Yahoo Lifestyle Performer of the Week: John Turturro
THE PERFORMER | John Turturro
THE SHOW | Severance
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THE EPISODE | “Woe’s Hollow” (Feb. 7, 2025)
THE PERFORMANCE | This week’s Severance was a true game-changer, with the shocking reveal that Helena had been posing as “Helly” all season long. (Well, maybe not shocking to the sleuths who guessed it already.) And Turturro upped his game to match, as Irving tumbled into an abyss of bitter paranoia during a grueling outdoor excursion for the Lumon gang — and later proved that his paranoia was justified after all.
Friday’s episode found Irving and his colleagues stuck in the snowy wilderness as part of a Lumon-sponsored “Outdoor Retreat Team Building Occurrence.” Irving was skeptical from the start, and he also shared with Mark his doubts about Helly’s story of her time during the switch, with Turturro adding a vicious snarl to his words. The hunger and cold started to get to Irving, and Turturro found a rage inside the normally placid corporate drone as he snapped at his co-workers, even (hilariously) suggesting they should eat a dead seal they found along the way. They eventually found food and shelter, but Irving wasn’t satisfied: He interrogated Helly about what she really saw on the outside, with Turturro fixing a stare that could kill on co-star Britt Lower, and then colorfully accused Mark of “using your pupils to make love to her while your Outie’s wife rots away somewhere.”
Rejected by his peers as a lunatic, Irving ventured out into the frigid wilderness alone and had nightmarish visions before returning the next day, confronting Helly at an icy waterfall about her true identity. Turturro’s voice was chillingly confident as he told her she had been cruel, and “Helly was never cruel,” before violently plunging Helly’s head into the water, demanding that Milchick switch her back. He was right, of course: She was really Helena, and Turturro immediately turned tender as Irving cradled the real Helly in his arms, and then wore a serene smile as Irving was dismissed by Milchick, ending his time as an Innie. We’re almost as distraught as Dylan is at the thought of losing Irving as a colleague — because Turturro has brought such richly realized depth to this character.
Scroll down to see who got Honorable Mention shout-outs this week…
HONORABLE MENTION: Jon Beavers
Yeah, we assumed Paradise’s Agent Billy Pace was a bad guy at the end of Episode 3, only to have that assumption obliterated in this week’s installment. Don’t blame us: Jon Beavers is just that good! We were equally able to believe him as a stone-cold, double-crossing killer and a conflicted, traumatized, former mercenary reckoning with what he’d done, which is a testament to Beavers’ sizable talent. When you get a chance, rewatch the scene where Billy is talking with the widowed bartender. Every single feeling Billy experiences crosses Beavers’ face, especially when he looks at the portrait of the dead climate scientist. It’s masterful, and we’re so bummed that the last few minutes of the hour rob us of more chances to see Beavers in action. — Kimberly Roots
HONORABLE MENTION: Chyler Leigh
For more than a season, The Way Home‘s Kat has been carrying around the guilt of knowing she was involved in her father Colton’s death, and when the secret came out in this week’s episode, it was an emotionally explosive moment for her portrayer Chyler Leigh. Wheezing for air after her latest time-trip via the pond, Kat broke down in her mother Del’s arms. “I…I saved him. But then…I killed him,” Kat confessed through gasping sobs. The way Leigh extended her hands out in the scene, as if she was cradling Colton’s body, only added to the hurt and horror that Kat was feeling. And when Leigh’s voice cracked as she tearfully clarified to Del that she was talking about “dad,” we were sufficiently destroyed by Kat’s tormented admission. — Vlada Gelman
HONORABLE MENTION: Carter Redwood and Sofia Shallai
This week’s CBS’ FBI: International in large part revolved around Special Agent Andre Raines accompanying a Russian scientist’s daughter as she delivered her murdered father’s research to Poland. We’ve seen this storyline before in other places, but original cast member Carter Redwood and guest star Sofia Shallai really elevated the material in a special way. From Andre and Yulia’s initial bonding (over her bittersweet memories of her dad, shared during the first leg of the train ride) to their multiple intense brushes with death, from tension-amping trust issues to the pair’s sweet farewell upon a mission accomplished, Redwood and Shallai quickly created a memorable, warm friendship between the characters that made the Case of the Week’s stakes matter on an extra-personal level. — Matt Webb Mitovich
Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in the comments!
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