Teen Wolf‘s cast continues to impress us week in and week out, while Outlander‘s leading lady has knocked it out of the park on week one.
Last week, we couldn’t help but sing all of Dylan O’Brien’s praises, and we probably will continue for the next few decades, and the rest of Teen Wolf‘s cast seems to have chosen now to absolutely knock out socks off.
Meanwhile, newcomer Outlander has marched onto the scene with a number of strong performances, none stronger than the leading lady whom we just can’t wait to see continue to do amazing work week after week.
Hypable Honors
Show: ‘Outlander’
Actor: Caitriona Balfe
Caitriona Balfe is definitely an actress who is under a lot of pressure. She has the unenviable job of playing Claire Randall in Outlander, the beloved female protagonist of Diana Gabaldon’s multi-millions of copies sold best-seller of the same name. To make a parallel from the YA world, it’s like living up to the pressure of playing Harry Potter or Katniss Everdeen, only the Outlander fandom has been around for over 20 years.
Somehow Balfe pulls the impossible off and makes Claire equally determined, gutsy, sexy, and even vulnerable. Viewers are instantly drawn to her as she’s unexpectedly thrust back in time to the 1740’s in Scotland, and she has to use every incidental experience she’s had in life to figure out how to survive in this strange world.
Balfe’s face is dynamic as voiceover is used to convey much of what is going on in Claire’s head that she can’t state out loud. As an independent woman in a time where women had few rights, Claire asserts herself to her success and yet at the same time possibly her own peril. It’s as much a physical game as it is a mental game when acting and speaking on impulse can save you or cost you your life.
Show: ‘Teen Wolf’
Actor: Tyler Hoechlin
It should come as no surprise that, hot off the heels of his “Scene Stealer” win at MTV’s Teen Choice Awards, Tyler Hoechlin would also take one of our very own Hypable Honors. He proved that award well deserved this week as we watched him play out the nuances of Derek’s character perfectly in every second he appeared on our screens.
The Derek of season 4, though struggling through his quickly dwindling werewolf powers, is far more relaxed and zen than we’ve ever seen him — and it’s definitely charming us. His sarcasm, and hilariously ‘teenage,’ responses to everything are also shining through. It was difficult, even, to narrow down his scenes to highlight just one in gif form.
Ultimately, we settled on Derek’s perfectly timed response to Braeden’s offer to teach him how to use a gun — and the resulting scene that followed was also a contender. We’re sure that we’re not alone in having rewatched his every moment in this episode. Multiple times. Tyler Hoechlin consistently makes Derek Hale a joy to watch, and we can’t wait to see what else he brings to the character as we enter the final stretch of the season.
