15 Best TV Moments Of 2017

12. My Name Is Ruby - The Deuce

The Deuce, the latest offering from The Wire creator David Simon, largely focused on James Franco's twin brothers, Vincent and Frankie, and Maggie Gyllenhaal's Candy, and in doing so offered up the sort of painfully real look at life the writer has become known for. But for all the great work in the roles, the series' most devastating moment fell to one of the supporting cast in the finale.

Ruby (Pernell Walker), one of the sex workers we meet on the streets, is one of the characters who best personifies Simon's gaze at this side and period of New York. Known as Thunder Thighs, we see her in the aftermath of her latest trick when things take a turn for the worse. Her client refers to her by that nickname, to which she replies "My name is Ruby."

It's a simple statement, but one that carries an important point of her wanting to be humanised, and not treated as an object. The client responds by charging at her and sending her tumbling through a window and to her death. It's over in an instant; a stark, terrifying tragedy.