THE PERFORMER | Domhnall Gleeson
THE SHOW | Peacock’s The Paper
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THE EPISODE | “I Love You” (Sept. 4, 2025)
THE PERFORMANCE | As Ned, the new editor-in-chief on Peacock’s The Office spinoff, Gleeson had huge, Michael Scott-size shoes to fill. But Gleeson wisely didn’t try to replicate Steve Carell’s incomparable performance as the prototypical annoying boss. Instead, Gleeson managed to craft a uniquely hilarious portrait of a man doing his best to stay upbeat while piloting a sinking ship — especially in Episode 7, when Ned’s serious daddy issues reared their ugly head.
Gleeson began the episode by showing us Ned’s earnest (if sweaty) charm, encouraging his staff to feign enthusiasm for head honcho Marv, who was visiting the office for the day. But an off-hand “love you” from Marv sent Ned into an emotional tailspin, leading him to loudly declare in front of the staff: “Marv! I love you.” That kernel of paternal affection brought up Ned’s unresolved issues with his own father, you see, and Gleeson snapped into the mode of an eager kid trying to impress Daddy. With wide eyes and a hopeful smile, Ned invited Marv to come sit in on a staff meeting, “if you want to come watch me.” But when Ned disagreed with Marv about a story, he started rebelling against him like an angsty teen, kicking him out of his office and shouting at him: “Stop being weird!”
Ned later mended fences with Marv by writing him a loving obituary — forget it; it’s a journalism thing — and Gleeson let us see how much it means to Ned to keep the Truth Teller afloat. It’s not even fair to compare Gleeson to Carell at this point; The Office took a while to find its footing, too. But throughout this freshman run, Gleeson’s slyly comedic work has let us know that The Paper is in good hands.
Scroll down to see who got Honorable Mention shout-outs this week…
HONORABLE MENTION: Samuel Blenkin
HONORABLE MENTION: Samuel Blenkin
We love to hate Alien: Earth’s Samuel Blenkin as supremely obnoxious tech billionaire Boy Kavalier — the name is a hint about his maturity level — and Blenkin outdid himself this week as Boy Kavalier took delight in playing hardball with Weyland-Yutani over the alien specimens. Boy Kavalier glided into the arbitration meeting in bare feet and rudely put them up on the conference table, with Blenkin oozing metric tons of rock-star entitlement. But then Boy Kavalier rattled off a bunch of clever legal arguments, with Blenkin reminding us that there’s a huge brain inside that swelled head of his. When Kavalier came out on top in the negotiations and walked out victorious, Blenkin flashed a mischievous grin, and we almost forgot how badly we’ve wanted to see him humbled. That’s the ultimate feather in Blenkin’s cap: We can’t help but smile at his antics, even when we’re rooting for a xenomorph to devour him. — D.N.
HONORABLE MENTION: Melanie Scrofano
HONORABLE MENTION: Melanie Scrofano
We said goodbye to Marie Batel this week on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and Melanie Scrofano made sure she got a worthy send-off. After recovering from her brush with death with the Gorn, Batel realized she was the only one who could stop the evil Vezda, and Scrofano revealed a gritty determination as Batel bravely faced her fate. That meant she’d be leaving Pike behind, though, and her scenes with Anson Mount — also great this week — made us feel their deep romantic connection down to our bones. The highlight was an imagined future of Pike and Batel spending many happy years together, with Scrofano nimbly playing both the cozy domesticity and the sobering knowledge that it was all just a beautiful fantasy. (When a dying Batel told an elderly Pike, “All you have to do is look at the stars, and know I’ll be waiting for you there,” we could barely keep it together.) In the end, Batel sacrificed herself to save the world, but Pike won’t forget her anytime soon… and neither will we. — D.N.
Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in the comments!
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