THE ARTIST | Andy Serkis
THE SHOW | Disney+ Andor
THE EPISODE | “One Way Out” (November 9, 2022)
THE PERFORMANCE | “No one is coming out!”
With these five roaring words, Andy Serkis has upgraded Kino Loy to brand new gear, and Disney+ A thug The prequel series really kicked off a thrilling prison break.
Until this point – or, more precisely, at the end of last week, when Kino and “Keef” (Cassian) learned that Level 2 had rioted and in turn got fried upon learning that A “released” prisoner had been released back into the system. – Kino had been a dedicated “company man”, keeping his crew in line as they resolutely assembled Imperial whatchamacallits.
But after hearing about the true nature of their sentences, and with more than a nudge from Cassian, Kino with those five words warned Unit 5-2-D that there was only an “outcome” of this existence. By staging an escape. NOW.
After 5-2-D effectively knocked down the guards from their own room, then allowed nearby units to do the same, Kino and Cassian headed to the command center, where Cass begged his brother-in-arms to use the public address system to rally the rest. of their troops. Here, Serkis carefully tempered Kino’s tone, starting with a rote recap of the prisoners’ newly acquired advantage. But when Cassian taunted him, “Is this the best you’ve got?”, Kino/Serkis infused the rest of the speech with a passion that could only inspire.
“Wherever you are right now, stop work, get out of your cells, take charge and start climbing,” he ordered the people of Narkina 5, Serkis’ voice growing louder. each syllable. “We’ll never have a better chance than this, and” – echoing what Keef had said earlier – “I’d rather die trying to take them down than give them what they want. We’re 5,000 If we can fight half as hard as we worked, we’ll be home in no time…. One. Way. Out!”
Add the sadly ironic moment at the end, where Serkis chose the right smile and the right delivery to announce that Kino is unable to swim to freedom with others, and you have a definition Andor performance.
HONORABLE MENTION | Let’s start with a confession: we couldn’t last until the end of Jthe handmaid’s talethe season 5 finale without interrupting the episode several times – it is how efficient, touching and moving Elisabeth Moss was on stage. (Point of clarity: OT Fagbenle also gave an emotional kick, but he’s already been named Performer of the Week this season.) Every time we think we’ve seen Moss take June Osborne to her breaking point, she offers to new a glimpse of the beleaguered ancient servant. This time we were hit hardest by how Moss knocked June down after getting on the train. The hand pressed to her mouth to stifle the silent crying? Collapsing against the wall when life was just too much to bear! And then the retrieval of her mind – for the sake of June’s daughter – as she faced the challenge that lay ahead (and that giant surprise in the final moments). And Moss directed the episode?! Is there anything she can’t do?
HONORABLE MENTION | In The good fight(read our recap), Liz Reddick’s young son began asking tough questions about his late father’s sordid #MeToo past, and Audra McDonald navigated the emotionally complex material with heartbreaking subtlety and restraint. From his flawed reaction to Malcolm’s blunt question “Did grandpa rape people?” to his beautifully nuanced delivery of “Pop-Pop…did a lot of good things…but he also did wrong things,” the six-time Tony Award winner perfectly portrayed a mother mourning the loss of her child’s innocence. Later, as Liz’s colleague RiChard (Andre Braugher) offered a deeply thoughtful psychoanalysis of the complicated legend that was Carl Reddick, we could see McDonald – with tears streaming down his face – absorbing every word in real time. painful and ultimately healing.
HONORABLE MENTION | The crownThe fifth season of spent a lot of time on Charles and Diana’s controversial split, but in episode 4 it turned its gaze to the equally heartbreaking fate of Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret, with Lesley Manville. bringing magnificent depth to a woman looking back on her life. and wondering if things could have been different. Margaret reunited with her old love Peter Townsend, and their reunion was filled with bittersweet emotions as Manville glowed with the warmth of rekindled passion. But that passion turned to anger when Margaret unloaded herself on Elizabeth for forcing her to break up with Peter all those decades ago. She noted that Elizabeth’s own daughter, Anne, had been allowed to divorce and remarry for love: “Her story ends happily. Mine didn’t. The crown always presents a royal feast of superb performances, and Manville’s portrayal of an aging but still feisty Margaret was truly one to savor.
Which performance(s) hit your socks this week? Tell us in the comments!