Bearomance Storyline

August 29, 1924 It’s funny, most people can be around someone and then gradually begin to love them and never know exactly when it happened; but Ruth knew the very second it happened to her. When Idgie had grinned at her and tried to hand her that jar of honey, all these feelings that she had been trying to hold back came flooding through her, and it was at that second in time that she knew she loved Idgie with all her heart.

TVLine Performers of the Week: Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman

It’s been almost a week since HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama ruined us with some strawberries and a Linda Ronstadt tune. In what was (so far) the show’s biggest digression from the video game on which it’s based, Offerman’s Bill and Bartlett’s Frank — both tangential characters in the game — took center stage and, via a pair of stunningly beautiful performances, broke our hearts.

Let’s first consider Offerman, whose turn as the gruff-yet-sensitive survivalist was a revelation. Seven seasons of Parks and Recreation taught us that the man certainly knows his way around a punchline. But we were unprepared for how well he’d convey Bill’s insecurity as a gay man who’d never been in a relationship until one literally fell into his path. That interlude that started at the piano, as Frank’s kindness and affection quickly dismantled Bill’s defenses, was stunning thanks to the vulnerability Offerman conveyed through his taciturn character’s tentative gestures: his impulse to stand as the pair kissed, his tentative stroking of Frank’s shoulder when they were later in bed.

Meanwhile Bartlett’s easy openness provided a magnificent counterpoint as Frank and Bill navigated their 16-year relationship. The culmination, of course, came as the characters sat in the parlor and Frank laid out his perfect last day. Bartlett’s eyes were wet but his voice was steady: This, his every gesture communicated, was a man who knew what he wanted and was determined — happy, even — to leave the world on his own terms. As Bill struggled mightily, Offerman looking like he was in physical pain from the onslaught of grief, Bartlett’s gentle reassurances and undemanding tone steered the scene to its eventual outcome: a place of true love and partnership.

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