The TVLine Performer of the Week: James Roday Rodriguez

HONORABLE MENTION: Ego Nwodim

We can’t remember the last time a Saturday Night Live skit sparked as much joy in us as last weekend’s “Lisa From Temecula” sketch, and it’s not just because practically every cast member, as well as host Pedro Pascal, broke character at some point during the the four-plus minute sendup. Much of the credit for the high guffaw quotient goes to the satire’s titular star, Ego Nwodim, whose commitment to the insanely silly premise — i.e. Lisa likes her steak so well done that the restaurant table can barely withstand the impact of her “sawing” the meat, sending food flying — never wavered. In fact, as the situation became more ridiculous, Nwodim dug her heels in further, feeding off of the chaotic energy swirling around her and nimbly improvising her way through every unforeseen curveball (while mostly maintaining a straight face). Now pardon us while we go watch the uproarious skit for a 20th time.

HONORABLE MENTION: Kiele Sanchez

Sydney Voit knew something was askew with her husband. And as Criminal Minds: Evolution‘s finale unfolded, the pitch-black truth became apparent, and Kiele Sanchez had us feeling Sydney’s ensuing spiral. Confronting Elias about the “Moose” collar, Sydney snipped any last emotional tie her serial killer husband was feeling. Instantly she was at gunpoint, and Sanchez’s face registered every ounce of terror. Sanchez’s best work came after Elias was caught and Sydney was asked to coax Rossi’s location out of her monstrous mate. In a gripping scene opposite real-life husband Zach Gilford, Sanchez showed us a woman juggling disgust and heartbreak over a family ripped asunder. “Does 15 years [of marriage] matter? Do your children matter?” asked Sydney. “Show me that you’re not just some sociopath who can mimic human emotion, that our marriage was more than just some elaborate alibi.” The appeal worked, and we wept.

HONORABLE MENTION: Chyler Leigh

Time travel can be fantastical, but when The Way Home‘s Kat ventured back to the ’90s and spotted her father and little brother, both of whom she’d lost in her teens, the unimaginable led to an emotionally grounded performance from Chyler Leigh. As an adult Kat laid eyes on her now-departed family members, Leigh’s face filled with shock at the sight in front of her, before giving way to choked sobs that Kat tried to hide behind her hands. Through Kat’s little smile of wonder and her anguished tears, Leigh encompassed both the joy and the sadness that comes with unexpectedly seeing a dearly departed loved one under the most strangest of circumstances.

Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in Comments!