Our Characters of the Week didn’t just steal scenes — they dominated entire episodes.
The NCIS Crossover created a legacy character before our eyes, with context and merging two series.
Meanwhile, Peacock’s soapiest thriller still has us talking.
Additionally, a character makes a remarkable introduction, while a beloved character receives the background and focus that deepen our affection for her even more.
All across broadcast and streaming, there were standout characters, and we can’t wait to dive into them.
Did we miss anyone on our list?
Be sure to tell us below in the comments.
Vera Strickland – NCIS, NCIS: Origins
CBS teased an NCIS/NCIS: Origins crossover this season, and many of us wondered what it would be like, how they could make it work, and which characters they could connect to bridge the past and present to make it happen.
It’s safe to say that after watching both NCIS: Origins Part 1 and NCIS: Part 2 of the franchise crossover, Vera was the best possible choice.
In the past, she wasn’t as prominent in the hour. Still, her humor and ability to work magic out of every request, or shall we say, her “moxie,” made her the ultimate scenestealer on a series where all the characters are dynamic enough to grab your attention.
But it was Roma Maffia‘s return to the mothership, reclaiming the role that was at the heart of the crossover special.
No, Gibbs wasn’t there as many had hoped, but you cannot deny that Vera offered something to the NCIS team that just clicked into place and made for one of the best episodes of the series.
Integral to solving this cold case, Vera was essential to the plot point, arguably at the very heart of it. However, through her character, there was a compelling element that only proved just how vital Origins is to the NCIS universe.
The ability to use the prequel to enrich the mothership series only enhances the stories and the characters that we love so much.
It makes the lore stronger, sticks to our hearts a bit more, and Vera, bringing bits of the past to the current team — relaying a message of pride Gibbs has for McGee, confirming that the magic we see in Origins really is timeless and translates beautifully to the present more than we ever realized.
Vera was a rock star, and absolutely divine — a perfect representation of how to merge two incredible series.
Gina Walker – Doc
If you tuned in to Doc Season 2 Episode 7, then you know it was an incredibly powerful hour that showcased none other than Gina Walker.
We finally got more insight into her background and personal life, meeting her sister via flashbacks as well as her wife after an incredibly harrowing hour.
Gina will go to the ends of the earth for her patients, something that we’ve always realized, but her efforts to save Kim from an abusive husband put that into perspective in remarkable and terrifying ways.
She was relentless in her attempts first to convince Kim to leave and then to orchestrate the perfect exit plan when she learned of Kim’s desires to do so.
She was all passion and emotion when it came to her approach to this case, reckless and impulsive in heroics, vibrating with so much energy because of her desire to save this woman, in part because of the guilt and pain she still felt over her inability to save a patient who hurt himself and others.
Gina proved why she’s one of Doc’s strongest and most compelling characters in the hour, as she put her life on the line for another, and Amirah Vann‘s performance, to the surprise of no one, was sublime.
The barely concealed control over her emotions when Gina watched Ray wheel Kim away after thwarting their escape plan, and the wild but determined look in her eye as she goaded Ray into attacking her instead of Kim are moments that still linger well after the episode aired.
Ozzie Edwards – Reasonable Doubt
The entirety of Reasonable Doubt Season 4, one of Hulu‘s buzziest and most devourable hits, has been a rollercoaster ride, with prominent themes of abuse, addiction, and trauma, resulting in many arcs that range from deeply poignant to utterly gut-wrenching and raw.
All season long, Jax’s client, Ozzie Edwards, a former child star turned murder suspect, has done everything from infuriating viewers to breaking our hearts. As the season progressed, it deftly unravels Ozzie’s layers in a heartrending exploration of trauma.
From crushing revelations about sexual abuse to his disturbing addiction habit to Jax shifting from lawyer to savior, mom, guardian angel — and that culminates beautifully, albeit tragically, in a stellar finale.
Ozzie’s relief at the verdict was like its own new high, but it’s the moments with Jax that sing most. The clencher — the moment that truly results in the greatest scene not only for his character but maybe even the series– is his realization that Jax genuinely loved him.
Her insistence that she was putting him in a rehab program and the way he shifts from anger and hurt to pure love and acceptance because for the first time it truly registers that he’s found someone who genuinely loves HIM enough to get him the help he needs, quite literally brings tears to your eyes.
He practically regresses into the sweet little boy who just wanted love and a mom all along when he responds, “I’m so mad at you, but I love you, too.” The poignancy of it lands harder moments later.
Nevertheless, Ozzie is such a deeply captivating, tragic, and cautionary tale as a character, and Kyle Bary (Ginny & Georgia) delivers an exceptional performance that will have us eager to see what else the future holds for him.
Carrie Finch – All Her Fault
I’m still on a high from All Her Fault, and Sophia Lillis made Carrie, aka Josephine Murphy, a much more sympathetic and layered character on-screen than she was in the novel.
She had a verbally abusive mother and a father who cared more about money than her. It was no wonder she wanted a new, happier life with Kyle and her own baby, and fell apart when it was ripped away from her.
Seeing that car accident and that someone stole her baby and swapped it with a dead one broke my heart. Kidnapping Milo was a crime, but she wanted a few days with her son, and the adaptation made us feel for her.
I appreciated that this time, she wanted to warn Marissa, mother to mother, about what her husband was truly like. Deep down, Carrie cared about Milo and wasn’t an evil person.
Peter Irvine – All Her Fault
I disliked Peter Irvine’s character, but Jake Lacy portrayed him so well that I felt something, which was the essence of a great character.
The writers expanded his character, making Peter more manipulative and controlling over everyone, from his wife to his siblings.
He claimed he enjoyed taking care of those he loved, but he exhibited a need to control the narrative.
That was clear when it revealed that Peter switched their dead baby with Josephine Murphy’s dead one after a car accident.
In reality, his actions brought her to their town to kidnap Milo, but he blamed Marissa, Jenny Kaminiski, and anyone else he could manipulate.
Det. Theo Walker – Law & Order
Det. Theo Walker (David Ajala) made his debut as Riley’s new partner on Law & Order Season 25.
He premiered an emotional case where a black teenager was killed by his adoptive father and basketball manager.
It was a fine line because Det. Walker understood racial prejudice more, but he’s still a cop.
This case hurt because how could any father beat their son to death? When the adoptive father claimed it was self-defense and cited another incident at school, Det. Walker remembered cameras had recently been installed at the school.
He thought he’d clear the kid, but was shocked by what he saw. He lied to DA Price, saying he never found anything, and the adoptive father was convicted.
Riley’s new partner shares many of the same views as Shaw. I love that Det. Walker has empathy and has clear lines, but Riley reminded him that they were a team.
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