THE ARTIST | Dominique Fishback
THE SHOW | Prime Video Swarm
THE EPISODE | “Only God Makes Happy Endings” (March 17)
THE PERFORMANCE | We’ve already been impressed with Fishback in supporting roles on The devil And The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray…but nothing could have prepared us for Dre. In Prime Video’s jaw-dropping, surreal horror-thriller, Fishback gets a shot in the spotlight and knocks him out of the park, blowing us away with a riveting portrayal of an obsessive fan who gets pushed over the edge and goes on a deranged killing spree . Fishback has been phenomenal throughout the series, but she saved the best for SwarmThe latest episode of, changing shape before our eyes to show us yet another layer of Dre.
When we first laid eyes on Fishback in the finale, we almost didn’t recognize her. Dre cut her hair short and now goes by the name “Tony”, employing a masculine swagger that allows her to act on the desires she’s suppressed for so long. It was a remarkable physical transformation, and Fishback gave Tony a relaxing ease that Dre never had. She fell in love with a girl named Rashida, and Fishback was surprisingly tender as their romance blossomed. Dre’s lingering obsession showed up at times, however, with Fishback compulsively biting his nails as Dre caught sight of a video of Ni’Jah. And when Rashida yelled at him for wasting all his money on Ni’Jah tickets, insulting Dre’s idol in the process, “Tony” passed out and Dre roared with vengeance. Dre ended up strangling Rashida to death, and in Fishback’s tortured face we could see both sides of Dre fighting for control – the dark side ultimately tragically winning.
We still don’t know what happened to Dre in the end – the finale ended in a crazy fantasy sequence with Dre storming the stage at a Ni’Jah concert and seeing his sister’s face passed away Marissa on the body of Ni’Jah – but we’re sure Fishback’s impressive performances will stay with us for years to come. Yes, Swarm warned us of the dangers of extreme fandom… but go ahead and sign us up for a lifetime membership in the Dominique Fishback fan club.
Scroll down to see who scored honorable mentions this week…
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HONORABLE MENTION: Sam Claflin
Image Credit: Prime Video screenshot
As Daisy Jones and the Six came to an end, Sam Claflin delivered a standout performance that was as devastating as the fictional band’s breakup was to their fans. With his marriage on the verge of falling apart, Billy de Claflin was heartbreakingly vulnerable in a tearful phone message for his wife Camila, pleading for another chance. Claflin then moved on to wild abandon as Billy embraced his worst qualities, lapsing into alcohol and oozing recklessness on stage with Daisy. Fittingly, the singer contributed one of Claflin’s best scenes, when she urged Billy to chase the light, aka Camila. The actor’s face dropped as Billy was so overcome with emotion he couldn’t even sing, so allow us to grab the mic and sing Claflin’s praises instead.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Brett Goldstein
Image credit: Apple TV + screenshot
Ted Lasso‘s Brett Goldstein is a comedy dynamo who we’ve already sung praises for his ability to imbue every word that comes out of Roy Kent’s mouth with a sense of how he feels. Before now, it was the only way Roy knew how to express himself. But in the second episode of Season 3, Roy opened up emotionally in a way we’ve never seen before – and Goldstein effing delivered. As the ex-footballer spoke about what it was like to be back at Stamford Bridge – how he regrets leaving the second time around, things got tough, a trait we now realize l pushed to end things with Keeley – Goldstein dug deeper than he ever had before. Not only could we see the sadness in Roy’s eyes, but we could feel his pain in every syllable he spoke out loud. It was all we could do to avoid reaching for the TV to give her a hug – and we all know how. This would have gone.
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HONORABLE MENTION: Ken Marino
Image Credit: Screenshot by Starz
When an “events legend” attended a To party affair, Ken Marino’s Ron Donald jumped at the chance to dazzle him. The actor managed to make us squirm with his goofy social faux pas, until rotting sea urchins turned Ron into “a lobster that you boil down having a heart attack” (Roman’s words, of course). . Marino sold us on the disease, as his character tried to hide a swollen face with makeup before deliriously walking into a wall and performing the craziest falls. Luckily for us, his pain was our pleasure…at least until he defecated in a pot. (RDD, much?) It may have been one of the most disgusting things on TV this week, but Marino’s panic and prowess immediately made us crave seconds (of comedy, not sea urchins).
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HONORABLE MENTION: Elizabeth Tulloch
Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW
Just rip out our hearts, why don’t you? Tuesday’s episode of Superman and Lois revealed that the latter had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, an inherently sad subject guaranteed to strike a nerve in any setting. But thanks to Elizabeth Tulloch’s spellbinding performance, there was no hint of exploitation — just raw, pure, well-deserved heartache. His confession at the end of the hour, brilliantly turned into a powerful speech about the importance of perseverance, was chilling, but his calmer scenes are also to be commended throughout the episode. Not only did Tulloch’s blank stares project the fear, disbelief and numbness of someone reeling from such a diagnosis, but she also managed to pretend that all was well when her whole world had come to an end. to be broken by a single word.
Which performance(s) hit your socks this week? Tell us in the comments!
