This week delivered a remarkable collection of character-driven moments, with familiar favorites revealing new layers of themselves and scene-stealers reminding us why we love them in the first place.
From fierce loyalty and heartbreaking vulnerability to impossible decisions and unforgettable performances, these are the TV characters who stood out from the pack this week.
Dive into why Brilliant Minds, Criminal Minds, and more resonated with us so much!
Carol Pierce – Brilliant Minds
(David Lee/NBC)
Carol Pierce has always been a fierce and loyal friend, but when she thought Oliver was missing, she demonstrated how deep her friendship with him went.
She jumped in, ready to save her best friend. That included dropping by his house, making conversation with Oliver’s one-night stand, and trying to convince Josh of how dark a hole Oliver was in.
She was not afraid to dish out some blunt, hard truths to him or to Charlie, and I loved that about Carol.
She knew he needed help because he was so focused on finding Sophia, and no one else had seen her.
Carol only cared about Oliver’s well-being and supporting him, and that’s why she’s his ride-or-die.
We’re also thrilled that Carol stood her ground with Thorne and came out ahead. That’s why she’s one of our favorites.
Luke Alvez – Criminal Minds: Evolution
(Justin Lubin/Paramount+)
The Criminal Minds Season 19 premiere was a dark hour, but it was also a powerful one when it came to character exploration, particularly when it came to Luke Alvez.
We’ve always known the agent to be a veteran, but we knew very little about his service experience or, more specifically, his time afterward.
The second in a two-part premiere gave us an illuminating hour during which we learned, by the end, that a beautiful canine named Roxy is responsible for saving his life.
With the hour opening with him in such deep distress, he made you want to crawl through the screen and embrace him.
We had no idea what was driving his strong reactions, the elevator breakdown before he could compose himself, or how on edge he was about their latest case, brought to him by someone who worked alongside him in a veteran program.
(Trae Patton/Paramount+)
But it was through that heartbreaking admission to David that he knows what it feels like to have the steel of your own gun between your teeth that utterly shatters you.
This new insight into Luke, that Roxy was the thing that saved his life, and the fear beneath of it, who or what is supposed to keep him grounded now, is riveting.
And it was all expertly conveyed by Adam Rodriguez. Luke’s pledge to David felt like it was just as much for himself as it was for this broken person who became an unsub.
All of it leaves you wondering what the season will do for Luke moving forward.
David Graham – Criminal Minds: Evolution
(Justin Lubin/Paramount+)
Frankly, it’s hard only to acknowledge Luke’s character in this when the premiere also gave us its most intriguing Unsub of the hour, who wasn’t Voit, of course.
Cabral is effortlessly one of the most underrated actors of our time, and he brings that skillset to truly capture the utter brokenness of David, who has an inoperable tumor that causes him so much pain that he has taken to inflicting pain on others in the most grotesque, flinchingly violent ways.
When David essentially inquires about things, like how he can make the pain stop, if buddies really work, or how he can keep carrying on like this, you somehow see past the fact that he’s a man holding an icepick inches away from some poor man’s nasal cavity. You’re just consumed with his pain.
Because pain is a universal experience — it’s something we can connect with in some way or another, and it serves as a reminder of how monsters aren’t always born but bred by so many factors and circumstances.
David, being so raw as a character, so real, is as scary as it is compelling.
Russell Shaw – Tracker
(Darko Sikman/CBS)
Oh, Russell. There’s never a dull moment with that one.
Naturally, the Tracker Season 3 finale was an exciting affair because it’s always the case when you get the Shaw brothers together.
What was interesting throughout the hour was just how tapped into the unusual, bordering on sci-fi-esque conspiracy, they were regarding their father and his past.
And Russell handled it all with that same humor and charm that make him fun to watch. He also brought the intensity.
The way he handled himself, even after sustaining a gunshot wound, was enough to have you on the edge of your seat with his every move and breath.
Russell was the embodiment of a seasoned pro in this world, a classic big brother, and a peacemaker and mediator—also a general scene-stealer. Seriously, any hour that features Russell will almost always make it onto our list.
Andrea – Marshals
(Fred Hayes/CBS)
We spent all of Marshals Season 1 with this fiery city-slicker who couldn’t wait to get as far away from Montana as possible the first time she got a chance.
By the Marshals Season 1 finale, she has this chance, and yet it leaves her second-guessing everything because, despite how she felt, she built a life and a family-of-sorts there.
It’s all the quieter moments of reflection for Andrea that make her a standout in a finale that fully affirmed why Marshals is a fantastic series in this franchise, despite the criticism.
Andrea sspentalmost every chance she can jumping back into the fray to hlp her team, her desire to truly see things through when it came to who attacked Rainwater and Kayce, and how difficult it was for her teven to tell everyone she was leaving just spoke volumes about how deeply Montana embedded itself in her bones.
We don’t really know whether Andrea’s departure will stick.
Certainly, we hope not, but the finale gives her conflicting feelings the necessary weight.
She’s still reeling from her abduction, or how her desire to have a position she feels that she deserves but isn’t necessarily certain she wants, conflicts with life in Montana.
Andrea has been a character who sneaks up on you all season long, and what better reason to highlight her here?
Over to you, TV Fanatics! Let’s hear your thoughts below!
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