THE PERFORMER | Pedro Pascal
THE SHOW | HBO’s The Last of Us
THE EPISODE | “Kin” (Feb. 19, 2023)
THE PERFORMANCE | The Last of Us executive producer Craig Mazin often talks about how people often lie to themselves not because they’re evil or manipulative, but because they can’t bear to face fundamental truths. Accordingly, this week’s episode of the HBO drama found Pascal’s Joel unable to fool himself any longer into thinking that he could keep Ellie safe on her journey to the Fireflies’ lab. That realization broke him — and set up Pascal for his most moving performance of the season so far.
We’re talking, of course, about that scene in the workshop. Earlier in the episode, Pascal played Joel as happy to find Tommy safe, territorial when he learned his brother was married and cuttingly mean when Tommy announced he was going to be a dad. Underlying it all was a fear that Pascal conveyed in Joel’s private moments of panic, his whole body seizing up as it grasped him hard.
Those roiling emotions came spilling out — messily, gorgeously — as Pascal had Joel fall to pieces while begging Tommy to take Ellie on the rest of her journey. As he haltingly ran through Joel’s litany of failures, Pascal made his voice breathy and small, full of tears just barely held back. We got the feeling that everything Joel had feared for months was coming to the fore, and Pascal played the monologue as though his usually reticent character was unable to stop talking once he’d started.
By the time Joel confessed to “failing in my sleep,” Pascal allowed himself to be consumed by Joel’s mounting despair. The character’s usual, gruff façade fell away as his breath hitched in sobs that he fought to control. As Joel pleaded with his brother to take Ellie the rest of the way on her journey, we marveled at the desperation carved into the pain on Pascal’s face. And we take back what we said about the scene being his best of the season: This was some of his finest work — ever.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Merle Dandridge
Image Credit: ABC screenshot HONORABLE MENTION | Merle Dandridge was nothing short of stunning in Thursday’s tense Station 19 as Fire Chief Ross was forced to intervene in a near-tragedy. The Seattle PD was thisclose to opening fire on a terrified teenager armed with butter — yes, butter — before the chief arrived on the scene. But in an instant, her presence changed everything for the better. Strong and grounded, Dandridge exuded a gravitas that belied Ross’ anxiousness as she took control, went toe-to-toe with nemesis Dixon and pegged every cop present, from the nervous rookie to the trigger-happy vet. In the end, the chief succeeded in defusing the explosive situation, and her portrayer succeeded in making us appreciate all over again what a formidable character she’s created.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Amanda Plummer
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+ The new wave of Star Trek TV shows have been light on memorable villains so far, but Amanda Plummer blew that notion to bits with her Star Trek: Picard debut this week. Plummer was deliciously evil as Vadic, the captain of a heavily armed warship intent on capturing Beverly’s son Jack Crusher. Plummer charmed us from her very first frames, flashing a sunny smile as she let Jean-Luc and his crew just know how dangerous she can be. She was positively giddy as Vadic showed off her ship’s lethal capabilities, savoring every word of dialogue like it was a gourmet meal and giggling uncontrollably as Jean-Luc’s ship dared to fight back. Plummer was having a ball, and we had a ball watching her, witnessing the birth of an all-time great Trek villain right before our eyes.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Marina Squerciati
Image Credit: Peacock screenshot Marina Squerciati has been a consistent force over Chicago P.D.’s 10 seasons, and she again showed off her serious acting chops in the show’s landmark 200th episode. A backfiring car triggered the first of several scary panic attacks throughout the hour, with Burgess forced to confront the PTSD she’d been suffering over the past year after being kidnapped and shot. And while we’ve seen the character go through many extremes — remember that bloody brawl in Season 7? — we’d never seen her so terrified and fragile as we did in this episode. Squerciati’s powerful performance, slowly building as the character unraveled, was as admiral as the show’s noteworthy achievement.
Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in Comments!
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