Awesome / The Death of Stalin

• Credit to Nikita Khrushchev where it is due, he started out in the power struggle against Beria very much on the back foot, having made several blunders, but still manages to claw his way back from his setbacks to ultimately win the pot. And the best part is that apparently he is the last person anyone expected to lead the effort to oust Beria - an impressed Zhukov implied as such when he realize what he was planning.
  Zhukov: Nikita Khrushchev! Balls like Kremlin domes!
• Zhukov while on screen leaks Four-Star Badass from his very pores while still being the Token Good Teammate. The fact that he's the man who defeated Nazi Germany makes him, literally, untouchable and he relishes that fact.
  • Just look at his entrance.
  • He even decks Vasily, Stalin's son, when the man's in the middle of a crazed rant, then kicks him on the ground for good measure (although to be fair, Stalin is dead - the incident taking place at his funeral - and not even Beria likes the younger Stalin enough to defend him proactively).
  Vasily: [Sees furious Zhukov coming at him] MEDIC - !
  Zhukov: [Punches Vasily in the stomach] NOT TODAY! [Pushes him to the ground] You're a FUCKING stain on that uniform, 'n you'd better FUCKING behave! [Kicks him]
  • Followed swiftly by this:
  Svetlana: (having picked Vasily up and glaring at the Presidium) Who did this?
  Zhukov: I did. And I enjoyed it, been a long time coming.
  Svetlana: [visibly pauses, before turning to the others)] If any of you...[looks back at Zhukov]...should do anything...
  Zhukov: ...well, that's me told. I'm off to represent the entire Red Army at the buffet. You girls enjoy yourselves.
• Vasily manages to get a minor moment accidentally during his speech. The speech isn't all that special, but when planes and other noises build up and drown out his voice, he begins shouting with growing intensity to try and overpower the noise, making an otherwise mediocre speech sound almost glorious and patriotic.
• The entire coup to oust Beria. A lot of things could had gone wrong, from Malenkov refusing to cooperate to NKVD guards coming to Beria's defence, yet the entire thing went off without a hitch from start to finish.
  • Zhukov continues to be in fine form as a Four-Star Badass. On top of calling the Red Army to return to Moscow, he also personally led a group of officers and soldiers at the front to arrest Beria right after the Presidium led by Khrushchev passed a motion to oust him, brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle all the way. Zhukov even punched out Beria when he spot him trying to call for help from his NKVD guards.
    Zhukov: [Brandishes AK-47] Hands up or I'll shoot you in the fucking face! [Khrushchev points to Beria, who's trying to call the NKVD guards] Oh, shit... [Gives gun to a guard, marches to Beria] Oi! [Spins him around and decks him with two punches] Want a job done properly? Call the army.
  • The Red Army retaking Moscow from the NKVD, with the outgunned NKVD - who had up until this point been able to arrest and shoot anyone with near-impunity - being unable to do anything but let the Red Army disarm them. It's quite satisfying to watch.
    Red Army Officer: The army's back. Did you miss us?
  • Beria's trial from start to finish. True, it was a Kangaroo Court, and Beria had a point when he defiantly pointed out everyone of them were as guilty of the many crimes they condemn him for (except for the rapes, which he had no defence), but he was still guilty as charged and was sentenced to death. After three decades of getting away with them under Stalin's protection, Beria is finally made to pay for his crimes, and we're treated to the cathartic scene of him pitifully begging not to be killed as he is dragged off outside to be executed.
    Beria: No, please! Please, don't shoot me! Don't hurt me!