'Widow's Bay' won big, Mariska nailed it and Taylor Swift spoofed 'SVU': The 2026 Emmys, from every angle

What a night, eh? Emmys host Mariska Hargitay presided over an evening of laughs, tears (Noah Kahan singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" during the In Memoriam? Pass the tissues.) and Taylor Swift. To break down TV's biggest night, we enlisted our best experts — from our resident TV critic to style pros to internet culture vultures to boots-on-the-ground correspondents reporting live from the red carpet and press room.

Here's what they'll remember most from the 2026 Emmys — good and bad.

Cutest couple goes to Zendaya and Tom Holland

There's something refreshing about an A-list, box-office star who has absolutely no problem being the plus-one. Of course, when your plus-one is your wife, Zendaya, it's a pretty great gig. Tom Holland came to the Emmys on Monday night simply to support Zendaya, who was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the third and final season of Euphoria .

While she walked the red carpet solo, Holland quietly slipped inside — but once the show started, the famously low-key couple wasn't exactly hard to spot. Holland enthusiastically cheered Zendaya on when her category was announced, even though the award ultimately went to Rhea Seehorn. And throughout the night, the two seemed perfectly content, making the Emmys their own very glamorous date night.

They caught up with friends, including Ayo Edebiri, and shared a particularly sweet moment with Mark Ruffalo, laughing together before Zendaya and Holland each pulled him in for a hug. For two of the biggest movie stars in the world, they somehow still give off the energy of a couple who are just genuinely happy to be hanging out together. No grand red carpet couple moment required.

Taryn Ryder , senior entertainment reporter

Matthew Rhys was definitely the most popular celeb of the night. Are we even surprised, though? He took home two awards and was a total crowd-pleaser in the press room, where I was stationed for the night. He readily gushed over Widow's Bay executive producer and director Hiro Murai when I asked him about balancing horror and comedy and quipped about having a playful rivalry with his partner, The Diplomat star Keri Russell, who was also nominated tonight. When he was told his time was up, he genuinely seemed bummed out. He loved chatting with us, and we loved chatting with him!

Neia Balao , entertainment and lifestyle reporter

This awards season is picking up where last year's left off: Feathers are still very much the moment. They were everywhere, from neckline trims, like the pink layers on Allison Janney's black gown and the feather effect on Nicole Kidman's snowy Chanel dress, to full-length fringe, like Jaclyn Smith's seafoam number. It's a trend I'm already adding to my own cart, if I'm being honest.

Nineties fashion isn't the only thing making a comeback — the decade's hair is having its own little reunion tour, and nowhere was that clearer than during tonight's ceremony. Rachel Sennott was among a handful of attendees who went sky-high with their ponytails in a way that was pure '90s slumber party-energy. Meanwhile, Florence Pugh showed up in a spiky, piecey updo that was bold, delightfully unhinged and gave me slight prom-war flashbacks. (A cosmic force may have added some styling paste to my cart right now.) Now, the style isn't something that would work on just anybody, but Pugh obviously pulls it off.

Elsewhere on the red carpet, the throwbacks kept coming, just less obviously '90s. There were some teasing, some slicked-back buns and sleek middle parts, though Shailene Woodley's low, center ponytail had more of a 1970s cult energy. (Is there a Manson family film somewhere on the horizon that I don't know about?) However, it still tracks since the actual '90s were never just about one overarching look. The decade swung from grunge to glam to minimalism to maximalism, so it makes sense that tonight didn't settle on a single '90s archetype either.

The Emmys carpet may be blue, but this year's looks were red-hot. Host Mariska Hargitay stunned in floor-length sequins in a screaming five-alarm red that would probably make Jessica Rabbit do a double-take. Plenty more stunned in similarly bold tones, including Niecy Nash-Betts, Brooks Nader, Jessica Belkin, Cailee Spaeny, Rhea Seehorn and Jackie Tohn, while even more embraced a rich burgundy, including Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, Calista Flockhart and Cynthia Nixon, who was deemed "best dressed" by E!'s Keltie Knight early in the night for her asymmetrical textured Issey Miyake gown. The good news: You don't have to spend a bundle to channel her look.

There's been some talk on the internet lately about whether red lips are "outdated" — an argument I don't think holds up when red lips have been a look for literal centuries. The Emmys proved that a crimson mouth goes beyond any trend cycle. Cailee Spaeny and Jackie Tohn were refreshingly unafraid to go full makeup-monotone, matching their red lips to their gowns, while Dakota Fanning and Emmy Rossum used theirs as a pop of color instead. One thing that's always worked in red lipstick's favor? There are plenty of drugstore formulas that perform just as well as the high-end ones. (I should know, I have all of them!)

For those who prefer something more understated, nudes were the other lip look all over the ceremony. Odessa A'zion, Zendaya and Kristen Bell were among the stars who went the subtle route. It's also just as easy — a defined lip liner and a swipe of gloss can get you that same look without committing to a full matte neutral.

I'll never not love an outfit that's basically encrusted in gems , so it's no surprise that my favorite looks of the night were the big swings that landed, especially the sculptural gowns with 3D effects that toed the line between architecture and fashion. My top picks: Selena Gomez's Louis Vuitton dress that looked like it was constructed with stacks of gold bricks, Zendaya's custom Prada gown that literally dripped in gems and Chase Infiniti's Louis Vuitton mermaid gown that evoked a web of copper bubbles woven together. BTW, Linda Cardellini has never looked better than she does tonight in a mother-of-pearl tiled gown by Yara Shoemaker.

My favorite look of the night goes to Elle Fanning, who was nominated for Margo's Got Money Trouble s. She wore a strappy, jade-green Ralph Lauren gown with a dramatic train and delicate tassel detailing, with a muted red lip and her blond hair in loose curls. Is the energy fairy or mermaid? Either way, I love it. That sort of mint-jade green is an unexpected and underrated red carpet color that always gets my attention. And the fact that she paired it with platforms in the same jade shade instead of gold or silver is a real power move. Brava!

Well, that was a long night for Mariska Hargitay, who seemed to live an entirely new life with every costume change during her duties as Emmys host. When she arrived on the red carpet in a Jessica Rabbit-inspired red sequin gown, I thought that she couldn't possibly look any better. And then she did — in the silver strapless gown she wore to take the stage for her opening monologue. And again in black satin with gold embellishments. And then came pink sequins, followed by a black strapless gown with leather gloves.

There was her Game of Thrones look, which she was admittedly sweating through, before she changed into — what else? — another stunning sequin dress. If you're having trouble keeping up, that brings us to seven looks. There were still four more to come. Making the whole thing even more confusing — and impressive — were the drastic hair transformations between outfits. Over the course of the three-hour show, Hargitay went from mid-length beachy waves to cascading Old Hollywood curls and, ultimately, a chin-length bob. Naturally, she pulled off every version flawlessly and made the whole production look effortless. Now I'm left with two questions: What exactly was happening backstage to make all that glam possible? And has anyone checked on her styling team?

Kerry Justich , senior lifestyle reporter

Mariska Hargitay makes the case for a comedic role

Though we know and love her as the stern cop with a heart of gold, Olivia Benson, Mariska Hargitay showed that she has comedic chops too. She had me rolling on the floor with her jokes about Dick Wolf and the number of Emmys she's won for Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Zero is a number!

My personal favorite joke came during her monologue, when she referenced Nicole Kidman's iconic AMC Theaters ad — and when Kidman responded, Hargitay ordered her to "zip it, movie lady."

I also have to give a shoutout to Jalen Brunson's appearance in Hargitay's opening number. He'll also be making his comedic debut soon, when he hosts Saturday Night Live later this month.

Kelsey Weekman , senior entertainment reporter

There were predictable yet deserving wins like The Pitt , Jean Smart and Stephen Colbert, but there were also more unexpected wins than usual: Sally Field for the straight-to-streaming Netflix film Remarkably Bright Creatures, Allison Janney for The Diplomat , Tom Pelphrey for Task and Slow Horses in directing, to name a few. It's possible that vote splitting contributed to some of these surprises, especially given the many nominations for The Pitt. On this, I say competition is healthy, and an upset is always more exciting than straight-across sweep domination.

Michel Ghanem, Trust Me, I Watch Everything TV critic and writer behind TV Scholar

One such surprise became the highlight of the evening: Apple TV's word-of-mouth horror-comedy hit Widow's Bay . The entertaining series follows the mayor of a small island off the coast of New England as he tries his best to revitalize it for tourism, despite one big problem: it's haunted. Historically, the Emmys have not been kind to horror. Some of the highlights of the genre, like The Haunting of Hill House , were previously completely shut out. The infusion of comedy into Widow's Bay made it stand out as something unique, and it's also possible recent sci-fi shows like Severance helped open the door for Emmy voters to consider more fantastical options (rather than a grounded comedy like Margo's Got Money Troubles ). Widow's Bay is walking away with the most awards of the night.

It's too bad to see a show like Love Story walk away empty-handed ( DTF St. Louis was pretty much a guaranteed win after Linda Cardellini and David Harbour snagged wins last weekend at the Creative Arts ceremony for their supporting roles).

Finally, when we step back and look at the overall winning slate, a worrying pattern emerges: Not a single actor of color was awarded tonight. Hollywood, especially after 2020, made a concerted push to commission more stories at the margins and cast in a representative way. This year's wins feel like the official end of that era, in a way. Each of tonight's winners is talented — but it's a concerning trend of the kinds of shows being greenlit and highlighted more broadly, and something I'll be keeping an eye on as a critic.

Meg Stalter delivers the standout red carpet look — again

Never one to miss a chance to reference something funny on the red carpet, nominee Meg Stalter stole the pre-show by dressing up in gold and body paint to resemble an Emmy statuette.

She committed to the bit, wearing the body paint to the ceremony as well, where she cheered on costar Jean Smart as she won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. I have to wonder if the chair she's been sitting in all night has turned gold too.

In the past, Stalter has dressed as Kylie Jenner (to Paul W. Downs's Timothée Chalamet), a coffee cup and Diet Coke . I loved it when she wore a basic white tee and jeans to last year's Emmys.

Taylor Swift makes a surprise appearance (and drops some Easter eggs)

I have to apologize to everyone I scoffed at when they asked if Taylor Swift would be at the Emmys because technically she was, even though she was physically at her husband's football game, hanging out with Tom Cruise.

Swift made an appearance in a pre-taped sketch, in which she plays a detective helping the cast of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit try to figure out … well, whether Taylor Swift was coming to the Emmys. Classic conundrum.

I should have known she'd do a favor for her pal Mariska Hargitay — one of Swift's cats is named after Hargitay's iconic character, Olivia Benson, and that's a bond far stronger than marriage.

Since she can only ever be herself, Swift joked about her penchant for Easter eggs and her fans' passion for decoding them — while dropping a few herself. Does anyone know what " saccharide, Aeries, from the vineyard, north or south " means?