A weekly feature in which we're trying to find the most compelling, best acted, written, directed and just generally great, memorable scenes that we've seen in past seven days on TV.
ARROW, "Invasion!", November 30, 2016, Actors: Willa Holland, Stephen Amell, The Scene: Thea doesn't want to leave the dream world
Marko Pekic: This one was all Thea, Willa Holland delivered a scene to be remembered for. Thea went such a long way in the last 4-5 years and grew up into a great lady. The fear of losing her family all over again was too much to handle and you could feel it in every word Thea was saying.
BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, "Skyfire Cycle", November 29, 2016, Actors: Andre Braugher and more, The Scene: Holt's rant
Laura Markus: Holt rants for 40 minutes over Rosa telling him to "bone" Kevin. There were so many scenes in this episode worth mentioning. But I have to go with the one that encompasses Kevin somehow, along with Andre Braugher's brilliance and the hilarious C-plot. Rosa using similar verbiage to describe intercourse that I would use was good enough, but having her blurt it out to Holt as the cause of his anger towards Kevin...it was everything I wanted and more. Holt goes on to rant four different times (spanning over 40 minutes of real time) about the audacity of Rosa's claims. I gave Andre a POTM nomination almost solely for this scene. Hearing him yell "BONE!" is worth any award you could give someone.
GILMORE GIRLS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE, "Fall", November 25, 2016, Actors: Lauren Graham, Kelly Bishop, Alexis Bledel, David Sutcliffe, The Scenes: Lorelai tells her story about Richard & Rory meets with her dad
Aimee Hicks: Lorelai calls her mom to tell her a fond and emotional story about her dad. The moment in Fall when Lorelai calls her mom and confesses about the time she skipped school only to be discovered at the mall by her dad. I rarely get emotional watching television. I can feel the emotions that the performer is trying to illicit but rarely do I actually ever get emotional watching something. Yet Lauren Graham’s performance snuck past all my usual guards and slammed right into my heart. I found myself having to blink back tears as Lorelai allowed that story to flow out in honor of her late father. It was just so poignant that I think it’s impossible to not get emotional watching it. The performance was perfection as was the writing of the scene. This was hands down my favorite scene in the entire revival. Every single thing about this scene worked. Lorelai went for it and in a moment of emotional vulnerability, she let her mom a rare look inside her true feelings for her parents. No matter the issues she had with them she still immensely loves them. Graham is a force of nature when she is acting and this scene was something truly memorable in her hands.
Marko Pekic: Lorelai tells her story about Richard. It all came together at this moment. The story climaxed and so did Lauren's performance. Lorelai had a hard time since her father died, she faced her mortality, she faced the fact that she lives her life carefree but that there is maybe something more, something she is missing. In the moment of true peace and beauty in the outdoor Lorelai realized that life is about the great moments. She put herself together and called Emily and delivered a heartbreaking speech to be remembered. The cracks in her voice, the slight mumbling and her running nose felt so real, so honest that it conjured tears in my eyes as well.
Ki Arnould: Rory meeting with her dad and asking how he felt about Lorelai raising her solo. We think Rory's just probing for details for her book, but given the reveal at the very end of the episode... the scene takes on more weight and substance. I rewatched "Fall" and the scene gave me chills; Rory's expressions speak volumes about the secret she's carrying, and Christopher has no idea how impactful his words are.
GOOD BEHAVIOR, "Your Mama Had a Hard Night", November 29, 2016, Actors: Michelle Dockery and more, The Scene: Letty puts Kyle in his place
Luana Arturi: This scene had it all, Michelle's amazing acting, showing how desperate she truly is and how much she feels the consequences of the path she has taken, we saw Javier (Juan Diego Botto is always amazing), when she thought she was kissing him, and we saw Collette Wolfe do a great job as well, even if we see her true greatness in the next scene where she confronts Letty.
LETHAL WEAPON, "Can I Get a Witness?", November 30, 2016, Actors: Clayne Crawford, Teo Briones and more, The Scene: The hospital visit at the end
Justyna K: It was another great episode from one of my favorite shows of this fall and once again, there are many moments I could have highlighted in the article. The humor and the heart of the story continue to work together perfectly, just like both leads and the rest of the cast & crew. This week, it's the interactions between Riggs and little Ethan that stole the hour for me. Even though he has a hard time letting people in, Martin can't help but care about this boy who finds himself in serious troubles after witnessing a crime. They both lost somebody they loved and they quickly develop a bond, with Riggs being able to support Ethan when he needs a friend/father figure the most. After a powerful fight against people who go after Ethan there comes time to say goodbye. Ethan's mom is finally getting better, so he and Riggs part ways with a beautiful hug that clearly means more to Martin that he can say. After he leaves the room and encounters Roger and dr. Cahill, he leaves with them a gift for Ethan and his mom - 147 thousands of dollars. The money that Martin got from selling his house, he gives to another family, for a new beginning where they get to stay together... Ethan made a much bigger impact on him than anyone could expect. It's a beautifully done moment with an excellent performance by Clayne Crawford and rest of the cast. Kudos for such a brilliant hour!
LUCIFER, "Quid Pro Ho", November 28, 2016, Actors: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, Lesley-Ann Brandt, D. B. Woodside, The Scenes: Lucifer and Chloe at the end & Maze stands up to Amenadiel
Aimee Hicks: Lucifer and Chloe connect right before leaning in for a kiss. This moment was a long time coming between these two. Lucifer has wanted to kiss her for a very long time, but unlike with other women, he didn’t want to force things. For Chloe, she has been working up to this for weeks. Her jealousy of other women around Lucifer has become quite pronounced. I love that she came to him despite their failed dinner and he was coming to her to make up for said failed dinner. No matter how hard they try to deny their feelings she was quite literally made for him and no matter what they do they’ll never be able to run from the feelings they both feel. The soft glances of connection followed by gentle touching of hands signaled what was coming. Then they leaned in for the kiss growing nearer and nearer. Who knows what will happen when the next episode airs, but at least they came this far. This was a huge step for both of them and on that, the fans have been waiting for. As usual Lauren German and Tom Ellis have insane chemistry that has made the build up to this scene all the more impactful. They certainly have sold the bond between their characters making this scene something quite memorable.
Luana Arturi: Maze stands up to Amenadiel. It was great to see how badass and protective Maze can be for the people she loves, she was awesome defending Chloe and Lucifer in a way, showing she doesn't just kick-ass physically.
PLEASE LIKE ME, "Degustation", November 30, 2016, Actors: Josh Thomas, Debra Lawrance, The Scene: Josh gives Rose some genuine compliments
Laura Markus: Now THAT was the Please Like Me I know and love! What a fun and powerful episode; the first episode of this season that reminded us what this show does best. Josh's dynamic with his parents is amazing and this scene was the best showcase of it. As Rose heads to the bathroom, Alan requests that Josh gives her some compliments as it would make her night that much better. He complies, regarding many nice things about her. Great acting, a sweet plot, and an episode that could match season 2's "Scroggin'" in quality. It was so well done.
SPEECHLESS, "R-a-y-c-Ray-Cation", November 30, 2016, Actors: Mason Cook, Micah Fowler
The Scene: The brothers bond over girl issues (picked by Marko Pekic)
SUPERGIRL, "Medusa", November 28, 2016, Actors: Chyler Leigh, Floriana Lima, Helen Slater, The Scenes: Alex comes out to her mother & Maggie and Alex get together
Aimee Hicks: Maggie tells Alex that she wants to be with her and they kiss. This was a beautiful culmination of the first part of Alex and Maggie’s journey together. They’ve been through a lot in the short amount of time they’ve known each other. No matter what they kept finding themselves coming back to each other. They are drawn to one another and nothing seems capable of keeping them apart. At any given time they’ve both fought to maintain this unique relationship they have. Alex has wanted her thing with Maggie to be more almost from the start, but Maggie held her off trying desperately to just maintain their relationship as just friends. Given the way Maggie acted around Alex the only person she was fooling with the friend's bit was herself. After being shot by Cyborg Superman she came to realize the lies she’d been telling herself to be able to maintain Alex as a friend. When she showed up at Alex’s apartment she was on a mission. She knew she’d screwed up by denying Alex’s attempts to move their relationship to the next stage. We’ve seen how calm, cool, and collected Maggie is in almost every situation, but here she was a bit frazzled and struggling to find the right words. Alex makes her nervous and makes her feel things that scare even this strong confident woman. It was lovely to see Maggie be the one to push them to the next stage. When she finally worked up to her point of randomly visiting Alex late at night she turned to her with so much conviction in her voice and love in her eyes that there was zero doubt of what she was about to say. She was on a mission to get Alex and that she did. She pounced forward and grabbed Alex’s face before pulling her into a kiss I imagine she’s been thinking about since Alex first kissed her. This was a full circle and beautiful scene. Chyler Leigh and Floriana Lima have insane chemistry and when these two actresses are working their acting magic they look at each other with so much love that it’s easy to see the love each character is harboring for the other. It was powerful acting of a real moment that took courage from both the characters and the actors to pull off. I must give major kudos to Leigh and Lima for not holding back on that kiss and really going for it. Alex was stunned and when Maggie went in for the third kiss she didn’t even kiss back and when Maggie pulled back she stood there with her eyes closed for a moment longer than necessary as she was likely trying to calculate if the kiss really had just happened. This was a beautiful display of true emotions perfectly captured and brought to life by two gifted actresses who are determined to do right by this impactful storyline they’ve been gifted with.
Klutzy girl: Alex comes out to her mother. Chyler Leigh has continuously been knocking this storyline out of the park, and this was no exception. I love that Eliza immediately figured it out because Alex won't stop talking about Maggie and tells her daughter that being gay won't let her down. That Alex was always going to be different and exceptional and she loves her. Then the hug! It was an absolutely amazing and emotional moment.
Donna Chidley: The scene where Alex comes out to her Mum or rather her Mother guessed. Not a dry eye in my household.
SWEET/VICIOUS, "Sucker", November 29, 2016, Actors: Dylan McTee, Eliza Bennett, The Scene: Nate apologizes to Jules
Luana Arturi: This show killed it this week, from the training montage to the support Ophelia offers to her new friend, but the best scene was still easy to choose. Here we see a different side of Nate (though it doesn't change what he did) when he says how much he admires Kennedy's ambitions and how insecure he feels that he's not good enough for her (which he isn't), it was good to see him as a three dimentional charcter, not just a villain, even if it doesn't excuse what he did at all. But the best thing in this scene was Jules, the dread we see in her face when Nate's so close to her bed, and the anguish she releases after he leaves, gives the scene a much deeper layer and it makes everything that much more intense. Eliza Bennet showed her acting chops that can't be ignored.
THE FLASH, "Invasion!", November 29, 2016, Actors: Grant Gustin, Stephen Amell, The Scene: Oliver and Barry talk in the time vault
Justyna K: Since the beginning of the season, we're watching the consequences of Barry's choice to go back in time to save his mother. Over time the changes have become much greater than expected - Dante's death, Caitlin's powers, Iris' fight with Joe, the future article and now the Dominators... It's easy to say it's all just Barry's fault and hold him resposible for all the bad things that happened since his decision. The thing is, nothing is ever this simple, and Barry didn't just choose to make his friends' lives worse, he doesn't control every choice that anyone has made in that time and there's no way to know if the things wouldn't end up the same or similar if he didn't intervene. Also, the truth is, I still can't imagine a worse punishment for him than being forced to essentially send his mother's killer after her... That's why, in between all the great, funny, heroic and heartbreaking moments that happened during this incredible crossover between 4 (!) shows, the scene that stayed with me the most was Oliver's speech in the time vault on "The Flash". Next to the other heroes, Oliver always seems like a much darker character, with sadness and pain being such a big part of him. And in this honest and powerful moment, he tells Barry how his own parents died and how he would make the same decision to go back in time to save them, if he could. It's the story he rarely shares and it's obvious how much it means to him but he wants Barry to understand that this one action doesn't suddenly erase all the good he has done. His choice was a very human thing to do and there's not many people who could have truly made a different one. I always love to see the moments of friendship between Barry and Oliver and it was a great one. Both actors were excellent in the scene (and the episode) and I'd be happy to see more of their interactions in the future. Kudos to cast & crew for the incredible work on the crossover event - it was a great one!
THIS IS US, "The Trip", November 29, 2016, Actors: Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown and more, The Scenes: Randall's first karate lesson & "Jack" tells Randall he isn't anyone's replacement
Justyna K: If you're looking for a family drama, you couldn't have asked for a better show. It's been only 9 episodes and the series continues to be a powerful and emotional TV wonder. With so much heart, true characters and moving story, it's one of the best TV additions of this season. And I hope to see it around for a long while. This week's episode had many beautiful moments that I would love to include in the article (especially Randall's visions of his dad) but in the end I decided to go with little Randall's first karate lesson. It's the scene where he is welcomed to the community, who embraces him and shows him a new perspective, with his loving parents by his side. Even though I find it hard to agree with Rebecca's decision to keep the truth from her son and her husband, I can still understand it, especially when watching Jack with Randall. Jack realizes that his little boy needs black, male role models in his life and introduces him to Ray, karate instructor. A ceremony, that takes place on Randall's first lesson, starts with Jack doing push-ups with Randall on his back, with a promise to carry his son and hold him up no matter what happens. Even though the exercise itself is painful and hard, Jack doesn't want to stop, he wants to do everything possible for his boy, being the incredible father that he is. As we watch the scene, we also see the origin of Rebecca's letter to William, and his heartbreaking reaction to it. Thanks to a wonderful meaning, beautiful music and the great performances by all the actors involved, it's hard not to shed a tear during this emotional moment. Kudos to cast & crew for their work on the show!
Klutzy girl: A high Randall hallucinates Jack and tells his father he was a replacement for his dead son. Hallucination!Jack telling Randall that the moment he saw him, he knew he was his son killed me. Sterling and Milo were perfect in this scene.