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Performer of the Week: Neil Patrick Harris
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE PERFORMER | Neil Patrick Harris
THE SHOW | Tony Awards
THE AIRDATE | June 9, 2013
As host of Broadway’s biggest night, Neil Patrick Harris took our breath away without ever losing his.
From the moment the show started, we knew we were in for a treat, but we never could have imagined the impeccably delivered and stamina-testing opening number that was to follow. He jumped through a hoop. He climbed a giant statuette. He did it all. Never pausing for more than a few seconds, Harris sang and danced his heart out (at one point while being hoisted by Bring It On cheerleaders!) with so much dynamic enthusiasm and power that it radiated out from the screen — and left us gasping for him.
As if that wasn’t enough, he performed a magic trick, sprinting from the stage to the back of theater in seconds — we’re still trying to figure that one out — and even imbued heartfelt emotion into a verse reaching out to all the theater-loving kids out there. (When he said, “We were that kid,” you knew he meant it.)
And it only got better from there. A clever bit about Broadway vets from recently canceled TV shows, featuring Megan Hilty (Smash), Andrew Rannells (The New Normal) and Laura Benanti (Go On), delighted, and as both a performer and a producer, multihyphenate Harris deserves some credit for that.
Then, for the crème de la crème, the host delivered a wrap-up rap about the night’s big winners and moments with help from Broadway star Audra McDonald. It’s become something of a tradition for Harris to close out the show with Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) and Tommy Kail’s on-the-fly written words, but he still impresses every time he does so.
Performer of the Week: Thrones’ Michelle Fairley
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE PERFORMER | Michelle Fairley
THE SHOW | Game of Thrones
THE EPISODE | “The Rains of Castamere”
THE AIRDATE | June 2, 2013
Over the past three seasons, portrayer Michelle Fairley has played each new layer of Catelyn’s despair (widowhood, war, the loss of home and family) like another heavy cloak flung over Lady Stark’s highborn shoulders.
So on the occasion of Edmure’s make-peace nuptials, we welcomed the opportunity to see Fairley play small degrees of relief. With Walder Frey’s ring kissed and Robb once more seeking his mother’s advice, the actress allowed her character to lose a little of her long-standing dread. She smiled. She chatted up Roose Bolton. She even allowed herself a happy recollection of her own wedding night with Ned. Catelyn couldn’t forget that there was still a war to fight, Fairley’s subtle shift said, but she was beginning to think that Robb might just win it.
Of course, that was the exact moment that everything went south for the Starks – and Fairley was glorious in her character’s descent.
With an arrow lodged in her torso, Catelyn resolutely held a knife to Frey’s wife’s throat and demanded an honorable trade: the girl’s life for Robb’s. Fairley’s angry tears made Cat’s desperate diplomacy so hard to watch, especially as she urged her dying son to walk away. And when Bolton stepped in to finish the King in the North, Fairley’s anguished scream made us feel like we’d taken a dagger to the gut.
Fairley said nothing – but communicated everything – as her dead-eyed character matter-of-factly cut Lady Frey’s throat and then didn’t even fight as a Frey loyalist did the same to her. Rest in peace, Catelyn. If you had to go, at least you did so in Fairley’s talented hands.
HONORABLE MENTION | Veep‘s Tony Hale, who, as Vice President Selina Meyer’s primary lackey Gary, walks a fine line between pitiful sycophant and the one person who truly understands the insecurities and outbursts of America’s second most-powerful person. In Sunday’s installment, as Gary independently found a private waste-management firm to remove Selina’s trash during a government shutdown, Hale managed to play both hapless (his high-pitched squeal upon seeing a rat had the Secret Service seeking out a frightened woman) and cutthroat (he coerced White House aide Jonah to help him pick through foul rubbish until Selina’s incriminating — yet never specified — garbage could be repossessed). Somehow, Hale repeatedly served as the butt of the joke and remained a character whom it was impossible to root against.
TVLine’s Performer of the Week: Hugh Dancy
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE PERFORMER | Hugh Dancy
THE SHOW | Hannibal
THE EPISODE | “Buffet Froid”
THE AIRDATE | May 30, 2013
It’s tough to pull focus from a series’ titular character, especially when that character is a cannibalistic sociopath who views murder as the highest art form. But in Thursday’s episode, Hannibal’s exploits took a back seat to Hugh Dancy’s portrayal of the killer’s fragile pawn, Will Graham.
The genius-as-prickly-recluse thing has been done before; Hugh Laurie as Gregory House instantly comes to mind. But Will has none of Dr. House’s swagger or bravado to protect him, and Dancy’s vulnerability in the quirky role makes the socially awkward profiler an endearing – and intriguing — character.
When Will is under duress, as he was on Thursday, Dancy is incandescent. He filled the episode with a frantic energy as Will feared he was going insane (but unknowingly suffered from encephalitis). Each time Graham’s mind took another disturbing detour, the actor conveyed a new level of freaked-out. His eyes darted. He paced. He pleaded with Hannibal for answers. And by the time Will shouted his name, the time and his location in a vain attempt to root himself in reality, Dancy had elegantly worked his character into a panic nearly as scary as Dr. Lecter himself.
HONORABLE MENTION | Mad Men‘s January Jones
The real Betty is back, and January Jones is on fire. No longer shackled to fat suits and Betty’s crumbled self-esteem, Jones played the skinny former Mrs. Draper with gusto on Sunday. Whether she was coyly courting an admirer, proudly singing a goofy song at Bobby’s camp or delivering a perfect post-coital send-up of Don, Jones shone with Betty’s newly regained confidence. Here’s hoping the actress gets more opportunities to strut Betty’s slimmed-down stuff in the remainder of the season.
Performer of the Week: Tatiana Maslany
THE PERFORMER | Tatiana Maslany
THE SHOW | Orphan Black
THE EPISODE | “Entangled Bank”
THE AIRDATE | May 18, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | Throughout Orphan Black‘s freshman run, Tatiana Maslany’s work has been as mind-blowing as the show’s concept: A young woman whose life is in shambles witnesses her doppelgänger committing suicide on a train platform, assumes the dead woman’s police-detective identity and discovers she’s one in a series of at least nine human clones (another of whom is attempting to kill off the entire line).
During the course of “Entangled Bank,” Maslany deftly and distinctly brought to life four different characters going through arcs that were respectively hilarious, heartbreaking, romantic and suspenseful: Uptight soccer mom Alison; psychotic zealot Helena; bisexual science geek Cosima; and tough-gal heroine Sarah (who at one point had to pass herself off as dead cop Beth).
In Maslany’s hands, Alison has been the portrait of prim, suburban conformity — with a hilarious undercurrent of barely suppressed rage. In “Entangled Bank,” we finally saw the character come unravelled: Reeling from her decision to seek a divorce, stressed from keeping her clone status a secret, and suspecting that her bestie neighbor Aynesley might be her “observer,” Alison wound up ditching her daughter’s figure-skating practice, sharing a joint with Aynesley’s dolt husband and then hilariously seducing him in his minivan. When Maslany growled, “I bet you could bounce me like a ball,” you could sense a season’s worth of deeply felt tension on the brink of release. And later, as Alison drove home belting out Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch,” there was a mixture of joy at having decided not to “give an eff” and terror at not knowing how her future would look in the morning. (Just for good measure, we followed up with an Alison-Aynesley slugfest in the middle of their picturesque street — complete with a head to the steering wheel and a car door to the torso. Ouch! And LOL, too.)
Equally mesmerizing was Maslany’s turn as the unhinged Ukranian Helena, who discovered that Sarah, the clone she just can’t kill, has a biological daughter named Kira. Watching Helena in her shipyard hideout, sniffing Sarah’s jacket and reading Kira’s letters to “mommy,” you knew the hour was headed for something dark and derangerd — and sure enough, Helena lured Kira out the door and began to abscond with her. But a funny thing happened on the way to Helena’s creepy keeper: Little Kira sensed something broken in her mother’s “twin” and gave her a hug while whispering, “Helena, what happened to you?” The sudden jolt of being treated like a human being — and not as a programmed assassin/angel of death — opened a tidal wave of emotion, leaving Helena no choice but to let Kira run from their alleyway hiding place toward her screaming mother. Alas, as Kira ran directly into the path of a car, we saw Maslany capture Sarah’s abject horror and shock, as well as Helena’s sense of desperation and guilt.
If this episode doesn’t put Maslany on the Emmy shortlist for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, then nobody in a genre series is ever going to stand a chance.
TVLine’s Performer of the Week: Nikita’s Maggie Q
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE PERFORMER | Maggie Q
THE SHOW | Nikita
THE EPISODE | “Til Death Do Us Part”
THE AIRDATE | May 17, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | Maggie Q was tasked with a difficult job in Nikita‘s season ender: to portray her typically tough-as-nails heroine as she fluctuated from hopeless to hopefulness then back again a few dozen times — and did she ever deliver. From forcing down heartache after bidding a subtle so long to her Division family to accepting Michael and Alex’s assistance against Amanda to being wrongfully implicated in the President’s assassination, the actress effortlessly kept viewers riveted with every emotional choice
The actress was never more stunning than in the episode’s final moments. Having just discovered that she was at the center of a nationwide manhunt, Nikita vowed to leave her friends in peace. “I’m putting you all in the line of fire,” she confessed. Though they claimed otherwise, Q’s meek smile said it all: Nikita had succumbed to the hopelessness. And that’s why the last shot of the installment found a tearful Nikita alone and on the run.
At first, all that appeared to be left was the shell of the strong and stalwart leading lady Q spent three seasons creating. Then, with a flick of the eyes and a gut-wrenchingly vacant stare, the actress summoned a familiar Nikita: one who, while struggling to find the hope in her current circumstances, is resolute on doing what she believes is best — because putting her loved ones’ safety first is what Nikita does best.
HONORABLE MENTION | Revenge‘s Nick Wechsler
For two seasons now, Wechsler has been proving that when called upon, he can bust out the waterworks and break our hearts in the process. And, sadly for Jack, that skill came in handy when his brother Declan died in Sunday’s season finale, pushing the elder Porter to his breaking point. When Jack confronted Victoria, Wechsler showed off the perfect mix of devastation, malice, sadness — that parting tear! — and venom (“I would break the news to Charlotte very gently. You know how she takes these things”).
TVLine’s Performer of the Week: Simon Helberg
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE PERFORMER | Simon Helberg
THE SHOW | The Big Bang Theory
THE EPISODE | “The Love Spell Potential”
THE AIRDATE | May 9, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | Nicolas Cage plus Dungeons & Dragons shouldn’t equal hilarity, but it absolutely did in Thursday’s episode – thanks to the spot-on celebrity impressions Simon Helberg sprinkled throughout Wolowitz’s highly entertaining turn as dungeon master. After hearing Helberg offer up the National Treasurer as a mystical tree, Al Pacino as a satanic fungus and Christopher Walken as a dying dragon, our delight in the quest quite possibly paralleled Sheldon’s. While we’re at it, we’ll take another cue from Dr. Cooper: Much like Zachary Quinto as Spock, Helberg’s celebrity mimicry was a weird, wonderful event that lent an unexpected hint of pop-culture cool to one of the nerdiest amusements around.
HONORABLE MENTION | Once Upon a Time‘s Lana Parrilla
It takes a certain something to command a scene while strapped down to a table and hooked up to electrodes, yet Parrilla alternately conveyed the Evil Queen’s regal might — her guttural, “You have no idea who you’re dealing with” still has the hair on the back of our necks raised — and Regina’s perilous plight, as course after course of voltage zapped through her. The warm scenes in which Regina realized the Charmings emerged as her savior were but icing on the apple turnover.
Performer of the Week: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
THE PERFORMER | Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
THE SHOW | Game of Thrones
THE EPISODE | “Kissed by Fire”
THE AIRDATE | April 28, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | In the span of just a few episodes, Game of Thrones‘ Jaime lost a hand and grew a conscience – a rough go in anyone’s book. In last Sunday’s outing, for the first time in his Lannister life, the Kingslayer was laid so low that a warm bath and a semi-sympathetic ear was all it took to undo him. Portrayer Nikolaj Coster-Waldau artfully nailed Jaime’s despair – and made his character far more sympathetic — as he revealed the real story behind the Mad King’s murder.
The actor started out in familiar territory, carelessly tossing mean-spirited barbs at a discomfited Brienne as he slipped, naked, into her bathing pool. His jab about Renly’s death was nothing unusual, but his reaction to her ire was. Head bowed, Coster-Waldau showed us a new angle to his alter ego as he tiredly apologized. “I’m sick of fighting,” he admitted, sick and covered in filth, his stump held just above the water’s surface and his head bowed. As he proposed a truce and acknowledged his trust in his unlikely protector sitting a few paces away, Coster-Waldau softened Jaime into a defeated warrior completely sapped of strength.
The elder Lannister brother related the true story behind the Aerys II Targaryen’s death, which turned out to be more about preventing thousands of innocent deaths and less about gaining fame and glory. “Would you have kept your oath then?” he wearily demanded of Brienne, Coster-Waldau using a matter-of-fact tone to relate the terrible details of the act that earned Jaime his nickname. But at the mention of “the honorable Ned Stark,” the actor leapt forward on a surge of anger that left the knight trembling in Brienne’s sturdy arms – the best swordsman in Westeros reduced to swooning invalid. Jaime’s never had it worse, and Coster-Waldau’s never been better.
Performer of the Week: Guillermo Diaz
THE PERFORMER | Guillermo Diaz
THE EPISODE | ”Seven Fifty-Two”
THE AIRDATE | April 25, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | For a show that metes out backstory on its gladiators so frugally, Scandal this Thursday shed an immense amount of light on its darkest character — and in turn shone a spotlight on the incredible work of Guillermo Diaz.
Picking up the aftermath of the former CIA spook being abducted and tied up in a none-too-big crate, Huck was introduced in the here and now as a shell-shocked warrior, a strong and able man crippled by trauma, only uttering the number “752″ over and over again.
Throughout the hour, Diaz toggled between vastly different iterations of Olivia Pope’s most enigmatic associate. As Huck-the-PFC surprising his lady with an early return home from a tour of duty, he was almost unrecognizable. He broadcasted a smile we have never, ever seen before, and a spring in his step replaced the slouched shoulders and hands in pockets we’ve come to expect.
That Huck quickly devolved into a more somber version, as he was pulled into a pitch-black line of employ: killing. Diaz communicated the ghastly nature of the work and Huck’s discomfort with it until an unnerving sequence in which, with a baby on the way and marriage under his belt, he brought a zeal and cleverness to his craft.
Then there was Huck the homeless veteran, a fallen man forced to forget everyone he loved, leaving him lost in life. That wounded warrior would be one day be given purpose anew by Olivia. And it was ultimately Olivia’s words, her story of how he saved her more than she ever saved him, that drew him out of his near-cataonic state there in the corner of the OPA office, where he realized that the family he suspected he had only imagined in fact was forgotten but very real.
Diaz’s work, in every of these scenes and varied arcs, made us appreciate and lament all that Huck had lost as much as he did.
HONORABLE MENTION | Throughout all of Smash‘s up and downs, Megan Hilty has been a consistent bright spot. In last Saturday’s installment, though, the actress’s light shone brighter than ever. In the opening night performance of the fictional Broadway musical Bombshell, Hilty’s Ivy Lynn delivered the closing number “Don’t Forget Me” with such off-the-charts horsepower and genuine emotion, we were ready to camp out at the TKTS booth and score tickets. And just as compelling, her character buried the hatchet with arch rival Karen, showing her trademark mix of cattiness and vulnerability in the process. When the curtain finally goes down on NBC’s troubled musical drama, it’ll be Hilty that we miss most of all.
Performer of the Week: Bates Motel’s Vera Farmiga
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE PERFORMER | Vera Farmiga
THE EPISODE | ”Ocean View”
THE AIRDATE | April 15, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | If Bates Motel had set out to create a showcase for its female lead, it could scarcely have done any better than this hour. Over the course of the episode, the Oscar nominee took Norma from spitting mad to jumping for joy… albeit jumping on a rug that was about to be pulled out from under her!
First, the actress made it clear that her alter ego wasn’t in the running for Mother of the Year by snarling over Norman’s “devotion.” (Probably made the poor kid glad there was a partition between them, she was so pissed!) Later, she granted his request that she look at him, just look at him, only to have her cast him the most withering glance this side of Medusa. Finally, she conjured up such a head of righteous indignation in proclaiming her innocence to her lawyer that, for a second there, it was easy to forget that she was actually guilty.
Wait, did we say “finally”? Because it wasn’t over yet!
After that, Farmiga totally let loose, responding to Norman’s fears by telling him, “If I’m so damn scary, get the hell out of my car!” — and awkwardly, physically removing him from said vehicle! Then, after a brief respite from her stress upon learning that loverboy Zack has destroyed the evidence against her, Norma was hit with the lowest blow of all: She learned that her savior was — oh, crap — trafficking in sex slaves.
Through it all, Farmiga wasn’t just good, she was, ahem, crazy good.
HONORABLE MENTION | The Americans‘ Susan Misner, for the tsunami of pent-up anger and grief her put-upon housewife Sandra unleashed on Noah Emmerich’s cheating Stan. Her kitchen-set catharsis was a long time coming, and Misner made it well worth the wait.
Performer of the Week: Emmy Rossum
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE PERFORMER | Emmy RossumTHE EPISODE | “Order Room Service”
THE AIRDATE | March 31, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | Shameless‘ coffeehouse-set clash on this past Sunday’s episode might have been Jimmy’s exploding moment, but it was leading lady Emmy Rossum who once again blew us away (no disrespect to her extremely talented co-star Justin Chatwin).
With her boyfriend’s secret plans for his Gallagher-less life in Michigan exposed, Fiona and Jimmy’s relationship reached its boiling point during an ugly, heated fight. The confrontation wasn’t pretty or easy to watch, but it was a thing of beauty. From Fiona’s heartbreak and disappointment at the realization that the love of her life was pulling away to her fiery anger at his betrayal to the hurt in her eyes when Jimmy labeled her home “a goddamn slum,” Rossum was captivating. She may have let out a disbelieving chortle when he threw the last insult her way, but the emotion that followed was no laughing matter.
“You made me feel like I could depend on you, and now it’s a slum?” she spat back, tears in her eyes.
Later, after confessing her “idiot” mistakes to her boss mid-drunken makeout – “It’s not even the first time that he’s lied. I closed my stupid eyes to it because I wanted it to work so badly,” she said, her voice cracking at her own denial – Fiona called Jimmy to tell him they can make it work.
We might not have done the same thing in her situation, but Rossum is so terrific and believable as the wounded tough girl that we totally bought her late night plea.
HONORABLE MENTION | Revenge‘s Gabriel Mann, who fell apart so beautifully when Nolan learned of Padma’s death. The couple never got much screen time, but Mann’s complete destruction as Emily hugged her techie pal made us ache for his loss nevertheless.
Performers of the Week: Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus and Southland’s Michael Cudlitz
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE EPISODE | “This Sorrowful Life”
THE AIRDATE | March 24, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | People love Daryl for a lotta reasons. He’s hot. He’s cool. He’s a badass. He’s no-BS. But, beneath all of those lies the real reason the that character is so adored: He’s vulnerable. And rarely (if ever) has Reedus as viscerally depicted that quality of his post-apocalyptic counterpart as he did in Merle’s final scene.
We knew that it wasn’t going to end well for Daryl’s beloved brother — the Governor had already shot him, after all. But what we, and certainly Daryl, couldn’t have anticipated was that, instead of Merle’s dead body, what he’d find just outside of Woodbury was Merle’s undead body — feeding on the corpse of young Ben.
As Daryl took in the stomach-churning scene, Reedus’ face crumbled. The redneck gasped for air and tried to choke back sobs. He even pushed Merle away, as if willing his eyes to be deceiving him. But he was only delaying the inevitable. Merle attacked, and Daryl, his heart in his throat, was finally forced to put him down.
As deaths go — especially on this show — it wasn’t the most gruesome one ever. Yet, thanks to the authenticity of Reedus’ performance, it’s likely be one of the most widely remembered.
THE PERFORMER | Michael Cudlitz
THE EPISODE | “Heroes”
THE AIRDATE | March 27, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | On this week’s Southland, Cudlitz showcased his uncanny ability to say everything without saying anything at all. Forced to visit his dying rapist/murderer father in prison, Cudlitz’ stoic cop John Cooper stood silently over the man who had ruined his life. He listened to another round of his dad’s insults, including perhaps the worst one yet: “I used to pray you’d kill yourself, because I’d rather see you dead than have a f—-t for a son.”
Rather than lashing out and betraying his character’s guarded nature, Cudlitz kept his face almost still, but the pain in his eyes was evident. Then with a small, disappointed, resolute nod of the head, he walked over to his father’s side and whispered something into his ear. We never heard the words, but thanks to the actor’s performance, we didn’t need to.
It didn’t end there. In a powerfully emotional scene, Cooper once again listened as his retired training officer Hicks (a superb Gerald McRaney) waxed about his empty life. With sadness, compassion and even a little recognition – this could easily be a glimpse into his own future – on his face, he watched the man he admired for so long crumble before his eyes.
Then, making his words count, Cooper recalled a scary day when he was a young cop. “When I saw you, I knew I was going to be OK,” he said tearfully to his mentor. Slowly, Cudlitz let the walls down, unveiling a vulnerable side to his character that’s hardly ever glimpsed. “You are not going out like this old man. I’m not letting you,” he continued.
And it would be a shame if Southland went out without the consistently impressive Cudlitz getting some recognition, too.
HONORABLE MENTION| New Girl‘s Jake Johnson, who gave us a painful part of Nick’s backstory with his instant shift from loft clown to resigned family head following his father’s death. Every choice Johnson made in the episode – from haranguing Jess into writing a eulogy to grasping her hand in front of the crowd — was done with the weariness of someone who desperately doesn’t want the task he’s been handed but knows no one else will step up.
Performer of the Week: Justified’s Mike O’Malley
THE PERFORMER | Mike O’MalleyTHE EPISODE | “Decoy”
THE AIRDATE | March 19, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | It speaks volumes about the quality and daring of O’Malley’s work on Justified this season that he’s making such a (wonderful! awful!) impression as Theo Tonin’s slimebucket henchman Nicky Augustine. This is the show, after all, that gave us Margo Martindale as the fearsome Mags Bennett. Its bar for villains is set high. Real high.
Yet, in this week’s exceptional episode, O’Malley made Nicky so skin-crawlingly vile during his misogynistic tete-a-tete with Ava that when she pulled a gun on him, you could almost hear every viewer at home shouting, “Do it! Shoot!”
Perhaps especially impressive is the fact that O’Malley’s performance here is a full-on 180 from the role for which he’s best known: Kurt’s dad – perennial Father of the Year Burt – on Glee. That he can not only make us forget Burt but make us forget Burt and absolutely loathe Nicky is the kind of feat that deserves recognition.
TVLine Performers of the Week: Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray of Dallas
THE PERFORMERS | Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy
THE SHOW | Dallas (TNT)
THE EPISODE | “J.R.’s Masterpiece”
THE AIRDATE | March 11, 2013
THE PERFORMANCES | When crafting the send-off for not just a character as iconic as wily J.R. Ewing but, embedded within that, his passed-on portrayer Larry Hagman, surely it’s tempting to press play on a montage of classic clips (if rights issues don’t get in the way, that is) or scatter around a few retro snapshots. But as TNT’s new Dallas laid J.R. to rest, Gray and Duffy stepped forward as the pallbearers carrying more than 15 aggregate years’ worth of history and emotions.
After barely processing his brother’s death (under, of course, suspect circumstances), Bobby exhibited the blow he had absorbed by deflecting Ray Krebbs’ well-meaning platitude with a brusque, “Well, he’s not [coming back].” Sue Ellen meanwhile was left to ruminate over a letter J.R. had left for her before taking what would be his final trip, long eyeballing a bottle of bourbon before making a single toast to an old picture of her and her ex. At this pivotal moment in the dry doyenne’s life, Gray registered disgust at the strange-yet-familiar taste, before the character tragically imbibed again. And again.
At J.R.’s gravesite, Gray’s sometimes-icy alter ego wore her heart on her sleeve, recounting how years ago she found herself “madly, passionately, hopelessly in love with the most charming scoundrel I’ve ever known.” After acknowledging that she had given back in to drink, she shared that J.R.’s letter was an overture to rekindle their love affair upon his return. “Yes, J.R. The answer is yes,” she directed at his casket. Through sobs, she attested, “You were the love of my life.”
Bobby’s eulogy followed, commenting on J.R.’s role as the doer of bad (if necessary) things, thus making it “easy for me to do good.” But with that familial foil now gone, “I have to figure out just what I’m supposed to do in this grand scheme of things.”
By episode’s end, Bobby had his answer, in the form of a mysterious letter left for him by J.R. With a nod to his brother’s hat hooked on a nearby chair, Bobby said, “I knew you had at least one more left up your sleeve, J.R — and it’s a good one. I love you, brother.”
HONORABLE MENTION | The Big Bang Theory‘s Simon Helberg, who delivered an emotional wallop (and landed a few terrific zingers) as Howard debated whether or not to read an unopened letter from his estranged father. We laughed, we cried, we were reminded that Helberg remains the CBS comedy’s most underrated performer.
Performer of the Week: Liars’ Troian Bellisario
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining starsTHE PERFORMER | Troian Bellisario
THE SHOW | Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family)
THE EPISODE | “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”
THE AIRDATE | March 5, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | For weeks now, Troian Bellisario has tugged at viewers’ heartstrings as the typically level-minded Spencer Hastings has grappled with the revelation that longtime love Toby is part of the nefarious ‘A’ team. She was then led to (falsely?) believe that her traitorous beau had been murdered, which rendered her a numb, wholly unstable shell of her former self.
This week’s Liars, however, truly showcased Bellisario as an actress. Whether straddling the very thin line between sanity and madness or displaying a second of pure lucidity with a mere facial expression, every nuanced move made by the 27-year-old played as effortless and second nature to the now-institutionalized character.
In the hour’s final moments, she fearlessly knocked it out of the park. Stripped down both literally (it looks like Bellisario hasn’t donned a drop of makeup for the majority of the season) and figuratively, Spencer finally opened up about her deteriorating state during a group-therapy session.
“How do you keep going when the worst thing has happened?” she mused in a monotone — a device Bellisario used perfectly to cloak just how truly broken her character is. “What do you have to change inside to survive? Who do you have to become?”
Then, with a quick shift of the eyes and two teardrops, the actress allowed the walls she’d worked so hard to build to come crashing down.
“I’m sorry, but it’s true,” Spencer confessed to her friends, who she saw before her but weren’t really there. “You don’t know who I am anymore. And you can’t count on me.” We, however, can count on Bellisario for more stand-out performances in the coming weeks.
HONORABLE MENTION | The Walking Dead‘s Danai Gurira, for revealing the softer side of Michonne without giving up any of the badass’ strength. In her scenes with Carl — and then her final one with Rick — she showed us her character’s sweetness and even cracked a smile. (Who knew the sword-swinger had a sense of humor?)
Performer of the Week: Hayden Panettiere
THE PERFORMER | Hayden Paniettiere
THE SHOW | Nashville (ABC)
THE EPISODE | “Dear Brother”
THE AIRDATE | Feb. 27, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | Playing Juliette Barnes is a tricky proposition. Sharpen her edges too much, and we’ll hate her. Lean too heavily on her sad backstory, and we’ll pity her. Hayden Panettiere gets that, and it’s why she was able to make Juliette’s quiet confession to a near stranger in this week’s episode as believable as any egregiously self-centered moment (pick your favorite!) from her recent past.
Even before Juliette started talking with her mother’s addiction counselor, we’d seen hints that her explosive anger toward Jolene was turning into something more measured. Panettiere previously played Juliette’s rage at her mother’s illness as a jagged, nasty thing. But when Jolene fell off the wagon at Deacon’s party and had to be escorted home, the young actress did a masterfully subtle job of conveying her character’s deep disappointment – at not getting to sing for Deacon, at having to clean up Jolene’s mess again and at never being able to forget that she just can’t rely on her mom.
For her chat with the counselor, Panettiere dropped Juliette’s usual theatrics and instead gave a matter-of-fact recitation of the sad details surrounding her failed ninth birthday party. It was a powerful choice. She stayed dry-eyed and in complete control while admitting that, despite averting a fire back then that would’ve surely killed her drugged-out mom, she wanted her to die. Her reading of “You really think you can help us?,” tinged with both hope and fear, was a thing of desperate beauty. Juliette may be going through a dark time, but it’s making Panettiere shine.
HONORABLE MENTION | Justified‘s Timothy Olyphant, who this week seamlessly navigated his mild-mannered Raylan through a confusing mourning process. Whether fighting back tears (where’d those come from?) or attempting to understand why he’d grieve his long-estranged father, Olyphant’s emotional display was a welcome — and wonderfully executed — change of pace for the typically cool customer.
TVLine’s Performer of the Week: Nina Dobrev
THE PERFORMER | Nina Dobrev
THE SHOW | The Vampire Diaries (The CW)
THE EPISODE | “Stand By Me”
THE AIRDATE | Feb. 21, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | Dobrev was fantastic from the start of the episode, but when a trembling Elena lifted the blanket covering her dead brother’s face, she went for broke, rolling out what would be a tour de force display of acting. Just like that, you could see the tiny cracks in Elena’s facade give way to the emotions she’d been trying to keep out.
“He’s dead! And he’s been dead this entire time, and I…. How long has he smelled like that?!” she cried, covering her face at the horrifying and shameful realization that she’d been so in denial, she had let Jeremy decay.
With nothing left to lose, Elena presented her shocking plan to burn down the house with Jer’s body in it, as a cover story. Without abandon, Dobrev took her character to the edge as Elena swept through the rooms, ready to destroy her childhood home and the memories of those she’s loved and lost, in a manner so reckless and wild, Caroline yelled that she was scaring her.
What followed was gut-wrenching. Unable to cope with her magnified grief, Elena collapsed to her knees. “It hurts. It hurts. Just make it stop. Please make it stop. It hurts,” she pleaded. The pain behind Dobrev’s sobs was so palpable, it felt like they were coming from the innermost part of her soul.
Then, the scene that was so captivating it made us temporarily forget to breathe: When Damon told Elena to turn off her humanity, Dobrev’s eyes ever-so-subtly, but powerfully, went blank. To see the actress go from feeling everything (and too much of it) to not feeling at all was impressive. Yet by going void of emotion, Dobrev made us feel oh so many things, including empathy, despair for all that’s been lost and, most of all, awe at her ability.
Performers of the Week: Molly Shannon and Mike White From Enlightened
A weekly feature in which we spotlight shining stars
THE PERFORMERS | Molly Shannon and Mike White
THE SHOW | Enlightened (HBO)
THE EPISODE | “The Ghost Is Seen”
THE AIRDATE | February 10, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | “It’s OK to be a ghost,” declared Mike White’s Tyler, taking over the role of narrator for an episode that delved deeper into the life of his introverted computer whiz. And as we followed Tyler slinking unnoticed through his typical work day, dropping by the grocery store, eating dinner alone in his sparse apartment, White made quietly palpable his character’s sense of loneliness, his lack of connection to the world around him. “Some pearls are never found. They hide under the sand on the ocean floor,” Tyler mused. “No one knows they’re there. But the pearl knows.”
What a surprise then, when Tyler — reluctantly teaming up with coworkers Amy (Laura Dern) and Dougie (Timm Sharp) to expose the sins of their company’s CEO — found himself being truly noticed by Shannon’s executive assistant Eileen. Tyler’s response when Amy informed him of Eileen’s potential interest in him was both tragic and comical: Holding his hands in front of his face like an embarrassed child and pleading, “Don’t look at me!”
Shannon, for her part, brought to life Eileen’s longing to find love (or something close to it) without ever making her character seem pathetic or the butt of some fortysomething-and-single joke. “I’m trying to be more open and, you know, let people in,” she explained with a pretty smile to Tyler, using the same kind of therapy-speak we often hear from Dern’s protagonist, and yet with some actual enlightenment behind it. By being truly open, Eileen was able to see the value of the “sad,” “sweet” Tyler standing before — and to plant a nervous, purse-lipped kiss on him as they bid farewell after a post-work group outing. Later in the episode, back at Tyler’s place after their first date, Eileen poured out her heart: She doesn’t have too many expectations, but she also doesn’t want to deal with someone fake or mean. “I’m just too old to get kicked in the face, y’know?” she said, with a mixture of hope and pragmatism and heartbreak, her eyes communicating to Tyler her intention to be careful with his heart, too.
The start of the duo’s unglamorous sex scene — Eileen in bed, using Tyler’s sheet as a shield, and Tyler entering the room stripped down to his tighty whities — was refreshingly matter-of-fact: Dougie might find Tyler to be “white as f***” and Eileen just an “old fish” in a barrel waiting to be shot (so to speak), but in White and Shannon’s hands, their physical union eschewed any comical indignity. Instead, when Eileen clutched Tyler’s hand as they woke the following morning, we saw the beauty of two hidden pearls who left behind their shells and found some fleeting happiness.
Yeah, that’ll make it all the more heartbreaking for both characters if/when it’s revealed that Tyler played a role in helping Dougie and Amy access Eileen’s computer (and bring down Abaddon), but with Shannon and White at the helm, it’s sure to be a beautiful catastrophe. WATCH TYLER ASKING EILEEN TO STAY THE NIGHT HERE:
Performer of the Week: Jeff Perry
A new feature in which we spotlight the past week’s shining star
THE PERFORMER | Jeff Perry
THE SHOW | Scandal (ABC)
THE EPISODE | “Nobody Likes Babies”
THE AIRDATE | February 7, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | It was the roar of a political lion as much as it was a confession. Having worked so hard to cover his tracks, yet compelled to lie not once more to the husband who loves him, chief of staff Cyrus Rutherford Beene bared all after having bared all: “I stole… the White House!”
The way those five words came out of his mouth were half-eruption, half-escape. Mostly pride, but maybe for the first time laced with shame. As James began to process the truth he feared confirmed, Cyrus sat down, no longer able to stand quite as tall. “I wasn’t made to be chief of staff… I was made to be the President of the United States. I was made to lead the nation,” he started his defense. “I would have been great at that! I have stones, I have the backbone, I have the will.” And we, having seen all that Cyrus is capable of (RIP, Amanda), can attest to that. However: “I’m fairly short, and I’m not so pretty,” he acknowledged. “And I really like having sex with men.”
As such, Cyrus settled to “be the guy behind the President of the United States,” where his work will never get his name on a library but instead earn him a nice, “respectful” life and a gig at the Ivy League school of his choice. “Fitzgerald Grant was my shot” to breathe “the rarest of air,” Cyrus explained, his eyes wetting as his mind raced up and down the path he took, the sordid steps taken, “and when your shot comes, you either take it or you lose. And I already lost enough…. I took my shot.”
And given the thrilling TV ride that ensued, we’re glad he did. (Rewatch the scene above at Hulu, starting at the 15:14 mark.)
TVLine’s Performers of the Week: Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski and Sarah Paulson
A new feature in which we spotlight the past week’s shining stars
THE PERFORMERS | Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski
THE SHOW | The Office (NBC)
THE EPISODE | “Customer Loyalty”
THE AIRDATE | Jan. 24, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | Over the past eight-and-a-half seasons, we’ve witnessed just about every big-deal moment in the joint lives of Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly. On Thursday, we were privy to a major fight between the two – and thanks to the talents of Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski, it damn near did us in.
The tension that’s been building between the Halperts turned a simple phone conversation into a marriage-shaking argument, during which Krasinski funneled Jim’s frustration over work and missing Cece’s first dance recital (which Pam hadn’t recorded) into a rather nasty, “C’mon, Pam… It’s really not that hard to film a video.”
Fischer’s face registered her character’s shock – had he ever spoken to her in that tone? – as Krasinski dejectedly said, “That moment’s just gone. I missed it.” She shot back a pointed, “Maybe you should’ve been there,” sending the pair into a nasty back-and-forth about who was doing/sacrificing more for their family.
The actors share such a believable on-screen relationship that their argument felt too real, too private for us to overhear. It was awkward in the best (yet most terrible) way possible. And Fischer’s anguish after hanging up, those breath-stealing sobs? Can you blame the documentary crew for wanting to comfort her? Fischer and Krasinski most certainly nailed it… but we’re gonna need a kiss-and-make-up scene in the very near future, OK?
HONORABLE MENTION | American Horror Story: Asylum‘s Sarah Paulson, making her second appearance in this feature.
Paulson’s performance this season on has been the equivalent of shock therapy: difficult, for sure – who can bear to see anyone, much less “plucky” Lana, suffer that much? – but ultimately (pardon the pun) electrifying.
In Asylum’s finale, the reporter reunites with vengeful Johnny, the now-grown son fathered (against her will) by Bloody Face. He’s bigger than she is, obviously – he’s Dylan McDermott, for Pete’s sake – and stronger. Oh, and he has a gun. Yet she isn’t scared. Or, if she is, she doesn’t let it show. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?” she says with the resignation of someone about to meet her accountant, not her maker.
Paulson plays the scene so coolly, it’s no wonder Johnny gets suckered into giving his mother his weapon. This, in turn, allows the actress to deliver one last surprise: the cold efficiency with which Lana is able to shoot her boy in the head!
We’d say it was great work, but that really wouldn’t do justice to it. Paulson wasn’t merely great, she was fearless.
Performer of the Week: John Noble
A new feature in which we spotlight the past week’s shining star
THE PERFORMER | John Noble
THE SHOW | Fringe (Fox)
THE EPISODE | “Liberty”/”An Enemy of Fate”
THE AIRDATE | January 20, 2013
THE PERFORMANCE | Simply said, Fringe‘s two-hour finale event aka the Walter Bishop Goodbye Tour rocked our worlds (including the alternate one). And though we knew it was coming from the moment September confirmed the sacrifice Walter would need to make, not one fewer tear was shed because of it.
Over the course of these final two hours, Noble was able to revisit every emotion Walter ever displayed, from an inventor’s giddiness over toys new and old (Anti-gravity bullets, simply because they are “cool”! The universe window!) to the cocksure determination of the formerly mad scientist who created Cortexiphan, thankyouverymuch. But it was the heartfelt moments where the actor transcends. Like, Walter’s conflicted early reaction to Peter noting the sacrifices he has made. And the lab boss noting that Astrid — yes, Astrid — is “a beautiful name.”
The scene that drove home Fringe‘s five-year theme, however, started with the playing of the ambered VHS tape in which Walter spoke of his and Peter’s “stolen” time together and ended with a father/son hug that was so tight, you almost felt your own chest compress. “You are my favorite thing, Peter,” Noble’s noble character shared, as Joshua Jackson expelled tears on the other side of the embrace. “My very favorite thing.” (What a way we’ve come from “I thought you’d be fatter.”)
Noble’s performance carried through to the finale’s antepenultimate scene. As Peter mouthed, “I love you, Dad,” Walter’s lips slightly parted but closed again, knowing full well that nothing could build on what he expressed before. Instead, he went about saving another boy — and a whole universe, to boot.
The Emmys seldom even glance in the direction of genre-TV fare, let alone that which will have faded to black months before ballots go out. But sometimes it’s enough to know that we, as an audience, have been witness to brilliance.
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