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.
DARK MATTER, "Nowhere To Go", August 25, 2017, Actors: Jodelle Ferland, Alex Mallari Jr. and more, The Scene: The Black Ships are here
Kollin: Who'd have thunk it that the Dark Matter season 3 finale would have ended with Five, Ryo and Wexler, a mere secondary character and oft antagonist, in one room? This moment was the culmination of a huge war, done really well with the limited budget of the show, but wow, watching those black ships come out of the portal was frightening and grand. Dark Matter's main story with all this corporate war mumbo jumbo was dry since it started, but now things are finally kicking into high gear with the invasion of aliens and this closing scene did a great job of hyping up the crazy things about to happen. #RenewDarkMatter
GAME OF THRONES, "Beyond the Wall", August 20, 2017, Actors: Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Rory McCann and more, The Scenes: Daenerys and her Dragons arrive to save Jon and company & Arya and Sansa's confrontation & Jon and Dany talk & The Hound and Tormund's first interaction & The Hound taunts the Army of the Dead
Justyna K: First of all, I very much enjoyed all the interactions between the Company of Seven. They were both hilarious and brilliant. However, it's impossible for me not to choose the moment when Dany arrives with her Dragons. The visuals, the cinematography and the music of it were quite breathtaking and a perfect example of why this show is such a standout for me. There's so much heart and effort put in every scene that watching the show can often feel like a true movie experience. Outside of the incredible work done when making this scene, it's also such a powerful and important part of the story. Dany finally faces the Night King and realizes the true danger everyone is facing. Her dragons take down quite a few of the soldiers in the army of the dead. And she's able to save most of the fantastic company that went on this suicide mission. It's very much a last second save but it's such satisfying entrance that I really didn't mind the timing of it at all. And then there's Viserion's death. Even though it was certainly a predictable one, it was still hard to watch him fall. Such a powerful creature falling in such a brutal and sudden way. Just the look on everyone's faces, the shock and pain on Dany's, show exactly how much it mattered and how things are going to be different from now. Excellent performances by the cast & crew. Kudos!
Marko: Arya and Sansa's confrontation. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of this plot point I found the scene really strong and impressive. Both actresses delivered convincing performances with hints that they might not be that oblivious to Littlefinger's mischief.
Kollin: The Hound and Tormund's first interaction. The two big lugs officially meet during their trek up north and, as can be expected, it's hilarious. Tormund's jovial craziness played well off the moody and grumpy personality of The Hound. The ginger's facial expressions were especially hilarious, as you can see he enjoyed getting under the skin of The Hound and taking advantage of the fact he is a big softie under that mean exterior. Hopefully, this is the first of many interactions between them.
Darth Locke: The Hound Taunts the Army of the Dead/Wights.
Lisa: Tormund gets to know the Hound and the two discuss Brienne of Tarth... The scene shows so many sides of Tormund! He starts by teasing the Hound to take his measure as a soldier - he has to fight with this guy he doesn't know. He immediately sees that he's got an issue with his gigantic scar - but he also bonds with the Hound over it when the Hound declares he hates Gingers - we're both touched by fire. Tormund is so adorable when he admits that he's not "with" Brienne yet... He also demonstrates that he loves Brienne's spirit - not just her beauty when he realizes - rather breathlessly - that the Hound really does know her when he describes her as looking at you like she wants to rip out your liver! The Hound proves himself in battle - and that maybe he can make a friend when he's the one to save Tormund from certain death - demonstrating that even the Hound has changed profoundly.
Marine: Jon calls Dany "my queen".
KILLJOYS, "Reckoning Ball", August 25, 2017, Actors: Hannah John-Kamen, Luke Macfarlane, The Scene: Dutch and D'avin kiss
Kollin: This was one of the best works we've seen from Macfarlane as D'avin. In this scene Dutch tells D'avin not to tell Johnny about her dying because "he wouldn't be to handle it," yet she does not think how he feels on the matter. His anger and sadness could really be felt in this scene - his voice even cracked while he spoke, which made the dialogue feel so much more raw. This would lead to their first genuine kiss and it was one that was done so well. The moment was tender and quiet, the lighting dim, and it wasn't dwelled on too long, the scene cut to black just at the right moment. Killjoys has been a great example of a show that does not let its relationships dominate the episodes, it's used just enough to develop character as opposed to doing romance for the sake of creating melodrama ala Wynonna Earp. All of which made this moment, one that was earned over three seasons, so much more meaningful and impactful. #RenewKilljoys
RAY DONOVAN, "Dogwalker", August 20, 2017, Actors: Liev Schreiber, Lili Simmons
The Scene: Natalie James tells Ray to take her dog back to her Ex (picked by Darth Locke)
RICK AND MORTY, "The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy", August 20, 2017, Voiced by: Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke, The Scenes: Rick and Jerry have a fight & Morty gives Beth a piece of his mind
Laura: Now that's character development, and that's a fight that has been a long time coming, actually it was like three years in the making. Hoo boy. Where do I begin? Every single time Rick tries to open up and actually attempts to be a good person something like this happens. It happened first with his beloved Birdperson. Now he opens up to Jerry saying that he knowingly had a part in his divorce with Beth, and boom, he nearly gets killed. These conspiracists/hitmen nearly get Jerry to turn on Rick completely but they manage to veer off the roller coaster’s path to safety? Somewhat. As Jerry is getting eaten by this monster Rick lets out a lot of anger and resentment he has had building up inside him about Jerry. He cites that he’s a predator, and his failures and shortcomings he uses to get others to take pity of him, and this spreads misery to others and those are his prey. Phew. It’s a bit on the nose, sure, but I think Jerry really needed to hear that. Jerry gets a chance to retaliate and, naturally, they both decide to keep everything that happened on that adventure to themselves. So I guess that includes the part where they pretty much boned inside of a wormhole experience? Okay, good. I think it’s for the best that the rest of family don’t know that. Marine: Morty gives Beth a piece of his mind.
ROOM 104, "The Internet", August 25, 2017, Actors: Jay Duplass and more
The Scene: Daniel says goodbye to his dead friend Patrick (picked by DarkUFO)
SALVATION, "Patriot Games", August 23, 2017, Actors: Santiago Cabrera, Charlie Rowe and more
The Scene: The rocket launch
DJRiter: The sheer school boy giddiness on Liam and Darius' faces when they launched the real rocket!
THE BOLD TYPE, "The End of the Beginning", August 22, 2017, Actors: Meghann Fahy, Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee and more, The Scenes: Sutton leaves messages for Richard & Jane offers her room for Kat to storm off into
Marko: I loved all the emotions Meghann brought to this scene. This one little scene showed all how complex and strong Sutton is. The transition between vulnerability and strength was so well handled, Sutton's heartbreak was palpable to say at least.
Luana: Jane offers her room for Kat to storm off into. I love the relationship between these women, it was so heartbreaking when Kat opened up to them, telling them how she felt about the situation she was in, afraid that any of them could lose their jobs. And when she wanted to storm off but didn't have a room, Jane provided hers, even if she was one of the people the storming off was directed at. I can't get enough of them, even when they're fighting.
THE DEFENDERS, "Ashes, Ashes" & "The Defenders", August 18, 2017, Actors: Élodie Yung, Sigourney Weaver, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, The Scenes: Elektra kills Alexandra & Jessica and Luke talk at the bar after Matt's "demise"
Justyna K: There's so many things and scenes that I loved in this series. All the interactions between the Defenders were absolutely brilliant and it was great to watch the story of Elektra's transformation. Élodie Yung and Charlie Cox both gave truly powerful performances and their dynamics made for some of my favorite moments on the show. As much as I would love to include Matt and Elektra's final confrontation in the article I need to highlight the most surprising and excellent twist of this miniseries - the scene where Elektra kills Alexandra. The relationship between these two was another one worth attention but as it quickly becomes clear it's all built on a lie. Once Elektra meets Matt she begins to remember her life before the return from the dead. At the end of the episode six the viewers are not yet aware of just how much does Elektra know and where her loyalties lie. So it makes for such a shocking and powerful scene when Alexandra demands from her weapon, the Black Sky, to take the lives of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Daredevil. For a moment we believe Elektra is following the orders and the focus of the scene shifts directly to Alexandra (brilliantly played by Sigourney Weaver) who makes a great speech about her power and achievements as the Leader of the Hand. That's when Elektra stabs her from behind and stops the speech with one sentence "His name is Matthew". After killing her "savior" Alexandra, Elektra reminds her true name to the remaining Fingers of The Hand and announces that they all work for her now. Each episode of the show left me wanting more but this ending was definitely one of a kind. I didn't see it coming at all and I'm very glad for that. It was such a change for the character, the story and the show. Then seeing Elektra with Matt in the finale only made it better. I can't wait to see what's going to happen with these two. Their story ended up being one of my favorite parts of the show and it was such a great surprise. So excited to see what's next. Kudos to the entire cast & crew for their wonderful work on the series!
Marko: Jessica and Luke talk at the bar after Matt's "demise". There were plenty scenes in the 2nd half worthy of a nomination but this one really stood out to me. And this one was all Krysten Ritter. She did so much with so little cause the energy she brings to the role of Jessica Jones is impeccable. Matt's sacrifice brought out all the pain and guilt hidden within her but with Luke's words of encouragement she found a way to slightly forgive herself.
Milo: Elektra kills Alexandra. This was a WTF moment that I didn't see coming at all, and really ended the episode on an interesting note, with a great game changer. Whilst it was disappointing to see Sigourney Weaver's character killed as she had been such a great villain, the death really stood out for me as a highlight of the season so far.
THE NIGHT SHIFT, "Land of the Free", August 24, 2017, Actors: Eoin Macken, Scott Wolf, The Scene: Scott and TC discuss admitting the detainees into the hospital
Antonia: Scott and TC discuss admitting the detainees from the immigration detention center into San Antonio Memorial Hospital. These two have never been on the same page, so seeing them actually agreeing on something, anything is extremely refreshing. The fact that they agreed that the soon-to-be deported illegal immigrants deserve medical care is even better. Seeing two adversaries agree on this effectively reiterated idea that illegal immigrants are people and that they deserve medical care just like anyone else. It was also great how the show didn’t pat itself on its back for #wokeness in this scene, instead letting the characters be their slightly antagonistic selves, with TC’s disbelief at Scott and Scott’s snarky “You don’t own the moral compass for the world, TC.”
THE SINNER, "Part IV", August 23, 2017, Actors: Jessica Biel, Bill Pullman and more, The Scenes: Cora undergoes hypnosis and starts remembering & Cora asks Harry not to give up on her
Samantha: This show just gets better with every episode and this whole scene was magnificent. Ignoring the therapist's advice and continuing to push Cora to remember something she wasn't stable enough to remember was irresponsible to say the least, but yet I was cheering Harry on because I was desperate to know more.
DarkUFO: Cora undergoes hypnosis and starts to recall some of the events of the night she was taken.
Luana: Cora asks Harry not to give up on her. This quiet scene where Cora realizes Harry is the only one truly on her side and she doesn't want to lose that. Even if she has been fighting him every step of the way, she realizes he's the only one helping her get to the truth.
WYNONNA EARP, "I Hope You Dance", August 25, 2017, Actors: Melanie Scrofano, Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Tim Rozon and more, The Scenes: Wynonna tells Waverly that she is her sister & Wynonna and Doc have a moment at the end
Samantha: Wynonna tells Waverly that she is her sister and orders peacemaker to shoot Rosita. I don't think I can ever emphasis enough how much I love Wynonna & Waverly's relationship. Rosita tried to seize on Waverly's insecurities over her heritage and despite being in labor, and dealing with a crazy rev trying to steal her baby, Wynonna can still pull an inspirational speech out of the bag and order her gun to do the business. Doesn't matter how much they fight or disagree with each other, Wynonna & Waverly will always be there for each other.
Luana: Wynonna and Doc have a moment at the end. I'm so happy the baby is Doc's, and it was so sweet and heartbreaking at the same time seeing them in pain for sending their daughter away. And Wynonna vowing to break the curse so her little girl doesn't have to was just perfect, now that Doc can grow old I'm all for them growing old together.
Kollin: Who'd have thunk it that the Dark Matter season 3 finale would have ended with Five, Ryo and Wexler, a mere secondary character and oft antagonist, in one room? This moment was the culmination of a huge war, done really well with the limited budget of the show, but wow, watching those black ships come out of the portal was frightening and grand. Dark Matter's main story with all this corporate war mumbo jumbo was dry since it started, but now things are finally kicking into high gear with the invasion of aliens and this closing scene did a great job of hyping up the crazy things about to happen. #RenewDarkMatter
Justyna K: First of all, I very much enjoyed all the interactions between the Company of Seven. They were both hilarious and brilliant. However, it's impossible for me not to choose the moment when Dany arrives with her Dragons. The visuals, the cinematography and the music of it were quite breathtaking and a perfect example of why this show is such a standout for me. There's so much heart and effort put in every scene that watching the show can often feel like a true movie experience. Outside of the incredible work done when making this scene, it's also such a powerful and important part of the story. Dany finally faces the Night King and realizes the true danger everyone is facing. Her dragons take down quite a few of the soldiers in the army of the dead. And she's able to save most of the fantastic company that went on this suicide mission. It's very much a last second save but it's such satisfying entrance that I really didn't mind the timing of it at all. And then there's Viserion's death. Even though it was certainly a predictable one, it was still hard to watch him fall. Such a powerful creature falling in such a brutal and sudden way. Just the look on everyone's faces, the shock and pain on Dany's, show exactly how much it mattered and how things are going to be different from now. Excellent performances by the cast & crew. Kudos!
Marko: Arya and Sansa's confrontation. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of this plot point I found the scene really strong and impressive. Both actresses delivered convincing performances with hints that they might not be that oblivious to Littlefinger's mischief.
Kollin: The Hound and Tormund's first interaction. The two big lugs officially meet during their trek up north and, as can be expected, it's hilarious. Tormund's jovial craziness played well off the moody and grumpy personality of The Hound. The ginger's facial expressions were especially hilarious, as you can see he enjoyed getting under the skin of The Hound and taking advantage of the fact he is a big softie under that mean exterior. Hopefully, this is the first of many interactions between them.
Darth Locke: The Hound Taunts the Army of the Dead/Wights.
Lisa: Tormund gets to know the Hound and the two discuss Brienne of Tarth... The scene shows so many sides of Tormund! He starts by teasing the Hound to take his measure as a soldier - he has to fight with this guy he doesn't know. He immediately sees that he's got an issue with his gigantic scar - but he also bonds with the Hound over it when the Hound declares he hates Gingers - we're both touched by fire. Tormund is so adorable when he admits that he's not "with" Brienne yet... He also demonstrates that he loves Brienne's spirit - not just her beauty when he realizes - rather breathlessly - that the Hound really does know her when he describes her as looking at you like she wants to rip out your liver! The Hound proves himself in battle - and that maybe he can make a friend when he's the one to save Tormund from certain death - demonstrating that even the Hound has changed profoundly.
Marine: Jon calls Dany "my queen".
Kollin: This was one of the best works we've seen from Macfarlane as D'avin. In this scene Dutch tells D'avin not to tell Johnny about her dying because "he wouldn't be to handle it," yet she does not think how he feels on the matter. His anger and sadness could really be felt in this scene - his voice even cracked while he spoke, which made the dialogue feel so much more raw. This would lead to their first genuine kiss and it was one that was done so well. The moment was tender and quiet, the lighting dim, and it wasn't dwelled on too long, the scene cut to black just at the right moment. Killjoys has been a great example of a show that does not let its relationships dominate the episodes, it's used just enough to develop character as opposed to doing romance for the sake of creating melodrama ala Wynonna Earp. All of which made this moment, one that was earned over three seasons, so much more meaningful and impactful. #RenewKilljoys
RAY DONOVAN, "Dogwalker", August 20, 2017, Actors: Liev Schreiber, Lili Simmons
The Scene: Natalie James tells Ray to take her dog back to her Ex (picked by Darth Locke)
Laura: Now that's character development, and that's a fight that has been a long time coming, actually it was like three years in the making. Hoo boy. Where do I begin? Every single time Rick tries to open up and actually attempts to be a good person something like this happens. It happened first with his beloved Birdperson. Now he opens up to Jerry saying that he knowingly had a part in his divorce with Beth, and boom, he nearly gets killed. These conspiracists/hitmen nearly get Jerry to turn on Rick completely but they manage to veer off the roller coaster’s path to safety? Somewhat. As Jerry is getting eaten by this monster Rick lets out a lot of anger and resentment he has had building up inside him about Jerry. He cites that he’s a predator, and his failures and shortcomings he uses to get others to take pity of him, and this spreads misery to others and those are his prey. Phew. It’s a bit on the nose, sure, but I think Jerry really needed to hear that. Jerry gets a chance to retaliate and, naturally, they both decide to keep everything that happened on that adventure to themselves. So I guess that includes the part where they pretty much boned inside of a wormhole experience? Okay, good. I think it’s for the best that the rest of family don’t know that. Marine: Morty gives Beth a piece of his mind.
ROOM 104, "The Internet", August 25, 2017, Actors: Jay Duplass and more
The Scene: Daniel says goodbye to his dead friend Patrick (picked by DarkUFO)
SALVATION, "Patriot Games", August 23, 2017, Actors: Santiago Cabrera, Charlie Rowe and more
The Scene: The rocket launch
DJRiter: The sheer school boy giddiness on Liam and Darius' faces when they launched the real rocket!
Marko: I loved all the emotions Meghann brought to this scene. This one little scene showed all how complex and strong Sutton is. The transition between vulnerability and strength was so well handled, Sutton's heartbreak was palpable to say at least.
Luana: Jane offers her room for Kat to storm off into. I love the relationship between these women, it was so heartbreaking when Kat opened up to them, telling them how she felt about the situation she was in, afraid that any of them could lose their jobs. And when she wanted to storm off but didn't have a room, Jane provided hers, even if she was one of the people the storming off was directed at. I can't get enough of them, even when they're fighting.
Justyna K: There's so many things and scenes that I loved in this series. All the interactions between the Defenders were absolutely brilliant and it was great to watch the story of Elektra's transformation. Élodie Yung and Charlie Cox both gave truly powerful performances and their dynamics made for some of my favorite moments on the show. As much as I would love to include Matt and Elektra's final confrontation in the article I need to highlight the most surprising and excellent twist of this miniseries - the scene where Elektra kills Alexandra. The relationship between these two was another one worth attention but as it quickly becomes clear it's all built on a lie. Once Elektra meets Matt she begins to remember her life before the return from the dead. At the end of the episode six the viewers are not yet aware of just how much does Elektra know and where her loyalties lie. So it makes for such a shocking and powerful scene when Alexandra demands from her weapon, the Black Sky, to take the lives of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Daredevil. For a moment we believe Elektra is following the orders and the focus of the scene shifts directly to Alexandra (brilliantly played by Sigourney Weaver) who makes a great speech about her power and achievements as the Leader of the Hand. That's when Elektra stabs her from behind and stops the speech with one sentence "His name is Matthew". After killing her "savior" Alexandra, Elektra reminds her true name to the remaining Fingers of The Hand and announces that they all work for her now. Each episode of the show left me wanting more but this ending was definitely one of a kind. I didn't see it coming at all and I'm very glad for that. It was such a change for the character, the story and the show. Then seeing Elektra with Matt in the finale only made it better. I can't wait to see what's going to happen with these two. Their story ended up being one of my favorite parts of the show and it was such a great surprise. So excited to see what's next. Kudos to the entire cast & crew for their wonderful work on the series!
Marko: Jessica and Luke talk at the bar after Matt's "demise". There were plenty scenes in the 2nd half worthy of a nomination but this one really stood out to me. And this one was all Krysten Ritter. She did so much with so little cause the energy she brings to the role of Jessica Jones is impeccable. Matt's sacrifice brought out all the pain and guilt hidden within her but with Luke's words of encouragement she found a way to slightly forgive herself.
Milo: Elektra kills Alexandra. This was a WTF moment that I didn't see coming at all, and really ended the episode on an interesting note, with a great game changer. Whilst it was disappointing to see Sigourney Weaver's character killed as she had been such a great villain, the death really stood out for me as a highlight of the season so far.
Antonia: Scott and TC discuss admitting the detainees from the immigration detention center into San Antonio Memorial Hospital. These two have never been on the same page, so seeing them actually agreeing on something, anything is extremely refreshing. The fact that they agreed that the soon-to-be deported illegal immigrants deserve medical care is even better. Seeing two adversaries agree on this effectively reiterated idea that illegal immigrants are people and that they deserve medical care just like anyone else. It was also great how the show didn’t pat itself on its back for #wokeness in this scene, instead letting the characters be their slightly antagonistic selves, with TC’s disbelief at Scott and Scott’s snarky “You don’t own the moral compass for the world, TC.”
Samantha: This show just gets better with every episode and this whole scene was magnificent. Ignoring the therapist's advice and continuing to push Cora to remember something she wasn't stable enough to remember was irresponsible to say the least, but yet I was cheering Harry on because I was desperate to know more.
DarkUFO: Cora undergoes hypnosis and starts to recall some of the events of the night she was taken.
Luana: Cora asks Harry not to give up on her. This quiet scene where Cora realizes Harry is the only one truly on her side and she doesn't want to lose that. Even if she has been fighting him every step of the way, she realizes he's the only one helping her get to the truth.
Samantha: Wynonna tells Waverly that she is her sister and orders peacemaker to shoot Rosita. I don't think I can ever emphasis enough how much I love Wynonna & Waverly's relationship. Rosita tried to seize on Waverly's insecurities over her heritage and despite being in labor, and dealing with a crazy rev trying to steal her baby, Wynonna can still pull an inspirational speech out of the bag and order her gun to do the business. Doesn't matter how much they fight or disagree with each other, Wynonna & Waverly will always be there for each other.
Luana: Wynonna and Doc have a moment at the end. I'm so happy the baby is Doc's, and it was so sweet and heartbreaking at the same time seeing them in pain for sending their daughter away. And Wynonna vowing to break the curse so her little girl doesn't have to was just perfect, now that Doc can grow old I'm all for them growing old together.
