Since I watch the re-runs all the time on SoapNet, I’ve probably seen each episode no less than 40 times (slight exaggeration). While Valerie did do some crappy things – she attempted to break up Kelly and Brandon multiple times, lied to her married boyfriend about being pregnant and having an abortion, etc. – she wasn’t that awful. At the very least, she was loyal to the people she loved. I was able to overlook her “badness” because I was so irritated by how everyone treated her. It seemed like she was always getting ragged on for how many men she slept with, how she ran her business, what she wore, everything. It didn’t seem fair or justified, which is why I had no qualms rooting for the alleged villain.
Villains usually wind up making shows a lot more exciting, and for that, I thank them. Who is your favorite villain? Are there are any new ones on shows that you would like to recommend?
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Inspired
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Smart
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Tickled
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Hungry
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Empathetic
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Smash!
Faith is the first one that comes to mind. She was tragic and that stayed with me, even though she did horrible things.
Cersei and Jaime are more recent options. I should find them disgusting, desperate and vile and in some way I still wish a happy ending for them.
The Sheriff of Nottingham on the BBC Robin Hood series. He never really seemed to have any purpose for his evil, but it made him so HAPPY. There was no higher plan, other than, “make everyone miserable for fun and KILL ROBIN HOOD.” And as the merry band of outlaws got more annoying as the seasons went on, and after they killed Maid Marian, I wanted to see him win and murder all of the merry men. Because it made him so happy!
I rooted hard for Swearengen (the character) from Deadwood. He is one of my favourite villains of all time and written with such depth!
Justified just started back up again and I love Boyd Crowder. He’s evil and manipulative, but he’s played so well by Walter Goggins, I can’t help but kind of root for him.
Also, Goggins needs an Emmy.
Under the guilty pleasures category, Klaus from Vampire Diaries is another one.
My first thought was Boyd Crowder. I love love love him. He is so unashamedly unapologetic about who and what he is.
“Do you kill people?”
“People have been killed.”
Guh. We need more Boyd.
Oh, definitely Regina in Once Upon a Time. You think she’s this totally horrible person when the show starts and then when you find out about what kind of life she had and how she got to where she was, you feel sorry for her and want her to redeem herself. You root for her when she does good things but get pissed at her when she does something awful, but at the same time, in some situations, she’s the one who does what needs to be done.
And Rebekah in Vampire Diaries. You just want something good to happen to Rebekah.
I like Regina but I lovvvve Mr Gold. He has the same thing going on where you feel terrible about his backstory until he reminds you how evil he can be. I’m not really digging Belle this season but I just want them to be happy together.
Not a TV villain, but one of my BFFs and I were rooting for the shark in Deep Blue Sea.
Every time it took someone out (other than Sam Jackson) we would yell “Go shark!”
We may or may not still randomly yell that to each other on occasion.
My called it “People you love to hate.” We idolized Erika Kane in her more manipulative moments. And I’d say Walt on Breaking Bad is a villain you root for.