Guest Star Goodness: Top 5 Guest Stars of the Week [January 20 – January 26] 

[Warning: Major Spoilers for some of last week’s TV]

Here at TV Goodness, we love highlighting great guest stars — they can help make an episode better simply by their presence. This is a new feature where we count down our five favorite guest star appearances of the week.

Covert Affairs star Piper Perabo exhibited some serious sparks with Matthew Perry’s Ryan King on NBC’s Go On. Ally McBeal alum Peter MacNicol played a therapist Dr. Dani Santino turned to for help on USA Network’s Necessary Roughness. Farscape/Stargate actor Ben Browder did the villainous thing on the CW’s Arrow. And Nikita‘s Xander Berkeley began his run on Syfy’s Being Human. However, they didn’t quite make our list. There were so many amazing choices but here’s our Top 5 for the week of January 20:

#5 Kelly Hu aka Scarlet Jones, Castle “Death Gone Crazy”

Castle Role: Scarlet Jones, Beau Randolph’s bodyguard who was really a corporate spy hired to find dirt on the wanna be reformed sleaze and founder of College Girls Gone Crazy. Scarlet also had a bit of a flirtation with Detective Javier Esposito.

Why She’s Top 5 Worthy: Anyone that can get Espo all hot and bothered has definitely earned a spot on our countdown. We actually got to see the two on a semi-date. Thankfully, the badass Scarlet was also a bit shady so she won’t pose a major threat to any future Espo/Lanie relationship (What? An Esplanie reunion is on our Castle wishlist).

TV Credits: One of Hu’s most recent gigs was on the CW’s Arrow where she played China White in three episodes of the drama. Before Arrow, she guest starred on Fairly Legal, Breakout Kings and did several episodes of The Vampire Diaries and Hawaii Five-O. Back in the day, she was a series regular on a show called Nash Bridges. She was also the voice of Jade Nguyen/Cheshire on Cartoon Network’s Young Justice.

#4 Maggie Grace aka Sarah Fuller , The Following “Pilot”

The Following Role: Sarah Fuller was one of Joe Carroll’s victims. When she was a college student, he attacked her but Kevin Bacon’s Ryan Hardy saved her. When the pilot starts, she’s a successful doctor who has to be protected when Carroll [James Purefoy] escapes from jail.

Why She’s Top 5 Worthy: Here’s the thing. We were in total denial that Maggie Grace was a guest star. It seemed like she was going to be around for the long haul. However, at the end of the episode, she’s killed off. Sarah’s gay neighbors actually betrayed her — they were really Joe Carroll minions. The good doctor’s death was brutal but a great twist. One of the best twists of the week and one of the most shocking moments of the entire TV season.

TV Credits: While she’s had some other small screen credits, Maggie Grace is best known for playing the doomed Shannon Rutherford on the late great ABC series Lost. Shannon was in love with Sayid when she died in season 2.

#3 Timothy Olyphant aka Lucas Troy, Archer “The Wind Cries Mary”

Archer Role: Timothy Olyphant guest starred (well, guest voiced) in the latest Archer episode playing Lucas Troy, Sterling Archer’s former best friend. When the two worked together at ISIS, they shared a close relationship. Some would say too close. That is, until Troy defected to ISIS rival, ODIN.

Why He’s Top 5 Worthy: It turned out Troy faked his death but not before betraying and murdering his fellow ODIN agents. He did it all for Sterling Archer. Troy lured his BFF out to Vermont to show him the B&B he wanted to open and to tell Archer that he loved him. Yes, the ISIS agent’s co-workers were right. Lucas was totally gay for him. Lucas insisted he wasn’t gay for any other man — just Archer. And he would do anything to be with his BFF including try to kill Lana and Cyrus. Of course, despite all the signs over the years, Lucas being gay came as a total shock to Archer. It shouldn’t have been. It was all hilarious and we loved that Olyphant was part of this show and this episode.

TV Credits: Well, we know Olyphant has had a good career in the movies, but he’s no stranger to FX audiences. He’s currently playing (the sexy) Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens in season 4 of Justified.

#2 Felicia Day aka Charlie Bradbury, Supernatural “LARP and the Real Girl”

Supernatural Role: Felicia Day made a return appearance as the hella smart, hella quirky Charlie Bradbury. We first met her in season 7’s “The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo. When Sam and Dean meet up with Charlie this time, she’s knee deep in the LARPing world — she’s actually Queen of the Moons. Everyone must bow before her.

Why She’s Top 5 Worthy: We’re hoping Supernatural will induct Charlie into Team Free Will so she can keep coming back. She shared some nice brother-sister chemistry with Dean Winchester, played the hero and got the girl. She was also a part of the final Braveheart scene that’s become an instant classic. What more can you ask from a guest star?

TV Credits: She’s done a ton of TV, but a couple of her best projects (other than Supernatural) has to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Eureka. On Buffy, she was Vi, one of the potentials in the final season of the hit series. And on Eureka, she played rocket scientist, Dr. Holly Marten, Fargo’s love interest. She was also in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and writes, produces and stars in her own web series called The Guild, which is just one of the many web creations she has going on.

#1 John Stamos aka Brice, The New Normal “Gaydar”

The New Normal Role: Brice is Jane’s [Ellen Barkin] fellow realtor. Jane’s clearly attracted to the guy but she can’t tell whether he’s gay or not. So she spends the entire episode trying to figure that out.

Why He’s Top 5 Worthy: John Stamos is a seasoned TV vet so we always knew he was good. But he impressed us even more with this particular role. He had the task of acting opposite the amazing Ellen Barkin, and he gave a strong performance. He was confident, commanding and funny. Don’t know why this is surprising to us, because he’s always awesome, but we think he did especially well on The New Normal.

TV Credits: 1. He was Blackie on General Hospital. 2. He was Jesse Katsopolis on Full House. But since his Full House days he’s worked constantly. Some of our favorite post-Uncle Jesse projects have to be his work on the short-lived series Jake in Progress. He went from paramedic to intern in the later seasons of NBC’s ER. And he’s done a few episodes of Glee where he played Dr. Carl Howell — the oh so handsome dentist and Emma’s significant other (for a time anyway).

Find out more about John Stamos on NBC’s The New Normal here.