It just goes to show, premium cable drama or network comic book show, a great performance is a great performance. Check out this week’s selections for Hypable Honors.

As finale season looms ahead (and the dreadful summer TV lull threatens even more forebodingly), we are all mentally preparing ourselves for the onslaught of tragedy, triumph, and the complications that come with them.

The two actors selected this week have little in common when it comes to their characters, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s always exciting to know that whether they’re playing a badass secret agent or a war leader of a Scottish clan, our favorite actors give it all they’ve got and can sometimes surprise us with their dedication.

With no further ado, we present to you this week’s picks for Hypable Honors. Make sure to let us know who you think is most deserving in the comments below!

Hypable Honors

Show: ‘Outlander’

Actor: Graham McTavish

Graham McTavish, who plays Dougal McKenzie on Outlander, gave a spectacular performance this week. We finally saw that the hardened war chief actually has a heart. After learning of the untimely death of his wife, Dougal flies into a rage destroying everything and nearly everyone around him. It’s only when they finally manage to drug him is he knocked out.

The energy it took to rage across the set was astounding. Just when you thought he couldn’t get any louder or more destructive… guess again. At nearly 6’5″ Graham McTavish scared us, and we were on the other side of the TV screen.

Later in the episode we got to see Dougal in the completely opposite way: The besotted fool in love with Geillis Duncan. The look of enamoured, childish delight on his face when he announces that she carries his child really shows McTavish’s range.

Show: ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’

Actor: Ming-Na Wen

Yes, we’re a little bit obsessed with Ming-Na this week – but if you’ve seen the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., you probably understand. “Melinda” brutally unveiled a secret that had been held back for nearly two years, and Ming-Na took on the considerable challenge without breaking a sweat.

“Melinda” called for Ming-Na to become three different versions of the same character. In the present day, Agent May’s typical reserve was stretched painfully by the discovery of Coulson’s secrets – but in the past, viewers finally met the vibrant, tender, and fearless woman May used to be.

Ming-Na imbued everything about the character with a beautiful and unfamiliar brightness. Her eyes were softer, her smile came easily; even her intensity felt more pure, driven by confidence rather than fear. It was no work at all for fans to relate to this version of Agent May, and understand why Coulson valued her as highly as a friend as he did an agent.

But of course, the devastating events of Bahrain drew out the third incarnation of Melinda May – the woman who destroyed herself to save her fellow agents. Wrecked, shell-shocked, and utterly changed, Ming-Na’s fathomless gaze and hunched posture told us everything we needed to know about the austere agent we know today. A brief montage demonstrated how May cut herself off from the world both physically and emotionally, but the haunting truth was all there in her blank, blasted gaze.

Though skillfully plotted and movingly written, this pivotal episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. balanced on Ming-Na’s performance. Her skill, empathy, and dedication to the character blazed across every scene, and transformed one tragic episode into a watershed event that will haunt and impact fans as thoroughly as it did the ultimately unbreakable Melinda May.