THE ARTIST | Sabrina Impacciatore
THE SHOW | The White Lotus
THE EPISODE | “Abductions” (December 4, 2022)
THE PERFORMANCE | As the narrowly hurt manager of the Sicily resort town, Valentina, Impacciatore – a comedic actress famous in her native Italy – served mostly as comic relief in Season 2, glaring and muttering sarcastic insults at her pampered guests. . She began to show signs of genuine vulnerability, however, and this week she absolutely wowed us as Valentina let her guard down and tapped into long-buried desires.
Sunday’s episode marked Valentina’s birthday, and Impacciatore’s eyes danced with nervous anticipation as Valentina dared to ask her pretty front desk worker Isabella for a celebratory drink. And when Isabella really said yes? We had never seen Valentina so happy. (To be fair, she’s usually miserable.) But when Isabella later asked her to drive Rocco back to the reception — and revealed that she and Rocco were engaged — that fleeting joy immediately evaporated from Valentina’s face. She offered weak congratulations, but we could see the pain welling up in Impacciatore’s big brown eyes. Valentina abruptly canceled their plans and returned to business mode, but Impacciatore’s quivering chin betrayed the fact that Valentina’s romantic hopes were dashed.
Valentina eventually found solace in a cocktail party, then in an impulsive fling with pianist Mia, Impacciatore infusing their scenes with goofy but undeniable passion. It was easy to write off Valentina at first as just a reliable source for one-liners, but Impacciatore’s deftly layered work showed us that the buttoned-up manager was much deeper than we’d imagined.
HONORABLE MENTION | Rip Wheeler, your smooth talker, you. Of course, on Sunday Yellowstone put on a nice showcase for the grumpy gravitas Cole Hauser brings to his character by officiating rather than stopping bride Beth’s brawl. (Our recap has the details.) But we already knew that rare is the actor who can embody grumpy disapproval as sublimely as Hauser. So his scene in “Watch ‘Em Ride Away” which really thrilled us was the one in which he had to course correct Rip after he made the mistake of telling his better half to “put the boobies away.” like the cowboy properly begged his wife to come with him to the Spring Gathering, Hauser played the invite with a balance of humor and sincerity that left us smiling as broadly as Beth.
Which performance(s) hit your socks this week? Tell us in the comments!