THE PERFORMER | Dominique Fishback
THE SHOW | Prime Video’s Swarm
THE EPISODE | “Only God Makes Happy Endings” (March 17)
THE PERFORMANCE | We’ve been impressed by Fishback earlier than in supporting roles on The Deuce and The Final Days of Ptolemy Gray… however nothing might’ve ready us for Dre. In Prime Video’s gorgeous and surreal horror thriller, Fishback will get a shot on the highlight and knocks it out of the park, blowing us away with an interesting portrait of a obsessive fan who will get pushed over the sting and goes off on a deranged killing spree. Fishback was phenomenal all through the sequence, however she saved the easiest for Swarm‘s ultimate episode, shape-shifting earlier than our eyes to point out us one more layer to Dre.
After we first laid eyes on Fishback within the finale, we virtually didn’t acknowledge her. Dre has minimize her hair brief and goes by “Tony” now, using a masculine swagger that permits her to behave on the wishes she’s repressed for therefore lengthy. It was a exceptional bodily transformation, and Fishback gave Tony a chilled-out ease that Dre by no means had. She fell for a woman named Rashida, and Fishback was unexpectedly tender as their romance blossomed. Dre’s lingering obsession peeked via at instances, although, with Fishback compulsively biting her nails as Dre caught a stray glimpse of a Ni’Jah video. And when Rashida screamed at her for blowing all of her cash on Ni’Jah tickets, insulting Dre’s idol within the course of, “Tony” light away, and Dre roared again with a vengeance. Dre ended up strangling Rashida to demise, and on Fishback’s tortured face, we might see the 2 sides of Dre battling for management — with the darkish facet in the end, tragically profitable out.
We’re nonetheless undecided what occurred to Dre ultimately — the finale ended on a wild fantasy sequence with Dre storming the stage at a Ni’Jah live performance and seeing her lifeless sister Marissa’s face on Ni’Jah’s physique — however we’re certain that Fishback’s towering efficiency will stick with us for years to come back. Sure, Swarm has warned us concerning the perils of utmost fandom… however go forward and signal us up for a lifetime membership within the Dominique Fishback Fan Membership.
Scroll all the way down to see who scored Honorable Point out shout-outs this week…
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HONORABLE MENTION: Sam Claflin
Picture Credit score: Prime Video screenshot As Daisy Jones & the Six got here to an finish, Sam Claflin delivered a standout efficiency that was as devastating because the fictional band’s breakup was for his or her followers. Along with his marriage on the breaking point, Claflin’s Billy was heartachingly weak in a tearful cellphone message for his spouse Camila, pleading for an additional probability. Claflin then switched to wild abandon as Billy embraced his worst qualities, falling into booze and oozing recklessness on stage with Daisy. Fittingly, the songstress contributed to one among Claflin’s greatest scenes, when she urged Billy to go after the sunshine, aka Camila. The actor’s face crumbled as Billy was so overcome with emotion that he couldn’t even sing, so enable us to choose up the mic and sing Claflin’s praises as a substitute.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Brett Goldstein
Picture Credit score: Apple TV+ screenshot Ted Lasso‘s Brett Goldstein is a comedy dynamo whose praises we’ve beforehand sung for his potential to imbue each cuss phrase that comes out of Roy Kent’s mouth with a way of what he’s feeling. Prior to now, it was the one approach Roy knew methods to specific himself. However in Season 3’s second episode, Roy opened up emotionally in a approach we haven’t seen earlier than — and Goldstein effing delivered. Because the ex-footballer spoke about what it was like being again at Stamford Bridge — how he regrets that he left the second issues acquired laborious, a personality trait we now understand propelled him to finish issues with Keeley — Goldstein dug deeper than he ever has earlier than. Not solely might we see the disappointment in Roy’s eyes, however we might really feel his ache in each breathy syllable he spoke aloud. It was all we might do to maintain from reaching via the TV to offer him a hug — and we all know how that would have gone.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Ken Marino
Picture Credit score: Starz screenshot When an “occasions legend” attended a Party Down affair, Ken Marino‘s Ron Donald jumped on the probability to dazzle her. The actor succeeded in making us squirm along with his awkward social missteps, till some rotten sea urchins reworked Ron into “a lobster being boiled whereas having a coronary heart assault” (Roman’s phrases, after all). Marino bought us on the ailment, as his character tried to cover a swollen face with make-up earlier than deliriously strolling right into a wall and performing the wildest of pratfalls. Fortunately for us, his ache was our pleasure… a minimum of till he defecated right into a pot. (RDD, a lot?) It might have been one of the vital digusting issues on TV this week, however the panic and prowess Marino served up had us instantly craving seconds (of the comedy, not the urchins).
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HONORABLE MENTION: Elizabeth Tulloch
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of The CW Simply rip our hearts out, why don’t you? Tuesday’s episode of Superman & Lois revealed that the latter has been identified with an aggressive type of breast most cancers, an inherently unhappy subject assured to strike a nerve in any context. However due to Elizabeth Tulloch‘s hauntingly grounded efficiency, there was nary a hint of exploitation — simply uncooked, unadulterated, well-earned heartache. Her confession on the finish of the hour, brilliantly labored into a strong speech concerning the significance of perseverance, was chill-inducing, however kudos should even be given to her quieter scenes all through the episode. Not solely did Tulloch’s vacant stares undertaking the concern, disbelief and numbness of somebody reeling from such a prognosis, however she additionally nailed the battle of getting to faux like nothing was mistaken when her total world had simply been shattered by a single phrase.
Which efficiency(s) knocked your socks off this week? Inform us in Feedback!
