on Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) — after which whoops! it discharges when he shifts between outie and innie, killing the menacing supervisor. However in “Squid Recreation” (Netflix), No-eul (Park Gyu-young) attracts out the stress whereas crawling towards an neglected firearm left in an govt elevator — and her last photographs save her life. That prolonged second of suspense provides her the killing edge on this class.
Excellent Use of Misdirection in a New Collection: ‘Dept. Q’
Matthew Goode in “Dept. Q.”
(Justin Downing / Netflix)
It may be exhausting to shock TV audiences as of late, however the Emmy-nominated “Dept. Q” (Netflix) shocked audiences twice in its pilot by means of intelligent modifying. Within the opening moments, a shooter springs upon authorities surveying a criminal offense scene with nearly supernatural velocity, catching not simply the police but in addition the viewers off guard. However the actual shock includes Merritt (Chloe Pirrie), a prickly prosecutor who appears primed to staff up with the surly, wounded Det. Morck (Matthew Goode) to unravel crimes. However — spoiler alert — Merritt’s scenes are literally flashbacks, and he or she’s the sequence’ sufferer, lacking for 4 years. That’s not only a twist within the story, that’s a twist in the entire style.
Greatest Answer That includes a Math Savant Spy: ‘Shetland’
Jacob Ferguson, left, and Sarah MacGillivray in “Shetland.”
(BritBox)
Nerdy math varieties multiplied on this yr’s lineup, although no character precisely match the stereotypical picture of a poindexter. Apple TV+’s “Prime Goal” options Edward (Leo Woodall), a good-looking college pupil who received’t look you within the eye however discovers {that a} head for figures can land you in a world conspiracy — and put your life at risk. In the meantime, the overlooked-but-fantastic BritBox sequence “Shetland” additionally mixed a math genius and a world spy ring with the homicide of Annie Bett (Sarah MacGillivray). Each deserve credit score for elevating the geek in us all, however “Shetland” takes the win by exhibiting Bett passing on her numbers know-how to her son, calming him whereas they’re in the midst of a secret nighttime investigation.
Ickiest Relationship: ‘American Horror Tales’
Victor Garber in “American Horror Tales.”
(FX)
Blame “Recreation of Thrones” (HBO), which took the taboo of incest to intellectual, Emmy-winning TV a number of years in the past and opened the door to many extra WTF moments across the dial. This yr, not solely did “Thrones” prequel “Home of the Dragon” proceed the theme with an episode the place Daemon (Matthew Smith) desires of getting intercourse along with his mother, however the Emmy-winning “The White Lotus” retains issues within the household as Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) discovers simply how a lot of a individuals pleaser his youthful bro, Lochlan (Sam Nivola), is. FX’s “American Horror Tales” went one icky step additional, although, as David (Victor Garber) is turned on by his personal clone. The pair around the bases collectively and convey new that means to “self-love.”
