This year’s award-worthy acting moments on TV screens you might have missed By Backstage Staff
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n today’s age of peak television, you can be forgiven for not catching every bit of scripted programming from 2021. That’s why we like to zero in on individual scenes that exemplify great on-camera acting; if you don’t have time to watch a series’ whole season, just check out a moment! For your SAG Awards consideration, here are some snapshots of great acting that we at Backstage can’t get out of our heads. A gay con on “The Other Two” “The Other Two” checks all the boxes: It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s very New York, and it’s very gay. If it had a Tinder, I’d absolutely swipe right. I could choose any number of favorite laugh-out-loud moments from this year’s masterful second season—from a running joke on how poorly Rachael Ray treats her fans to Cary (Drew Tarver) hosting a digital talk show called “The Gay Minute,” sponsored by Advil. But I’ll go with Season 2, Episode 2, featuring guest stars Noah Galvin and Tuc Watkins as Eddie and Troy, a gay couple with a significant age gap who get more than they bargained for while pulling a con. Seeing an opportunity to lean into the “daddy” and “son” dynamic for their own financial gain, they pose as a father and son on “Pat! The Pat Dubek Show” and stage a dramatic BACKSTAGE 12.06.21
coming-out scene. Galvin, naturally, plays the closeted gay teen to Watkins’ unaccepting father, and Pat (Molly Shannon) gifts them a $25,000 check for their trouble. Unfortunately for them, there’s no such thing as a clean con. When Cary and his boyfriend Jess (Gideon Glick) spot the couple out to lunch, they invite the teen and his “dad” out on a New York adventure, hoping to prove that being gay isn’t such a bad thing. When Eddie and Troy’s Grindr date (Noam Ash) interrupts their afternoon, they force him to pose as the family’s straight son in hopes of keeping their cash. Thus, the iconic line is born: “I’m his son, I’m straight, and I’m from Kansas.” It’s absurdly niche enough to go down as one of the great moments in 2021 TV comedy. I dare another show to top it. —Benjamin Lindsay
half minutes, because my prose could never do her wrenching narration justice. I will, however, recount the scene’s final exchange. When Mare, defeated, almost
JESSIE ENNIS AND DANNY PUDI ON ”MYTHIC QUEST”
Mare remembers the day Kevin died on “Mare of Easttown” There is a single underrated moment on “Mare of Easttown” that, if watched without any context whatsoever, will give you all the proof you need that Kate Winslet’s Detective Mare Sheehan is one television’s greatest performances. On Episode 6, Mare’s therapist (played beautifully by Eisa Davis) asks her to recall the day her son Kevin took his life. I am not going to describe the ensuing three and a
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“THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER”: COURTESY MARVEL STUDIOS
Don’t Touch That Dial
“MARE OF EASTTOWN”: MICHELE K. SHORT/HBO; “MYTHIC QUEST”: COURTESY APPLE TV+
KATE WINSLET AND EISA DAVIS ON “MARE OF EASTTOWN”
