Such is the strength of Hugh Dancy's portrayal of a cancer patient on the soon-to-end second season of Showtime's "The Big C" that it is his storyline that has become the centerpiece of this compelling drama, one of television's most accomplished. Like another Showtime series, "Nurse Jackie," "The Big C" is centered around a successful female actor who is over 40 and has earned acclaim for her work in TV in the form of Emmy accolades. The writing is similarly tight and inspired and both women hold the center of their respective lives as working professionals whose lives invite a number of entertaining characters.
Where "Jackie" tends to focus on Edie Falco and her cast of steady supporting players, including the dynamic Eve Best, "Big C" turns to guest actors whose arcs are seldom more than one season in duration. To whit, the devastating work of Dancy this season, the most inspired guest thus far. Idris Elba was also quite good last season, at least partly because he played off Linney so well. A naturally commanding presence, his work was utterly at the service to his relationship with Linney's character, the mark of a generous actor.
Cynthia Nixon was the most pivotal character in terms of plot impact, yet she departed suddenly and while her work with Linney betrayed a sense of easy rapport, her character was not as fascinating as it promised to be. She's always compelling to watch, but it's possible the creators felt her character did not sparkle sufficiently to keep her in Linney's orbit like the dazzling Gabourey Sidibe. Initially a student of Linney's ELA high school teacher, Sidibe has since developed into a resident of Linney's household and is romantically involved with a colleague of Linney's husband. Her chemistry with Linney seems to ensure her pole position in the series.
While the guest cast has included the likes of Alan Alda and Parker Posey this season, neither has been more than sparingly utilized. In a sense that is for the best, since Alda is winsome but lacks the intensity of a major role, and Posey is a shameless scene stealer, a sort of stand up comic lacking the writing chops for solo performance. When I learned she was to join "Big C" for a guest role, I was instinctively worried she would prove unable to work off her scene partners effectively. She has only appeared in a couple of episodes thus far, and while she is amusing, she is well cast as an attention junky and outside of one explosive group dinner scene, has only had to work off of Gabriel Basso, a promising young actor who plays Linney's son.
It's intriguing to consider that Dancy is not quite a household name, yet his work on the show is easily the most complex besides Linney's similarly adroit work. Like fellow Brit Best on "Jackie," he is relied upon to provide the sort of mixture of mordant wit and depth of emotion that we may tend to look to the English for, with their tendency towards stage training (Best is a RADA grad.) Whatever the reason, casting was spot on, and with one episode left, it is likely Dancy will be remembered for his turn as the "Big C"'s character most lamented in their departure.
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