This week’s Hypable Honors selections are all about the darkness. Sometimes a good character going dark (or a dark character going darker) is all you need to really jump start a storyline.
In a month filled to the brim with shocking finales and tear-stained handkerchiefs, we thought it only fitting to start off May with a pair of performances that truly understood what it meant to bring the darkness.
One is a character that has always embodied goodness and light in spirit, while the other has been one of the darkest characters on television for the last three seasons of his show. Sometimes watching a truly bad character be bad is the cream of the crop, and, in this instance, we wholeheartedly concur. Other times, watching a good character struggle with darkness that is creeping in on the edges can have a startling effect. It can remind you that nothing is set in stone on television, and that anything can be possible.
Without further ado, check out this week’s selections for Hypable Honors and make sure to let us know who you think is worthy in the comments below!
Hypable Honors
Show: ‘Once Upon a Time’
Actor: Jennifer Morrison
Jennifer Morrison has been a godsend to the cast of Once Upon a Time over the years. She has maneuvered her way through some tricky storylines without appearing too lost or overpowered by the crazy fantastical things coming her way. It only makes sense that given her character’s newest struggles, she would shine ever brighter.
Emma Swan has managed a lot of crazy in her time in Storybrooke, so it’s only fitting that her character has a bit of a struggle with darkness. She isn’t outright tempted with it — she’s no Rumpel after all — but knowing that choosing the ‘right’ decision doesn’t always come easy to the savior is comforting.
We have loved watching Jennifer bring the real world to Storybrooke over the last four seasons. She is the ultimate audience stand-in, as she has read and watched and absorbed all the stories we’ve grown our whole lives hearing, and yet has been thrown into a world where her parents are two of those stories’ most iconic figures. Throwing this newest wrinkle into her character’s arc is nothing short of genius. It moves Emma Swan from being the good-in-all-things-savior type to being a deeply troubled young woman trying to make peace and amends with a horror of her parents’ making.
Show: ‘The Following’
Actor: James Purefoy
When it comes to darkness on television, you’d be hard-pressed to find a character as complex and dark as Joe Carroll on The Following. He has been more of a force than a villain, causing chaos no matter where he may be.
James Purefoy has brought the evils of Joe Carroll to life for three seasons on The Following and his character’s story was brought to a dramatic close this week as he could not escape his scheduled execution. Joe Carroll’s legacy of horrors won’t be soon forgotten, even with the crazy antics of Theo waiting to take his place.
While Joe’s death should mean nothing but good things for the FBI, we have a feeling Ryan Hardy will find himself more affected than we would’ve hoped. We will miss seeing Joe Carroll’s havoc being wreaked by the immense talents of James Purefoy every week, but we look forward to seeing any and all ways in which his career flourishes from here.
