“The Good Place”
Episode: “Janet(s)”And ... scene:Trapped in afterlife assistant Janet’s
void, Eleanor (Kristen Bell) begins to lose sight of who
she is, until Chidi (William Jackson Harper) brings her
back to herself with a kiss.Why this moment?“Mike [Schur, showrunner] was all
about, ‘This shouldn’t be a gimmick,’ ” says Josh Siegal,
who shares writing credits with Dylan Morgan. “So, if
we’ve done our jobs right, this is the scene where things
go from tricky weirdness and jokes to meaningful.”
Adds Morgan, “Having Chidi say his feelings to Eleanor
... wraps up all the ways the episode is a visual meta-
phor about identity.”“PEN15”
Episode: “Anna Ishii-Peters”And ... scene:Middle schooler Maya (Maya Erskine)
grows sad and jealous when her family lavishes atten-
tion on best friend Anna, and the two split, just as
Anna learns her parents will divorce.Why this moment?“Even though someone is your best
friend, you might not see what that person is going
through, which is why Anna’s parents telling her
they’re getting a divorce is 10 times more difficult,” says
writer and costar Erskine, co-nominated with AnnaColleen HayesNBCS8
T HE ENVELOPE LOS ANGELES TIMES THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019
THE ENVELOPE latimes.com/envelope
“Russian Doll”
Episode: “Nothing in
This World Is Easy”And ... scene:Nadia (Natasha Lyonne), who dies and
returns throughout the series, is killed by a car in the
first episode, then comes back to the party she just left.Why this scene?“We were like, ‘This is such a baller way
to start your show,’ ” says Leslye Headland, who wrote
the teleplay and story; Lyonne and Amy Poehler also are
nominated for story. “I love that her one redeeming
quality of wanting to find her cat is what gets her hit by
a car. So, you set the audience up for this being an unex-
pected show.”“Russian Doll”
Episode: “A Warm Body”And ... scene:Nadia (Lyonne) has a deep conversation
with Shifra (Tami Sagher), trying to figure out why
she’s trapped in this death/birth cycle.Why this moment?“With Shifra, she finds another
difficult woman about her age but who’s very into or-
ganized religion,” says writer Allison Silverman.
“There’s a lot of friction. Nadia has asked Shifra to pray
for her, and the translation of the prayer is ‘angels are
all around you,’ which sets up this idea that we are all
connected, and that even the connection of strangers is
part of her salvation.”“Veep”
Episode: “Veep”And ... scene:Presidential hopeful Selina (Julia Louis-
Dreyfus) visits campaign operative Ben (Kevin Dunn)after his heart attack, and he persuades her to move
forward without him.Why this moment?For the series finale, writer and
showrunner David Mandel says he “cribbed a little” from
“The Godfather” in creating the pep talk that gave
Selina her renewed energy. “She hits her low, then steels
herself for what’s next,” he says. “She emerges recharged
and invigorated and confronts [former lover/political
opponent] Tom James’ chief of staff, who he’s having an
affair with, and tears that woman apart — and then
we’re off to the races.”KEY SCENESTHAT ONE INSTANT
WHEN IT ALL COMES
TOGETHER SO RIGHT
An entire Emmy win can be based on a
single scene, a critical moment that
turns a TV series from an entertaining
romp or thrill ride into, well, art. But
where is that moment in the Emmy-
nominated comedy and drama episodes
for 2019? Let’s get some more words from
some of their writers ...
NetflixNetflixColleen HayesHBOBy Randee DawnCOMEDY