Shes such a pro that she makes what shes doing look easy.
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One Day at a Timeis a traditional sitcom with a traditional sitcoms sensibility.
Its jokes are often broad, and its more dramatic moments very clearly aim to move you.
Its a show that is not ashamed to wear its heart on its sleeve.
She hits punch lines with snap.
She rarely enters a room without a flourish.
She leans hard into her emotions when a scene calls for it.
Id also argue that at 87 87!
Moreno is such a pro that she makes what shes doing look easy.
But theres never a reason to give a shot to hide Moreno.
Shes always in tune with the moment and her character.
Moreno not only resists those urges, she doesnt seem to have them in the first place.
She keeps Lydia fully grounded and recognizably human.
Its a funny line on paper.
Moreno makes itreallyfunny by not emphasizing the humor in it.
The stroke Lydia refers to is the one she had at the end of season two.
Obviously, she survived through the latest season.
Its a silly line that gets a laugh.
Her mini monologue is only a few sentences, but Morenos inflections tell an entire story.
When she sayselegant, Moreno lowers her voice and exhales a full breath of oxygen into the word.
She makes it sound like a superpower.
As she says it, she holds up her hands as though shes showing off a freshly applied manicure.
She doesnt just make you hear elegant, she enables you to see it.Then Lydia gets really emotional.
She was who she was, she says of Maria Luisa, until the day she died.
Her eyes become glassy.
Her voice catches on was, as if shes about to cry.
Lydia is talking about the grandmother she loved and still misses.
But Moreno knows that Lydia is also talking about losing her own identity.
She suffered a stroke, and it scared her.
She even raises the game of her scene partner, Gomez, a little.
Because this is a comedy, the moment eventually circles back to humor.
Elena pushes too far by suggesting that Lydia might also use her canesometimes.
Her grandmother responds: Take the win.
Its timed on a dime.
Its an actor hitting her mark without moving a muscle.
You use a Trader Joes bag as a purse.
Your father and I made love on it all the time.
But the most important thing she does is know when to get out of the way.
A perfect mom doesnt make her kid feel like this, yells Machado, who is great here.
Moreno looks down, hurt, maybe a little ashamed.
She says nothing except a bueno so soft I had to rewind Netflix three times to confirm the word.
And then she exits, slowly closing the curtain to her bedroom.
A lesser performer might have reacted to Penelope with eye rolls or sighs or exasperated hand gestures.
Thats what a great supporting actor does.
I got real high, baby.
He promises never to do it again.
They hug it out.
So its entirely unexpected when she confesses: I did it, too …
I, too, rode the green dragon.
Wait, Alex responds.
I gotrealhigh, baby, she says bluntly.
Then she hyperbolizes in a different way: by sounding completely blase.
(She isnt, and she doesnt.)
Shortly after, Lydias same fears about death and loss resurface.
She expresses sadness over the fact that Alex is getting older.
Soon, she tells him, you will not want to spend time with me.
Yes, I will, Alex insists.
Lydia says with a smile.
She does it so seamlessly, you dont even notice what an elegantly executed transition it is.
(The other was her lead role in AMCsEscape at Dannemora.)
There is nothing sweet whatsoever inKieran Culkins take on douchey asshole Roman Roy on HBOsSuccession.
And name another supporting actor who was able toportray every one of her co-starswith spot-on accuracy and affection.
There is only one, and her name isDArcy Carden, who plays Janet onThe Good Place.
She turns Lydia into a woman with a complex interior life.
She knows exactly which emotional buttons to push, and when.
Actually, she invented a lot of the buttons.
Eligible contenders had to have premiered between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019.
