Finally, Naomi Watts is great again! I know that might sound weird: When did two-time Oscar-nominee Naomi Watts stop being great? Well, it’s not so much that Watts ever stopped being a great actor; it’s that her gifts have rarely been satisfyingly recognized in recent years, appearing consistently in tremendously underwhelming projects. But in Feud: Capote vs. the Swans, Watts is given a chance to reassert herself as a generational talent, with an exceptional character to sink her acting chops into. And the show’s most recent, seventh episode, “Beautiful Babe,” allows Watts to deliver the performance of a lifetime.

Watts plays Babe Paley, a New York City socialite, wife of CBS founder Bill Paley (Treat Williams), and best friend of Truman Capote (Tom Hollander). Babe has been struggling all season long with the breakdown of her friendship with Truman, but even more pressing is her devastating cancer diagnosis. Episode 7 shines the spotlight on her in her final hours as she comes to terms with the end of her life, allowing Watts to dive into Babe’s mortality—and she nails it.

Throughout Feud’s entire season, Babe had grown increasingly at peace with her own passing. It’s an extremely difficult thing for anyone to accept for anyone; death comes for us all, but sometimes the path to the end is clear and unavoidable. It's also challenging to perform. Watts is a gifted facial actor, able to draw out endless emotions from a glance. That’s a perfect match for a character like Babe, whose existence is all about appearances—what she’s wearing, who she’s seen with, and how........

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