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.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: CULT, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", September 12, 2017, Actors: Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, The Scene: Kai and Ally clash at her door
DarkUFO: Kai and Ally clash at her door when he tries to get her to vote for him.
BOJACK HORSEMAN, "What Time Is It Right Now", September 8, 2017, Voiced by: Will Arnett, Aparna Nancherla, The Scene: The ending of the season
Laura: Whew. Now THAT was a roller-coaster ride of a season. But it actually ended on an immensely happy note? It's weird, and I don't expect it to last, but I'm really enjoying it. "I've got eight dads, I don't need another. But I've never had a brother." Hollyhock's words here resonate with BoJack so much, who seemed to genuinely want to change for the better in this finale. The smile on his face says everything. And it is everything. And I truly loved every moment of this scene. Especially the music, this season was on point in the soundtrack department too. While the pessimist inside me thinks it could be too good to be true, I can't help but also feel a bit of hope that Season 5 could be Hollyhock and BoJack doing a bunch of sibling shenanigans. It's what they deserve. It's what we deserve.
FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, "The Diviner", September 10, 2017, Actors: Kim Dickens, Colman Domingo
The Scene: Madison rescues Victor (picked by Marko)
MIDNIGHT, TEXAS, "Riders on the Storm", September 13, 2017, Actors: François Arnaud, Dylan Bruce, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Sarah Ramos and more, The Scenes: Manfred's sacrifice & Bobo tells Fiji he'll stay by her side
Justyna: I was looking forward to watching the show for quite a while. With such a late premiere date, I was worried my interest would be decreasing with each month, yet I ended up really enjoying all the episodes so far. One of the things that work especially well in the series are the characters and the interactions between them. This week there were several significant scenes that would be worth to mention in the article but Manfred's sacrifice stood out the most for me. It's been a great journey and a character developement for Manfred Bernardo, a troubled psychic who chose to escape his problems by laying low in Midnight. From that moment there was nothing but trouble happening around him and considering what we knew about his past, it would be easy to assume he'd rather run than stay and fight. However, in this episode it becomes clear how much he's grown to care about his new friends and how they truly accepted him as one of their own. With Fiji's life at risk and the veil close to opening Manfred chooses to sacrifice his life, or at the very least, risk losing it by taking on himself the power of the curse. In his time of dying he gets a chance to learn how to save the town from the monsters but in the meantime his friends believe him to be gone. And their reactions say exactly what he means to them, especially Creek, the character who has started to grow on me in the last few episodes. It's a great heroic act of the show's main character, an emotional and game-changing moment for the show and finally, a really well acted scene. Kudos to cast and crew for all their great work. Can't wait to see the finale!
Marko: Bobo tells Fiji he'll stay by her side till she is safe.
Donna: Thankfully the cat didn't end up being the sacrifice but Manfred. As they realise what's happened you know they accepted him as one of their own, luckily it's a spell and he comes back but our hearts feel for Creek in the scene.
Jennise: Manfred dies. I was really worried Mr. Snuggly wasn’t going to survive the episode, but he did! Manfred died instead. The moment had a profound affect on a couple of characters...Creek, who just lost her whole family, declared she wasn’t going to believe he was really dead because it’s magic and Fiji took off because, oddly, the witch did believe he was dead.
OUTLANDER, "The Battle Joined", September 10, 2017, Actors: Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, Grant O'Rourke, The Scenes: Jamie kills Black Jack Randall & Rupert says goodbye to Jamie
Darth Locke: For me it wasn't just so much the 'battle to the death' itself, as much as how this episode went about filming it. Not only did we shift between early battle scenes of grey and blue to post battle scenes dark at night, but then the bright sun-kissed scenes of their fight to death was magnificent aesthetic juxtapositions! In addition, it was almost sad to near pathetic the way we see 'Black Jack' Randall call it quits and lean into Jamie's shoulder, falling upon him, and dying nearly in Jamie's arms. A confirmation that he was a monster, but a monster that loved and needed to be put out of his own misery none the less. It also just added so much weight back onto Frank's scenes with Claire, as Frank loses his temper at one point. Wonderful season premiere! Well done, Outlander!
Milo: Jamie kills Black Jack Randall. This was such a powerful scene that I'm really glad we got to see it play out on screen - Randall has been a formidable antagonist and this show has always delivered in its battle sequences, and this was no exception.
Jennise: Rupert says goodbye to Jamie. I loved every scene Rupert was in but the goodbye scene provided nice closure to his story and it was nice to know that, while he didn’t forgive Jamie for killing Dougal, he didn’t hate Jamie.
PREACHER, "The End of the Road", September 11, 2017, Actors: Dominic Cooper, Joseph Gilgun
The Scene: Jesse and Cassidy's fight in the kitchen
Milo: Jesse and Cassidy's fight in the kitchen was one of the most emotionally powerful moments of the show to date. Even though it had taken some predictable turns with Cassidy's storyline this season, both Dominic Cooper & Joseph Gilgun knocked it out of the park here.
RICK AND MORTY, "Tales from the Citadel", September 10, 2017, Voiced by: Justin Roiland, The Scene: The ending
Laura: I feel VERY confident in saying that is one of the greatest twists in TV history. And this episode was one of the most perfectly crafted masterpieces I have ever seen. Not a moment felt wasted. Not a loose thread in the bunch. Every plot had importance and vitality. There's a reason this episode is sitting at a 9.9 on IMDB almost a week after it aired. And I'm willing to bet a lot of that has to do with the ending. Oh my goodness. How many times did I theorize this season about C-137 Morty being revealed to be the famous Eyepatch-wearing Evil Morty? It's finally time I can put these thoughts to bed. But I have even more questions now. Evil Morty is the new Citadel's president. The season finale is supposed to show Rick C-137 confronting him. What could possibly go wrong? Back to the ending, though, it was perfect. Every single beat. They structured this in such a way for us to think all was calm, changing for the better. They kept us engaged until the credits rolled, and this ending does not feel cheap in any way whatsoever. I heard the first three notes of "For the Damaged Coda" and my jaw fell out of my mouth. But there wasn't any moment of audience-winking. All they had to do was play this famous song. They trusted the audience to know what this means. And then we see the pictures of Morty taking off the eyepatch. It's brilliance. Utter f*cking brilliance that we don't see in live-action TV anymore. Well done, writers, animators, Justin Roiland. Man, this guy is amazing. This episode was pretty much entirely him and the whole thing could've fallen apart if he wasn't performing. Lucky for us, he was. And I will probably be giving him another POTM nod. This is what television should be.
SALVATION, "The Wormwood Prophecy", September 13, 2017, Actors: Jennifer Finnigan, Rachel Drance, The Scene: Grace says goodbye to her daughter
DJRiter: After telling her daughter Zoe about the asteroid and what was really going on Grace lets her go ahead and go on her trip. Their goodbye scene just tore my heart out. Jennifer Finnigan as Grace has been killing it during this entire excellent summer series, but this scene with Rachel Drance as her daughter Zoe, was just on a whole other level. Grace was the strong, supportive, fierce mother she'd been through the whole series as she told her daughter goodbye for what could be the last time. She held herself together until Zoe was out the door, then Grace's fear and anguish overwhelmed her as she collapsed on the stairs. As I said before, Jennifer Finnigan has been amazing this entire series. Drance matched her in this wonderfully heart-rending scene. It would be a crime for CBS not to give this excellent series a second season.
TEEN WOLF, "Werewolves of London", September 10, 2017, Actors: Colton Haynes, Charlie Carver, Ian Bohen, Shelley Hennig and more, The Scenes: The opening scene & Peter and Malia talk in the car
Justyna: This week the episode started in London with the reintroduction of two very well known characters who left the show years ago. As different as they both appeared, it genuinely felt like a new balance they achieved by being together. The domestic life they built for each other, complete with the celebration of their anniversary was pretty sweet and entertaining to watch. Their dynamics proved to be really fun and took me by surprise. There's a number of characters whose return I would prefer to see but I ended up loving all the scenes with these two. And the opening set it up perfectly. With just the right music, the fight and finally love and support clearly seen between Jackson and Ethan, the entire sequence made for a very memorable start of the hour. Though there were several other great scenes I'd also like to mention in the article, this is the moment I wanted to highlight the most. The return I didn't know I wanted to watch, yet I'm very glad to see so well executed. Kudos to cast & crew for such good work. And welcome back, Jackson and Ethan!
Luana: Peter tells Malia not to fall for a dead man. It was a very sweet father-daughter moment, him joining the fight because he doesn't want his daughter to get hurt in any way, his face remembering her memories, feeling what she feels, maybe even being able to understand it better than she can, and we got a beautiful montage of her and Scott as a plus.
THE DEUCE, "Pilot", September 10, 2017, Actors: James Franco and more, The Scene: Vincent gets beat up by thugs
Milo: James Franco's Vincent getting beat up by thugs. This was an interesting cold open to the series that immediately immersed you into the world of 1970s New York, distinct echoes of stuff like Taxi Driver are felt here. In five minutes we get a look into the tone and themes that will run through the series, and I'm really excited to see where David Simon and company takes the show from here.
THE SINNER, "Part VII", September 13, 2017, Actors: Jessica Biel, Nadia Alexander and more, The Scene: Cora witnesses her sister's death in a flashback
Samantha: This week's episode was, something. That's the only way I can accurately describe it. I think this show has perfected how you slow burn a storyline. It's given us a crumb every week which has been just enough to leave us intrigued & tuning into the next week to learn more, and finally we have reached the episode where we learnt more. Cora's sister annoyed me a little this episode, which has become a regular occurrence as her screen time has grown, but man if this scene didn't pull at the heart strings. The one time in her life Cora actually lets herself be free & has guilt free fun, is the one time her sister dies after having a little too much fun & that sound of her ribs cracking as Frankie desperately tried to resuscitate her was horrible. As was Phoebe lying lifeless on the sofa, and it's really no wonder Cora lost her crap, anyone in that situation would. I really can't wait to see what next week brings us. Also picked by DarkUFO
YOU'RE THE WORST, "Odysseus", September 13, 2017, Actors: Chris Geere, Aya Cash
The Scene: Gretchen and Jimmy meet for the first time in three months
Luana: This was a very awaited moment since last season's finale, both Aya Cash and Chris Geere where brilliant here, all the heartbreak, all the anger, all the hope. I need more of Gretchen having it out with Jimmy, but this was a good first step.
YOUNGER, "Irish Goodbye", September 13, 2017, Actors: Sutton Foster, Nico Tortorella, The Scene: Josh and Liza kiss
Luana: The scene was so intense and Nico Tortorella kills it here, he's drunk and the connection he feels with Liza, you can see she's his weakness when they kiss. I'm not a fan of the triangle but the vulnerability of this scene was something else entirely.
Marko: Josh makes a move on Liza the day before his wedding.
ZOO, "West Side Story", September 14, 2017, Actors: James Wolk and more
The Scene: The reveal that Sam is actually Jackson's son
Klutzy girl: I didn't see it coming until a few seconds beforehand but in hindsight, it makes sense. And I still haven't been able to stop laughing about the fact that Jackson and Mitch share a grandson. I'm also looking forward to seeing what happens next between Sam and Jackson in the wake of this revelation.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: CULT, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", September 12, 2017, Actors: Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, The Scene: Kai and Ally clash at her door
DarkUFO: Kai and Ally clash at her door when he tries to get her to vote for him.
Laura: Whew. Now THAT was a roller-coaster ride of a season. But it actually ended on an immensely happy note? It's weird, and I don't expect it to last, but I'm really enjoying it. "I've got eight dads, I don't need another. But I've never had a brother." Hollyhock's words here resonate with BoJack so much, who seemed to genuinely want to change for the better in this finale. The smile on his face says everything. And it is everything. And I truly loved every moment of this scene. Especially the music, this season was on point in the soundtrack department too. While the pessimist inside me thinks it could be too good to be true, I can't help but also feel a bit of hope that Season 5 could be Hollyhock and BoJack doing a bunch of sibling shenanigans. It's what they deserve. It's what we deserve.
FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, "The Diviner", September 10, 2017, Actors: Kim Dickens, Colman Domingo
The Scene: Madison rescues Victor (picked by Marko)
Justyna: I was looking forward to watching the show for quite a while. With such a late premiere date, I was worried my interest would be decreasing with each month, yet I ended up really enjoying all the episodes so far. One of the things that work especially well in the series are the characters and the interactions between them. This week there were several significant scenes that would be worth to mention in the article but Manfred's sacrifice stood out the most for me. It's been a great journey and a character developement for Manfred Bernardo, a troubled psychic who chose to escape his problems by laying low in Midnight. From that moment there was nothing but trouble happening around him and considering what we knew about his past, it would be easy to assume he'd rather run than stay and fight. However, in this episode it becomes clear how much he's grown to care about his new friends and how they truly accepted him as one of their own. With Fiji's life at risk and the veil close to opening Manfred chooses to sacrifice his life, or at the very least, risk losing it by taking on himself the power of the curse. In his time of dying he gets a chance to learn how to save the town from the monsters but in the meantime his friends believe him to be gone. And their reactions say exactly what he means to them, especially Creek, the character who has started to grow on me in the last few episodes. It's a great heroic act of the show's main character, an emotional and game-changing moment for the show and finally, a really well acted scene. Kudos to cast and crew for all their great work. Can't wait to see the finale!
Marko: Bobo tells Fiji he'll stay by her side till she is safe.
Donna: Thankfully the cat didn't end up being the sacrifice but Manfred. As they realise what's happened you know they accepted him as one of their own, luckily it's a spell and he comes back but our hearts feel for Creek in the scene.
Jennise: Manfred dies. I was really worried Mr. Snuggly wasn’t going to survive the episode, but he did! Manfred died instead. The moment had a profound affect on a couple of characters...Creek, who just lost her whole family, declared she wasn’t going to believe he was really dead because it’s magic and Fiji took off because, oddly, the witch did believe he was dead.
Darth Locke: For me it wasn't just so much the 'battle to the death' itself, as much as how this episode went about filming it. Not only did we shift between early battle scenes of grey and blue to post battle scenes dark at night, but then the bright sun-kissed scenes of their fight to death was magnificent aesthetic juxtapositions! In addition, it was almost sad to near pathetic the way we see 'Black Jack' Randall call it quits and lean into Jamie's shoulder, falling upon him, and dying nearly in Jamie's arms. A confirmation that he was a monster, but a monster that loved and needed to be put out of his own misery none the less. It also just added so much weight back onto Frank's scenes with Claire, as Frank loses his temper at one point. Wonderful season premiere! Well done, Outlander!
Milo: Jamie kills Black Jack Randall. This was such a powerful scene that I'm really glad we got to see it play out on screen - Randall has been a formidable antagonist and this show has always delivered in its battle sequences, and this was no exception.
Jennise: Rupert says goodbye to Jamie. I loved every scene Rupert was in but the goodbye scene provided nice closure to his story and it was nice to know that, while he didn’t forgive Jamie for killing Dougal, he didn’t hate Jamie.
PREACHER, "The End of the Road", September 11, 2017, Actors: Dominic Cooper, Joseph Gilgun
The Scene: Jesse and Cassidy's fight in the kitchen
Milo: Jesse and Cassidy's fight in the kitchen was one of the most emotionally powerful moments of the show to date. Even though it had taken some predictable turns with Cassidy's storyline this season, both Dominic Cooper & Joseph Gilgun knocked it out of the park here.
Laura: I feel VERY confident in saying that is one of the greatest twists in TV history. And this episode was one of the most perfectly crafted masterpieces I have ever seen. Not a moment felt wasted. Not a loose thread in the bunch. Every plot had importance and vitality. There's a reason this episode is sitting at a 9.9 on IMDB almost a week after it aired. And I'm willing to bet a lot of that has to do with the ending. Oh my goodness. How many times did I theorize this season about C-137 Morty being revealed to be the famous Eyepatch-wearing Evil Morty? It's finally time I can put these thoughts to bed. But I have even more questions now. Evil Morty is the new Citadel's president. The season finale is supposed to show Rick C-137 confronting him. What could possibly go wrong? Back to the ending, though, it was perfect. Every single beat. They structured this in such a way for us to think all was calm, changing for the better. They kept us engaged until the credits rolled, and this ending does not feel cheap in any way whatsoever. I heard the first three notes of "For the Damaged Coda" and my jaw fell out of my mouth. But there wasn't any moment of audience-winking. All they had to do was play this famous song. They trusted the audience to know what this means. And then we see the pictures of Morty taking off the eyepatch. It's brilliance. Utter f*cking brilliance that we don't see in live-action TV anymore. Well done, writers, animators, Justin Roiland. Man, this guy is amazing. This episode was pretty much entirely him and the whole thing could've fallen apart if he wasn't performing. Lucky for us, he was. And I will probably be giving him another POTM nod. This is what television should be.
DJRiter: After telling her daughter Zoe about the asteroid and what was really going on Grace lets her go ahead and go on her trip. Their goodbye scene just tore my heart out. Jennifer Finnigan as Grace has been killing it during this entire excellent summer series, but this scene with Rachel Drance as her daughter Zoe, was just on a whole other level. Grace was the strong, supportive, fierce mother she'd been through the whole series as she told her daughter goodbye for what could be the last time. She held herself together until Zoe was out the door, then Grace's fear and anguish overwhelmed her as she collapsed on the stairs. As I said before, Jennifer Finnigan has been amazing this entire series. Drance matched her in this wonderfully heart-rending scene. It would be a crime for CBS not to give this excellent series a second season.
Justyna: This week the episode started in London with the reintroduction of two very well known characters who left the show years ago. As different as they both appeared, it genuinely felt like a new balance they achieved by being together. The domestic life they built for each other, complete with the celebration of their anniversary was pretty sweet and entertaining to watch. Their dynamics proved to be really fun and took me by surprise. There's a number of characters whose return I would prefer to see but I ended up loving all the scenes with these two. And the opening set it up perfectly. With just the right music, the fight and finally love and support clearly seen between Jackson and Ethan, the entire sequence made for a very memorable start of the hour. Though there were several other great scenes I'd also like to mention in the article, this is the moment I wanted to highlight the most. The return I didn't know I wanted to watch, yet I'm very glad to see so well executed. Kudos to cast & crew for such good work. And welcome back, Jackson and Ethan!
Luana: Peter tells Malia not to fall for a dead man. It was a very sweet father-daughter moment, him joining the fight because he doesn't want his daughter to get hurt in any way, his face remembering her memories, feeling what she feels, maybe even being able to understand it better than she can, and we got a beautiful montage of her and Scott as a plus.
Milo: James Franco's Vincent getting beat up by thugs. This was an interesting cold open to the series that immediately immersed you into the world of 1970s New York, distinct echoes of stuff like Taxi Driver are felt here. In five minutes we get a look into the tone and themes that will run through the series, and I'm really excited to see where David Simon and company takes the show from here.
Samantha: This week's episode was, something. That's the only way I can accurately describe it. I think this show has perfected how you slow burn a storyline. It's given us a crumb every week which has been just enough to leave us intrigued & tuning into the next week to learn more, and finally we have reached the episode where we learnt more. Cora's sister annoyed me a little this episode, which has become a regular occurrence as her screen time has grown, but man if this scene didn't pull at the heart strings. The one time in her life Cora actually lets herself be free & has guilt free fun, is the one time her sister dies after having a little too much fun & that sound of her ribs cracking as Frankie desperately tried to resuscitate her was horrible. As was Phoebe lying lifeless on the sofa, and it's really no wonder Cora lost her crap, anyone in that situation would. I really can't wait to see what next week brings us. Also picked by DarkUFO
YOU'RE THE WORST, "Odysseus", September 13, 2017, Actors: Chris Geere, Aya Cash
The Scene: Gretchen and Jimmy meet for the first time in three months
Luana: This was a very awaited moment since last season's finale, both Aya Cash and Chris Geere where brilliant here, all the heartbreak, all the anger, all the hope. I need more of Gretchen having it out with Jimmy, but this was a good first step.
Luana: The scene was so intense and Nico Tortorella kills it here, he's drunk and the connection he feels with Liza, you can see she's his weakness when they kiss. I'm not a fan of the triangle but the vulnerability of this scene was something else entirely.
Marko: Josh makes a move on Liza the day before his wedding.
ZOO, "West Side Story", September 14, 2017, Actors: James Wolk and more
The Scene: The reveal that Sam is actually Jackson's son
Klutzy girl: I didn't see it coming until a few seconds beforehand but in hindsight, it makes sense. And I still haven't been able to stop laughing about the fact that Jackson and Mitch share a grandson. I'm also looking forward to seeing what happens next between Sam and Jackson in the wake of this revelation.
