Whether they’re cracking mysteries, outwitting enemies, or inventing a whole new kind of brilliance, each of them shows us that intelligence comes in all flavors.

We’ve got sharp-witted detectives, socially awkward scientists, and even ghosts and fantasy warriors.

Each character brings a unique perspective to the table, reminding us that genius can be found in the most unexpected places.

So grab your magnifying glass, lab coat, or chessboard, and get ready to meet TV’s most captivating minds!

Morgan Gillory — High Potential

Morgan Gillory isn’t just a genius; she’s a walking encyclopedia, quick to remind you she’s usually the smartest person in the room.

On High Potential, Morgan’s mind is a mix of brilliant insights and relentless confidence, even if her coworkers find her a bit…much.

As a single mom with an uncanny knack for solving cases no one else can crack, she’s got brains, resilience, and a zero-filter approach to teamwork.

Annoying? Maybe. Brilliant? Absolutely. You know you’d want her on your side in a crisis!

Watch High Potential Online

Hetty Lange — NCIS: Los Angeles

Hetty Lange is the quiet powerhouse of NCIS: Los Angeles, a master manipulator with a near-encyclopedic knowledge of spycraft and an unwavering commitment to her team.

Beneath her small stature lies a brilliant mind that has outwitted enemies across decades.

Hetty doesn’t just run the show — she owns it, often with a wry smile and a twist no one saw coming. Her genius isn’t loud or flashy, but trust me, it’s deadly effective.

When Hetty’s on the case, you know she’s already five steps ahead.

Watch NCIS: Los Angeles Online

Dr. Spencer Reid — Criminal Minds

Dr. Spencer Reid of Criminal Minds is the ultimate brainiac, blending genius IQ with a memory that’s basically photographic.

With his awkward charm and encyclopedic mind, Reid brings an analytical edge to every case, unraveling even the most complex criminal psyches.

He might struggle with social cues, but he’s unstoppable when it comes to patterns, stats, and obscure facts.

Reid’s brilliance is pure Criminal Minds magic — making him one of the show’s most unforgettable characters and, let’s be real, the smartest guy in the room.

Watch Criminal Minds Online

Sherlock Holmes — Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock is a genius like no other, with razor-sharp deduction skills that leave everyone else in the dust.

Played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock’s brilliance lies in his meticulous attention to detail and his uncanny ability to see connections no one else can.

Social graces? Not his strong suit, but who needs them when you can solve cases that stump the entire Scotland Yard?

From his quirks to his intellectual arrogance, Sherlock is the gold standard of detective genius on TV.

Watch Sherlock Online

Dr. Alec Mercer — The Irrational

Dr. Alec Mercer from The Irrational has a mind built for the impossible.

As a behavioral scientist with a knack for reading people, he sees patterns and motivations others can’t even begin to grasp.

Mercer’s brilliance isn’t about formulas or hard science; it’s in understanding the psychology behind every decision.

His methods may seem unorthodox, but his insights are sharp, and his empathy makes him one of the most fascinating problem-solvers on TV today.

Alec Mercer proves that genius doesn’t always come in a lab coat.

Watch The Irrational Online

Walter White — Breaking Bad

Walter White of Breaking Bad took “mad scientist” to a whole new level.

This high school chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin used his genius to build an empire, with every move calculated down to the last molecule.

Walter’s brilliance lies in his precision and sheer nerve, turning everyday chemistry into a deadly game.

He may start as an underdog, but by the end, he’s the most dangerous mind in the room.

Walter White proves that intelligence — when pushed to its limits — can be terrifyingly powerful.

Watch Breaking Bad Online

Moiraine Damodred — The Wheel of Time

Moiraine Damodred from The Wheel of Time is the ultimate blend of wisdom, strategy, and power.

As a member of the Aes Sedai, her brilliance shines through in her deep understanding of the complex political landscape and her ability to navigate it with finesse.

Moiraine isn’t just a magic wielder; she’s a master strategist, always thinking several steps ahead.

With her unwavering determination to fulfill her mission and protect those she cares about, she proves that intelligence and intuition are powerful weapons in a world filled with danger and intrigue.

Watch The Wheel of Time Online

Dr. Gregory House — House

Dr. Gregory House from House redefines genius with his unapologetically blunt attitude and uncanny medical instincts.

House might be the last person you’d want as a friend, but he’s the first person you’d want as your doctor when things go south.

Armed with a razor-sharp intellect and zero tolerance for BS, he solves medical mysteries no one else can touch.

House’s brilliance isn’t in his bedside manner; it’s in his relentless pursuit of the truth, proving that genius sometimes comes with a heavy dose of arrogance.

Watch House Online

Beth Harmon — The Queen’s Gambit

Beth Harmon from The Queen’s Gambit is a chess prodigy whose genius goes beyond the board.

With a mind that sees strategies and moves like a living chess game, Beth’s brilliance is unstoppable, even as she battles her own demons.

She’s fierce, flawed, and downright mesmerizing to watch as she takes on the world’s best players.

Beth’s genius lies in her razor-sharp focus and her ability to think ten steps ahead — a combination that makes her both a legend and an underdog.

She’s proof that genius and grit make an unbeatable match.

Watch The Queen's Gambit Online

Dr. Temperance Brennan — Bones

Dr. Temperance Brennan from Bones is as sharp as her scalpel, combining her forensic anthropology expertise with a no-nonsense approach that’s as precise as her findings.

Known as “Bones” to her team, Brennan’s genius lies in her analytical mind and encyclopedic knowledge of the human skeleton, which she uses to solve the most baffling cases.

Socially awkward but unwaveringly brilliant, she dissects clues no one else would spot.

Brennan proves that intellect and science can turn any mystery into a solvable puzzle — if you have the brainpower.

Watch Bones Online

Mare Sheehan — Mare of Easttown

Mare Sheehan from Mare of Easttown isn’t your typical genius, but her sharp instincts and gritty determination make her one of the smartest detectives on TV.

She knows her hometown and its people inside out, giving her an edge in solving crimes that stump everyone else.

Mare’s brilliance lies in her intuition, her relentless pursuit of the truth, and her ability to see through people’s facades.

With emotional scars and a no-BS attitude, she’s proof that intelligence comes in many forms, especially when it’s driven by raw resilience.

Watch Mare of Easttown Online

Ruth Wilder — GLOW

Ruth Wilder from GLOW is a creative genius who can turn any script — or wrestling move — into pure gold.

She may not be solving crimes or breaking codes, but her talent for reinventing herself and bringing characters to life is unmatched.

Ruth’s brilliance shines through in her resilience and relentless ambition, making her the heart and soul of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

Sure, she’s got her quirks, but it’s her out-of-the-box thinking and fierce dedication that make her an unforgettable force in and out of the ring.

Watch GLOW Online

Maeve Wiley — Sex Education

Maeve Wiley from Sex Education is a fierce, quick-witted genius whose intelligence goes far beyond the classroom.

While navigating a tough home life, she uses her smarts and streetwise edge to create an underground sex therapy clinic at school, helping her peers with issues they can’t bring to the adults.

Maeve’s brilliance isn’t just academic; it’s in her insight, empathy, and razor-sharp sense of justice.

She’s proof that genius isn’t just about grades — it’s about using your brain and heart to make a difference.

Watch Sex Education Online

Sheldon Cooper — The Big Bang Theory

Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory is the definition of a classic brainiac, with an IQ that’s off the charts and a downright obsessive love for physics.

Social cues? Not his strong suit. But when it comes to theoretical physics and obscure trivia, Sheldon’s in a league of his own.

His genius is often hilariously paired with his rigid quirks, making him both brilliant and endlessly entertaining.

Sheldon may drive his friends crazy, but there’s no doubt he’s one of TV’s most unforgettable geniuses.

Watch The Big Bang Theory Online

Kate Sharma — Bridgerton

Kate Sharma from Bridgerton is as sharp as they come, with a quick wit and a mind for strategy that rivals any chess player.

Navigating the complex world of Regency society, Kate uses her intelligence to protect her family’s interests while staying one step ahead of high society’s gossip and expectations.

Her intellect isn’t just book smarts; it’s the keen awareness and emotional intelligence that allow her to see through facades and play the long game.

Kate’s blend of heart and brains makes her a standout in the Bridgerton world.

Watch Bridgerton Online

Raymond “Red” Reddington — The Blacklist

Raymond “Red” Reddington from The Blacklist is the mastermind you never want to cross.

With a near-encyclopedic knowledge of the criminal underworld and a knack for manipulation, Red’s genius lies in his ability to predict and outwit everyone around him — the FBI included.

His charm and intellect keep him several steps ahead, blending ruthless strategy with charisma.

Red is a different kind of brilliant, one who uses his smarts for survival, power, and his own twisted version of justice.

When Red’s involved, it’s guaranteed to be dangerous and unpredictable.

Watch The Blacklist Online

Joe Leaphorn – Dark Winds

Joe Leaphorn from Dark Winds is a different kind of genius — a detective whose brilliance is rooted in cultural wisdom, patience, and a profound understanding of his people.

Working in the Navajo Nation, Joe’s investigative skills are heightened by his deep connection to tradition and his community, allowing him to see nuances others overlook.

His intelligence isn’t flashy, but it’s steady, resilient, and rooted in empathy.

Joe’s unique insights and steadfast approach make him a quietly powerful force in the world of crime-solving.

Watch Dark Winds Online

Charlie Cale – Poker Face

Charlie Cale from Poker Face is a human lie detector with a genius for spotting deception, a skill that keeps her both alive and in constant danger.

With a keen sense of human behavior and a knack for landing in the middle of trouble, Charlie’s brilliance is all street smart and quick thinking.

She doesn’t need a badge or a degree to unravel mysteries; her instincts and natural curiosity do the job.

Charlie’s sharp wit and unique gift make her an unforgettable anti-hero in the world of modern-day sleuthing.

Watch Poker Face Online

Wednesday Addams – Wednesday

Wednesday Addams from Wednesday is a gothic genius with a mind as sharp as her wit and a heart as dark as her wardrobe.

At Nevermore Academy, she dives into solving mysteries with deadpan humor and analytical precision that keeps everyone around her on edge.

Her intelligence is both cerebral and strategic, helping her navigate a world where she’s the ultimate outsider.

With her love for the macabre and her fearless curiosity, Wednesday proves that brilliance comes in all shades — including pitch-black.

Watch Wednesday Online

Omar Little – The Wire

Omar Little from The Wire is a street-smart legend who operates by his own code in the gritty world of Baltimore.

His brilliance isn’t academic — it’s the sharp instinct, tactical mind, and fearless resolve that make him untouchable.

Known for robbing drug dealers and enforcing his own brand of justice, Omar’s intelligence lies in his ability to outmaneuver everyone, from criminals to law enforcement.

With his unforgettable whistle and moral complexity, Omar proves that genius isn’t always about books; sometimes, it’s about survival and principles.

Watch The Wire Online

Kate Wyler – The Diplomat

Kate Wyler from The Diplomat is the embodiment of political savvy, expertly navigating the tumultuous waters of international diplomacy with skill and determination.

As the newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, she faces complex geopolitical challenges while managing her own tumultuous personal life.

Sharp-witted and resourceful, Kate balances strategic thinking with emotional intelligence, making her a standout character in the world of political dramas.

Whether negotiating delicate situations or confronting personal dilemmas, her brilliance shines through, proving that intellect is as crucial as instinct in diplomacy.

With Keri Russell at the helm, Kate’s journey is as captivating as the global intrigue that surrounds her.

Watch The Diplomat Online

Nadia Vulvokov – Russian Doll

Nadia Vulvokov from Russian Doll is a genius wrapped in grit, sarcasm, and endless curiosity.

With a mind as sharp as her humor, Nadia’s brilliance is all about her resilience and ability to unravel complex mysteries, especially when she finds herself stuck in an existential time loop.

She’s a software engineer with street smarts and an edge that keeps her going through endless cycles of life and death.

Nadia’s intelligence isn’t conventional, but it’s fierce, making her one of TV’s most uniquely brilliant characters.

Watch Russian Doll Online

Maddie Nears – School Spirits

Maddie Nears from School Spirits is a high school ghost with a mind as sharp as her sense of justice.

Even in the afterlife, Maddie’s intelligence shines as she pieces together the mystery of her own disappearance, determined to uncover the truth from beyond the grave.

With her cleverness, persistence, and ability to rally other spirits, Maddie proves that being brilliant isn’t just for the living.

She’s the kind of sleuth who won’t rest until she gets answers, making her a standout in the supernatural detective world.

Watch School Spirits Online

Tyrion Lannister – Game of Thrones

Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones is a master of wit, strategy, and survival in a world where power is everything.

Known as the “Imp,” Tyrion’s brilliance is in his ability to outthink his enemies, using his intellect as his strongest weapon.

He’s sharp-tongued, deeply insightful, and quick to spot others’ weaknesses, making him a formidable player in the Game of Thrones universe.

Despite being underestimated, Tyrion’s wisdom and cunning allow him to maneuver through family treachery and political turmoil with unmatched skill.

Watch Game of Thrones Online

Alex Levy – The Morning Show

Alex Levy from The Morning Show is a media powerhouse whose brilliance lies in her adaptability, ambition, and razor-sharp intuition.

As the anchor of a high-profile morning show, Alex navigates the ruthless world of broadcast journalism with strategic finesse, balancing public image with personal turmoil.

She’s sharp, resilient, and often willing to make tough choices to stay on top.

Alex’s genius isn’t just in her on-air presence; it’s in her ability to read the room and stay steps ahead in an ever-changing industry.

Watch The Morning Show Online

Professor T – Professor T

Professor T from Professor T is a criminology genius with an eccentric twist, blending Sherlock-level deduction with a brilliant but complicated mind.

As a professor with a deep understanding of criminal psychology, he helps solve complex cases with insights that others miss entirely.

His brilliance is tempered by his quirks and obsessive tendencies, which make him fascinating and challenging to those around him.

Professor T’s unconventional genius is the heart of the show, proving that sometimes brilliance and eccentricity go hand in hand.

Watch Professor T Online

Jessica Fletcher – Murder, She Wrote

Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote is the ultimate amateur sleuth with a mind as sharp as her writing skills.

As a mystery novelist, Jessica has an uncanny knack for spotting clues and piecing together puzzles that leave everyone else stumped.

Her intelligence is subtle yet relentless, allowing her to outsmart criminals while maintaining her signature charm and warmth.

Jessica proves that you don’t need a badge to solve a case — just a keen eye, a brilliant mind, and maybe a typewriter.

Watch Murder She Wrote Online

Wrapping Up the Brainpower Brigade

These characters prove that genius takes many forms — some are calculating and strategic, others wildly inventive or hilariously eccentric.

Whether they’re solving crimes, saving lives, or outsmarting everyone in their path, they make the small screen a whole lot smarter.

Who’s your favorite TV brainiac? Share your thoughts, and let’s keep celebrating the brilliant minds that keep us hooked!

The post From Book Smarts to Street Smarts: 27 Brilliant TV Characters Who Make Genius Look Easy appeared first on TV Fanatic.

From cold-blooded manipulators to charismatic killers, these unforgettable characters worm their way into our nightmares — and sometimes our hearts — by showing us just how terrifying the human mind can be.

Whether they’re charming, ruthless, or hiding their darkness behind a perfect smile, these villains kept us glued to the screen, wondering what horrifying move they’ll make next.

So, let’s dive into the chilling world of TV’s most unforgettable psychopaths.

And here’s a word of warning: you might want to leave the lights on for this one!

Leland Townsend (Evil)

Evil’s Leland Townsend is the kind of psychopath who gets his kicks from playing with people’s darkest instincts. He’s not your typical knife-wielding villain — oh no, Leland’s much sneakier.

He shows up as a charming, harmless guy, but underneath? He’s a full-blown vessel of pure evil.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

One of his creepiest moments comes when he casually convinces a young boy to embrace his violent tendencies, all while keeping that unnerving smile plastered on his face.

But Leland doesn’t stop there — he’s got his sights set on Kristen’s mom, Sheryl. He seduces her and slowly pulls her into his twisted world, using her as a pawn in his larger scheme to torment Kristen and dismantle her family.

The way he plays Sheryl, exploiting her insecurities and isolating her from her daughter, is classic Leland.

He’s a master at turning people against each other while maintaining the appearance of a caring, concerned partner.

What makes Leland so terrifying is his ability to make evil look almost reasonable. He doesn’t need a weapon — he’s got words, manipulation, and charisma to cause destruction.

Leland’s real power is psychological, and he uses it to wreck lives, especially Kristen’s, one twisted move at a time.

Watch Evil Online

Lucy Butler (Millennium)

Lucy Butler is one of the most underrated TV psychopaths ever. Her obsession with Frank Black on Millennium goes far beyond mere torment — she’s determined to break him.

Testing his morality and pulling him into the darkness, Lucy doesn’t just kill — she corrupts. Her psychological torment warps reality, leaving her victims trapped in a nightmare, especially Frank.

Whether she’s posing as a grieving mother or shifting into a sinister form, Lucy’s blend of manipulation and supernatural menace makes her unforgettable.

In one of Butler’s most brutal moments, she murders Lt. Bob Bletcher in Frank Black’s own home. What makes this scene particularly chilling is the way she first appears as an unassuming woman, standing calmly at the top of the stairs.

As Bletcher approaches, she suddenly transforms, taking on a demonic form that leaves him paralyzed with fear before finally killing him shortly thereafter.

Lucy isn’t your typical psychopath. Instead, she’s a master manipulator and shapeshifter, slipping between seductive charm and pure evil with ease. She doesn’t just bring horror — she is the horror that lingers long after she’s off-screen.

Jerome Valeska (Gotham)

Jerome Valeska made his unforgettable debut on Gotham Season 1, and from the moment he stepped on screen, it was clear we were dealing with a special kind of psychopath.

Played with chaotic brilliance by Cameron Monaghan, Jerome first appeared as a seemingly harmless circus worker.

But when he revealed his true nature — after murdering his mother, no less — the transformation from an innocent facade to a chilling, gleeful maniac was jaw-dropping. That creepy grin and maniacal laugh? Instant classic.

Jerome’s psychopathic tendencies were rooted in his love for chaos and destruction. He thrived on creating disorder and fear, often toying with his victims as if life itself were a twisted game.

Unlike some villains with grand schemes or personal vendettas, Jerome simply enjoyed watching the world burn (which is why everyone thought he was the Joker).

His unpredictability made him all the more terrifying, as he could switch from a calm conversation to violent hysteria in the blink of an eye.

His penchant for violence wasn’t driven by logic or even personal gain — it was pure entertainment for him. His psychopathy was raw, untamed, and dangerous, making him one of Gotham’s most electrifying villains.

His first major act of psychopathy was orchestrating an escape from Arkham Asylum and then going on a killing spree just for the thrill of it.

Jerome lived for the shock value, loving the fear and confusion he could evoke in others.

And it wasn’t just about killing — he had a flair for theatrics, whether hijacking a live broadcast to terrorize Gotham or leading a cult of followers who worshiped his madness.

Jerome embodied the chaotic, anarchic side of the Joker archetype. He wasn’t a master planner; he was a ticking time bomb, always ready to explode in ways no one could predict.

Watch Gotham Online

Villanelle (Killing Eve)

Killing Eve’s Villanelle is the kind of psychopath who makes murder look like an art form.

With her killer fashion sense and an even deadlier grin, she moves through life with a chilling detachment from human life.

Who else can kill a man with a poisoned hairpin while still looking like she’s ready for a night out?

Her charm is part of what makes her so terrifying. Not only does Villanelle kill, she enjoys it, like a game where she’s always in control.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 1923 Season 1 Episode 1 Review: A New Era
  by Carissa Pavlica

Her playful psychopathy is on full display in her “relationship” with Eve, who she toys with like a cat batting around a mouse.

She can go from flirting to stabbing in the blink of an eye, and her obsession with Eve adds an extra layer of craziness. Even her handler isn’t safe from her whims — she’s equally likely to blow him a kiss or blow him away.

Watch Killing Eve Online

Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal)

Can you imagine if Hannibal Lecter hosted Gordon Ramsay for dinner? Would Ramsay marvel at the “bold flavors” or call it a culinary disaster, unknowingly signing his death warrant?

And would Hannibal reveal his secret ingredient? Spoiler: it’s human flesh.

Hannibal is the most elegant psychopath to ever grace the screen — a refined psychiatrist, gourmet chef, and cold-blooded predator. His victims? Often served up as the main course at his lavish dinner parties.

Guests sip fine wine and savor dishes, completely unaware that their entrée was once someone’s neighbor.

One of Hannibal’s most chilling moments was when he served Abel Gideon his own leg, perfectly cooked and plated (on a lotus leaf!), all while maintaining his signature icy composure.

It’s not just the act that’s horrifying; it’s the way he turns murder into an art form, with his clinical detachment making the scene even more disturbing.

What makes Hannibal truly terrifying is his ability to blend in. As a respected psychiatrist, he manipulates the people around him, turning trust into a deadly trap.

With a charming smile and a beautifully crafted meal, Hannibal turns dinner into a nightmare — securing his place as one of TV’s most unforgettable psychopaths.

Watch Hannibal Online

Joffrey Baratheon (Game of Thrones)

Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones is the ultimate TV psychopath, a king whose cruelty knows no bounds. Drunk on power and with an unchecked thirst for violence, Joffrey’s reign is one of sadism and terror.

From the moment he gleefully orders Ned Stark’s execution, it’s clear Joffrey is not just ruthless — he’s psychopathic.

He takes pleasure in the suffering of others, especially when forcing Sansa Stark to stare at her father’s severed head on a spike, smiling as she’s emotionally shattered.

But Joffrey’s cruelty isn’t just limited to political enemies. His twisted mind revels in tormenting for sheer entertainment, particularly when he tortures prostitutes for fun.

In one of his most disturbing moments, Joffrey orders the execution of Ros, a young woman with a crossbow, grinning as she dies in agony, her body left as a grisly display.

This scene is the perfect example of Joffrey’s complete lack of empathy and his delight in cruelty. He doesn’t just want power — he wants to dominate and humiliate everyone around him.

Joffrey’s psychopathy isn’t about calculated power moves; it’s about the pleasure he gets from causing pain.

Watching Joffrey’s descent into darker, more sadistic acts makes him a character who embodies everything terrifying about unchecked power in the hands of a true psychopath.

Watch Game of Thrones Online

Brady Hartsfield (Mr. Mercedes)

Brady Hartsfield from Mr. Mercedes may look like your friendly neighborhood ice cream man, but behind that innocent smile lies a dangerous and disturbed mind.

Brady uses his seemingly harmless job to get close to his victims, especially retired detective Bill Hodges, all while masking his dark obsessions.

His ability to blend into the everyday world while stalking Hodges is chilling and it makes his twisted cat-and-mouse game even more unsettling.

Brady’s real talent lies in his tech-savvy genius. He uses technology to hack into Hodges’ devices, leaving taunting messages and psychological traps that push the detective to the edge.

What makes Brady truly terrifying is how he enjoys breaking his victims mentally; he’s not just looking for blood; he wants to control them.

Another layer to Brady’s disturbing character is his complicated and unhealthy relationship with his mother, which adds depth to his psychopathy.

It’s this twisted family dynamic that further shapes Brady’s dark persona, making him even more dangerous.

The contrast between Brady’s friendly, harmless appearance and the evil lurking beneath is what makes him stand out. He’s a manipulator and killer who turns ordinary moments into nightmares.

Be careful the next time you hear that catchy jingle, you might be getting more than just a tasty treat.

Watch Mr. Mercedes Online

Norman Bates (Bates Motel)

Norman Bates may seem like the quiet, awkward kid next door, but underneath that facade lies one scary dude.

His deeply dysfunctional relationship with his mother, Norma, mixed with his pre-existing mental illness, is the perfect storm that drives Norman into a full psychotic breakdown on Bates Motel.

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick
• Dexter: Original Sin Series Premiere Review: A Stellar Cast Brings Dexter’s Dark Origins to Life
  by Lisa Babick

From the start, it’s clear Norman has serious issues, and Norma, despite knowing something is wrong, never seeks professional help for him.

Instead, her possessiveness and control only tighten the grip on Norman’s fragile mind, leading him to dissociate and take on her personality.

As Norman’s mental state deteriorates, he begins killing women he believes are coming between him and his mother, like his teacher, Blaire Watson, and his high school crush, Bradley Martin.

In Norman’s twisted mind, “Mother” is the one committing these murders to protect him from “bad” influences, but it’s really Norman in a delusional state, completely unaware of his actions.

Norman’s final break with reality comes when Norma starts a relationship with Sheriff Alex Romero. Unable to cope with the thought of sharing his mother, Norman orchestrates a murder-suicide by tampering with the gas in their home.

While Norma dies, Norman survives — and from that moment, his transformation is complete. He keeps his mother’s corpse in the house, dresses in her clothes, and continues his killing spree, convinced “Mother” is still in control.

Even Romero, who loved Norma, becomes one of Norman’s victims, proving that no one could come between him and his “Mother.”

Norman Bates is a tragic mix of obsession and delusion, making his descent into madness both heartbreaking and terrifying.

Watch Bates Motel Online

Joe Goldberg (YOU)

YOU‘s Joe Goldberg is another psychopath hiding in plain sight — this time right behind a bookstore counter. On the surface, Joe appears to be the perfect guy: charming, romantic, and just looking for love.

But beneath that calm exterior is someone far more dangerous. His obsessive, controlling nature emerges as he stalks those he fixates on and eliminates anyone who gets in the way of his “perfect” relationships.

One of Joe’s most chilling moments comes when he murders his girlfriend, Beck, after she discovers his hidden box of trophies from past victims.

In Joe’s warped mind, he sees this murder not as an act of violence but as something necessary to protect their love.

His ability to justify these heinous acts to himself, convincing himself he’s doing it out of love or protection, makes Joe especially unsettling.

Watch You Online

Nurse Ratched (Ratched)

Nurse Mildred Ratched is the epitome of a cold, calculating psychopath who hides her dark nature behind the mask of a caregiver.

In her pursuit of power, she manipulates, tortures, and kills anyone who threatens her control, all while maintaining a veneer of compassion.

Her most disturbing actions often come under the guise of treatment — whether it’s forcing a lobotomy on an innocent patient or using electroshock therapy as a method of punishment rather than healing.

What makes her truly terrifying is her ability to rationalize her cruel actions as “helping” her patients. She doesn’t see herself as a villain but rather as someone who is justified in her methods, no matter how brutal.

Her icy calm and meticulous approach to manipulation make her especially chilling — she can smile while planning someone’s destruction.

Mildred’s quiet, methodical cruelty is a chilling reminder that sometimes the most terrifying monsters are the ones who hide behind a mask of care and authority.

Watch Ratched Online

Bev Keane (Midnight Mass)

Bev Keane from Midnight Mass is a walking nightmare wrapped in a church dress. No fangs, no claws –her weapon is blind faith, and she wields it with terrifying precision.

Bev is a cold, calculating force hiding behind a pious smile, twisting scripture into a tool of control.

Whether she’s casually suggesting mass poisonings or standing smugly as chaos erupts, Bev’s moral superiority makes her even more dangerous. She doesn’t flinch because, in her twisted mind, she’s not the villain — she’s the savior.

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick
• Friday Night Lights Reboot Lands at Peacock (But It Will Never Recapture the Magic of the Original Series)
  by Tyler Johnson
• It’s Hard To Be Excited About Beth and Rip’s New Yellowstone Spinoff, But There Are Causes For Optimism
  by Jack Ori

The scariest part? Bev truly believes she’s on a divine mission, which means she’s capable of anything. While others on Crockett Island face supernatural horrors, Bev sees herself as the righteous judge, jury, and executioner.

Her fanaticism knows no bounds. When Bev condemns you, it’s with the certainty that she’s delivering you to salvation – even if that salvation comes in the form of death.

She’ll smile sweetly as she leads you to your doom, which makes her all the more terrifying. Bev Keane isn’t just preaching the end — she is the end.

Watch Midnight Mass Online

James March (American Horror Story: Hotel)

James March, one of American Horror Story: Hotel’s most terrifying characters, is the perfect mix of charm and sadism.

A serial killer with a love for the macabre, March designed the Hotel Cortez to be his personal murder playground, complete with secret passageways and hidden rooms where he could trap and torture his unsuspecting guests.

But it’s not just the elaborate murders that define March — it’s the gleeful way he goes about them. He doesn’t just kill; he turns each murder into an art form, taking pride in the intricacy of his methods.

What makes March truly horrifying is the way he balances charisma with pure evil. Played masterfully by Evan Peters, March exudes a twisted kind of charm, delighting in his own wickedness.

One of his most chilling moments comes when he hosts a dinner party for some of history’s most infamous serial killers, including John Wayne Gacy and Aileen Wuornos.

This nightmarish gathering sees March casually swapping murder stories over dinner as if discussing the weather, his nonchalant attitude making the scene all the more disturbing.

James March isn’t just a psychopath; he’s a villain who enjoys every sickening moment of his crimes. His charm makes him even more dangerous, turning horrific acts into almost casual, everyday events.

Whether he’s tormenting guests or reminiscing about his kills, March’s sophistication and savagery blend into one of TV’s most unforgettable and terrifying characters. His evil lingers long after you leave the Hotel Cortez.

Watch American Horror Story: Hotel Online

Homelander (The Boys)

Homelander from The Boys is the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing — America’s golden superhero with the heart of a psychopath.

Behind that perfect smile and patriotic suit lies a volatile, power-hungry monster who doesn’t just demand respect — he expects worship.

His sense of entitlement is terrifying, and when things don’t go his way, he doesn’t throw a tantrum obliterating anyone in his path.

Whether he’s casually murdering innocents with his laser vision or threatening his own team with a smirk, Homelander thrives on control and destruction.

What makes him truly frightening isn’t just his god-like powers but his complete lack of empathy. He doesn’t see people as lives worth protecting; to him, they’re disposable tools or obstacles to crush.

His charming speeches and faux heroism only mask the true predator lurking underneath, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash his brutality.

Homelander doesn’t just kill — he dominates, manipulates, and terrorizes with gleeful ease, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

And the worst part? He believes he’s always right, making him not just dangerous but unstoppable. With Homelander, the real terror is knowing he can do whatever he wants — and no one can stop him.

Watch The Boys Online

Errol Childress (True Detective)

Errol Childress from True Detective is the embodiment of relentless, quiet terror.

He hides behind the mask of an unassuming handyman, but beneath that exterior is a man driven by twisted rituals and a hunger for violence. His eerie calm and casual cruelty make him all the more disturbing.

Childress doesn’t just kill; he transforms murder into a grotesque art, operating with chilling precision.

When Rust Cohle and Martin Hart finally confront him at his home, the depths of Childress’s twisted worldview are fully revealed.

His secret underground lair, complete with an altar made out of his decaying victims, serves as a nightmarish reflection of his disturbed psyche.

With the sinister cult as a backdrop, Childress stands out as the ultimate predator — one who revels in the slow, creeping terror he instills. He’s not simply a killer; he’s a monster who thrives on turning fear into a living, breathing reality.

Watch True Detective Season 1 Online

Alice Morgan (Luther)

Alice Morgan from Luther is the type of psychopath who makes chilling seem elegant. A brilliant astrophysicist with a killer instinct, she’s as intelligent as she is deadly.

What makes Alice so terrifying isn’t just her ability to manipulate everyone around her but the fact that she enjoys it. She doesn’t just outthink her enemies—she plays with them like a cat toying with its prey.

Her calm, almost flirtatious demeanor when discussing murder is enough to send chills down your spine. One minute she’s flashing a charming smile, and the next, she’s hinting at the dark, twisted thoughts lurking beneath the surface.

Alice’s obsession with Luther and the mind games she plays make her especially dangerous. She’s not just a killer; she’s a master manipulator who finds joy in every ounce of chaos she creates.

With Alice, it’s never just about the murder — it’s about control, power, and enjoying the game. You never know what she’s going to do next, but one thing’s for sure: she’s always ten steps ahead, and that’s what makes her so terrifying.

Watch Luther Online

Kilgrave (Jessica Jones)

Kilgrave from Jessica Jones is the kind of psychopath who doesn’t just control people — he makes them beg to obey.

With nothing more than a whisper, he bends others to his will, forcing them to commit unspeakable acts without a second thought. And he enjoys every second of it. He doesn’t just manipulate; he makes you love it while he’s doing it.

• Friday Night Lights Reboot Lands at Peacock (But It Will Never Recapture the Magic of the Original Series)
  by Tyler Johnson
• Fading Laugh Tracks: Is the Traditional Broadcast Sitcom On Its Way Out?
  by Tyler Johnson
• Golden Globes 2024: This Year’s Film Nominations Confirm Hollywood-Middle America Disconnect Is Growing
  by Tyler Johnson

The worst part? Kilgrave doesn’t see himself as the bad guy. He strolls through life with a twisted sense of entitlement, convinced the world — and everyone in it — exists for his amusement.

Whether he orders someone to leap off a building or torments Jessica with mind games, his nonchalant attitude only makes him more terrifying.

Kilgrave’s charm is as dangerous as his power. He can make you feel safe one second, then rip away your free will the next, all while acting like he’s doing you a favor.

His total lack of remorse, combined with his god-like control, makes every encounter a chilling reminder that with Kilgrave, there’s no escape.

Watch Jessica Jones Online

The Trinity Killer (Dexter)

Arthur Mitchell, better known as the Trinity Killer on Dexter, is the kind of psychopath that gets under your skin and stays there.

This guy isn’t your typical serial killer — he’s a chilling blend of calculated ritual and terrifying unpredictability.

With his twisted, meticulous killing cycle tied to traumatic events from his childhood, Trinity isn’t just hunting victims — he’s reliving his pain over and over again, dragging others into his nightmare.

One of the most terrifying aspects of the Trinity Killer is his ability to balance two lives: as a loving father and charitable community leader while secretly being a cold-blooded murderer.

But don’t let the nice guy act fool you. This is a man who ritualistically murders to “cleanse” himself of his inner demons, each kill performed with almost religious precision.

His confrontation with Dexter is the stuff of nightmares — especially when Dexter realizes just how deeply disturbed Arthur really is.

Trinity’s calm, methodical demeanor makes his sudden, brutal violence even more horrifying.

And unlike other killers Dexter encounters, Trinity leaves a lasting scar, both on the show and on the audience. His blend of charm, control, and sheer madness makes the Trinity Killer one of TV’s most bone-chilling psychopaths.

Watch Dexter Online

Lorne Malvo (Fargo)

Fargo’s Lorne Malvo is chaos incarnate, wrapped in polite small talk. This is a guy who doesn’t just kill for money — he enjoys it.

His calm, eerily soft-spoken demeanor only cranks up the terror as he unleashes a twisted sense of humor and a taste for destruction. Malvo doesn’t just ruin lives — he shatters them, turning chaos into a twisted game.

One of his most chilling moves? Manipulating meek Lester Nygaard into killing his own wife, all with a devilish whisper and that unsettling smile.

Malvo never needs brute force; he plants the seeds of violence and sits back to watch the carnage unfold.

What makes him even scarier? He kills not because he has to but because he loves watching people crumble. Whether he’s tormenting FBI agents, obliterating crime families, or dropping philosophical bombs before his next kill, Malvo is a storm of destruction.

This is a psychopath who doesn’t just take lives — he dismantles them, piece by piece, with chilling delight.

Watch Fargo Online

Ben Linus (Lost)

Ben Linus from Lost is the kind of mastermind who can make your skin crawl with just a smile. This man doesn’t need brute force — he controls with whispers, lies, and an eerie calm that sends chills down your spine.

Every move is calculated, every word a trap, and before you know it, you’re dancing to his tune, whether you want to or not.

One of Ben’s most chilling qualities is how effortlessly he shifts from quiet manipulation to ruthless action.

He’s the type of character who will calmly offer you tea one minute and then, without a flicker of emotion, watch your world crumble the next.

Whether he’s staging betrayals or pulling strings behind the scenes, Ben doesn’t just outthink his enemies — he outmaneuvers them at every turn.

With those deadpan stares and carefully chosen words, Ben Linus is always two steps ahead, proving that the scariest thing on the island isn’t the smoke monster — it’s him.

Watch Lost Online

The Reaper – Criminal Minds

George Foyet, better known as The Reaper, is one of the most terrifying killers on Criminal Minds. Unlike many of the show’s “unsubs,” Foyet doesn’t just kill for satisfaction — he enjoys the game of it all.

His reign of terror began with a series of brutal murders, but it’s his relentless, personal vendetta against FBI Agent Aaron Hotchner that truly sets him apart.

Foyet manipulates, stalks, and tortures with chilling precision, and his ability to outsmart the FBI for so long makes him all the more dangerous.

One of Foyet’s most horrifying moments is when he fakes his own death, a twist that leaves everyone, including the FBI, believing he’s gone.

But the real nightmare begins when Foyet resurfaces and brutally attacks Hotchner’s family, culminating in one of the series’ most gut-wrenching episodes when he murders Hotchner’s wife, Haley, while forcing Hotch to listen on the phone.

Foyet’s cruel mind games and sadistic pleasure in watching his victims suffer make him not just a killer but a true embodiment of terror.

Watch Criminal Minds Online

Negan (The Walking Dead)

Negan from The Walking Dead is the kind of psychopath who doesn’t just command fear — he revels in it. Armed with his trusty barbed-wire bat, Lucille, and a twisted sense of humor, Negan is all about power and control.

When he first saunters onto the scene, he makes sure everyone knows who’s boss by delivering one of the most gut-wrenching moments in TV history: brutally bashing in the heads of two fan-favorite characters.

His swagger, combined with his sadistic charm, makes him both terrifying and oddly captivating.

Negan doesn’t just kill — he delivers speeches, plays mind games, and somehow makes you laugh right before he commits unspeakable acts of violence. The worst part? He’s always smiling while doing it.

His whole persona is designed to break people mentally and physically, leaving them too scared to even think about rebelling.

He’s a master manipulator who can make you think you’re in control, all while tightening the noose around your neck.

Whether he’s cracking jokes while cracking skulls or monologuing about his twisted philosophy of survival, Negan makes it clear that the apocalypse isn’t for the weak — and he’s more than happy to teach you that lesson with Lucille if needed.

Negan isn’t just a villain — he’s a nightmare you can’t wake up from.

Watch The Walking Dead Online

Forever in Your Mind

From cunning masterminds to unhinged killers, these unforgettable psychopaths remind us why villains often steal the show. They toy with our emotions, keep us on the edge of our seats, and leave a lasting impression long after the credits roll.

As much as we fear them, we can’t help but be fascinated by their dark minds.

So, the next time you find yourself binge-watching a series, remember — it’s not always the hero who makes it memorable. Sometimes, it’s the psychopath lurking in the shadows.

Who’s your favorite TV psychopath? Share yours in the comments below!

The post TV’s Most Unforgettable Psychopaths appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Walter White isn’t the most vile reprobate to ever cross the small screen. He’s practically a household name, cheered and loathed in equal measure.

One of the most powerful and insanely popular scenes in the entire Star Wars saga is when Darth Vader enters a dark, smokey hallway on a Rebel ship and unleashes a hellish slaughter on the crew.

It’s not the everyday good guy who makes us perk up on the couch and lean forward in anticipation.

It’s the callous degenerate, the spiteful dictator, the bumbling father wrecking his way through life, or the selfish spinster, always undermining the best characters.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

Why? Who knows?

This isn’t an exercise in psychological philosophy.

Some creative minds out there just know how to make a bad character fun by depicting their worst moments in the most entertaining ways.

Captain Jack Randall (Outlander)

Black Jack is a far cry from Tobias Menzie’s squeamish portrayal of Edmure Tully.

The aura of restrained violence follows Jack wherever he goes, but his malevolence is kept in check by his careful observations of those around him, especially Claire.

He wraps his sadistic hedonism in the red coat of an officer in service of Britain, leading through fear and control.

What makes Outlander’s Jack so compelling is his ability to remain consummately calm as he plucks every last morsel of physical, mental, and spiritual torment from his victims.

Worst, his most awful character traits remain beneath the murky depths of a cold stare.

There is truly no calculating how far he will go without societal restraint and his position as a British officer, though he is able to skirt the rules often enough.

Beth Dutton (Yellowstone)

Few characters on TV can conjure vitriolic levels of disagreement like Yellowstone’s Beth Dutton.

She’s either loved or hated, with little to no in-between. This is mostly due to her relationship with her brother, Jamie Dutton.

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask For
  by Thomas Godwin
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick

Beth is a strong-willed force driven by intoxicating levels of wealth, power, vengeance, and fear. Yes, fear.

Her emotional insecurities fuel her behavior, often driving her to push things too far. She’s one of those rare characters that garners a lot of attention despite lacking a character arc.

No one can disagree that Beth Dutton in later seasons is the same Beth Dutton from the first season. Her vulnerability draws the viewer in despite the fact that Beth will likely never change.

Homelander (The Boys)

The best depictions of awful character traits are the ones with disparate, underlying derivations. Homelander is exquisitely arrogant, pompous, and downright murderous when he doesn’t get his way.

It’s rare to see epic levels of narcissism and psychopathy present themselves in an entertaining manner, but Antony Starr pulls it off with zeal and unbridled enthusiasm.

Homelander’s sick character traits are wholly derived from his self-loathing, making him one of the most fascinating characters to enter the superhero genre in a long time.

He may be the anti-superman of The Boys’ universe, but he’s also the most fragile.

Theon Grejoy (Game of Thrones)

Theon (Alfie Allen) is an interesting dichotomy, even more so from the point of view of the fans.

How is it that a character who did terrible things but far less than the likes of Jamie Lannister and Sandor Clegane became so hated?

The answer is simple: cowardice. Though Jamie and Sandor were reprehensible in their own ways, both were warriors and loved as such.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Prison Break Reboot From Mayans M.C. Boss Receives Pilot Order at Hulu
  by TV Fanatic Staff
• Friday Night Lights Reboot Lands at Peacock (But It Will Never Recapture the Magic of the Original Series)
  by Tyler Johnson

Before Ramsey Bolton imprisoned and tortured him, Theon betrayed the most popular family on the show.

Post-betrayal, he was a broken coward, fleeing in the face of his own sister’s demise.

His awful character traits, before and after his fall, were so well depicted that Theon is one of the most reviled characters in Game of Thrones.

Jinx (Arcane)

Jinx is perfectly depicted as the young, cute character that everyone ignores — the one who messes everything up and destroys the lives around her (at least, from her point of view).

Unbeknownst to her friends, family, and allies, this clumsy, empathetic portrayal was really a cocoon. What grew within was a maniacal Arcane version of Harley Quinn.

Her unpredictability is her strength, and she is just as likely to sit and talk calmly as she is to blow up a skyscraper while hysterically laughing at the sky.

She’s a walking powder keg and fascinating to watch because you never know what she might do next.

The Ghoul (Fallout)

Not all awful character traits reveal themselves via a slow-burn character arc.

By all measures, Cooper Howard was a good family man who loved his wife and child. Two centuries later, give or take a few decades, and he’s a cold, callous killer with zero empathy.

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick

Such a drastic change doesn’t normally work, but Fallout is not a normal, cut-and-dry series.

The Cooper Howard of love, hard work, and family witnesses his wife’s betrayal of humanity right before the entire world is engulfed in a nuclear holocaust.

Even so, the difference is jarring, and it works so well because his transition from family man to calculating, sometimes vengeful killer is left to the imagination.

Harmony Cobel (Severance)

Cold, lifeless granite and Harmony Cobel are one and the same until they aren’t — usually in shocking, explosive fashion.

Patricia Arquette plays the perfectly calm, emotionless Harmony that could teach Spock how to repress emotions.

That’s what makes her sudden outbursts so shocking and disturbing, like when she chucked a coffee mug at Mark’s head.

It came from nothing — explosive rage from a cold, reptilian creature slinking behind the dead eyes of a Luman Industries supervisor.

By the end of Severance, we witness a full-fledged meltdown. It’s shocking not just because it’s coming from a seemingly lifeless rock but because it’s difficult to fathom how this lifeless rock held it in for so long and with such ease.

Aemond Targaryen (House of the Dragon)

Ewan Mitchell has a fantastic range, going from a young warrior monk in The Last Kingdom to the most subtly intimidating, disturbing, and powerful force in the room as Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon.

Of Aemond’s many awful character traits, it’s his quiet, near-whisper dialogue that conveys the most threat. Sure, he’s petulant, jealous, and ambitious of his less-deserving brother’s ascension to the iron throne.

• 1923 Season 2 Premiere Date, Teasers, First-Look Photos & Everything Else We Know
  by TV Fanatic Staff
• Guy Ritchie Brings Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan & Helen Mirren to Showtime for Global Organized Crime Saga
  by Carissa Pavlica
• John Krasinski, Matthew Rhys Join Cast of Silent River: Will the Sexiest Man Alive Play a Serial Killer?
  by Tyler Johnson

However, he has no qualms about roasting his brother alive hundreds of feet above the ground and watching him fall.

His youth and impulsive nature are his weaknesses, however.

His malevolent nature is less repulsively cruel than his brother’s, but his quiet insidiousness is somehow more terrifying nonetheless.

Sheldon Cooper (Young Sheldon and Big Bang Theory)

Not all awful character traits involve brutal oppression, murder, vengeance, and psychopathic tendencies.

Some are far simpler despite inhabiting an above-average intellect. Sheldon is the result of being different, though not necessarily in the worst ways.

Simply put, he thinks he’s more intelligent than everyone in the room. The problem? He is. That’s the most frustrating part about this character trait and why it’s so fundamentally annoying.

Ironically, this makes him the least-liked character on a show where he is the central focal point.

Fortunately, Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon both surround him with otherwise likable characters. If either were a young man (or a young boy) show, both would have failed.

There are far too many characters to list, so feel free to comment and tell us which characters you think exhibit the most awful character traits in fascinating ways!

The post The Best Depictions of Awful Character Traits We’ve Ever Seen appeared first on TV Fanatic.

It’s become one of the most common formulas for creating movies and TV shows.

From Netflix to Amazon, everyone wants a piece of the action.

While not every project is a knockout, audiences have seen some successful franchises flourish from this method.

Just off the top of my head are the Harry Potter movies, Twilight, Hunger Games, 50 Shades of Grey, and even the Bridget Jones movies.

And it’s not just the big screen. TV saw the opportunity and jumped on board with shows like The Vampire Diaries, Game of Thrones, Percy Jackson, and The Witcher.

• Elsbeth Season 2 Episode 7 Sees Justice Take A Day Off As The Titular Character Squares Off Against Her Greatest Threat Yet
  by Joshua Pleming
• Matlock Season 1 Episode 8 Shows The True Driving Force Behind Matty’s Revenge, And It Is As Heartbreaking As You Might Think
  by Joshua Pleming
• Elsbeth Season 2 Episode 7 Spoilers: Michael Emerson Makes The Switch From Evil To Elsbeth
  by Joshua Pleming

We likely have the 1697 classic Cinderella to thank for our current state of adaptations. The fairytale was the first book to be made into a movie in 1950.

Although streaming services are the biggest adaptors, some apps take things too far.

Over fifty percent of Apple TV+’s shows in the last five years have all been novel-to-screen adaptations.

Apple TV+ Doesn’t Leave Kids Out Just Because They Don’t Have Credit Cards

Because novels host a whole plethora of genres, the media has been a shortcut to stories for all age groups over the years.

So, it’s unsurprising that a streaming giant like Apple TV+ would have optioned kids’ books for families and young viewers.

While children aren’t exactly signing up for streaming services, kids can be a great motivator for parents. Who doesn’t love a family TV night?

First up, there is Amber Brown, based on Paula Danziger’s book series from the ‘90s.

The show follows Amber Brown, a multiethnic girl navigating the typical pitfalls of growing up while dealing with her parents’ divorce. It’s heavy stuff for kids.

Then there is Surfside Girls, which is based on the graphic novels by Kim Dwinell.

The Apple TV+ series focuses on best friends Jade and Sam when they encounter a ghost who tells them about a pirate ship and curse surrounding the hidden treasure of Surfside.

They may be shows for children, but Apple TV+ knows how to cherry-pick some exciting stories for kids.

Comedy Is The Kind Of Genre That Flourishes When It Goes From Page To Screen

Still, the streamer’s catalog of shows for adults far exceeds that for its younger viewers.

If there is one thing every person on the planet can agree on, one of the best feelings is laughter.

Comedy can be tough to get across on the written page as tone can be challenging to nail down.

However, when an author gets it right, the humor usually translates and magnifies when the novel is adapted for the small or big screen.

Film and TV creators can flesh out projects and enhance the story through a multitude of visual elements and components.

If you’ve seen Palm Royale starring Kristen Wigg, based on the book Mr. & Mrs. American Pie by Juliet McDaniel, then you know a splash of color goes a long way in storytelling.

Even Vince Vaughn’s show, Bad Monkey based on Carl Hiaasen’s novel of the same name, makes sure the physical comedy and visual humor match up to the eccentricity of the book.

Novel-to-screen adaptations are also a great way to bridge language barriers.

Land of Women stars Eva Longoria in a series based on Sandra Barneda’s novel of the same name, but in Spanish, and toes the line between English and the native language of its characters.

There are plenty of laughs from books to be had at Apple TV+, including The Big Door Prize, based on M.O. Walsh’s novel of the same name.

But these kids and comedy shows aren’t why we are concerned with Apple TV+’s obsession with adaptations.

• Exclusive Interview With Matlock’s David Del Rio: The Actor Takes Fans Behind The Scenes To The Heart of Matlock
  by Joshua Pleming
• Jacob Lofland on Cooper’s Journey in Landman: “It’s Not Going to Be Easy”
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Hallmark Hits the Field: Tyler Hynes and Hunter King Tease the Chiefs’ Christmas Romance
  by Carissa Pavlica

Apple TV+ Is The Originator And Instigator Of The Drama

Have you ever heard the phrase “too much of a good thing?” Well, the same goes for any TV or film genre. And Apple TV+ seems to have its hooks in as many dramatic stories as possible.

Most of the streamers’ series fall under drama, and most of those shows are based on novels.

Let me clarify that every single streaming app develops stories from books, whether literary or graphic.

However, Apple TV+ seems to exclusively work with adaptations, at least in the last five years, with more on the way.

Still, it has to be said that the stories the executives are choosing offer an out-of-this-world level of entertainment.

Especially when that drama is introduced with comedic flair, profoundly dark undertones, or science fiction that makes you question reality.

The Rashida Jones sci-fi show Sunny, based on The Dark Manual by Colin O’Sullivan, has been a whirlwind of comedy, drama, and thriller action.

There’s actually a point to be made in favor of Apple TV+. Even though the app is shelling out show after show, a huge name is always attached to every project.

Take, for example, Lady in the Lake, based on Laura Lippman’s 2015 novel of the same name.

It stars Natalie Portman as a Jewish woman who leaves her life behind when she pursues her dreams to be an investigative journalist after a local woman is found dead in a lake.

If you like visual fever dreams with a masterclass in acting and a mind-boggling story, this is the career-defining series for you.

And it’s not just that show, but a whole roster of one series based on a book of the same name after another. It’s a long list.

Defending Jacob, The Mosquito Coast, Lisey’s Story, Foundation, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Pachinko, Shining Girls, The Essex Serpent, Five Days at Memorial, Shantaram, The Last Thing He Told Me, Silo, City on Fire, The Changeling, Lessons in Chemistry, The Buccaneers, Masters of the Air, and Dark Matter.

Whew!

Of course, we have to include the upcoming Cate Blanchett series Disclaimer, about a journalist who discovers she is the main character in a novel that reveals a dark secret from her past.

Just When You Think Apple TV+ Can’t Get Any More Dramatic, It Renews Its Library Card For More Intense Adaptations Starring Heavyweight Hollywood Names

Wait, you didn’t think we were done yet, did you? Oh, gentle reader, we had a legitimate reason to be concerned with Apple TV+’s use of adaptations.

That said, some shows make us understand why the streamer would be so enthusiastic about the novel-to-screen method.

For one thing, it’s how we got the amazing series The Morning Show, based on Brian Selter’s 2013 book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV.

Remember what I said about star power? The Morning Show boasts not one but two heavyweight Hollywood names.

Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon play journalists with contrasting personalities who bring their own set of baggage and issues to their news station.

Apple TV+ has always dished out award-winning shows. Even though some don’t always hit the mark, the streaming service is covering the walls with adaptation after adaptation.

Those include Truth Be Told, Slow Horses, Roar, Black Bird, The Crowded Room], Manhunt, Franklin, and Presumed Innocent.

So, whether Apple TV+ is obsessed with adapting novels to shows or has just figured out a sure-fire formula is anyone’s guess.

One thing for sure, though, is that the streaming giant has been making waves in quality television, so there may be a correlation.

Either way, you can count on me to be glued to my TV screen watching every perfectly packaged project Apple TV+ throws TV Fanatic’s way.

Which of the streamer’s many adaptations have you seen?

Will you be watching Cate Blanchett in her new miniseries, Disclaimer?

Drop a comment below to let us know, and join us again when we review all your favorite new and returning Apple TV+ shows!

The post Does Apple TV+ Have An Unhealthy Obsession With Adapting Novels To Shows? appeared first on TV Fanatic.

The series showed that massive audiences would respond to fantasy series with dense mythologies. It also included a massive number of characters and place names.

And even though the series eventually got beyond Martin’s published books, many fans were dissatisfied with how the series ended. But Game of Thrones remains mostly well-remembered. 

As with most popular franchises in the present day, the overseers of what is now Warner Bros. Discovery have sought to extend the franchise in additional directions and indefinitely into the future. 

Even though George R.R. Martin still has to finish the A Song of Ice and Fire series, he has written several other works set in that universe that are natural fits for adaptation. 

A look at the different series set in the Westeros universe: 

Game of Thrones 

The main Game of Thrones series ran for eight seasons, starting in 2011 and continuing through 2018. Created and run by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, it told a sprawling story.

It focused at first on the War of Five Kings and continued through the quest of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) to recapture the throne for the Targaryen dynasty. 

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask For
  by Thomas Godwin
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick

The series’ other major storylines included Tyrion Lannister’s (Peter Dinklage) quest for respect within his family and later his emergence as a political adviser.

There was also Jon Snow’s (Kit Harington) evolution from a bastard son of a Northern dynasty to a Night’s Watch recruit and King in the North.

The series built throughout to the clash between humanity and the army of White Walkers. 

An offscreen subplot throughout the years that Game of Thrones was on the air was whether the series would outrun the books before Martin could finish them. The series would beat the books to the end—it turned out, by several years. 

Game of Thrones spent most of its run as one of the most popular and pirated television shows. And it also stood astride major changes in the industry.

When it began, HBO was a premium cable channel. By its end, streaming was beginning to gain a foothold. The company first launched HBO G and later HBO Now. 

Bloodmoon/The Long Night 

Even before Game of Thrones ended, it was clear HBO wanted more shows set in its universe. At one point, the network announced that it was pursuing several different spinoffs simultaneously. 

The first one to reach a pilot did not go forward as a series. 

According to A Wiki of Ice and Fire, that particular series had the “production title” of Bloodmoon. It was also sometimes known as Game of Thrones: The Long Night.

The series was set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones during the “Age of Heroes.” Jane Goldman was the showrunner. 

HBO announced the pilot in June 2018. Naomi Watts, who plays Morven Casterly, is the biggest name in the cast. Other cast members included Josh Whitehouse, George Henley, Naomi Ackie, and Sheila Atim. 

They shot the pilot, although it didn’t quite work out well, and the network announced in October 2019 that it would not proceed.

On the same day, HBO announced that it was moving forward with a different prequel series, which received a straight-to-series order. 

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick

House of The Dragon 

That show was House of the Dragon, also a prequel but set much closer to the events of Game of Thrones, about 200 years before the War of Five Kings started. 

The series has direct source material in Martin’s 2018 book Fire and Blood, which depicts an intra-Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.

Martin and Ryan Condal created the series, with Condal and Miguel Sapochnik serving as showrunners in the first season.

From the start, the series has been streaming on what was then HBO Max (now Max) in addition to HBO. 

One march is Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), assisted by her uncle/husband Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith).

The other is King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), assisted by his mother Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke).   

The series also has many more dragons than Game of Thrones did. Dragons are a part of regular life in Westeros in that particular era. 

House of the Dragon debuted its first season in the summer of 2022, with the second season arriving in the summer of 2024, thanks to strike delays. HBO has announced that the show will run for four seasons. 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms 

HBO announced in June of 2024 that the next series in the franchise, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, had begun production after it officially received an official order the year before. 

The show is based on Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, starting with the first one, The Hedge Knight.

The series covers the adventures of a knight named Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his much shorter squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), who is also a Targaryen prince. 

The series is set after the events of House of the Dragon but before those of Game of Thrones. The six-episode first season will air on HBO and Max in 2025. 

Untitled Aegon’s Conquest series

In February of 2024, HBO announced that it was developing a series about Aegon’s Conquest. Those were the events that led to the Targaryens first taking control of the Kingdom of Westeros.

Aegon the Conqueror was the first of many Targaryen kings named Aegon, whose conquest came before the events of House of the Dragon.

Mattson Tomlin, the screenwriter of The Batman, is writing the series, although the series still has not received a green light.

Snow 

In the years after Game of Thrones wrapped up, there were reports of a sequel about Jon Snow’s adventures following the main series. 

• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 18 Wrapped Up A 14-Year Run With A Reminder Of Everything That Makes This Cancelation Hurt
  by Jack Ori
• Fire Country Season 3 Episode 8 Review: Zombie Fires Take Control
  by Sara Trimble

However, the show was never greenlit, and Kit Harington revealed in an interview in 2024 that it was “no longer in active development.” 

“Currently, it’s off the table because we all couldn’t find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough,” Harington said in an interview.

Other shows 

Those will unlikely be the last Game of Thrones spinoffs to arrive, but they are the only ones officially announced so far.

Among the series mentioned in development is The Sea Snake (also known as Nine Voyages), a show that focuses on the character of Lord Corlys Velaryon, played on House of the Dragon by Steven Toussaint.

Different versions have been either live-action or animated but have not been greenlit.

Another is Ten Thousand Ships, another potential prequel that would examine the history of Dorne, one of the more underdeveloped corners of the Seven Kingdoms.

The show was scrapped and then revived but is not officially moving forward.

As Martin wrote about in a blog post in 2022, an animated spinoff called The Golden Empire was also at one point in development, although there’s little indication it is still in the works.

There are a couple of thousand years of lore to explore.

That includes everything from Robert’s Rebellion to events after the end of Game of Thrones, which could be taken up by future series. 

The post Making Sense of the Game of Thrones Universe Spinoffs appeared first on TV Fanatic.

TV history is rife with bizarre and nonsensical occasions that make sense only within the numbers — sometimes, not even then.

Firefly is a legendary example of this. It had a loyal fanbase and critical acclaim, but Fox nonetheless cut its legs out from under it.

There are countless instances of relatively popular programs ending on massive cliffhangers, never to return.

Then there are the shows that audiences hate, yet a new season is in the works each and every year.

There’s a great deal of head-scratching here, so the ultimate answer is yes.

A show can succeed if viewers aren’t satisfied, and for several reasons that make more sense in context. The virulent nature of news, audience vs critical reactions, and, of course, money play their roles.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

People also tend to be forgetful. We’ll break it down further below, but Game of Thrones is a perfect example of this.

Audience Versus Critical Response and Rankings

Critical response tends to drive viewership rankings in the beginning, with a show’s initial success driven by viewers’ interest, which often comes from reading reviews.

When a show is bad, the audience plummets with each succeeding episode.

The Wheel of Time is an accurate illustration of this. Love it or hate it, 55.7% of the audience didn’t return for season 2, according to Nielsen’s weekly minutes viewed.

It also saw a massive drop at the week three mark and another significant drop at week four. The Rings of Power was stable from week one to two, dropped off somewhat in week three, and saw a more severe drop in week eight.

Despite this, Wheel of Time is returning for Season 3, and The Rings of Power will kick off another season as well. Successful? You be the judge.

The overall critical response for both shows is positive.

The Rings of Power holds an 83% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 38% audience score. The Wheel of Time, despite its massive drop-off, has a 70% audience score and an 83% critical score.

Despite the ups and downs, Amazon is heavily invested in the show and is reluctant to toss all that money into the garbage disposal.

The initial success of both shows is also a driving factor.

Plus, there is a degree of strategic decision-making, in terms of franchise potential, that we simply aren’t privy to.

The Forgetfulness of the Audience

Sometimes, it is astonishing to see a show’s massive success, only for viewers to loathe it a few years later. Game of Thrones is the show that immediately springs to mind.

Its final season, and arguably the two prior seasons, were rushed and nonsensical.

The quality of the dialogue took a nose dive, and the decision-making process among well-established characters went off the rails.

Now, whenever people talk about Game of Thrones, it’s the damning aspects of the final few seasons that infect the conversation.

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask For
  by Thomas Godwin
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick

However, by every measure, Game of Thrones was a massive success.

House of the Dragon owes its existence to Game of Thrones. Even some of the shows Max ultimately canceled owe their considerations to the show that started it all.

Heroes, True Blood, Lost, Merlin, and The Sopranos are examples of the same, to varying degrees.

If the show leaves the audience with a bad taste in their mouths, all the good things that came before become irrelevant.

All of these shows were successful (some of them massively so) despite the current sentiment.

Successful Shows That Viewers Panned

Often, it’s difficult to tell the difference between review-bombing and overall fan dislike because two things can happen simultaneously.

Fans can react negatively to a show and review-bomb it.

On the other hand, showrunners and media coverage are more than capable of blaming review-bombing for distracting from relevant and extensive viewer dislike.

Star Trek Discovery ran from 2017 to 2024, a success in most measures.

Discovery may not be a groundbreaking, knock-down-doors, runaway success, but you don’t get nearly a decade of run time for an abysmal failure.

The Witcher makes for a weaker argument but is still part of the conversation.

Despite fan outcry over changes to the source material (and some of those changes are indeed extensive), the show is coming back for fourth and fifth seasons.

With Henry Cavill out and Liam Hemsworth filling the role, it’s hard to see if the show’s early success will translate to positive returns from the viewers.

Riverdale is another good example of a show finding success despite its viewers.

With nearly an equal runtime to that of Star Trek Discovery, Riverdale had a loyal fanbase, though its audience review score sits at 47%.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Prison Break Reboot From Mayans M.C. Boss Receives Pilot Order at Hulu
  by TV Fanatic Staff
• Friday Night Lights Reboot Lands at Peacock (But It Will Never Recapture the Magic of the Original Series)
  by Tyler Johnson

Bad Shows Can Right the Ship

Lastly, there are popular series that didn’t begin that way.

A show’s success isn’t always dictated by a fantastic start, and viewers appreciate a comeback story.

Believe it or not, Full House didn’t start off as a great show that drew in viewers like a magnet.

After a lackluster first season, the showrunners made some alterations to the characters, including a haircut and a job change.

Fans originally felt that Fringe was nothing more than an X-Files ripoff.

Early on, It had a monster-of-the-week format, just like The X-Files.

It wasn’t until they ditched it in favor of a singular, more complex storyline that Fringe truly took off. This is especially true with the mystery of the alternate reality.

Other notable shows, such as Torchwood, Happy Days, Family Matters, and Parks and Recreation, fared badly out of the gate but recovered when changes were made.

Most shows will flounder when the going gets tough or disappear entirely after a rocky premiere season. But these prove that a show’s success can change despite the dissatisfaction of viewers.

However, it’s definitely not proof that it happens all the time or that there is any sense behind many of the decisions made throughout the entertainment industry.

Sometimes, shows just don’t work out, and sometimes, they do, despite the odds stacked against them.

Is there a show that grew on you over time or one that you initially couldn’t stand, only to change your mind later?

Drop a comment below and tell us your own experience!

The post Can a Show Be a Success if Viewers Aren’t Satisfied? appeared first on TV Fanatic.

It’s why you typically hear those same TV series when people talk about the greatest of all time.

Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Sopranos, Seinfeld, and Mad Men — these series stayed consistent and kept audiences engrossed from start to finish.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the case across the board.

More than likely, a series never finds its footing or lives up to its potential. Or it’s inconsistent at best, with a sluggish start and better finish.

And sometimes a show starts wonderfully, with acclaim and devotion from fans, only to stumble somewhere along the way and never truly recover.

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick

There are several series like that, and we’ve compiled a list of a few of the most egregious. Those shows that were so good until they just weren’t.

Please look at our list below, and make sure you drop your thoughts in the comment section! There are lots of shows out there, so let us know if we missed any!

Empire

There’s a joke that everyone missed an Empire episode and never returned. And the funniest thing about that joke is that it’s true.

When Empire premiered on FOX, it was one of the biggest hits of its time. They had movie star leads in Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, alongside a talented cast of up-and-comers who gave credence to a dysfunctional family knee-deep in the toxicity of the music business.

The series peaked in its first season with compelling storylines that touched on abuse, homophobia, mental health, and many other topics.

They also had an exhilarating soundtrack of songs, and some cast members even went on the road to perform for the fans. (Think of those Glee concerts that used to take place but on a smaller stage.)

The bottom line is Empire was a cultural phenomenon, but they struggled to keep that first season momentum up through the rest of their run.

Cast turnover in subsequent seasons didn’t help, and the real issues began during Season 3 when the magic ran out. The shocking stories that were once a staple became predictable and cringeworthy.

By the time Empire limped to the finish line in Season 6 amidst a scandal with one of its cast members, ratings were nowhere near what they once were, and many people weren’t even aware the series was still on.

If you stopped watching after one of the earlier seasons, you saw the best Empire had to offer.

True Blood

Based on the Charlaine Harris book series, True Blood was a damn good show when it first premiered.

Sookie, Bill, Eric, Jason, Tara, Sam, Lafayette, and so many others created an entertaining look at life in the Deep South, where vampires roamed free and existed on synthetic blood called, you guessed it, true blood.

The best seasons of the series had the best villains, and the first three had tremendous villains, from Rene Lenier to Maryann and Russell Edington.

But Season 4 was the beginning of the end, and if we’re being honest, the series just got a little bit worse each season.

Season 4 had a weird time jump, Eric with amnesia and only concerned about Sookie, Bill as the King of Louisiana, and a bunch of side plots that weren’t interesting.

Each season got more convoluted than the last, and even the Sookie/Bill/Eric/Alcide love square couldn’t save it. The various time jumps didn’t help, especially during Season 6, which saw Sookie committed to Alcide without us seeing any of the buildup to that decision. We were just dropped into their relationship. 

Seasons 1-3 are solid and easily some of the best fantasy horror television you’ll see, but from there, things took a nosedive, leaving fans to wonder what the hell happened.

Elite

Now, you could say this one doesn’t belong on the list because it’s still airing, but it’s impossible to imagine this series ever reaching the heights of its first three, and for that reason alone, it deserves a spot on the list.

The first season of Elite is almost perfect. The cast had tremendous chemistry, and the mystery of who killed Marina and the various relationships and clash of personalities and lifestyles made the season a must-watch.

From there, with increased popularity, the series continued to cruise for two more seasons, losing some cast members and gaining new ones but keeping the early seasons’ mysteries, surprises, and lively personalities intact.

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask For
  by Thomas Godwin
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick

But Season 3 saw the core group of students start to fracture, with Polo dead and Carla and Lu moving on.

The new crop of characters brought in is a phenomenon that continues each season, but they’ve never been able to capture the essence of what made that first season so memorable.

Scandal

Scandal started red-hot with a promising premise, a strong cast, and positive word of mouth. The Shondaland series rolled out fascinating episodes weekly, with shocking developments and steamy scenes that had everyone talking.

The series may have peaked in its second season with the stunning reveal that Olivia Pope and a group of wily politicians stole the presidential election for Fitzgerald Grant.

The series was never hotter than during this time, before Jake, B613, Eli becoming the big bad, and the monotony of Olivia and Fitz’s off-on relationship.

Everything from Season 3 onward never reached the heights of the second season. It’s almost as if they bit off more than they could chew.  

While the series continued to provide entertainment, each passing season became mudded and often confusing, resulting in a final season that many fans would like to forget.

To this day, the series finale remains an unfortunate coda to what was once the most talk-about show on television. 

L.A. Law

For those of you who missed this legal juggernaut in the ’80s (so, almost all of you), it’s now available on Hulu.

It’s a great experience and well worth the watch — to a point. Watching the show on streaming is an excellent reminder of how different TV was when streaming was unavailable.

The first five seasons of LA Law could be included in the best TV ever produced. Complex characters handled the biggest legal challenges of the day and were put through emotional and moral wringers.

Unfortunately, the contracts of its most valued stars — Harry Hamlin, Susan Dey, and Jimmy Smits — were up at the end of Season 5. Although they were wrapped up in significant storylines that closed it out, those stories collapsed in on themselves that summer.

Watching it on Hulu gives you whiplash. Nothing makes sense, as Season 6 premieres without much (unwelcome) exposition. Now, that’s not to say there isn’t some value in continuing the show, but it is remarkable how quickly a show can pivot quality-wise to something based on cast alone.

New Amsterdam

It feels like every decade, there’s that one medical series that is critically acclaimed and a fan favorite, too. When New Amsterdam debuted, it fit the bill, providing saccharine storytelling that left you misty-eyed and feeling fuzzy.

Its premise tapped into something that resonated with viewers at large, particularly with the general malaise, frustration, and distrust toward the U.S. Healthcare system.

New Amsterdam fed us what, more often than not, feels like a delusion about a system that can change within many doctors led by the optimistic Max Goodwin.

The first season was wonderful because of that, so much so that the series got an automatic three-year reveal. It was as if there was a deep understanding of this series’s importance, its long-lasting impact, and so forth.

And while the sophomore season had some bumps here and there, it was still a solid offering. However, the transparent attempt to cover every conceivable “hot button” issue via some form of healthcare had Max’s idealism venturing into toxic positivity and unrealism.

Attempts to cover things like the Black Lives Matter movement, and poorly, made the series political for the sake of it without actually having anything of value to say.

The nail in the coffin was the series finally putting fan-favorite couple Sharpwin together and then utterly ruining their relationship by having them take off to London for some unfathomable reason.

Their relationship fell apart as Max got stood up at the altar of their surprise wedding in New Amsterdam, on the rooftop, during a hurricane. 

By the time we got the complete denigration they did to Helen Sharpe in the fifth season and the horrendous storytelling of the fifth season that had most of the actors phoning it in, it was torturous to continue the series. 

In the Dark

When In the Dark broke onto the scene it felt like something refreshing and new for The CW. Led by an impossibly gorgeous Perry Mattfeld as the polarizing hot mess that is Murphy Mason, the series was truly unique in concept and execution.

The first season was great. We followed a blind Murphy and her trusty seeing-eye dog, Pretzel, through a murder investigation into one of the few characters we’d come to learn who genuinely loved the complex woman.

In the Dark was a dark comedy throughout, wading into crooked cops, the criminal underbelly of drug dealing, and murder. It was a fascinating look at how relatively decent people could descend into immorality.

By the third season, the shenanigans Murphy and the gang got into were getting so insanely ridiculous that one was well past having to suspend belief. Things fell apart when Murphy’s best friend, roommate/enabler, and hater, Jessica, disappeared.

By the time the truth behind Jessica’s disappearance was brought to light, the series had reached a point of insufferable, and the final season was nothing short of an unbearable shit show leading to one of the worst series finales in existence. 

Nashville

When Nashville premiered on ABC, it captured hearts with well-acted storylines and soulful songs.

It appealed to many viewers because, with three main couples (Deacon/Reyna, Gunnar/Scarlett, and Juliette/Avery), one of their stories appealed to them.

Whether it was the star-crossed lovers trying to reunite, the screw-ups trying to bond, or the couple who bonded over tragedies, there was something for everyone.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

While the drama was the pull, the duets on the show also drew viewers in. Initially, we were crushed when ABC canceled the series and relieved when CMT saved it, but now we wish it ended in Season 4.

If it had, we wouldn’t have had to endure Rayna’s death, Scarlett’s miscarriage, or Juliette joining a cult. Only Deacon received layered storylines in the last two seasons.

Game of Thrones

This may be a controversial entry because Game of Thrones is a must-watch series that some will say is one of the best of the 2010s.

HBO series have a history of being really good, and the first seasons of Game of Thrones are genuinely excellent. From Ned’s death to the mother of dragons and ultimately one of the most shocking episodes of all time in Season 3’s The Rain of Castamere, the series was appointment television.

While death was rampant, cast members were coming and going, and storylines were constantly in flux, the series remained relevant and intriguing.

Long breaks between seasons didn’t deter fans from salivating for new seasons. And even now, some five-plus years after it ended, starting a re-watch or diving into the series for the first time will result in long binge sessions because the series is just that addictive.

But the final season, which came out nearly two years after Season 7, felt rushed from the jump and just got increasingly worse as the season went on.

The battle at Winterfell has its moments, but the lighting of the episode is still mocked to this day, and the White Walker conflict failed to live up to the years of buildup.

From there, Daenerys’ destruction of King’s Landing was unsatisfying at best, and Jon then subsequently stabbing Daenerys felt like a stab to all of our hearts, even if she was a far cry from the character we’d come to know at that point.

Perhaps, the icing on the crap cake was Bran becoming the king of the Seven Kingdoms. No shade to Bran, but it just was not the ending anyone wanted.

Game of Thrones will always remain a good show, but it lost its claim to great when it put out those final six episodes to close things out.

Picket Fences

This show aired in the early 1990s and was the first major show produced by David E. Kelley, fresh from his writing for L.A. Law. It’s often unfairly compared to Twin Peaks because it takes place in a small town where strange things happen.

However, it’s more of a lawyer/family drama, and some of the drama comes from weirdness, especially in the first season.

The idea is that Rome, Wisconsin, is a small, Midwestern town that seems idyllic on the surface, but all sorts of crime and unethical activity are happening behind closed doors.

The show addressed social issues of the time and was ahead of its time in many ways until it was ruined in the final season.

Picket Fences was always on the bubble, and the third season finale felt like a series finale (ironically, it aired on CBS in the spot that Blue Bloods has dominated for 14 years).

The town was in shock after the priest was murdered in the confessional after resisting a mugger’s demands, and the episode ended with a pageant where the characters celebrated the unique nature of their town.

Fans were thrilled to learn it was coming back until it did. Season 4 was written by entirely new writers, who turned it into a generic, boring, and disappointing family drama that was more like a soap opera than anything else.

The series wrapped up with a stupid, unnecessary series of weddings (and Tom Skerritt’s character having liver cancer).

It should have ended the season before, which would have been a brilliant and uplifting ending that actually fit the show and its premise.

The post These Shows Are Excellent — As Long As You Don’t Finish Them appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Sometimes, it spills into real life, especially when the cameras stop rolling, and the actors and writers behind our favorite shows let loose on how they feel. It’s like watching your favorite characters break the fourth wall and air out all the dirty laundry. 

Let’s take a fun, irreverent dive into some of the most memorable instances of TV stars who, after the final curtain fell, didn’t hesitate to throw a little shade at the very shows that made them famous.

Kit Harington: Make That Iron Throne a Massage Chair

First, let’s talk about Game of Thrones — the show with millions of people glued to their screens, all leading up to that one final episode. Oh, that final episode. 

For many, it was like watching a beautifully crafted sandcastle get washed away by an incoming tide — slow, inevitable, and frustrating.

Kit Harington, the attractive TV star who played everyone’s favorite brooding hero, Jon Snow, didn’t hold back when reflecting on the show’s controversial ending.

In a recent GQ interview, he admitted that by the end of the series, everyone was so “fucking tired” that they couldn’t go on any longer.

Harington’s confession is like that of a marathon runner who, after crossing the finish line, admits they started walking halfway through. 

“I think there were mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end, maybe. I think there were some interesting choices that didn’t quite work,” he added. Translation: yeah, we kinda blew it, but what do you want from us? We were dead on our feet! 

Considering the months of brutal filming in freezing conditions, you almost want to hand him a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. But hey, at least he acknowledges what we were all thinking: “Wait, THAT’S how it ends?”

Harington’s costar, Emilia Clarke, has similarly addressed the finale in the past, but she at least admitted that despite the unfortunate turn of events for her character, she showed up and gave it her all.

Katherine Heigl: Not Grey, Just Blah

Moving on to Grey’s Anatomy, a show that’s been running longer than some people’s marriages. 

Katherine Heigl, who played the emotionally turbulent Dr. Izzie Stevens, famously took issue with the writing on the show. 

In 2008, she made headlines by withdrawing her name from Emmy consideration, saying she didn’t feel the material she was given warranted an award. 

Ouch. That’s like someone serving you a home-cooked meal, and you respond by saying, “Nah, I’ll just eat the breadsticks.”

• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick
• The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask For
  by Thomas Godwin
• 27 Christmas Movies to Watch When You Need a Break from Holiday Cheer
  by Lisa Babick

Her comments sparked a firestorm of controversy and reportedly put her at odds with the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, who was probably somewhere fuming over a bottle of wine. 

Heigl’s departure from Grey’s was as dramatic as her on-screen persona, and her words serve as a reminder that not all that glitters in TV land is gold.

Sometimes, it’s just a really shiny shade of blah.

Chevy Chase vs. Community: A Battle for the Ages

Chevy Chase has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind, which made his time on Community all the more entertaining — both on and off the screen. 

Chase, who played the old and often offensive Pierce Hawthorne, clashed repeatedly with the show’s creator, Dan Harmon. 

The TV star wasn’t shy about voicing his disdain for the show’s direction, calling it “a big mistake” and expressing regret for signing on.

This behind-the-scenes feud was so intense that it eventually led to Chase’s departure from the show. But Harmon wasn’t one to take such criticism lying down. 

He fired back, referring to Season 4 (the one without him) as the “gas leak year,” implying that everything went haywire without him at the helm. Watching these two go at it was like watching a cage match where both competitors just throw verbal punches. 

At the end of the day, though, it’s safe to say both were probably better off not working together. It was like putting two alpha dogs in the same pen — entertaining but bound to end in disaster.

Isaac Hayes: No More South Park for Chef

Now, let’s talk about Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef on South Park. Hayes’ departure from the show was shrouded in controversy after the series aired an episode lampooning Scientology — a religion he was deeply committed to. 

Hayes left the show, citing his discomfort with how it handled religious satire, and Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the show’s creators, responded in the only way they knew how: by mercilessly killing off Chef in a gruesome and admittedly hilarious manner.

Their response was peak South Park — irreverent, offensive, and utterly unapologetic. For Hayes, though, it was a sign that he was done with the show. 

It’s a classic case of clashing ideals, but in true Hollywood fashion, it played out in the most public, dramatic way possible. And honestly, would you expect anything less from South Park?

Charlie Sheen: Winning, but Not on Two and a Half Men

Last but certainly not least is Charlie Sheen, whose exit from Two and a Half Men was less of a graceful departure and more of a fiery crash. 

After a very public meltdown and a string of bizarre interviews (remember “winning”?), Sheen was fired from the show that had made him the highest-paid actor on TV. 

But instead of bowing out quietly, Sheen went on a full-blown rampage against the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre, calling him everything under the sun and then some.

Sheen’s post-Two and a Half Men life was like a reality show unto itself, and his comments about the show were often as erratic as his behavior. It was the kind of spectacle that’s impossible to look away from, even as it leaves you shaking your head in disbelief.

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick
• Friday Night Lights Reboot Lands at Peacock (But It Will Never Recapture the Magic of the Original Series)
  by Tyler Johnson
• It’s Hard To Be Excited About Beth and Rip’s New Yellowstone Spinoff, But There Are Causes For Optimism
  by Jack Ori

Fame, Fortune, and a Dash of Fallout

When the final scene fades to black and the credits roll, it’s easy to forget that behind every iconic TV show are real people with real opinions. 

Sometimes, those opinions spill out in ways that are funny, shocking, or just plain bizarre. 

But one thing’s for sure: in the world of television, the drama never really ends. It just moves from the screen to the tabloids, and we’re all here for the encore.

The post Lights, Camera, Criticism: When TV Stars Slam Their Own Shows appeared first on TV Fanatic.

No one wants to shake hands and drink with these fictional manifestations of all the worst characteristics. But visually indulging in their underhanded dealings and delightful sadism is just too entertaining to turn away.

Why rage, seething hatred, and ominous discomfort attract us time and time again is worth its own article. Civilized society has its caveats, after all.

Perhaps a Joffrey Baratheon lurks within the dark recesses of the seemingly inert portion of everyone’s gray matter.

Maybe it’s best to talk about the characters we find fun to watch but wouldn’t want to meet, leaving our inner psychosis to slumber away and, hopefully, never to awaken.

Joffrey Baratheon – Game of Thrones

It’s hard to imagine a more fun-to-watch individual than this colossal prick-made flesh. How in the world he made it through more than one season without Cersei strangling him to death is a valid question.

Of course, Cersei herself probably belongs on this list as well. No matter how bad Joffrey became or how potent the urge to rearrange that smug little face into interesting new shapes, we all tuned in to every episode.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Landman Season 1 Episode 6 Balances Brutality and Heart, Making It Hard to Look Away
  by Carissa Pavlica
• 15 Christmas Movie Villains That Might Just Be Misunderstood
  by Lisa Babick

House of the Dragon’s Aegon and Aemond seem like caregivers at the local dog shelter beside the mulish, prattling, smug sadist-moron that is Joffrey.

Like a drooling imbecile with a proclivity for torture and off-handed sadomasochism, Joffrey marched through four seasons as we watched with bated breath, waiting to see what he would do next.

Ubba Ragnarsson – The Last Kingdom

There are a lot of villains that are fun to watch throughout The Last Kingdom’s five seasons and movie, though Ubba stands out from the rest.

It wasn’t necessarily that he was a seethingly hated character, similar to Joffrey. Ubba was the very picture of manic. No one knew what he might do.

His intimidation factor was fascinating, especially in front of Uhtred, a yet unchallenged (at least not by a seasoned warrior) fighter.

Rune Temte, who plays a warrior of another sort in Taika Waititi’s Time Bandits, was utterly chaotic. If this were a Dungeons and Dragons description, chaotic neutral is Ubba Ragnarsson.

The brains behind The Last Kingdom foreshadow him well through the first season, and he chews up his scenes with hilarity, insane and instant rage, calm dismissiveness, and dangerous undertones, all in less than a minute of screentime.

The Cigarette Smoking Man – The X-Files

This guy is on every list, and for good reason. He probably breaks the fourth wall to ensure his name is enshrined on every listicle, for good or bad.

His backstory is an enigma within a puzzle — a series of controversial conspiracies. The smoking man was always fun to watch, but he’s definitely not the guy you want to hang out with.

You might disappear, along with your entire bloodline, familial history, and your family dog for good measure.

All the vast secrets of the FBI, CIA, DHS, and (insert three-letter agency here) are hidden within the depths of his hippocampus and cerebellum.

The worst part about his shadowy machinations is that he believes himself to be in the right, destined to save humanity, only by sacrificing several billion or so. No biggie.

Harmony Cobel – Severance

Perhaps the most mysterious, insidious character to emerge from the minds behind Apple TV+’s Severance is Harmony Cobel. There’s definitely some shadowy psyche coiled behind that stone veneer and calm, dismissive gaze.

Until she throws a coffee cup at you or a raging scream explodes from her suddenly, for little reason.

Harmony is far from the top of the food chain at Lumon, but she is the floor manager, controlling the “Innie” lives of her severed underlings.

• New Teaser be Damned: Who Cares About the Duttons’ Land Battle in 1923 With Yellowstone’s Looming Unhappy Ending?
  by Carissa Pavlica
• Prison Break Reboot From Mayans M.C. Boss Receives Pilot Order at Hulu
  by TV Fanatic Staff
• Friday Night Lights Reboot Lands at Peacock (But It Will Never Recapture the Magic of the Original Series)
  by Tyler Johnson

She also plays the kindly neighbor to Mark Scout’s “Outie,” though there is something nosy and overly inquisitive about her eager eyes. As a worshiper of Eagan, her bedroom and cellar are the quintessential serial killer motif.

She may be fun to watch, but all of her scenes are laced with tortile vipers, slithering out from their restrained positions in the corners of the mind’s eye. Never underestimate Harmony.

Robert Sims – Silo

Fun to watch is an understatement when it comes to Common. The guy even went toe-to-toe with John Wick. That’s a heck of a pedigree all by itself.

His character, Robert Sims, is a shadowy agent of a hidden government, fascinating in a lot of ways, not least of which is the potential path for redemption.

Since he’s prone to throwing people off of stairwells thousands of feet in the air, right after hiring them, no less, is a good reason to avoid hanging out with the guy.

Robert Sims is an absolutely dedicated, no-BS, black-and-white head of security for the Judicial branch of the technocratic government pulling the strings in Silo.

He’s capable of going from 0 to 110% at any given moment, like a cobra luring its victim into a calm reticence before the lethal strike.

Donna Berzatto – The Bear

Donna Berzatto is stress and anxiety personified, buried within a show that is all about amplifying stressful situations. The few scenes in which Donna makes an appearance are enough to push viewers towards a physical heart attack.

Dealing with this sort of person in real life would be a travesty of epic proportions. Donna is not inherently bad. She only qualifies as a semi-sort-of-villain on The Bear because the show really doesn’t have a villain.

Donna is a self-made martyr, committing to or creating a cause and making herself the sacrificial center of it. She expects everyone else to alter the very fabric of their beings to cater to her atonement.

While there are several theories as to the psychological conditions she potentially suffers from, there’s little doubt she is an immediate whirlwind of chaos wherever she goes. She’s fun to watch and all, but only if you have an entire bottle of Scotch on hand.

Aemond Targaryen – House of the Dragon

You always have to be wary of the one person in the room who rarely speaks. When they do, it’s barely above a whisper. The fact that Aemond only has one eye makes it more difficult to ascertain the thoughts lurking behind that lone, glassy orb.

Aeomond commands the screen and draws all the attention in the room despite his often reserved demeanor.

As calm as he may seem, at times, he would not hesitate to mount his dragon and burn your home and family to ash and smoldering cinders if it boosted his Facebook profile.

His brother is a burnt, shallow ruin, and now, Aemond is king regent with the largest remaining dragon in the world. He’s a bit outnumbered now, so the ebb and flow of his emotional disposition is likely to change on a dime.

Aemond is fun to watch for his commanding presence, a far cry from his former role as a warrior monk and bastard son of a king in The Last Kingdom.

Dorothy Turner – Servant

It was a tough choice between Dorothy and Nell. Dorothy takes the cake, however, as she’s the one cooing to a plastic and rubber baby.

Her surface personality is all cheerful and sweet until you make an observation about that awful rubber baby in her hands.

Suffice it to say that Dorothy has gone through a severely traumatic experience. Understandable when you discover that you’re responsible for the death of your own child.

• Days of Our Lives’ Doug Sendoff Reminds Viewers How Good This Soap Used To Be…And Can Be Again
  by Jack Ori
• The Blue Bloods Family Dinners: A Labor Of Love for Viewers and the Cast; Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg In Tears on The Talk
  by Jack Ori
• Dream or Delusion? How TV Shapes Our Vision of the American Dream
  by Lisa Babick

Unfortunately, this makes Dorothy a very unstable person and not someone you want to spend time with around the dinner table each evening.

She’ll cheerfully welcome you into her home and fly into a manic rage with equally minimal effort.

Of course, that’s what makes Lauren Ambrose so much fun to watch in the role of Dorothy. You never know what you’re going to get from one moment to the next.

Quintis Benedictus Dio – The Chosen

Charismatic, talkative, witty, and subtly homicidal, Quintis strikes viewers as a man who is just as at home with a casual sarcastic joke as he is beheading you as a public spectacle.

He’s fascinating to watch. He’s not too bright but smart enough to manage the small portion of the Roman empire in Galilee.

Whether he’s thinking of ways to starve the local people out of their encampments or having a casual conversation over wine, Quintis never telegraphs his intentions, making him a dangerous individual.

As a Praetor throughout most of the series, he has the power to make life hard for just about anyone who crosses his path.

Quintis is proof that the maniacal strings of power are often bestowed upon the worst of humanity—the kind that laughs as they murder and exploit.

These fine, upstanding folks are a lot of fun to watch but not hang out with unless you prefer dangling your life and sanity on a string.

What do you think? Is there someone else (not necessarily a villain) who is a lot of fun to watch but you would avoid like the plague? Drop us a comment and let us know!

The post Fun to Watch But I Wouldn’t Want to Know Them appeared first on TV Fanatic.

After all, a show that lasts more than a single season will usually have a vengeance arc in there somewhere. No, these characters frequently climb into bed with reprisal or bathe in the darkness of vindictiveness.

It’s hard not to cheer for the revenge path, even when it’s the antagonist who is dead set on it. Anyone who has ever had their car hit by a shopping cart in a parking lot can attest to the wrath of vengeful thinking.

Revenge doesn’t spring from oblivion. Events carefully crafted to negatively impact a character engender empathy, even if the character in question isn’t the hero of the tale.

Related: TV Characters Who Rock the Dance Floor

There’s a certain joy in watching the dedication, pursuit, and ultimate joy of vindictive release. Only certain characters who pursue revenge are capable of presenting fans with this dark, cimmerian gift.

Here they are, in all of their furious and oftentimes violent glory.

Frank Castle – The Punisher

No tale of vengeance is complete without Frank Castle, the brutally violent former cop who wreaks havoc and chaos throughout New York City’s shady, criminal elements.

Frank’s first foray into the MCU was actually pre-MCU, in Netflix’s Daredevil series, back before Disney decided to purchase the entire world.

Anyone familiar with Castle’s backstory will struggle to assign blame to him and him alone. Violence and Frank are close friends, thanks to his time in the Marines as a Force Recon Scout Sniper.

However, it was the mafia hit against his family, resulting in the death of his wife and child, that drove him to become the vigilante serial killer of criminals he is.

Frank is one of the most popular characters hell-bent on revenge on this list and many others.

James Reese – Terminal List

Reese and Frank Castle have much in common, though Reese’s world is grounded in realism. No one in red and blue spandex comes after Reese as he unleashes his inner vigilante.

The Terminal List follows a tried-and-true, old-school formula, with clear lines and demarcations throughout. It’s the same path The Punisher walked and thousands before him.

Related: 13 Characters Who Hit Rock Bottom

There’s nothing like the insatiable need for revenge for the loss of your family and the gut punch that comes with losing them. It’s the easiest way to create empathy and get an audience to invest.

This time, instead of Force Recon, Reese is a Navy Seal and as effective at taking lives as most people are at taking out the garbage. Chris Pratt effectively sheds his Peter Quill persona and replaces it with a stone-cold killer for a fun, if predictable, watch.

Stewie Griffin – The Family Guy

Stewie’s dynamic may change on Family Guy from episode to episode, but his overall disposition is one of vengeance, usually against the person or animal currently defying him.

Of course, it’s easy to lose track of Stewie’s vengeful shenanigans when he does things like impregnate himself with the DNA of the family’s talking dog.

Stewie is one of those characters who takes revenge to epic heights, even crossing over into the Simpsons to wreak havoc on Bart Simpson’s bullies.

Attempting to assassinate his own mom, committing murder, and forcing Brian to consume the fecal matter from Stewie’s diaper are some of Stewie’s milder depravities. Fox features plenty of characters with revenge in mind, but Stewie takes the cake.

Uhtred of Bebbanburg – The Last Kingdom

As the eldest son of a father who has fallen in battle, Uhtred is in a prime position to inherit his father’s keep and lands when the raiding Danes decide to capture him and adopt him as one of them.

His uncle, Ælfric, attempts to purchase Uhtred from the Danes if only to kill him and claim the seat of Bebbanburg for himself. Thus begins the long and bloody tale of Uhtred Ragnarson, warrior and rightful Lord of his father’s seat.

Related: 15 Value-Oriented ’90s Series That Deserve Another Look

Though Uhtred’s path meanders from time to time as he serves King Alfred, his goal is always to take revenge on his uncle and reclaim what rightfully belongs to him.

It takes 5 seasons and a movie for him to get there, however. Fortunately, all five seasons and the movie are worthy of a good binge.

Arya Stark – Game of Thrones

Arya suffers a similar fate to that of Uhtred, watching her father die at the hands of her enemies and standing by helplessly as her ancestral home changes hands many times—mostly into those of her enemies.

After one of Game of Thrones‘ most significant events, the Red Wedding, Arya pursues vengeance that topples lords, shifting the balance of power throughout Westeros. She’s one of the few characters with a very long revenge arc, covering eight seasons.

Arya isn’t one to blanche at the sight of blood. Out of all the characters on this list, with the possible exception of the demented Stewie, murder bothers her the least.

It’s difficult to tell how much of her humanity remains in the end. Death, violence, and retribution consume her ambivalent, overly friendly disposition, as vengeance so often tends to do.

Emily Thorne, aka Amanda Clarke – Revenge

As revenge tales go, it’s usually close family members who assume room temperature as an inciting incident. In the case of Revenge, Amanda’s father didn’t have to die. Instead, the FBI kicked down the door to their home to arrest him for a crime he didn’t commit.

In Amanda’s case, her father was only the catalyst, and the succeeding four-season revenge quest was more about what Amanda went through as an aftereffect.

Related: Is ABC Dooming Will Trent and The Rookie with Extra Long Hiatuses?

Thrust into institutional care by her plotting psychiatrist, Amanda didn’t exactly experience a healthy upbringing. The foster care system is notoriously sketchy, and Amanda ends her childhood years in juvie.

It’s not hard to imagine what follows. Foster care and juvenile detention are such fun and loving places to grow up in, after all.

Couple that with an apprenticeship to Satoshi Takeda, training her in all the loving, caring arts of vengeance, and Amanda becomes Emily Thorne.

Suffice it to say that Emily Thorne is not the sort of woman who enjoys cuddles and romantic fireside chats.

Assane Diop – Lupin

Who said the best revenge tales only come out of Tinseltown? Lupin is a French mystery thriller well worth watching, even if you have to read the subtitles. In many ways, Assane’s story parallels Amanda Clark’s.

With his father dead in prison for a theft he didn’t commit, Assane is alone at the age of fourteen. Assane grows up on the streets, learning the fine arts of thievery and becoming a master of his craft.

Lucky for Assane, a lifetime of stealing prepares him for the path of vengeance against the Pellegrini family, the responsible party behind his father’s arrest, imprisonment, and eventual death.

This three-part series charting Assane’s retribution is Netflix’s most-watched non-English series. It really is that good.

Phara Keaen – Foundation

There’s nothing quite like kindling a vengeful spirit by having your home planet bombarded with neutron bombs. Galactic empires tend to do these sorts of things, of course.

Phara manages to survive despite losing an eye and a good deal of blood. As you can imagine, Phara harbors a fairly deep resentment of the empire and spends the rest of her very long life opposing them at every opportunity.

Related: Presumed Innocent Renewed for Season 2 at Apple TV+

Becoming the Grand Huntress of War certainly helps, and Phara uses her sharp, tactical mind well. Unfortunately, her path of vengeance, chaos, and violence blinds her to disloyalty, betrayal, and micro-politics.

Vengeance tends to do that, and though Phara had a very legitimate reason to pursue the destruction of the empire, those reasons died with her on Terminus.

Billy Butcher – The Boys

Fans of Karl Urban would love to see him in the infamous Judge Dredd helmet once again.

But alas, Billy Butcher will have to do, for now. Billy’s catalyst for vengeance is pretty morbid. It’s The Boys, after all, where just about everything is fairly morbid.

Butcher is the archetypal vengeance, monkey-on-one’ s-back antihero who becomes the thing he hates to destroy the thing he hates. This is confusing but understandable in a way, if not wholly condoned.

Billy is the leader of The Boys, a team of vengeance-minded vigilantes. Homelander effectively destroyed Billy Butcher’s family by raping his wife, resulting in her pregnancy.

As the soon-to-be mother of a prospective supe, she was secreted away to give birth and raise the child. This led to Billy believing her dead or missing.

As you can imagine, this didn’t give Billy happy thoughts, and he soon turned his malicious intents on Vought.

• 
  The Unhinged Christmas Wish List: Gifts Only TV Characters Would Ask ForDecember 13, 2024
• 
  Silo Season 2 Episode 5 Review: DescentDecember 13, 2024
• 
  Yellowjackets and History: 10 Shocking Survival Cannibalism IncidentsDecember 12, 2024
• 
  Silo Season 2 Episode 4 Review: The HarmoniumDecember 6, 2024
• 
  The Death of Reality TV: With Ratings Plummeting, What This Means for the Future of Unscripted TelevisionDecember 2, 2024

When well-written, the vengeance arc is empathetic. That’s why Thanos is thought to be one of the best villains in the MCU universe. Having lost his homeworld, the force driving him is understandable, even relatable.

It makes the protagonist the ultimate hero and an antagonist, an evil that some may find reason to root for.

What do you think? Are there any characters bent on revenge that should be on the list? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Nine Characters Driven By Revenge appeared first on TV Fanatic.