Bad Characters From Good TV Shows

Whether plagued by unbelievable storylines or less-than-stellar dialogue, not all characters wind up as beloved fan favorites. Here are some bafflingly bad characters who left us scratching our heads (even if we do occasionally love-to-hate them).

THE AFFAIR's Juliette Le Gall

Noah's post-prison love interest — a visiting professor of French Medieval Studies whose Alzheimer's-afflicted husband was back in Parizzzzzz — was as dull as dishwater. She was obviously brought in to fill the void left by original cast member Ruth Wilson (who was still a series regular at the time, but appeared in less and less episodes), but she was too far removed from the series' original storyline for the audience to care about her struggles — especially amid Noah's psychological break.

ARROW's Ricardo Diaz

Coming off his roles in Fringe and Kingdom, we were excited to welcome Kirk Acevedo to the Arrowverse. Diaz, though, was no more than a two-bit thug, one who rose in power not by any clever means but by heavy-handed brute force — a stark contrast to his more nuanced predecessor Promethus. Among Diaz's other sins: In one of his few one-on-one clashes with Oliver, he won only by cheating; the character bogged down Michael Emerson's own debut as Cayden James; and he wasn't even love-to-hate enough that we were excited by his role in the Ghost Initiative/Not Suicide Squad.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER's Kennedy

The odds were stacked against her: no one could have replaced Tara in fans' hearts. But Kennedy's bratty tendencies certainly didn't help either. She forcibly pushed her way into the Scooby Gang, hitting on a still-grieving Willow far before she was ready and questioning Buffy's leadership at a pivotal moment. Though shrewd in battle, this slayer-in-training couldn't see beyond her own arrogance. Of course we wanted to see Willow happy again, but why did it have to be with Kennedy?

DOWNTON ABBEY's Cousin Rose

Though she eventually grew on (most of) us over time, Rose was a polarizing addition to the tail end of the show's third season — an arrival made even more jarring by the recent death of universally beloved Sybil. The Crawley's out-of-place relative felt like a caricature of a Downton Abbey character, and while we appreciated her progressive stance on issues like interracial romance, we would have gladly bypassed her bratty younger years if given the chance.

ER's Victor Clemente

When he wasn't being in thorn in Kovac's side, this Season 12 attending (played by John Leguizamo) was mostly off on his own island, trapped in a completely arbitrary storyline that involved a former flame (played by Rescue Me's Callie Thorne) and her violent, dirty cop of a husband. Suffice it to say, we were relieved when he was eventually deemed unfit to continue practicing medicine.

GAME OF THRONES' Ramsay Bolton

We loved to hate Joffrey Baratheon. We just hated Ramsay Bolton. He was relentlessly cruel and sadistic, without any redeemable qualities or nuance, and the punishingly grim scenes of him torturing Theon were a lowlight of the entire series. We were supposed to cheer when he was finally killed off in Season 6, but we mostly just felt relieved that we wouldn't have to endure any more scenes with him.  

HOMELAND's Dana Brody

The prototypical Sulky TV Drama Teen, Dana was the daughter of accused terrorist Nicholas Brody, so it made sense at first that the show spent time tracking her angst. But even after Brody receded into the background, Homeland inexplicably insisted on following Dana's story. She was such a drag, it's not a surprise that the show hasn't checked in on her for about five seasons now.

LOST's Nikki and Paolo

Fleshing out some of Oceanic Flight 815's background characters seemed like a good idea... until it wasn't. Young lovers Nikki and Paolo spent most of their island life wasting everyone's time with incessant questions, while searching for and squabbling over their lost diamonds. They were also murderous thieves with zero redeeming qualities. Every second with this duo felt like stolen time that would've been better spent with Locke, Sun and Jin, or heck, even Vincent the dog. They may have only appeared in seven episodes, but it was seven too many.

PARKS AND RECREATION's Marc Brendanawicz 

The Pawnee city planner was set up to be an unrequited love interest for Leslie Knope, but he was such a black hole of charisma — and such an obvious misfit in an otherwise stellar cast — that he was thankfully shown the door in Season 2. Mark left government for a construction job soon after Adam Scott joined the cast as Ben Wyatt... and was never mentioned again.  

THE MINDY PROJECT's Jody Kimball-Kinney

A walking mint julep of a man, Garrett Dillahunt's proper-yet-sleazy Southern doctor was a bizarre addition to the show's ensemble cast from the jump, and we never quite accepted his painfully forced romance with Mindy. Sure, we get that opposites attract, but didn't we just watch her go through that process with Danny?

MOM's Chef Rudy

French Stewart's crass cook would feel right at home on Chuck Lorre's former sitcom, the equally vulgar Two and a Half Men. But on a show that embraces— nay, celebrates — sober living, this licentious drunk has always felt out of place. Stewart, who was a series regular during Seasons 1 and 2, still pops up on occasion (most recently in a Season 7 episode, opposite former 3rd Rock From the Sun co-star Kristen Johnston), and in each instance reminds us just how much this multi-camera dramedy has evolved since its first premiered in 2013.  

NEW GIRL's Coach

Damon Wayans Jr.'s character was a highlight of the original 2011 pilot. But when he returned in Season 3, the loft suddenly felt overcrowded, and it altered the chemistry among the roommates more so than the Nick/Jess relationship ever did. For the next season and a half, it felt like the Powers That Be were struggling to come up with storylines for him, including a romance with Schmidt's then-ex-girlfriend Cece that never quite got off the ground, and a stint as a gym teacher at Jess' school. He eventually moved out again at the end of Season 4.  

THE O.C.'s Oliver Trask

The Fox primetime soap's freshman season was a wild ride, but it hit a major speed bump with the introduction of Oliver, a fellow therapy patient who became obsessively fixated on Marissa. His cartoonish villainy, which made Ryan look like a jealous jerk to his friends and family, was too over-the-top even for The O.C. Luckily, he was shipped off to rehab before his antics derailed the whole series.

ONCE UPON A TIME's Hades

Perhaps the first "red flag" was that casting for the Underworld overlord was done under the code name "The Distinguished Gentleman"? Because while Greg Germann inarguably fits such a role, Hades as a Disney character demanded a lot more — yes, we're gonna say it — fire, especially given how large he would loom in Season 5B.

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK's Madison 'Badison' Murphy

The Litchfield Max inmate was the least effective (and most obnoxious) antagonist from the prison dramedy's seven-year run. Her only discernible trait was a thick Boston accent that would make even the Wahlbergs do a double-take. Fortunately for us, Badison was transferred to a Missouri penitentiary early on in the final season, never to be spoken of again. 
 

REVENGE's Declan Porter

From the moment we heard Declan scream, "Yo, 8 Mile! Private party here!" in the first episode, we knew we weren't going to like Jack's curiously accented younger brother. (Seriously, why was he the only person in his family who talked like that?) Whether he was stealing another fisherman's lobsters or literally yelling his father to death, Declan always seemed to make bad situations even worse — and we did not shed a tear when he was killed off at the end of Season 2.

THE WALKING DEAD's Andrea

Being such a beloved character from the comics makes TV-Andrea's inclusion on this list even more heartbreaking. Though she started out as a compelling character to root for, the tables turned for Andrea in Season 3 when she joined Team Governor, which diminished most of her agency. She made mind-bogglingly bad decisions and was a let down in key moments, siding with a man actively trying to kill her friends. Her naivete toward the manipulative Governor's ruthless actions was not only infuriating, but by far one of the show's most problematic storylines.

THE OFFICE's Robert California

When Michael Scott left Scranton, no one could replace the "World's Best Boss" — but the deeply odd, incredibly off-putting man whom Jo appointed CEO didn't even come close. (That's what she said.) With all of Michael's inappropriateness but none of his awkward lovability, Robert California was a huge reason why Seasons 7 and 8 were two of the series' weakest.