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.
GAME OF THRONES, "The Queen's Justice", July 30, 2017, Actors: Diana Rigg, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke and more, The Scenes: The death of Olenna Tyrell & Jon meets Daenerys
Justyna K: Such a memorable episode. This season already provided us with dozens of powerful and great scenes to mention in these articles and it's only been three episodes so far. This time we got to see the long awaited meeting between some of the show's most beloved characters, the reunion in the Stark family and the farewell of the great Queen of Thorns, just to mention a few of these amazing moments. It becomes even clearer with each hour how close we're getting to the show's end. This time, for my choice of SOTW I decided to go with the death of Lady Olenna. As much as I enjoyed all the other scenes this one probably stayed with me the longest after watching the episode. Just the fact that it was probably the most peaceful death on the show and the one where the person dying gets to say the last word, all of it makes it such a highlight in the series overall. Lady Olenna went out just like she lived, with just the right words to say. In the end, even in her time of dying she has managed to hurt those who have wronged her, making this farewell easier to accept than some of the other departures. While the war between Queens of Westeros continues, the Queen already fought in her final confrontation and made the people remember her. Truly powerful performances by both actors. I'm glad that Olenna told Jaime exactly how wrong he is by choosing to support Cersei and that despite her last words and their impact on him he still chose to let her die in peace. Might be one of the best decisions he's ever made. Kudos to cast & crew for their brilliant work on the episode. Can't wait to see the next one.
Milo: I loved the interactions between Dany, Jon, Davos and Missandei where Missandei listed down Dany's many titles and Davos just tells them that Jon is the King in the North. That one title means more than any of Dany's as far as he's concerned, and it was just a badass moment. The fact that these two don't get off on the best of terms immediately as well was really appreciated, and I loved the war of words that very much dominated this scene in particular.
Darth Locke: Diana Riggs is definitely up there with the likes of Peter Dinklage and Charles Dance in being one of the most gifted actors/actresses on Game of Thrones to present rich articulate dialogue that can cut through other people like a knife and her character's final lines to Jaime Lannister did not disappoint--but I actually chose this scene, because it was more about Jaime than about Olenna. He was the one to convince Cersei to let Olenna die by these means--in the comfort of her own home and with a quick and physically painless death, ultimately on her own terms. He came there willing to listen to whatever she had to say and what struck me most was his restraint when she revealed not only what she had done, but how she wanted Jaime to be the messenger to Cersei so that she could feel it too! He somehow held back from any kind of physical retaliation honoring whatever promise he made to himself about this, got teary-eyed, and was able to walk away! It may also suggest that a bigger mental transition for Jaime is afoot! Also picked by Louis
Kollin: Jaime confronts Olenna. What everyone else is saying, lol.
PREACHER, "Pig", July 31, 2017, Actors: Pip Torrens and more, The Scene: Herr Starr trains at the Grail
Kollin: Herr Starr goes through his initiation at the Grail. Preacher has been doing things on cable that is unprecedented, but for all the wrong reasons. This scene, in which Herr Starr goes through his initiation, really defines how utterly wonkers and hilarious this show can get. In a one-on-one spar, he lets a man choke him while he masturbates before kicking him in the balls and punching him while he tells a woman, "give me the microfiche, you bitch, or I'll kill you and your family" to prove his seduction skills, enjoys an electroshock to his nuts, and blows his competitor brains out in a gun range duel. It needs to be seen to be fully experienced. Just the most craziest, most hilarious scene I have ever seen on television.
Louis: For all of the flaws of this adaptation, it's doing right by the source material's outsize villains. Hot on the heels of the Saint of Killers' dispatching last episode, our new Big Bad, Herr Starr, certainly made an impression in a hilariously brutal training montage, including murder, seductive death threats and... creative distractions that felt like the moral nihilist take on sports movies you never knew you needed. With his resourcefulness, quick thinking and all-encompassing empathy deficit, Starr proves you don't have to be the strongest to be the best. I'm rooting for the guy already.
RICK AND MORTY, "Rickmancing the Stone", July 30, 2017, Voiced by: Justin Roiland, Spencer Grammer, Sarah Chalke, The Scene: Robot Morty and Robot Summer appear
Laura: Robot Morty and Robot Summer are things that exist. Welcome back once again, Rick and Morty. Man, with an episode like this I was reminded once again how utterly brilliant this show can be. And with a sequence like this I had to wonder why it took them (meaning Rick) so long to crank out robotic versions of his family members. And how perfect were these sequences? My god, every single thing that had to do with this plot made me laugh until my head hurt. I will probably be quoting, “Haha, aw jeez, my sister died in the spaghetti” for a lifetime. And his devolution and desire to gain sentience and run in a stream was hilarious and emotional. Finally, Beth’s ignorance to this whole situation made me feel so bad for her. But anyway, thank you for this episode, and thank you for these robot clones. I really hope we see them again down the line. Also picked by Louis
SUITS, "Divide and Conquer", August 2, 2017, Actors: Patrick J. Adams, Dulé Hill, and more, The Scene: Mike and Alex both save the day
Laura: Suits is no stranger to paralleling montages like these. They did one of them in Season 5 Episode 9 and that’s the only thing I can even remember about that episode. Louis and Harvey are both struggling to get successes with their plots, but in walk Alex and Mike to save both of their days. It was quick, sleek, smart writing, something Suits can really excel at when it tries. And it was no different here. As I said last week, I hope we can see more awesome interactions between Alex and Mike, and though they didn’t necessarily interact directly this week, with the ending of the episode, I’m sure they will be interacting a lot more coming up. Though it probably won’t be in the way I want it to be.
TEEN WOLF, "Said the Spider to the Fly", July 30, 2017, Actors: Dylan O'Brien and more, The Scene: Stiles' first day at the FBI
Justyna K: It was a good midseason premiere and the beginning of the long goodbye for the show. But the moment I was happy about the most has to be the final scene where we get to see the new life of Stiles Stilinski. He's right where he always wanted to be and in his voicemail he's hoping that his friends will get their chance to move on and find their place in the world, just like he's doing. Not only that, he actually seems prepared and happy when the training starts. It's been a while since we've seen this Stiles. The inquisitive, smart and funny Stiles we've all grown to love. And as if that wasn't enough for the episode's ending we also get a glimpse of the case Stiles will most likely get involved in during his time at FBI - the search for the suspected mass murderer Derek Hale. Sounds like there's an interesting and crazy story behind this reveal and I can't wait to see it. After all the love that Stiles and Derek got from the fans over the years it seems like a nice and fitting choice on the writers' part to get these two one last story together before the series ends. Kudos!
Jennise: Stiles starts as an FBI Intern. I was almost as excited to see this scene as Stiles was to experience his first day. The scene was filled with tiny gems for the fans. Stiles’ inability to keep himself from peppering the agent doing the orientation with questions, his spit take when he saw Derek on the monitor, and the Orientation Agent surrendering when faced with Stiles’ full name. These moments all felt like little gems planted to help the fans deal with the reality that Dylan O’Brien likely won’t be around for most of the season. Hands down my favorite scene of the whole week.
ZOO, "Oz is Oz", August 3, 2017, Actors: Gracie Dzienny, Billy Burke, The Scene: Clem and Mitch talk in the car
Klutzy girl: Clem and Mitch talk in the car after he learns about her pregnancy, and he tells her he understands she cares about her kid, but he's worried about his, thus why he wants to run tests. The way his voice broke when he told her that she and the baby are all that he has left and that a parent has one job made me emotional. Billy Burke is a phenomenal actor and he's been knocking it out of the park this season.
Justyna K: Such a memorable episode. This season already provided us with dozens of powerful and great scenes to mention in these articles and it's only been three episodes so far. This time we got to see the long awaited meeting between some of the show's most beloved characters, the reunion in the Stark family and the farewell of the great Queen of Thorns, just to mention a few of these amazing moments. It becomes even clearer with each hour how close we're getting to the show's end. This time, for my choice of SOTW I decided to go with the death of Lady Olenna. As much as I enjoyed all the other scenes this one probably stayed with me the longest after watching the episode. Just the fact that it was probably the most peaceful death on the show and the one where the person dying gets to say the last word, all of it makes it such a highlight in the series overall. Lady Olenna went out just like she lived, with just the right words to say. In the end, even in her time of dying she has managed to hurt those who have wronged her, making this farewell easier to accept than some of the other departures. While the war between Queens of Westeros continues, the Queen already fought in her final confrontation and made the people remember her. Truly powerful performances by both actors. I'm glad that Olenna told Jaime exactly how wrong he is by choosing to support Cersei and that despite her last words and their impact on him he still chose to let her die in peace. Might be one of the best decisions he's ever made. Kudos to cast & crew for their brilliant work on the episode. Can't wait to see the next one.
Milo: I loved the interactions between Dany, Jon, Davos and Missandei where Missandei listed down Dany's many titles and Davos just tells them that Jon is the King in the North. That one title means more than any of Dany's as far as he's concerned, and it was just a badass moment. The fact that these two don't get off on the best of terms immediately as well was really appreciated, and I loved the war of words that very much dominated this scene in particular.
Darth Locke: Diana Riggs is definitely up there with the likes of Peter Dinklage and Charles Dance in being one of the most gifted actors/actresses on Game of Thrones to present rich articulate dialogue that can cut through other people like a knife and her character's final lines to Jaime Lannister did not disappoint--but I actually chose this scene, because it was more about Jaime than about Olenna. He was the one to convince Cersei to let Olenna die by these means--in the comfort of her own home and with a quick and physically painless death, ultimately on her own terms. He came there willing to listen to whatever she had to say and what struck me most was his restraint when she revealed not only what she had done, but how she wanted Jaime to be the messenger to Cersei so that she could feel it too! He somehow held back from any kind of physical retaliation honoring whatever promise he made to himself about this, got teary-eyed, and was able to walk away! It may also suggest that a bigger mental transition for Jaime is afoot! Also picked by Louis
Kollin: Jaime confronts Olenna. What everyone else is saying, lol.
Kollin: Herr Starr goes through his initiation at the Grail. Preacher has been doing things on cable that is unprecedented, but for all the wrong reasons. This scene, in which Herr Starr goes through his initiation, really defines how utterly wonkers and hilarious this show can get. In a one-on-one spar, he lets a man choke him while he masturbates before kicking him in the balls and punching him while he tells a woman, "give me the microfiche, you bitch, or I'll kill you and your family" to prove his seduction skills, enjoys an electroshock to his nuts, and blows his competitor brains out in a gun range duel. It needs to be seen to be fully experienced. Just the most craziest, most hilarious scene I have ever seen on television.
Louis: For all of the flaws of this adaptation, it's doing right by the source material's outsize villains. Hot on the heels of the Saint of Killers' dispatching last episode, our new Big Bad, Herr Starr, certainly made an impression in a hilariously brutal training montage, including murder, seductive death threats and... creative distractions that felt like the moral nihilist take on sports movies you never knew you needed. With his resourcefulness, quick thinking and all-encompassing empathy deficit, Starr proves you don't have to be the strongest to be the best. I'm rooting for the guy already.
Laura: Robot Morty and Robot Summer are things that exist. Welcome back once again, Rick and Morty. Man, with an episode like this I was reminded once again how utterly brilliant this show can be. And with a sequence like this I had to wonder why it took them (meaning Rick) so long to crank out robotic versions of his family members. And how perfect were these sequences? My god, every single thing that had to do with this plot made me laugh until my head hurt. I will probably be quoting, “Haha, aw jeez, my sister died in the spaghetti” for a lifetime. And his devolution and desire to gain sentience and run in a stream was hilarious and emotional. Finally, Beth’s ignorance to this whole situation made me feel so bad for her. But anyway, thank you for this episode, and thank you for these robot clones. I really hope we see them again down the line. Also picked by Louis
Laura: Suits is no stranger to paralleling montages like these. They did one of them in Season 5 Episode 9 and that’s the only thing I can even remember about that episode. Louis and Harvey are both struggling to get successes with their plots, but in walk Alex and Mike to save both of their days. It was quick, sleek, smart writing, something Suits can really excel at when it tries. And it was no different here. As I said last week, I hope we can see more awesome interactions between Alex and Mike, and though they didn’t necessarily interact directly this week, with the ending of the episode, I’m sure they will be interacting a lot more coming up. Though it probably won’t be in the way I want it to be.
Justyna K: It was a good midseason premiere and the beginning of the long goodbye for the show. But the moment I was happy about the most has to be the final scene where we get to see the new life of Stiles Stilinski. He's right where he always wanted to be and in his voicemail he's hoping that his friends will get their chance to move on and find their place in the world, just like he's doing. Not only that, he actually seems prepared and happy when the training starts. It's been a while since we've seen this Stiles. The inquisitive, smart and funny Stiles we've all grown to love. And as if that wasn't enough for the episode's ending we also get a glimpse of the case Stiles will most likely get involved in during his time at FBI - the search for the suspected mass murderer Derek Hale. Sounds like there's an interesting and crazy story behind this reveal and I can't wait to see it. After all the love that Stiles and Derek got from the fans over the years it seems like a nice and fitting choice on the writers' part to get these two one last story together before the series ends. Kudos!
Jennise: Stiles starts as an FBI Intern. I was almost as excited to see this scene as Stiles was to experience his first day. The scene was filled with tiny gems for the fans. Stiles’ inability to keep himself from peppering the agent doing the orientation with questions, his spit take when he saw Derek on the monitor, and the Orientation Agent surrendering when faced with Stiles’ full name. These moments all felt like little gems planted to help the fans deal with the reality that Dylan O’Brien likely won’t be around for most of the season. Hands down my favorite scene of the whole week.
Klutzy girl: Clem and Mitch talk in the car after he learns about her pregnancy, and he tells her he understands she cares about her kid, but he's worried about his, thus why he wants to run tests. The way his voice broke when he told her that she and the baby are all that he has left and that a parent has one job made me emotional. Billy Burke is a phenomenal actor and he's been knocking it out of the park this season.
