If there’s one thing television did well this week, it was putting some of our favorite characters through the wringer.
From devastating goodbyes to raw vulnerability, this week’s character work is still sticking with us long after the credits rolled.
Whether it was a swan song that left us gutted or a long-overdue spotlight on characters who deserve their flowers, dive into our Characters of the Week.
Evan “Buck” Buckley – 9-1-1
(ABC/Screenshot)
It’s been one year since Bobby Nash’s untimely death, and 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 15 was an emotional hour that saw Buck’s struggles with opioid dependence in the aftermath of what happened to him in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 13 hit a devastating point.
The hour saw Buck ultimately confide in Chimney about what was happening with him, resulting in one of the best scenes the pair has ever shared. Raw, honest, and deeply vulnerable, Buck lays bare both the extent of his struggle and his need for help.
From there, the series does what it has always done best: center on family, with everyone coming together to rally around Buck when he needs them most. And also reminding us that found family remains the emotional core of this series.
The hour is truly a showcase for Oliver Stark, who always thrives when given the space to show the many facets of Buck. It’s a performance that explores the complexities of a character like Buck, who is supremely simple yet complicated in his own right.
Buck’s pain and every emotion were palpable, and it was a standout performance in an episode that also took time to remember the missing piece of their family, who’d be so proud to see how they all showed up for Buck at such a dark point.
Mary Jo Hayes – NCIS: Origins
(Erik Voake/CBS)
It may be Gibbs’ story, but NCIS: Origins Season 2 Episode 12 reaffirms an indisputable fact: Mary Jo is the beating heart of NIS.
Everybody loves Mary Jo. The hour puts that truth front and center when the team is faced with the very real possibility of losing her, and suddenly, everything she brings to the table becomes impossible to ignore.
Ultimately, we see not only what Mary Jo offers the entire office daily, but also how the hour elevates it. She’s the glue that holds the entire office together and the secret weapon that keeps it running smoothly.
Her value and worth are limitless. And watching her step into a more active role in the case, using her connections and instincts to help crack it, is as satisfying as it is long overdue.
Seeing the team rally around Mary Jo, fighting for her the way she’s always shown up for them, hits all the right emotional beats.
And the cherry on top is the refreshing peek into a softer, brighter, and sweeter personal life that delivers the happiness that she’s always deserved, thanks to an unexpected romance with Dalton Basement, who treats her like the queen that she is.
And Tyla Abecrumbie pours all her passion into bringing Mary Jo to life, exuding just as much warmth and depth.
Travis “Trigger” Riggs – NCIS: Sydney
(Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+)
For much of NCIS: Sydney Season 3, Trigger has been a bit of an enigma, to put it mildly.
Fortunately for us, NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Episode 12 finally reveals what lies behind the man of few words, and it’s an unspeakable amount of tragedy and pain.
Trigger’s backstory is that of a man who lost it all and is seemingly resigned to the fact that he can always lose more. After an explosion wipes out his entire bomb squad, you could see him barely reining in his pain, but he was also quietly accepting of such tragedy.
We learned why, as the case goes on, and we learn that he lost the love of his life to an explosion by the same person targeting him. The weight of that loss feels so heavy, and suddenly, everything about Trigger and how guarded he is clicks into place.
But the group refuses to let him retreat into himself. We see his passion and determination to get justice for the people he cared about, and this unexpected softness and vulnerability with Evie.
The complexity of Trigger comes out in all its forms, and Claude Jabbour truly shines with his best performance on the series yet.
Of course, given that cliffhanger, and the glimpses at the “death wish” that Trigger’s superior mentioned once Trigger saw Evie in peril, something tells me Jabbour will bring it again.
Leon Vance – NCIS
(CBS/Screenshot)
We’re still reeling from that 500th milestone and Vance’s fate. Who isn’t?
NCIS Season 2 Episode 13 was the culmination of Vance’s legacy, a quiet, solid force who has served as the backbone of NCIS for 18 years.
In one of the most well-executed, moving, and emotional hours of television, we’re thrust into Vance’s world and the chaos around him.
We’re right by his side, following a story that quietly sneaks up on us until suddenly the pieces click together.
And Vance utters words that will surely stick with us as well as be memorialized forever in the pantheon of incredible lines in television history: I wasn’t wearing a vest, was I?
It’s a moment that cuts like a knife, and even then, Vance pieces together who he is really speaking to and has the powerful realization of his own fate. And, like with everything else, he’s shocked, processes it, and handles it with grace, dignity, and strength.
Everything that embodies Vance as a leader, friend, and man aligns in an hour that serves as a true tribute to a stalwart character — a man who lived and died by sacrifice, duty, honor, and love. And Rocky Carroll’s powerful performance still has us in our feelings nearly a week later.
Dana Evans – The Pitt
(Warrick Page/HBO)
It’s abundantly clear that The Pitt Season 2 has laid out the red carpet specifically for Katherine LaNasa because if she doesn’t get a nomination, let alone actually win, for her performance as Dana, it’ll be criminal.
And The Pitt Season 2 Episode 12 pushed Dana farther than before. Tapping into her protective nature and being triggered by her own attack had Dana charging forward to rescue sweet nursing student Emma from a patient’s attack.
All season, she and Robby have been in a pressure cooker, and by this point, the steam has been let out, with the two in a crash collision with each other.
Dana unleashes, and it’s equal parts satisfying and heartbreaking as it’s evident that she’s fresh out of dams left to give and running on pure, unadulterated hypervigilance. She takes questionable steps to protect Emma from a patient, ones that threaten her nursing license.
And the entire hour is what it looks like for a woman after she’s cracked.
But it’s her filterless approach with Robby, calling him to the carpet and not holding back, not even an ounce, that has her cruising into “must-watch” character of the episode, and certainly character of the week.
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