THE SHOW | HBO’s The last of us
THE EPISODE | “Look for the Light” (March 12)
THE ACHIEVEMENT | After the HBO drama’s penultimate episode, many of you were very angry that we didn’t highlight Ramsey’s performance as Ellie got her revenge on predatory priest David. And we get it! Ramsey, who uses “they” pronouns, was fantastic in both David’s death and Ellie’s shocked aftermath. But we had also been lucky enough to watch the series finale, so we chose to save our awards for their fantastic work in the season finale.
And now you can see why. While Ramsey was excellent throughout the episode, we’d like to focus on two key scenes. First, Ellie’s conversation with Joel after their giraffe encounter. After letting Bella’s long-buried childlike joy peek through as he fed the animals, Ramsey met Joel’s suggestion to abandon their journey with patient determination. “It can’t all be for nothing,” Bella said, memories of the pair’s shared tribulations—as well as the people they’d killed—very clear behind Ramsey’s expression. We’re still not quite sure how they made Bella seem both pained, youthfully serious, and wise beyond her years, but we felt lucky to have witnessed it.
Then later, when Joel fought back tears while admitting that he had tried to kill himself, Ramsey’s reactions felt so genuine and spot-on for a) a teenager and b) to teenager. Ramsey made Ellie make only the briefest of eye contact as her surrogate father came as close to saying “I love you” as he was able to. They filled the most indescribable lines (“I’m glad that… it didn’t work out”) with all the “I love you too”s that Ellie couldn’t voice. And then they looked palpably relieved as Joel ended the moving but emotionally awkward exchange by asking to hear some “sh-ty puns” – what a perfect cap to a season of excellence from one of the most dynamic young presences on TV.
Scroll down to see who scored Honorable Mention shout-outs this week…
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HONORABLE MENTION: Delroy Lindo
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hulu
There is a charm and a charm to Delroy Lindos Unprisoned character, Edwin, who was recently released after 17 years behind bars. He wastes no time flirting with women and telling his daughter the things she doesn’t want but need to hear about her love life. But in the Hulu series’ sixth episode, the tables turned to shed light on Edwin’s own trauma when he visited his childhood home, where his mother was arrested and beaten. When Edwin told his grandson about the hope that Martin Luther King Jr.’s words evoked and how his death “f–ked up a lot of people” (including him), Lindo’s face filled with heavy pain. So when red tape blocked Edwin from getting his birth certificate, Lindo finally released all of Edwin’s frustration and pent-up childhood tears, revealing the broken little boy inside the man.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Riley Keough
Image credit: Prime Video screenshot
As the tension between lead singers Daisy and Billy intensified Daisy Jones and the Six‘s eighth episode, as did the magnetism of Riley Keough’s fiery performance as the titular songstress. Whether raging at Billy about his lies or spiraling into substance abuse onstage, Keough’s Daisy was a captivating mix of fiery passion and tragic insecurity. What made the actress’ portrayal even more impressive was that she packed the complicated emotions into several song numbers, with Daisy’s state of mind breaking down a little more with each stop on the band’s tour. When a tall Daisy belted out an acoustic version of “Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)” as an “Eff you!” to Billy, Keough hypnotized us the way Daisy hypnotized the concert audience.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Adam Scott
Image credit: Starz screenshot
In a cast as incredibly talented as Party downs, it takes a lot to stand out among your peers. But that’s exactly what Adam Scott did when the catering staff consumed heaps of mushrooms while working a Malibu luau. From hustling his job behind the bar (“it’s like a bird on fire,” Henry said of one of his cocktails) to getting completely blown over a bush “with his own style,” Scott’s hyper-casual moves, big eyes and oh-so-much giggles totally sold the episode’s cool, druggy vibes. But after thinking one of his colleagues had drowned, the actor went from semi-fuge mode to panic mode when Henry hilariously mistook John Krasinski for Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. This season’s best performance from Scott made us hope that this Party never ends.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Michelle Forbes
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+
Star Trek: Picard delivered a stunning blast from the past this week when Michelle Forbes reprized her Next generation role as Ro Laren, now a Starfleet investigator. Forbes was fantastic in an intense scene with Patrick Stewart in which Ro and Jean-Luc work through the still-tender emotional wounds of Ro’s sudden departure from Enterprise thirty years ago. Forbes was initially icy and analytical as Ro probed Jean-Luc with questions, but she eventually let us see decades of pain buried deep inside Ro, her voice catching with emotion as Ro told Jean-Luc how he broke her heart. Ro later risked her life to preserve Jean-Luc’s mission, adding a bittersweet final note to a surprising performance that must have been immensely satisfying for Next generation faithful.
Which show(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in comments!