THE PERFORMER | Fabien Frankel
THE SHOW | “House of the Dragon”
THE EPISODE | “Unbowed and Unbent” (July 19, 2026)
THE PERFORMANCE | Would we want to follow Ser Criston Cole into battle, especially after the events of this week’s “House of the Dragon”? Hell no — the knight seems to have lost his damn mind. But were we captivated by Fabien Frankel’s performance as his character made clear his fatalistic intentions? Absolutely.
The scene in question went down toward the end of the hour, while what was left of the Hightower army rested in the forest. When a shocked Gwayne realized that Criston had no intention of surviving their doomed military campaign, and neither did he care if anyone else made it out alive, Frankel gave off a calm that belied the subject matter at hand. His gaze was steady. His voice was soft, yet firm. And Frankel’s matter-of-fact tone tapped into something the character had been feeling for years: Cole no longer wanted to be a tool wielded by the nobles whose approval he’d once courted.
Then the knight got a wee bit delusional, and Frankel only got better. Contrary to his bombastic claims, Ser Criston decidedly is not the realm’s greatest warrior, and he’s certainly not clear-eyed. But he is played by someone who conveys a lot with small, quiet choices. To wit: Frankel easily laid out his character’s glorious-in-death future, but chose to duck his head and soften his voice when he got to the part about how even Alicent would hear the songs people would sing about his valor.
Frankel’s delivery of that last line gave us so much insight into his character, a soldier whose entire adult life has been marked by his secret, sustained, and — we’ll say it — twisted affair with the Green queen. Against our better judgment, we we were moved to some sympathy for the knight. Feelings! For Ser Criston?! What better testament to Frankel’s work can we give? —Kimberly Roots
Scroll down to see who got an Honorable Mention shout-out this week…
HONORABLE MENTION: Juliette Lewis
When Juliette Lewis first popped up on Apple TV’s “Cape Fear” as Max’s deeply unstable half-sister Crystal, we thought it was just a fun little nod to the Martin Scorsese film version, which launched Lewis’ career. But this week, we got to spend more time with Crystal, and Lewis brought a jittery edge to the proceedings, playing the ultimate wild card. Anna woke up on Crystal’s houseboat thinking she was being held captive, but she and Crystal soon found common ground, forming an unlikely bond over a couple of beers. The danger was always there, though, and Lewis showed flashes of Crystal’s violent temper when Anna confronted her about killing Max’s wife Melissa. (Our blood just about ran cold when Lewis broke into an unsettling smile as Crystal declared, “She didn’t deserve that life.”) Lewis then turned the crazy up to full blast when her son Luke learned Max is his father, screaming out her denials and plunging a knife into Anna’s hand (!) in a wild struggle. Max Cady may be the main villain of this story, but Crystal is bringing plenty of terror of her own, thanks to Lewis’ deliciously unhinged work. — Dave Nemetz
Which performance(s) knocked your socks off this week? Tell us in the comments!
