Entertainment Editorial: The Ten Worst TV Characters of the Year

Before we get to the end-of-the-year accolades (Best movies, TV, books, etc.) let’s get the bad news out of the way first in AL’s third annual “Worst TV Characters of the Year” list…

As always, the unofficial subtitle of the list is “…in an otherwise good show,” as I’m sure there are worse characters out there in junk I would never watch. These characters might be “bad” for a variety of reasons including pulling focus away from more interesting characters, infuriating plot actions, or just nails-on-a-chalkboard mannerisms.

It Pains Me to Say It: Ava Crowder on “Justified”… She’s not the “worst” out there, but Ava Crowder’s actions on “Justified” were downright mistifying this season. She seemed to be betraying everyone around her on a weekly basis (especially Boyd Crowder, the only person who cares about her), almost to the point that it defied logic…or sympathy.

Least Improved: Noah and Alison on “The Affair”…These were my favorite characters of 2014, but this year they seem to be competing in a “Who’s Most Despicable?” contest. Other blogs have zeroed-in on how villainous Noah has been this year, but Alison has lied about her baby’s paternity to trap Noah, dropped out of med-school without telling him, lied to him at every turn, cheated on Noah (whereas Noah wanted to cheat on Alison), and pushed a man she didn’t like into a speeding car, possibly on purpose but wants Noah to take the fall for it. “The Affair” is subjective but lying, cheating, fraud, drug dealing, manipulating, and possible murder don’t exactly seem like the best way to endear us to a character who is usually seen as a “lost, vulnerable naif” getting taken advantage of by Noah’s sleazy older man.

Runner-Up: The Supporting Cast of “Last Man on Earth”…Admit it, would you really care if this show was just about Phil and Carol? The supporting cast is made-up of jerks like overly-emotional Todd, January Jones playing a block of ice, Boris Kodjoe playing a rageholic jerk, and Mary Steenburgen playing a woman I haven’t bothered to learn the name of.

10. [Tie] Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) on “Wayward Pines” and Daredevil (Charlie Cox) on “Daredevil”…It’s not that these are bad characters so much as generic leading men that could blend in perfectly with the wallpaper against more interesting supporting casts. Pines’ Burke is a little bit better since Matt Dillon’s strange line readings add some soul to the part, but Cox’s Matt Murdoch is blander-than-bland.

9. Officer Paul Woodrow (Taylor Kitsch) on “True Detective”…Not a “bad” character so much as a completely unnecessary one. Every one of his subplots and lines of dialogue could be removed from the show and you’d lose very little. It also doesn’t help that Kitsch’s “acting” truly does need the quote marks around it.

8. Jonas Hollander (Alexander Fehling) on “Homeland”…Next season, Carrie should date an actual vagina because it’d be about the same difference. This is the kind-of guy who dumps her right after she stops a terrorist attack on a train station. Homeland’s fifth season is terrific, but I’ll bet if you mentioned this character to most Homeland-fans they’d say “Who?” despite the fact he was significantly featured in every episode this year.

7. Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) on “Narcos”…The character is well-played by Boyd Holbrook, but it is completely unnecessary to make a show about Pablo Escobar and have half the film be about the DEA agent chasing him. The kind of naive cowboy “hero” who can’t seem to fathom why most Columbians wouldn’t want to topple the drug exporters that have become the largest distributors of wealth in the country. Something of an unintentional colonialist…

6. Reggie (London Brown) on “Ballers”…Sure, the “best friend/professional mooch” of a football player may be a realistic character, but Reggie is still about as appealing as toe fungus. The biggest plot driver of the season is him screwing something up royally, and everyone saying “but he’s just looking out for his best friend” even as he spends him into bankruptcy. The fact that the series isn’t even willing to consider that Reggie isn’t a good friend is a major blindspot, and it feels like there was an extra-dimension to him in the scripts that got cut out somewhere along the way.

5. Alicia Florrick on “The Good Wife”…The most famous character on the list, and probably the most questionable pick. But to me, Alicia’s babe-in-the-woods act has gotten very stale over the years and increasingly hard to believe. This is the kind of character that has personally witnessed every manner of Chicago-sleazery throughout seven seasons, yet still acts as shocked as a school-marm when a judge is corrupt or a politician is motivated for–gasp–selfish reasons. And Alicia’s nonchalance at her husband’s presidential run is borderline implausible, she treats the office of president as a side job to getting to bond court on time or starting a fifth-tier law firm. It’s also a strange irony that she is the least compelling female character surrounded by stronger women like Diane Lockhart, Margo Martindale’s cunning political spin-doctor, and Kush Jumbo’s Lucca Quinn.

4. Ramsey Snow (Iwan Rheon) on “Game of Thrones”…Sure, Game of Thrones has had plenty of d-e-s-p-i-c-a-b-l-e Villains with an upper-case V–most of them named Lannister–but Ramsey is the first one that doesn’t seem to have a second dimension. Cersei Lannister may suck but she’s capable of other emotions besides sadism. Ramsey just seems like a one-note lunatic who makes you cringe the second he walks into a scene.

3. Claire Underwood (Robin Wright Penn) on “House of Cards”…Penn is a great actress who is skillfully icy at playing this part, but the wobbly third season of “Cards” made it clear that they really didn’t know what to do with Claire, and probably never have. It’s worth noting that she isn’t featured much in the book series or the original BBC miniseries, and the show has always struggled to feature her prominently in Frank’s underhanded deeds while sometimes making her a thorn in his side. In season 3, she has a “crisis of conscience” that feels more like a plot device than something that is organically happening on-screen.

2. [Tie] Ryder (Oliver Stark) on “Into the Badlands” and Ihab Rashid (Alexander Karim) on “Tyrant”…Two very weak, pretty-boy villains that are unnecessary to their respective series but kept around for unknown purposes. “Badlands” Ryder is surrounded by more interesting villains, while Ihab Rashid seems less qualified to lead a terrorist cell than be the 5th most popular member of a 5-person boy band.

1. [Tie] Zach Goodweather (Max Charles) on “The Strain” and Paige Jennings (Holly Taylor) on “The Americans”…With kids like these, who needs enemies? Paige is a Christian-fundamentalist drip on an otherwise exciting show, and she actually wants to turn in her spy parents at the end of this last season. Then Zach Goodweather repeatedly almost gets his dad killed, and actually does get his dad’s girlfriend Nora killed in one of the worst scenes of TV this year. It doesn’t help that they replaced the actor who played the part in season 1, and replaced all of the character’s season 1 likability as well.

Welp, that’s it. Come back soon, for the list of the best characters on TV…