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blodreina-noumou · 4 years

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What are the best acting moments each season?

Thanks, anon! This one is tough!

It should go without saying, but this is just my personal opinion, and there are definitely other really good moments in each of these seasons that could as easily be argued as “the best.” That being said, here are my favorites!

Season One - A Father’s Final Farewell

This might seem out of left field, but I have to give it to Tor Lemkin, played by Mac Brandt. He’s incredible throughout the episode, as he manages to bring a lot of heart and sympathy to a one-off character. I couldn’t actually find my favorite moment in the gif search - it’s the moment he’s laying on the floor with the other volunteers, holding his daughter’s barrette. He stares down at it with a small, ironic sort of smile, holding it between his fingers. His goodbye with his daughter was bittersweet, as she doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation. Mac Brandt manages to convey so much at once in this small but incredibly memorable performance - one of hundreds, dying for their loved ones because they feel it’s the only right thing they can do. He could’ve just been another nameless face, but because of his story and his performance, we are pulled in to his personal journey, and his mixture of regret, sadness, and acceptance. Hope for a better future, where his sassy, bright kid can live peacefully. All from a little smile, a tilt of the head, and holding a hairclip. This scene leaves me wrecked, every single time, even when I rewatch it now.

Season Two - Clarke Can’t Get Her Hands Clean

Eliza Morley (nee Taylor) has had to do some really raw moments as Clarke Griffin. I think this breakdown, at the beginning of episode 2x09, is one of her best moments to date. Within the story, this scene takes place just minutes after Clarke kills Finn. It’s the opening of the episode. Clarke is alone in the tent, shell-shocked and beyond bereaved, and she’s trying desperately to wipe her hands clean of Finn’s blood. The way she implores Abby (“I had to, I had to,”) is so heartbreakingly childlike and wrought with regret. She just wants her mom to make it okay, to understand, to tell Clarke she did the right thing, even though every single fiber of Clarke’s soul is screaming at her that she did something horrific. And she did - both things are true. She had to kill Finn, and it was horrible. Eliza’s trembling, halting speech, her manic rocking, her bloodshot, teary eyes - it’s just an incredibly believable and appropriately gutting performance.

Season Three - ALIE!Raven Rises

Lindsey Morgan had only a few lines and gestures in which to sell us on the idea that ALIE has completely taken control of Raven’s body - and she absolutely nails every single moment. After watching Raven’s struggle and near manic energy in her attempts to keep ALIE out, there is something so chilling about her calm, robotic demeanor when she sits up after submitting. It only works because Lindsey does so well of mimicking the unsettling mannerisms and voice of the villainous A.I. It’s a subtle bit of work that shows Lindsey has a lot of talent when it comes to acting.

Season Four - Monty and Jasper Say Goodbye

Devon Bostick wins for this season, and this scene. In one of the most heartbreaking deaths on The 100 (no small feat) Monty discovers Jasper, moments before Jasper’s death, but too late to really save him. The two best friends share a heart-wrenchingly beautiful, sad final conversation. Devon Bostick in particular really sells Jasper’s state of mind in his final moments - he’s accepted death, he’s ready for it, but he hates the pain he’s causing Monty, and he cannot stand dying knowing that Monty was angry with him, that Monty might live with resentments. Everything from his casual, “Thought I was trippin’ already,” to the desperation in his eyes and voice as he begs Monty to say he loves him - ugh. It’s beyond words, and truly a fitting final performance for one of the best actors and characters on the show.

Season Five - Octavia Becomes Blodreina

I couldn’t find my actual favorite moment in the gif search, unfortunately, but this is the scene in which it takes place. All throughout s5, Marie Avgeropoulos does some incredible work, basically playing two different characters as both Octavia, a scared young woman acting as the tenuous link between survival and order for her people, and Blodreina, the violent and bloodthirsty persona she had to create in order to achieve those goals. Right before the moment in the gif above, we see Octavia lying with her head on a book that reminds her of her brother. A single tear slips out of her eyes. It’s a stark and fascinating contrast to the blood she’s soaked in, and the dozen deaths she caused to make that happen. It’s chilling and engaging. The entire premise of s5 rides on Marie’s performance, on selling the idea that some fragment of Octavia still exists inside Blodreina - and she absolutely nails it.

Season Six - Josephine!Clarke Wakes Up

Clarke’s “death” was pretty shocking, although I knew the moment it happened that it wouldn’t last. That being said, Eliza Morley (nee Taylor) has only a few moments to convince us that Clarke is “truly” gone at the end of 6x04, and that someone very different has taken her place. A lot can be said about Clarke Griffin, but she’s never been particularly vain or worried about her looks. The way Josephine!Clarke looks at herself, enthralled and even a little turned on, says so much about who Josephine is. The higher pitch of her voice (all the more impressive when you remember Eliza is Australian), the more delicate posture and bearing, the lighter and more open facial expressions - it’s a great moment that tells us that this season will be unlike any other, for better or for worse. It was a lot of fun to watch Eliza play around with the many “faces behind the glass” that inhabited Clarke’s body in s6, and this moment right here is where it all begins.

Thanks again for the ask anon, and so sorry to make you wait!

#asks #anons #the 100 #the 100 meta #stephspeaks #tor lemkin #clarke griffin #raven reyes #jasper sinclair #octavia blake #josephine lightbourne

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karihighman · 4 years

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An Upstead timeline

Because I was thinking about how far Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton have come, and I just wanted to be nostalgic for a moment. Enjoy my ramblings! (:

The beginnings: season 4

Ah, yes. Hailey’s debut. I loved 4x21 “Fagin” for that reason. Also, Jay’s first impression of her seemed to be like “dang this girl is sassy...but I’m not complaining” haha.

Also we can’t forget the sass Hailey displayed in the survelliance van. 😂 Legendary. And Jay kept up w/it too. We love a sarcastic duo - even before they were partnered up!

Anyway, the next episode was when Hailey officially joined Intelligence. A moment of awkward silence for the two of them trying to shuffle around each other when Voight gave Hailey Jay’s desk because she was now partners w/Erin. Oops. Too funny.

Then of course, the season 4 finale saw Hailey be invited out to Molly’s with Jay, Adam, Kevin, & Will. She had the memorable “I’m Greek, we see tragedy in everything” line, along with that first of many looks she’d give to Jay after a conversation - longing & wistful. 😔

The new divide: season 5

Season 5 saw Hailey and Jay become partners & already they were there for each other when Jay had a tough case. While we didn’t see it air in the actual episode, there was a deleted scene from 5x01 that showed Hailey telling Jay that she’s “got his back.”

As the season progressed, we saw them continue to be there for each other as a source of support. Remember in “Fallen” when Jay kept checking up on Hailey’s “relationship” with fellow officer Sean McGrady?

“Is this really about the case?”

“See ya tomorrow.”

“Ooookay.” — yeah okay Jay we see u.

The next few episodes were Jay’s big arc in s5 where he dealt with being undercover while dealing with PTSD. Hailey was “neutral” at first, because she didn’t know Jay well enough to know how this would affect him, though she’d see it soon enough when he pointed a gun in her face at the end of 5x07. Even after that incident, she still called him to check on him. Now that’s a quality partner.

Another telling moment for their partnership was when Hailey went to bat for Jay with Camila. She knew if she talked he’d be in big trouble, so she had to do something to help him. She still made sure to remind Camila that she would “bury her” if she didn’t keep her mouth shut about Jay. Damn, remind me not to get on Hailey’s bad side. 😯

She even convinced Jay to go to therapy — how amazing is that? She helped him get help.

There were a few lighter, fluffier moments for their partnership as the season progressed, which you can see below —

And then came my favorite episode for them - Ghosts.

Hailey got tangled up with Booth who got her old partner killed. Jay, being her new partner, was concerned about how close Hailey was getting...not only to the case, but to Booth, as Booth was bordering on obsessed w/her.

He bailed her out, but then then two argued at Hailey’s UC apartment (hello, married couple moment haha) - But despite that, he still helped her go on w/the undercover plan.

Cue Jay going under as Ryan, a dealer that Hailey (as Kelly) knew. Things got even more awkward for the trio when Booth asked “Ryan” how many times he screwed “Kelly.” Yikesarama.

Towards the end of the episode, Booth got handsy with Hailey, which put Jay in an awkward position. He tried to keep his cool, but then the deal was blown. Hailey being the badass that she is fought off Booth, but it was Jay who brought her back down to reality to keep her from doing something stupid (even though let’s be honest, Booth deserved a few more kicks in the head).

The kicker of the episode came when Jay went to check on Hailey, and the two would start what would turn out to be “their thing” aka - drinks and long conversations about their cases & the feelings surrounding them. Hailey opened up about Booth and Garrett, and Jay listened. He was there for her, and that’s when they really started to form something special. Something that was more than just a typical partnership.

The rest of the season would only build on that momentum, bringing out little pieces of Jay and Hailey’s pasts, as well as how they dealt with things amongst the team. Jay lent Hailey a supportive hand (literally) when Al died in the season 5 finale, & in a deleted scene, the two offered comfort to each other at the vigil Intelligence held.

Care & being there: season 6

Jay and Hailey’s partnership grew even more so during s6. Their first major moments came in the crossover episode, when Jay was shot. Hailey was distraught, but it was more than that. She thought he was dead, & she thought she’d lost him forever. Her emotions were running high and she pushed down all those feelings that had come bubbling up to the surface. But they were there.

(Unfortunately she compensated by sleeping with Ruzek, thus beginning Upzek. Ugh. Anyway).

Even though she started a fling-turned-semi-relationship with Adam, Hailey & Jay still leaned on each other.

When Hailey dealt with a tough case, Jay was there for her. He made sure she was okay. Heck, even Adam noticed & told her, they should talk you know, “partner to partner.”

The following episode saw Hailey help Jay when his judgement was colored by his war past. She then reminded him of the famous “thing that works between them” and offered to buy him a beer to chat. He accepted.

When Jay found out about said romance, he was taken aback and you could tell by the look on his face that he was hurt...but honestly, maybe a little jealous. I think this solidified his feelings for Hailey, even if she didn’t wanna admit her own to herself yet.

“We’re good. And we’re always gonna be good.” -Jay to Hailey

6x12 has them do another heart to heart conversation, only for it to be interrupted by Ruzek, who called Hailey. Jay told her she should go, and even though she said okay, you could tell she didn’t really mean it. Just like Jay didn’t really want her to go. But these two have gotten good at hiding their feelings by now.

*forgot to add 6x14 when Hailey was kidnapped (along w/Kim). You could see the look of complete distress on Jay’s face when he & Kevin raced out to the truck, just missing it. Then when Adam told him they “should’ve been all over them” Jay went on the defensive, telling Adam “he didn’t know what went down” because he wasn’t there. Ruzek, Ruzek, Ruzek...as if Halstead wasn’t beating himself up enough! Even though later in the ep, Adam and Antonio were the ones to find Hailey & Kim, you saw Jay later ask if she was okay; and you saw the camera pan to both of their expressions when Voight gave the “work things at work” talk. Jay felt bad knowing he didn’t do his job at protecting his partner; Hailey was starting to debate her relationship with Ruzek on the job.*

6x15 offered us the iconic scene of “if I was gonna follow someone blind, I’d follow you” which we now know is essentially Hailey-speak for “I love you.” Because she told Jay that she’s trusted him from the day she met him. How freaking adorable is that?

Fast forward to the s6 finale & you’ve got a whole lot more feels between these two. From Jay’s line of “I’m going where you go” meaning he to would follow Hailey; to his protecting her FIRST without regard for his own life (actually literally using himself as a human shield!); and then of course, their heartbreaking conversation in the break room.

“We’ve only been partners a couple years...you’ll forget about me just fine.”

“Hailey... [no].”

aka - Hailey was scared of losing him again & not knowing if they’d be partners again, so she bit down on her feelings and brushed it off. Jay did the same, although he looked as if he was going to spill any second of that scene. You know what I mean.

You could see the looks in their eyes — they were saying everything without actually saying a word.

This episode was when the both of them seemed to accept their feelings of each other to themselves — as in, they admitted it to themselves, even if they weren’t ready to share them with each other. 💙

Deeper feelings: season 7

And now we’re onto s7, where even in the premiere, you could see how in sync Jay and Hailey were. The two worked together to help their boss, and they relied on each other more than ever to get the job done. Hailey supported Jay, even if she didn’t always agree with him.

Later on in the season, we saw him do the same thing. Although, when Voight split them up in 7x03, they weren’t happy about it. Jay showed his emotions with a look, while Hailey vocalized hers to Voight. Hailey = 😠 there.

In the crossover, we saw a concerned Jay over Hailey being quarantined, but also a concerned Hailey when Jay was taken hostage by Seldon. She even went all Sniper to save him! Go Hailey go!

They continued to work alongside each other, mainly in surveillance (apparently those two have a thing for vans 😉) to help the unit solve cases.

Jay had another tough case in 7x06, and Hailey noticed how much it affected him, even if she didn’t say it right away. Jay would do the same for her in the next episode when her CI was shot, with looks and a concerned voice like she had done with him.

And now we’re at 7x09, aka the fall finale from hell because Jay’s life is in the balance.

And Hailey Upton is livid over it. She was so desperate to get Jay back safely that she pushed the limits to find him. And just when she FINALLY did, he was ripped away from her yet again. Heartbreakingly tragic for these two...almost like a Romeo & Juliet vibe. 💔

Here’s hoping Jay will be okay in 7x10 when Chicago PD comes back in January, because Hailey really can’t lose the man she loves. I think this made her realize just how much she cares. And he cares so much for her.

Upstead ship captain Jesse Lee Soffer said it best: if you were to ask Jay or Hailey, “do you love him/her?” They’d say yes. As for what kind of love that is, they aren’t 100% sure yet...

because they haven’t even admitted their feelings to each other yet. But anyone can see that they are there. Pure and genuine feelings. Love. Respect. Admiration. 🖤

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safflowerseason · 4 years

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some dan x amy musings

In response to a question from @wecouldstillbegreat...what is Dan and Amy’s relationship to physical touch/physical intimacy?

This is such a good question…although it was kind of hard to answer, because it’s so easy to blur the boundary between the show and fanfiction!

It’s an especially interesting question too, in light of the fact that Veep is not a particularly “touchy-feely” kind of show, and physical touch and physical intimacy are so often manipulated or twisted by the various characters. Selina and Tom’s relationship is a good example of this…both of them attempt to use their physical attraction to ruin one another. Or Selina and Andrew…Andrew constantly takes advantage of Selina by sleeping with her, and even Selina herself is somewhat aware that her physical attraction to Andrew is constantly getting her into trouble.

Dan and Amy’s relationship stands out on Veep because when they touch one another (or when they aren’t touching but want to), the physical dimension of their relationship is generally framed to emphasize the “purity” of their emotional connection, if that makes sense. Dan and Amy are terrible people, but they are two terrible people who have a genuine emotional connection to one another that the show isn’t interested in twisting (at least during the Iannucci years). Whether or not Dan and Amy are aware of it, touch for them is a fundamentally good thing.

In S1, Dan touches Amy in a very “unconscious boyfriend” kind of a way—a hand on her back, an arm over her shoulder, etc. This is also the season where their relationship is played the most “romantically.” I’m assuming the acting choices for both Reid Scott and Anna Chlumsky derived from this tonal approach.

(Sidenote: in spite of my earlier statement that touch is broadly framed as a “good” thing for Dan and Amy…I have to include a caveat here. The frequency with which Dan touches Amy in S1 is quite startling, considering they are not dating and Amy is especially distrustful of Dan during this period of their relationship. As an audience, we’ve been generally socialized to accept his behavior because their relationship has been coded as romantic…Dan and Amy are attracted to one another and thus it’s “fine” for Dan to always be touching her in these small ways…but it’s really not cool. (It makes you wonder if RS would have made the same acting choices in a post Me-Too world.) Of course, for what it’s worth, Anna Chlumsky also never plays Amy in S1 as physically uncomfortable when Dan is touching her in this way, a choice which broadly shapes the audience’s reaction to Dan as well. The fact that they are in a “romance” excuses a lot of behavior that we might not look at so indulgently now.)

In S2-S4, this dimension of their relationship drops off—they are close, constantly in one another’s space, arms brushing, etc, but Dan’s not draping his arm around her on the couch after he’s gotten her to agree to a suicide pact. It’s impossible to know what the actors and the writers discussed, but subconsciously or otherwise, this change seems to reflect the broader tonal shift from S1 to the more subtle “Machiavellian work spouses” dynamic of the later Iannucci seasons.

During S2 and S4, Dan mostly touches Amy when she’s extremely emotionally fired up. The two big moments that come to mind is in 2.08 during Selina’s interview and 4.08, when she’s so desperate to deliver Pierce to Selina she’s about to blow their cover. This speaks to their intimacy in a different way, I think—that Dan feels enough of an emotional connection to Amy to reach for her when she’s furious, but also that Amy finds his touch emotionally soothing (whether or not she realizes it). In 2.08, Amy would be perfectly justified at flinging Dan’s hand off of her, of jerking her body away from him—he’s incredibly smug and condescending to her—but she doesn’t. That’s significant.

Even in S3, when Dan and Amy are basically in an episodes-long fight over Dan’s promotion as campaign manager…Amy is the one who Dan leans on when he has his panic attack, and she willing assists him out of the room, minutes after she’s sabotaged him. (We barely see this happen, though, and I can see why they might not have wanted to show it, because the imagery would be beyond unsubtle and probably felt a bit serious for the moment…it’s funnier and lighter to have Dan freaking out in the cab and thoughtlessly running a hand down her face.)

There are not very many of these moments, but analyzed collectively, they obviously emphasize that Dan and Amy’s relationship is, well, different than Amy’s with Mike or Dan’s with Selina. They certainly stand out in a show that’s about how cutthroat and corrupt politics can be. And not to get all fluffy about it, but it makes me think of when Reid Scott called Anna Chlumksy “partner” in that behind the scenes video. They are partners, and the fact that Dan feels comfortable enough with Amy to literally grab her when she’s about to charge into the West Wing matters very much.

Then of course, 5.02 happens and Dan and Amy are emotionally estranged for the rest of the series, basically. They don’t touch at all onscreen in S5 or S6…and I’m not going to analyze S7 because it depresses me, and because I’ve already pointed out similarities between Ep. 7.03 and Ep. 2.08 in how Dan deals with Amy.

It’s also worth pointing out that the significance of the moments in which Dan and Amy are specifically not touching one another but clearly want to, and the lack of touch between the brings their physical chemistry into intense focus. The bar scene in 4.04, for example…or the other bar scene in 5.02, not mention the scene in the hotel corridor. In those moments, Dan and Amy are at the very edge of giving in to their physical desire for one another—they’re not touching because if they did, they might not stop. And even though we don’t see them hook up in 6.09, their reactions to that night clearly indicate that they both had a fantastic time. Turns out touching in all the ways is just as much as fun as bantering in dive bars. (Even Dan’s “yeah, yeah, we had a lot of drinks that night…” response to Amy at the very end of 6.10 has a kind of…coy intrigue to it. He knows that it was a good night, and he clearly wants to repeat the experience, while also, obviously, not wanting to come right out and say so. If it sucked, he just would have been like “Ugh, don’t remind me” à la S7 Dan.)

Anyway, so what does all this actually mean? On a super basic level, we can generally infer that Dan seems to be a pretty touchy-feely kind of guy (or at least Amy brings it out in him). That doesn’t mean he’s super cuddly or into PDAs, but touch is an important emotional conduit for him (his love language, for lack of a better word, although both Dan and Amy would hate that phrase). And Amy, who broadly does not like being touched by other people and has never been in a satisfying sexual relationship, likes it when Dan touches her (this is largely tied, I think, to the fact that Dan is the only person in the show around whom Amy can act like herself). And when they do finally give into their desire for one another, it is a very heady experience for both of them that they’re eager to repeat. At the very least, I would argue that canon takes us that far.

As for what these characteristics look like in a real relationship…well, the show never takes us there, so it’s up to one’s own interpretation of Dan and Amy’s relationship. Obviously, fanfic writers (including myself) have broadly extrapolated all this into stories that explore such a relationship and where physical touch becomes a somewhat central feature of their relationship. Often in these fics, sex and other forms of physical intimacy represent a way for Dan and Amy to communicate their feelings without actually having to express them verbally (their least favorite thing). We never see it in the show, but it’s nice to imagine—and most fanfic writers have—that in a real relationship, Amy does things like lean her head against Dan’s shoulder or kisses him just because she wants to. In fanfiction, these kinds of small moments illustrate to the reader that Amy fully trusts Dan (or is trying to).

Just to pull an example from my own work…in BMTL, Dan and Amy have been “together” for roughly four years, and they’ve had a kid together for five and a half years. One way I’ve tried to demonstrate the (relative) longevity of their relationship is through physical touch. They play-wrestle, she falls asleep with her head in his lap, Dan is so tired in Chapter 3 he almost falls asleep in Amy’s lap while she runs her fingers through his hair…these moments just felt, to me, really natural to write in a fic where Dan and Amy are an established couple, not to mention how frequently Dan has held Amy in his arms, in the moments where she’s actively grieving her dad (and he’s not making it about him).

Well, answering ask somehow turned into a novel, so I’ll stop here! Needless to say, it’s a very rich topic!

#veep #dan x amy #dan egan #amy brookheimer

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