The TVLine Performers of the Week (tie): Zahn McClarnon and Lennon Parham
THE PERFORMER | Zahn McClarnon
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Minx's Lennon Parham Breaks Down Shelly and Joyce's Brutal Episode 6 Clash
Wednesday Ratings: Riverdale Grows With 'C-' Series Finale, Superfan Slips Again
THE SHOW | AMC’s Dark Winds
THE EPISODE | “The March” (Aug. 20, 2023)
THE PERFORMANCE | The greatest praise we can offer McClarnon for this past Sunday’s episode is that he made it damn painful to watch.
In pursuit of The Blond Man, Leaphorn had mimicked his prey by blindly leaping off a crag into a pre-dawn mist, shattering his wrist upon landing. The Blond Man was similarly worse for wear — especially after Joe got the drop on him (with a blunt kick to the head) and tied a long rope around his neck, to lead him back to civilization.
“Get up,” Joe would repeatedly bark, snapping the rope like a whip to rouse his quarry to his feet. McClarnon, throughout this trying trek, showed us both the red-hot intensity of Joe’s resolve and the incredible pain he was barely fending off, propping up his bloody arm in a makeshift splint.
The Blond Man (an excellent Nicholas Logan) did his best to taunt his captor, warning of the infection and what not that Leaphorn could succumb to. But Joe was undeterred: “If I die out here, the last thing I’m going to do is shoot you. Just so you know,” McClarnon warned/quipped.
McClarnon’s most compelling moments came when The Blond Man failed a first escape attempt and Joe in turn wound the rope ever tighter around his prey’s neck — the delicate fall of snow that began during the encounter standing in stark contrast to McClarnon’s fiery glare — and then shortly after, when McClarnon was made near-unrecognizable, Joe so wan and withered by his injuries. When The Blond Man managed to actually flee, Joe recaptured his son’s suspected killer, straddling him and holding him at gunpoint. The Blond Man invited death, suggesting, “We’re no different,” but Leaphorn spared him, asserting, “Yes, we are.”
THE PERFORMER | Lennon Parham
THE SHOW | Starz’s Minx
THE EPISODE | “This Is Our Zig” (Aug. 25, 2023)
THE PERFORMANCE | You know what’s great? When an actor you’ve loved for years in one genre shows her range by kicking tail in another. In this week’s episode of the ‘70s-set comedy, Parham’s Shelly finally put words to the tumultuous sexual awakening we saw her start last season. The scene gave Parham an opportunity to show us everything Shelly’s been wrestling with ever since she and Bambi first kissed, and the Playing House alum nailed it.
Parham is known for her comedy work, a genre in which she excels. But no one was laughing when Shelly, pushed to her limit by Joyce’s self-involved prattling, demanded that her younger sibling notice the seismic changes threatening to upend everything in her life. After Joyce walked in on an intimate moment between her sister and one of her favorite professors, it didn’t take long before Shelly’s patience with Joyce ran out. Parham quickly went from patiently aggrieved to loudly frustrated, her voice rising as she finally — finally! — reminded Joyce that not everything was about her.
After more than a season of pushing Shelly’s feelings down, Parham was able to unleash and say what her character really thought. She was on fire! It was captivating to see her drop the character’s softness and sharpen her edges in service of what Shelly truly wanted and needed: some love and support from someone she’d loved and supported (at great price) her entire life. The scene the next morning capped Parham’s fantastic performance, with Shelly’s anger muted but still undeniably present as she coolly regarded her baffled sister. We’re glad — fired-up Shelly is our new favorite version of the character, and in Parham’s hands, we can’t wait to see where else she goes.
Scroll down to see who scored Honorable Mention shout-outs this week…
HONORABLE MENTION: Aunjanue Ellis
So much about Aunjanue Ellis‘ engaging performance in Justified: City Primeval‘s penultimate episode came from her body language. Rocking on her heels outside the bar that belonged to her father figure and which had just been torched — with Sweety inside. The way she could only stare at its charred entrance, before remarking that Sweety, in the end, “was a chump” — an assessment that pained her to offer, true though it may be. Later, she had no words upon finding Mansell in her home, recounting his murder of his mom. Until, that is, she found words: “You took the only father I’ve ever known. F–k your mother, and f–k you.” Capping Ellis’ performance was a quiet scene where Carolyn told Raylan about a childhood choking akin to the one Mansell just gave her, before she got to the brass tacks of it all. “You have the murder weapon,” she noted. “How are you going to get Mansell’s prints on it?”
HONORABLE MENTION: Doug Jones
We could not let this week go by without giving props to Doug Jones, who enjoyed his best and biggest What We Do in the Shadows showcase yet at “The Roast.” Baron Afanas was but an attendee of the titular tribute to Lazlo, but once the he got wind of A) Guillermo’s Van Helsing roots and B) the fact that it was Nandors familiar who nearly killed him back in Season 1, all bets were off. Jones made a delicious meal of what followed, as the Baron not only targeted Guillermo but also chided the roommates for being an “embarrassment to the wery word wampire!” (Call us easy, but every time Jones swaps a V with a W, it makes us titter; he also makes the Baron’s pronunciation of words like “sticky” hilarious in their own right.) Between his flamboyant gesticulations, dramatic cocks of head and what we guess we will call “mouth acting,” Jones 100% slayed us.
HONORABLE MENTION: Lili Reinhart
This week’s Riverdale series finale gave us one last chance to appreciate Lili Reinhart, who really deserves more credit for keeping girl next door Betty Cooper emotionally grounded amid the show’s WTF twists. Betty was front and center in the finale, time-traveling back to high school to spend one last day with her friends, and Reinhart’s awestruck gaze and wistful smile set the tone for an hour of bittersweet nostalgia. The finale dropped the wacky twists and went straight for the emotional jugular, and Reinhart was more than up to the task, turning on the waterworks as Betty got to see her old pals young and beautiful again. Even her narration plucked our heartstrings as Betty said goodbye to Riverdale one last time. It was a fitting farewell to a beloved teen drama — and to our favorite performance on it, too.
Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in the comments!
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