Yahoo Lifestyle Performer of the Week: Gina Torres
THE PERFORMER | Gina Torres
THE SHOW | 9-1-1: Lone Star
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THE EPISODE | “Impact” (Jan. 27, 2025)
THE PERFORMANCE | In the penultimate episode of Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star, the only thing that shone brighter than the asteroid hurdling towards the city of Austin was Gina Torres’ powerful (but hopefully not final!) performance as Tommy Vega.
For a character who was put on this earth to heal people, Tommy sure has spent the better part of four seasons breaking our hearts. This has always been true, but never more so than in the show’s final season as Tommy battles cancer with the same quiet dignity that has enabled her to weather countless storms already.
Just as the paramedics on Tommy’s team look to her for guidance, so too are the show’s viewers helplessly drawn to Torres’ inherent strength, making it all the more jarring when she allows herself to be vulnerable, submitting to her emotions — fear, panic, grief. Simply put, when she breaks, we break.
And we are broken indeed after witnessing Tommy’s otherworldly reunion with her late husband Charles, which was as much a gift to us as it was to her. Once her initial panic and disbelief subsided, the comfort that washed over her felt like the warm hug we all needed in the midst of a world on fire.
There’s a lot that we’ll miss about 9-1-1: Lone Star when it drives off into the Texas sunset next week, but the opportunity to bask in Torres’ glow on a weekly basis might just top the list.
Scroll down to see who got Honorable Mention shout-outs this week…
HONORABLE MENTION: Stephanie Arcila
Fire Country‘s Gabriela has been through it this season. Ever since her wedding to Diego was derailed, she has engaged in a variety of self-imposed punishments, all whilst feeling terribly alone. This week, her anguish exploded to the surface, and Stephanie Arcila made the most of the material (deftly directed by TV dad Kevin Alejandro, no less). Three Rock inmate Manny tried to reconnect with mija as they sought shelter amidst a wildfire, but she wasn’t having it. “There is no ‘us.’ There hasn’t been for a very long time, and it’s killing me,” Gabriela wailed. “Why did you treat me the way that you did?! My wedding fell apart — I fell apart — and you blamed me. I needed you to have my back, your daughter’s back, and you abandoned me at my lowest moment.” There were no lies detected, and Arcila poured her heart and soul into every syllable. — Matt Webb Mitovich
HONORABLE MENTION: Erika Christensen
Erika Christensen floored us with just six words in Will Trent’s Season 2 finale: “I thought you might choose me.” This week, she did it in five. Trapped inside and forced to confront the one person she ever truly trusted — the one person she assumed would never let her down, and would always keep her safe — Angie erupted. She looked her soulmate in the eye and wailed, “You blew up our life!” Christensen’s delivery was ferocious, rapacious, guttural — a tour de force that engulfed you in Angie’s heartbreak. Even if you didn’t necessarily believe that Will should be held responsible for the consequences of her actions, you understood Angie’s suffering. And boy, did you feel it! Christensen’s stellar work continued up until the very end of the hour, when Angie visited Will at his office and declared that any hope they once had of a future together had evaporated — and her subdued delivery of the line, “Wilbur Trent, I release you,” packed just as powerful a punch as Angie’s earlier outburst. — Ryan Schwartz
HONORABLE MENTION: Julianne Nicholson
At first, we didn’t think Dan Fogelman’s new Hulu series Paradise would pack the same emotional punch that his previous show This Is Us did — but boy, were we wrong! Julianne Nicholson proved that in this week’s second episode, tearing our hearts clean out of our chests with her beautifully nuanced turn as tech billionaire Samantha, who (we learned in flashbacks) lost a young son to a mysterious disease. The Mare of Easttown alum used every color in her palette to portray first Samantha’s impressive confidence as a businesswoman, then her stubborn anger at her son’s plight and then finally, her bottomless grief at suffering a loss that no amount of money can fix. Nicholson was mesmerizing as Samantha choked back tears and argued that time is supposed to heal all wounds, but “time is actually making it worse, because it’s taking me further away from when he was here.” Man… at least now we know we need to stock up on tissues before starting another episode. — Dave Nemetz
HONORABLE MENTION: Tyler James Williams
Gregory’s peculiar and simplistic food preferences are well known on Abbott Elementary, so when the teacher was presented with frou-frou appetizers during this week’s episode, his reaction was priceless. Tyler James Williams dug into the most ridiculously hilarious side of Gregory, who treated ahi tuna and deviled quail eggs like dangerous enemies. When a waiter brought over shrimp ceviche in watermelon cups, Williams let loose as Gregory was sent over the edge, throwing down his napkin of food and declaring himself “a freak.” And that was before he was offered sea urchin and comically dodged the waiter, running away like a flailing child. But Williams really ate, as the kids say, when Gregory crazily chowed down on a full-size truffle, his eyes bulging with manic determination, in order to blackmail a fancy golf club. — Vlada Gelman
Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in the comments!
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