15 female characters from tv series of 2010s

[avrelia]

I kind of feel weird about counting the results of the decade. For me the main result was that the decade passed and I am like “Huh? What? Another one? When did it happen? Was it shorter than before? Like five years for the price of ten?”

But then I read this list:
https://www.themarysue.com/15-female-characters-of-decade/
and decided to make my own.

Of course I immediately realized that I hardly remember what I was doing and watching at the beginning of the 10s, so the list leans heavily towards the later years.

Here it is, in no particular order, 15 female characters from tv series of 2010s that meant something to me.

15. Vanessa Ives (Penny Dreadful)

Eva Green as Vanessa Ives is mesmerizing. A perfect actress for the role, a perfect role for the actress, a cool/deconstruction of Victorian tropes until it wasn’t. (not a big fan of season 3) Also worth mentioning is Lily as played by Billie Piper for the cheap thrills and awesomeness. I do have a feeling that the creators didn’t quite know what to do with their females. It should apply to Victorian characters, but unfortunately it applies to the Penny Dreadful creators as well – none of the female characters have a satisfying arc. (Or maybe it’s feature, not a bug? But I love to be satisfied by a characters arc, even if it ends in tragedy)

14.Regina Mills (Once Upon a Time)
13. Snow White (Once Upon a Time)
12. Emma Swan (Once Upon a Time)
I couldn't possibly choose one from that ridiculous lovely show. Because it’s biggest strength was in relationship between these three awesome characters. They had a lot of wonderful side characters and inversions, but nothing for me could beat these three. I got interested when Emma appeared. I got intrigued when Regina started gleefully chewing the scenery, and I fell in love when Snow White jumped down from the tree. The show’s eternal biting its own tail bored me by the end of season 4, but I still remember my love for it.

11. Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow)

this is a prime example of the show that had no idea what the audience wanted from it. The first season was ridiculous and awesome, and suddenly acquired a cult status and appreciation of fans and the showrunners were sure it’s because we loved a story of a hapless time traveler. no. it’s because we love the story of Abby Mills and her sister Jenny, tow black girls in upstate New York, fighting the forces of evil. Yes, we loved the hapless time traveler Ichabode Crane played by Tom Mison, but only as far as his confusion and prejudices were played off no nonsense Abby Mills. Alas… oh what a show it could have been!

10. Olivia Dunham (Fringe)

I loved Fringe. But again, I wanted show about Olivia Dunham (both of them), her sister, niece, friends, and instead I got a show about Walter Bishop playing god. Good, but not good enough for me.

9. Lin Beifong (Avatar the legend of Korra)

I wanted Avatar the Legend of Korra last year. And while I loved Korra and the rest of young characters, it’s 50 year old, crunky, stubborn, loyal, awesome chief of police Lin Beifong who stole my heart there. The show had a lot of cool characters, many of them ended up under-served by the story, but Lin actually got a great and meaningful character arc that got her reconnected to her family and friends.

8. Nadia Vulvokov (Russian Doll)

I am still unsure what exactly to say here. But it started strange and alien and ended dear and profound. Natasha Lyons’ Nadia was Theseus, Ariadne and Minotaur at once.

7. Eleanor Shellstrop (Good Place)

Yeah, well. She is hope for all humanity.

6. Jessica Jones (Jessica Jones)

Weirdly, I am not a big fan of her titular show, but I love Jessica Jones played by Kristen Ritter. Imperfect superheroine! Awesome mess!

5. Kenzi (Lost Girl)

Representation matters. And I think I firmly realized it with this Russian emigrant friend and sidekick to Bo the Succubus in that half-forgotten weird Canadian show. Even though she had a weird name and criminal relative, she was played by a Russian speaking actress, and the fact that she was Russian was perfectly normal… Just imagine, a Russian who is not a spy! What a thought!

4. Kimmy Schmidt (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)

Her unrelenting optimism is the perfect armor for the times. I loved that she wears it knowing that it was her armor. And occasionally, a weapon.

3. Joyce Byers (Stranger Things)

We need more of weird weak heroic women who have children.

2. May (Agents of SHIELD)

I want to be a 50 year old badass when I grow up.

1. Peggy Carter (Agent Carter)

I am grateful to Marvel and Hayley Atwell for giving us this character, and I hope we’ll see more of her. I liked her in the movies, and I love her in the Agent Carter series. It was a pure joy for me to see her.

Comments

[eglantiere]

oh man, sleepy hollow. first season: amazing!!! the next of them: i pretend they never happened. it could've been such a goddamn amazing show, if the writers had any idea of what they were actually making.

[avrelia]

I own season 1 on DVD, but I gave up after s2 thinking to go back if they get better, but they only managed to get worse. It just makes me so upset - they got incredible cast, and something interesting that had immediate response from the audience. And yet, they insisted on squandering it all..