CS Scene of the Week: Watchmen’s Sister Knight vs. Agent Laurie Blake
Welcome to ComingSoon.net’s newest column, CS Scene of the Week, where we dive into the best scenes and performances television has to offer. Our first installment, covering the week of October 28 to November 3, launches with a scene between Sister Knight (Regina King) and FBI Agent Laurie Blake (Jean Smart) from the third episode of HBO’s Watchmen series.
Read below to see why Watchmen claimed our first Scene of the Week, and find out who also earned our runner-up pick! Major Spoiler Warnings Ahead.
MVP of the Week
FBI Agent Laurie Blake is introduced in the third episode of Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen series and completely disrupts the narrative in the best way as a member of the Anti-Vigilante Task Force. Throughout the episode, Blake subtly reveals to the audience that she is most likely Silk Spectre (the daughter of Edward Blake, aka The Comedian, and formerly known as Laurie Jupeczyk in the original comics), having previously been romantically involved with Doctor Manhattan as well as revealing her connection to Adrien Veidt (Jeremy Irons) and her first-hand knowledge of the Watchmen tales of old.
The agent’s distaste for cops who wear masks immediately creates tension with King’s Angela Abar, aka Silver Knight, when the two first meet:
Blake: “You know how you can tell the difference between a masked cop and a vigilante?”
Angela: “No.”
Blake: “Me neither.”
Blake is a no-nonsense character that establishes herself quickly as the main person of authority wherever she goes. That is, however, until the end of the episode when she and Angela have a tense one-on-one chat that proves to Blake that Angela is as formidable as she is. Following the bombing at Judd Crawford’s (Don Johnson) funeral, Blake reveals to Angela that she knows Crawford was hiding something in the secret compartment in his closet and that she thinks someone close to him might be covering for him, implying he, and his accomplices, aren’t actually good people as she eats “good guys for breakfast.”
Where Blake is capable of shaking people up, causing them to bend around her, Angela is steel in front of her during Blake’s speech. The FBI agent has proven herself masterful at words, her intelligence, confidence, and experience speaking volumes as she follows the smallest threads to the truth and exquisitely picks people apart to get what she wants. Her words seemingly have no power over Angela at this moment, though, who listens quietly to Blake’s long spiel before responding with a short, sarcastic “Ooh!”, mocking Blake as she pretends to be scared by her words before dumping the coffee Blake brought her down a hole and walking away. Angela’s dismissal of Blake’s words throws the agent off a bit for the first time during the episode, revealing some of her own cracks underneath a hardened exterior. The scene was expertly played by both King and Smart, making it clear how much fun fans are going to have with the duo in future episodes.
Runner-Up of the Week
The second season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan finally launched on Amazon Prime, surpassing the first season with each episode delivering a powerful punch. Jack Ryan’s John Krasinski has proven his range as a comedic, action, and horror actor more than once, but his true talent comes from his grasp of drama and humanity. His ability to infuse emotion into any scene often sets him apart and forces viewers to invest in and become attached to his characters.
A great example comes from episode 2.07 of Jack Ryan’s second season. Following an assault on a prison camp, Jack frantically searches for his friend and fellow CIA operative Jim Greer (Wendell Pierce) who is missing after having been captured by enemy forces. Jack charges into a pile of dead bodies belonging to prisoners who had been killed on President Reyes’ orders, desperately trying to find Jim. During the search, Krasinski’s performance carries an emotional weight as Jack grunts, moans, gasps for breath, collapses on the ground in a near-panic attack, and whose eyes well up when he is unable to find his friend (instead locating the deceased Matice, who worked as an operator with the CIA’s Special Activities Division) making the moment unforgettable. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is a solid series on its own, but Krasinski playing the title role has elevated it into one of the best shows streaming has to offer.
What did you think of our choices for our first CS Scene of the Week? Are there other television scenes from last week you feel deserved a shout-out? Sound off in the comments below!
