TVLine's Performer Of The Week: Sarah Jessica Parker

THE PERFORMER | Sarah Jessica Parker

THE SHOW | And Just Like That...

THE EPISODE | "Present Tense" (July 24, 2025)

THE PERFORMANCE | Like Carrie said a couple weeks ago, she and Aidan are "20 years in" to their relationship — if you don't count the time they were married to other people — and there's a lot of water under that bridge by now. But this week on HBO Max's sequel series, that water started to flood over, and Parker gave us vintage Carrie Bradshaw, digging deep and finding an inner strength and courage as she stood up for herself and cut things off with Aidan for good.

As the episode opened, Carrie noticed that Aidan's old jealousy was coming back as he needled her handsome neighbor Duncan, and Parker's furrowed brow and sour expression spoke volumes, telling us that Carrie's worst fears about Aidan were coming true. She was later stung by Aidan kicking her out of bed for smelling like smoke, but Parker didn't back down, with Carrie bluntly telling him the next morning: "Aidan, you're worried about me and another man." It all came to a head when she and Aidan met for lunch, with Carrie picking up on the fact that Aidan said he "has" trust issues, not "had." She stood her ground, frustration gathering in Parker's voice as Carrie told Aidan, "I have done nothing!" (When he excused his trust issues with "Well, can you f—king blame me?" she fired back: "Can you stop f—king blaming me?") She finally realized they had to call it quits, with Carrie sadly declaring: "I can't give you any more than I have, and it wasn't enough."

In a way, it was a callback to Carrie's best moments on Sex and the City, like when she told off Big after he got engaged to Natasha. ("I don't get it." "And you never did.") And it was exhilarating to see Carrie take control of her future once again, a Taylor Swift song playing as she headed back out onto the New York City streets to meet her girlfriends. Parker tapped into the untamed spirit that made us fall in love with Carrie Bradshaw in the first place — and showed us that her story is far from over.   

Scroll down to see who got Honorable Mention shout-outs this week...

As Enterprise captain Christopher Pike on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Anson Mount has always looked the part of the dashing action hero, and he filled that role admirably this week as Pike and M'Benga beamed down to a hostile planet overrun by zombies to retrieve a rare flower. But the reason why they needed that flower — to try to save the life of Pike's Gorn-infected girlfriend Marie — added a poignant emotional layer to Pike's actions, with Mount infusing a palpable edge of anxiety into Pike's reckless drive to complete the mission. Then when Pike reunited with Marie on the ship, Mount showed more vulnerability than we're used to seeing from a Starfleet captain as Pike confessed how scared he is about Marie's fate. It's nice to see a Star Trek captain save the day, of course... but we're also happy to see Mount delve into what's truly important to this captain. — D.N.

As any Sistas fan can attest, Karen's pregnancy has been a wild ride for everyone involved. Not only has it lasted more than five seasons, but what began as a simple "who's the daddy?" mystery eventually gave way to a soap-tastic "twins from two different fathers" scenario. And up until now, we've all enjoyed watching the saga unfold, relishing each ridiculous twist and turn. But there was nothing to enjoy about Wednesday's episode, save for the incredible performance delivered by Ebony Obsidian at her character's darkest hour yet. It was devastating enough watching Karen struggle to have her concerns taken seriously by her racist doctor, but the actual moment she learned that one of her twins had died will haunt us for quite some time. Obsidian was given the incredible task of portraying an expectant mother's absolute worst nightmare — from the initial haze of confusion and disbelief, to the sudden wave of insurmountable grief — and she fully rose to the occasion, finding new ways to break our hearts in each scene. Karen may be historically prone to dramatic outbursts, but we've never seen Obsidian forced to give so much of herself, and we're grateful for her sacrifice. — Andy Swift

Corey Reynolds has been a delight throughout Resident Alien's four-season run playing Patience's leading alien skeptic Sheriff Mike. But ever since Mike started to believe, the actor has soared even higher with stellar one-liner deliveries and the flaunting of his character's egotistical bravado around town. In Friday's episode, all of that and more took center stage after Mike and Liv finally learned that Harry was, in fact, the town's "resident alien." Reynolds had us in stitches as Mike attempted to purposely sweat out pheromones, compared his own "delicious" qualities to a baked potato (with the works!) and entered into the silliest of stare-downs with Harry. Reynolds has always served up excellent comedic timing, but watching him go toe-to-toe with Alan Tudyk raised the stakes even higher and brought the brightest of smiles to our faces. — Nick Caruso

Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in the comments!