The Golden Globes 2025: A Look at the Nominated Best TV Series – Drama
The Golden Globes are approaching and it’s fun to root for your favorite TV series if it is nominated. But you might also want to check out the competition. This year’s nominees in the Drama category include a political thriller, season 2 of Netflix’s most-watched series, and a spy thriller.
Golden Globes TV Series Nominees
Let’s take a closer look at this year’s Golden Globes nominees. Don’t worry, we’ll try not to spoil anything!
The Diplomat
Starring: Keri Rusell, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi
Plot: The Diplomat is a political thriller TV series starring Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, the new U.S. ambassador to the UK. She moves to the UK with her fellow diplomat and husband, Hal Wyler, played by Rufus Sewell. As she helps defuse an international crisis and forge strategic alliances on behalf of U.S. President William Rayburn, played by Michael McKean, she also has to manage her personal life, particularly her failing marriage.
Shōgun
Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai
Plot: Based on the 1975 novel of the same name, Shōgun follows the story of Pilot Major John Blackthorne (played by Cosmo Jarvis, Lady Macbeth) and Lord Toranaga (played by Hiroyuki Sanada, The Last Samurai). Blackthorne is an English sailor shipwrecked in Japan, while Toranaga is an influential “daimyo”—a feudal lord with dangerous political rivals.
Squid Game 2
Starring: Lee Jung-Jae, Wi Ha-Joon, Lee Byung-Hun
Plot: Squid Game 2 continues Seong Gi-hun’s story from Season 1. He joins the game again with the sole purpose of destroying it and holding the organizers accountable for their brutal crimes. He’s joined by the Front Man and his brother from Season 1, and new players, all with similarly financially desperate backgrounds. There’s a couple who joined because they lost all their money to a crypto scam, a gambler who wanted to turn things around only to find out his mother also joined to help him settle his debt, a transgender person who needed money to complete their gender-affirming surgery, and a father who needed money to pay for his daughter’s treatment. While the season doesn’t hit Netflix until December 26, critics were able to watch the season in advance, allowing for the nomination.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Starring: Donald Glover, Maya Erskine, Mark Eydelshteyn
Plot: This TV series is based on the 2005 film of the same name starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie although there’s a major difference. In the movie, Pitt and Jolie are a married couple without knowing they’re competing spies. In the TV series, Donald Glover as John Smith and Maya Erskine as Jane Smith are two spies working for the same organization who are paired up to live undercover as a married couple.
Slow Horses
Starring: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas
Plot: Slow Horses is a spy thriller based on the Slough House novels by Mick Herron. The series follows MI5 rejects as they work on routine administrative tasks at Slough House. These “slow horses” are agents who failed their assignments but were not fired and are constantly subjected to abuse from Jackson Lamb, played by Gary Oldman. Agents assigned to the Slough House may be past their prime, but they are often involved in important cases.
The Day of the Jackal
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch
Plot: Another TV series based on a book, The Day of the Jackal stars Eddie Redmayne as “The Jackal,” a ruthless assassin and Lashana Lynch, a tenacious MI6 agent who begins to track and investigate the “Jackal.”
As the Golden Globes draw closer, the buzz around these shows will only intensify. Place your bets (we don’t mean literally) and see who among these shows will bring home the bacon (also, not literally).
The 82nd Annual Golden Globes will air live on January 5, 2025, Sunday, at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET on CBS.
