Friday open thread: (audio)visual Hugo finalists

As with last week, my Friday open thread prompt is about the Hugo finalists, which again I'm splitting up into subcategories. This week, it's what I've termed 'audiovisual' finalists — dramatic presentation, game, fancast, artists, and graphic story.

All finalists can be found on the Hugo Awards website.

Best Graphic Story or Comic

Bea Wolf, written by Zach Weinersmith, art by Boulet (First Second)
Saga, Vol. 11 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

Shubeik Lubeik, Deena Mohamed (Pantheon); as Your Wish Is My Command (Granta)

三体漫画：第一部 / The Three Body Problem, Part One, adapted from the novels by 刘慈欣 (Liu Cixin), written by 蔡劲 (Cai Jin),戈闻頔 (Ge Wendi), and 薄暮 (Bo Mu), art by 草祭九日东 (Caojijiuridong) (Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House)

The Witches of World War II written by Paul Cornell, art by Valeria Burzo (TKO Studios LLC)

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, art by Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott (DC Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Barbie, screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, directed by Greta Gerwig (Warner Bros. Studios)

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, screenplay by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein and Michael Gilio, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Paramount Pictures)

Nimona, screenplay by Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor, directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (Annapurna Animations)

Poor Things, screenplay by Tony McNamara, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Element Pictures)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Dave Callaham, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson (Columbia Pictures / Marvel Entertainment / Avi Arad Productions / Lord Miller / Pascal Pictures / Sony Pictures Animation)

流浪地球2 / The Wandering Earth II, based on the novel by 刘慈欣 Liu Cixin, screenplay by 杨治学 Yang Zhixue, 郭帆 / Frant Gwo, 龚格尔 Gong Geer, and 叶濡畅 Ye Ruchang, script consultant 王红卫 Wang Hongwei, directed by 郭帆 / Frant Gwo (中影创意（北京）电影有限公司 / CFC Pictures Ltd, 郭帆（北京）影业有限公司 / G!Film (Beijing) Studio Co. Ltd, 北京登峰国际文化传播有限公司 / Beijing Dengfeng International Culture Communication Co, Ltd, 中国电影股份有限公司 / China Film Co. Ltd)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Doctor Who: “The Giggle”, written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Chanya Button (Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for The BBC and Disney Branded Television)

Loki: “Glorious Purpose”, screenplay by Eric Martin, Michael Waldron and Katharyn Blair, directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Marvel / Disney+)

The Last of Us: “Long, Long Time”, written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, directed by Peter Hoar (Naughty Dog / Sony Pictures)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: “Those Old Scientists”, written by Kathryn Lyn and Bill Wolkoff, directed by Jonathan Frakes (CBS / Paramount+)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: “Subspace Rhapsody”, written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, directed by Dermott Downs (CBS / Paramount+)

Doctor Who: “Wild Blue Yonder”, written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Tom Kingsley (Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for The BBC and Disney Branded Television)

Best Game or Interactive Work

Alan Wake 2, developed by Remedy Entertainment, published by Epic Games

Baldur’s Gate 3, produced by Larian Studios
Chants of Sennaar, developed by Rundisc, published by Focus Entertainment

DREDGE, developed by Black Salt Games, published by Team17

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, produced by Nintendo

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, developed by Respawn Entertainment, published by Electronic Arts

Best Professional Artist

Micaela Alcaino

Rovina Cai

Galen Dara

Dan Dos Santos

Tristan Elwell

Alyssa Winans

Best Fancast

The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe

Hugos There, presented by Seth Heasley

Octothorpe, by John Coxon, Alison Scott, and Liz Batty
Publishing Rodeo, presented by Sunyi Dean and Scott Drakeford

科幻Fans布玛 (Science Fiction Fans Buma), production team 布玛（Buma)，刘路（Liu Lu)，刘倡（Liu Chang)

Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Marshall Ryan Maresca, Rowenna Miller, Cass Morris and Natania Barron

Best Fan Artist

​​Iain J. Clark

Sara Felix

Dante Luiz

Laya Rose

Alison Scott

España Sheriff

If you are voting this year, let me know your thoughts on the various categories (or individual works). If you're not a voter, but you have seen/heard/played/viewed some of the finalists on this list, feel free to comment on your assessment of them. Or is there anything you feel should have made the shortlist that didn't?

May TV shows

Just four shows this month (which I think reflects the changing seasons: more time spent outdoors, more time outside our own four walls, doing things with other people), but as always a broad range of genres:

Baby Reindeer, the Netflix sleeper hit of the moment, a semi-fictionalised account of a (male) wannabe comedian's experiences of stalking and sexual violence. This is quite a divisive show — almost everyone who's watched it seems to come away with a strong opinion — but in my case my reaction was positive. It's an extremely powerful depiction of trauma, well written and acted, but unfortunately was created and aired without much expectation of it gaining a large audience. This has caused predictable results — the real people it depicts (beyond the writer, who based in on his own experiences and was upfront about that) were easily identified by internet sleuths, and the whole thing became a bit of a media circus, which is unfortunate.

Blue Lights, the second season of a BBC crime drama about police recruits in contemporary Belfast, as well as the communities within which they work. In this season, the corrosive effects of fifteen years of austerity were at the heart of the show, with devastating consequences, and perhaps everything wrapped up slightly too neatly at the end, with everyone getting exactly what they deserved in a manner that slightly stretched credulity.

Shardlake, a miniseries adaptation of a historical mystery series set in Tudor England, in which the title character is sent by Thomas Cromwell to investigate the murder of another of Cromwell's agents in a monastery. The aim is not so much to find the truth, but rather to find a justification for closing the monastery and appropriating its wealth, and the murky cynicism of the early days of the Reformation is depicted brilliantly. As a murder mystery it's less compelling (I figured out the identity of the killer about halfway through the second episode), but as a portrait of the destabilising, disorienting uncertainty of that specific historical period, it does very well.

The Gathering — a Channel 4 teen drama set equally in the tower blocks and spacious upper middle class homes of Liverpool — is definitely my show of the month. Set against a backdrop of elite competitive gymnastics and the more anarchic world of parkour and freerunning, it appears initially to be a mystery show: the story of an attack on a teenage girl at a beach rave. But it's really about the relationships between parents and their teenage children, and the variety of different circumstances which can lead these teenagers to take on adult responsibilities far earlier than they should (and the mistakes and character flaws of their parents that lead them to impose such responsibilities on their children, and the damage done by the weight of parental expectation). The acting and writing is superb, Liverpool itself shines as the show's setting, and to top it all off, the soundtrack is excellent. The only small flaw is the depiction of elite gymnastics, which is just slightly off in a way that is obvious to current and former gymnasts, but probably not noticeable to others.

All good shows, all of which I'd recommend (depending on your tastes and TV viewing preferences).