Women of the Week

By The Nice Girls | March 2, 2020

February may be the shortest month of the year, but as we wrapped up the month there was no shortage of powerful on screen performances. Which leading ladies made the cut for our final February Women of the Week picks? Read on to find out!

Nominated by Roz: Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen on The Rookie (ABC) and Mary Steenburgen as Maggie Clarke on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (NBC).

Image: ABC/Richard Cartwright

I’ve got two this week. First, Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen on The Rookie. Lucy was kidnapped at the end of the fall season and the episode watched as she not only tried to escape her captor, but survive a situation that seemed unwinnable. It was painful to hear her sing “Dream a Little Dream” as she feared death.

Then Mary Steenburgen as Maggie Clarke on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Maggie has struggled through all three episodes as she carried most of Mitch’s health, but her solo on Sunday broke my heart as she tried to put on a brave face for those neighbors who stopped by.

Image: James Dittiger/NBC

Seconded by Rueben:

I want to second Roz. Those are great choices for this week!

Mary Steenburgen thirded by Karen:

Same here for Mary Steenburgen. Her performance, both speaking AND singing, was beyond. I could feel her heartbreak and sadness in every word.

Nominated by Ange: Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess on Chicago P.D. (NBC)

Image: Matt Dinerstein/NBC

I nominated Squerciati at the start of the month for her performance in the heartbreaking episode where her character lost the baby, and now I’m nominating her again this week for yet another powerful performance tied to this storyline. Since leaving the hospital and then returning to work, Burgess has been determined to move past losing the baby, refusing to wallow in her grief or pain. It’s seeing the sonogram still hanging in Baby Daddy Ruzek’s locker that triggers her to confront her feelings and guilt over the situation. She lashes out at him and thinks he should be blaming her for putting herself in a dangerous situation when she was meant to be a non-active duty. When he tells her he doesn’t blame her because she saved a life, it becomes clear that the feelings she has been projecting as his are in fact her own and it’s even more emotional to watch her during that scene.

Women of the Week

Women of the Week