Host and nominee Nikki Glazer had one task on last Sunday’s telecast: don’t bomb like the last host (we won’t call him out here, he’s taken enough of a beating already). With that, she didn’t! With a few nice moments including her “Timothee Chalamet”-off with Adam Sandler and a few duds as can be expected (the Conclave/Wicked mash-up “Pope-ular”), most Golden Globe hosts not named Ricky Gervais or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are mostly left reliant on what their writing team gives them. It’s all how they execute it. For that, Glazer was relaxed, doing most of the heavy lifting right off the bat and letting the categories and winners carry the rest of the event.

Sure, when it comes to television, we know what to expect given we just had an Emmys ceremony four months ago. Likewise, Shogun swept the floor and deservedly so. Jeremy Allen White and Jean Smart won their multiple Globes for their current seasons of The Bear and Hacks (a returning champion of Best Comedy/Musical Series) and Baby Reindeer reigned supreme yet again as Best Limited Series or TV Movie. The real delight of the night on the television side was getting to see Colin Farrell (former Globe winner already, but still) win for his transformative performance in The Penguin. This could be the start of more wins down the road, proving he may be a threat to win next year’s Emmys after all (though is it too soon to call?). His costar Cristin Milioti disappointingly missed her win to the monumental Jodie Foster, but at least it was to the monumental Jodie Foster for her gritty and complex work in True Detective: Night Country.

As immigrant stories, The Brutalist and Emilia Perez unsurprisingly dominated the film categories (The Brutalist winning Picture- Drama, Director for Brady Corbet, and Actor for Adrien Brody, the actor’s first ever win with this branch despite winning the Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist; Emilia Perez winning Picture- Comedy/Musical, Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldana, a surefire Oscar win incoming, Best International Film, and Best Original Song- “El Mal”). It was tight debate regarding which of the songs of Emilia Perez would emerge victorious, Selena Gomez-sung “Mi Camino” (the poppier, more alluring song) or the hard-edged “El Mal”, which gives Saldana her show-stopping and eccentrically choreographed centerpiece moment in the film. The song win paired with Saldana’s win seem to be inseparable now going forward.

Saldana is likely to sweep the rest of the season (given an Ariana Grande win or two? Perhaps at CCA?) as is Supporting Actor winner Keiran Culkin for A Real Pain. Seeing that movie during Sundance last January, Culkin was obviously a next-level performance, but how far would this tiny movie carry him? Apparently all the way. Winning Lead Actress in a Drama was Fernanda Torres, whose performance in I’m Still Here has been getting quiet raves all festival season, and was always looked at as a dark horse nomination, especially with the reliable Sony Pictures Classics campaigning her. Many thought Jolie had this in the bag, as months ago, she was the odds-on favorite for the Oscar. Now, Jolie risks the possibility of not even getting nominated for her performance as Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain’s Maria. More likely that voters just aren’t connecting with her film this season, but Torres always felt secure here, especially given a large chunk of the Golden Globes voting body is from her native Brazil.

On the animated side, Flow beat The Wild Robot for Best Animated Feature, which may just be a Globes choice, but it’s nice to see the breathtakingly beautiful and wordless Latvian cat adventure get its moment in the sun.

Three wins in particular stood out out of the film categories. Sebastian Stan beat the pundit odds to take home Best Actor-Comedy/Musical for his career-best work in A Different Man. It really needs to be discussed where Stan goes from here. Many seem to still be convinced his awards run is singled out with The Apprentice. This win may shift the tides. Will his dueling film performances split votes or will voters choose a side to get him in that tight 5th place Best Actor slot at the Oscars? Maybe SAG will decide? The BAFTAs definitely have chosen The Apprentice. Over on my end, I just don’t want Daniel Craig to lose his first chance at Oscars. Maybe we just need six nominees in Actor this year, it’s the only way I’ll be satisfied.

Demi Moore took to the stage to accept her long overdue career achievement for the unexpected-awards juggernaut, the extreme body horror feature The Substance, a film that had “absolutely zero chance at Oscar” written all over it when it debuted at Cannes, but has since become a miraculous awards darling, possibly about to make up for years of horror genre snubs from the Academy. Her speech solidified her first Academy Award nomination. We’ll see if she can win. If she does, it will be, and I’m not being hyperbolic, the coolest Oscar win in the Academy’s history.

My favorite award of the night, and Elton John’s too it seems, was Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross winning Best Original Score for Challengers. My pick for film of the year, and quite possibly the best score of the year, winning a deserved prize up against juggernauts like The Brutalist and Conclave do emphasize that this new Globes body isn’t just going to award unexpected contenders, it’s a branch that maybe has better taste now than it’s ever had before, unafraid to hand the trophy to the most deserving (mostly) rather than what will get them better ratings and awards season traction (as had been the possible case for decades before). At least the wins this year felt honest and unique, as they did last year.

I think there was another film award category presented? But it’s not coming to me. I guess Wicked won something, but perhaps I’ll just leave my Globes talk on a complimentary note.