This election year has been so fraught with outsize storylines that reading the news can feel like reading a thick novel. An assassination attempt on a presidential candidate. A late-game withdrawal by a sitting president, followed by the immediate ascension of his successor.
We live, as the old expression wishes (or curses) us, in interesting times. Not to be outdone, the Emmy season is packed with its own political intrigues, and not just the kind that generally accompany jockeying for awards. As the country prepares to select a new president, it seems fitting that some of the most nominated series are fueled by the art, strategy and down-and-dirty combat of politics.
On TV, as in life, it’s a full-contact sport that requires subterfuge and constant toggling between public and private identities. In the most extreme cases, as in the most garlanded show of the year, politics are a matter of life and death. The political gamesmanship in “Shōgun” is so intricate you might need a scorecard, or at least a good recapper, to follow along.
Nominated for 26 Emmys, FX’s gorgeous drama about power struggles in feudal Japan revolves around Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Emmy nominee and series producer Hiroyuki Sanada), a brilliant warlord seen as a threat by his fellow members on the Council of Regents. Toranaga’s rival regents conceive a plot to squeeze him out of the Council and consolidate their power. But Toranaga has an ace in the hole.
His name is John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarv.