TVLine’s Performer of the Week: Babou Ceesay

THE PERFORMER | Babou Ceesay

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THE SHOW | FX’s Alien: Earth

THE EPISODE | “Metamorphosis” (Aug. 19, 2025)

THE PERFORMANCE | In Alien: Earth’s early episodes, Ceesay’s cyborg Morrow came off as nearly as big a villain as the xenomorphs, ruthlessly sacrificing human lives to preserve the alien specimens at all costs. He was a fearsome figure again this week, too, but Ceesay also let us see the human side of the cyborg peeking around the edges, giving us fresh insight into what’s really driving this fascinating character.

In his first encounter with the childlike Slightly and Smee, Morrow instantly commanded their attention (and ours), with Ceesay employing a quiet but unwavering voice to intimidate the innocent hybrids as he informed them: “Only the bounty matters.” Morrow got even scarier when he hooked into the ship’s computer by attaching pulsing cords to his face, telling the kids that as a cyborg, he’s “the worst parts of a man” before threatening Slightly with a knife to the throat. (We enjoyed watching Ceesay go up against Timothy Olyphant as synthetic Kirsh, too; here’s hoping we get more of that in the weeks to come.) But Ceesay weaved in hints that Morrow’s human side is still there (and hurting), ruefully noting that his space mission lasted 65 years (“Everyone I know is dead”) and later revealing with a smile that he had a young daughter before he left: “She hated raisins.”

With nothing else left to live for, the aliens are now Morrow’s primary mission, and he saw Slightly as a weak spot to exploit, radioing in to sweet-talk the boy into doing his bidding, with Ceesay adopting a gentle tone to manipulate him: “Will you be my friend? Please?” It felt like Morrow was now the predator, and Slightly was the prey — and Ceesay’s bone-chilling portrayal is making Morrow as terrifying as any bloodthirsty alien.

Scroll down to see who got Honorable Mention shout-outs this week…

HONORABLE MENTION: Danny DeVito and Carol Kane

The great Danny DeVito was in rare form in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s season finale, with Frank starring in a new season of The Golden Bachelor by instantly rejecting any woman close to his own age — Mel Owens, is that you? — and saying some truly foul things that ABC would never air. But Frank met his match in Sam, played by guest star Carol Kane (Taxi reunion alert!), who went toe-to-toe with Frank and actually charmed him, despite being way outside his dating demographic. The two former castmates showed off serious chemistry as Frank and Sam enjoyed a sweet (if gross) candlelit dinner, and it all led up to a sweepingly romantic marriage proposal at a bus stop in the rain. Kane proved to be the perfect sparring partner for DeVito, and we’d love to see these two continue to insult each other for many seasons to come. — D.N.

HONORABLE MENTION: David Zayas

In Friday’s Dexter: Resurrection, Angel Batista came closer than ever to catching Dexter red-handed, giving the character’s portrayer David Zayas some excellent material to work with. After Batista tracked Dexter’s location thanks to a pair of cleverly planted Airpods, we could feel the suspense rising thanks to the actor’s determination and calculated performance. When the former Miami Metro captain finally found a plastic-wrapped kill room, the look on Zayas’ face spoke volumes, prepping us for a potentially brutal showdown between the two former friends. Dexter ultimately escaped, but when Wallace and Oliva arrived on the scene with a gazillion questions, Zayas went to work placing Batista’s tenacity front and center as he attempted to counter the detectives’ incredulity. Regardless of what goes down in the season’s final two episodes, Zayas’ strong camera presence and dynamite swagger has made this Resurrection one worth living for. — Nick Caruso

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

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