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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ome" data-source="post: 259874" data-attributes="member: 2"><h2>60. Glenn Rhee (The Walking Dead)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25513[/ATTACH]Played by Steven YeunThank The Walking Dead, one of the most-watched dramas in TV history, for bringing us Steven Yeun in the form of Glen, the sweetest good guy in the entire zombie apocalypse, even as the hellscape of eking out survival gave way to torture porn. Glen's devastating and brutal end -- bludgeoned to death by Negan's (who was NOT a good villain, let's get that straight) barbed-wire bat Lucille -- in the Season 7 premiere put a fine point on the latter: What was the point of a show like The Walking Dead if it was missing its heart? Early on in the series, while the Camp of Rick Grimes was too busy not getting along, Glen worked to patch up disagreements, provide everyone with supplies on dangerous missions for useful resources, and generally stuck his neck out for others because he believed in the goodness of people. His empathy, compassion, and breezy sense of humor, despite everything, made him an obvious fan favorite and one of the few gleaming bright spots in a world blanketed in despair. Even though Glen deserved so much better, his shocking demise reminded us of The Walking Dead's bleak worldview that even (especially?) the best boys can't be saved. -- LB<h2>59. Luther (Luther)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25514[/ATTACH]Played by Idris ElbaDecked out in his long gray tweed coat, perfect outerwear for solving outlandish crimes on London's perpetually chilly streets, Detective Chief Inspector John Luther is hardly the first weary TV cop to bring his work home with him. The guy's got baggage -- and it's often inflicted by the scheming villains he faces off against, perhaps most memorably Ruth Wilson's menacing Alice Morgan in the early seasons. Originally conceived as a modern amalgamation of Sherlock Holmes and Columbo by series creator Neil Cross, Luther, one of many sharp yet repetitive BBC police dramas, doesn't exactly win points for originality. But Elba, coming off his star-making turn as the meticulous Stringer Bell in The Wire, turned the character into the reliable star of his own bleak mini-franchise, reshaping the hard-charging detective archetype with gruff charisma and subtle wit. -- DJ<h2>58. Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25515[/ATTACH]Played by Archie PanjabiEmployed at Stern, Lockhart, Gardner as their in-house private investigator, Kalinda Sharma is more of a fixer throughout her reign on The Good Wife, hunting down all kinds of damning information on the firm's targets through means that were as effective as they weren't necessarily legal. Clad in a rotating array of knee-high heeled boots and sleek leather jackets, Kalinda is a stylish, complex, and intimidating character, holding her own against anyone who would dare talk back to or threaten her, and most episode would often end with her busting into the room at the 11th hour, turning in the final puzzle pieces to secure a victory in the courtroom for Alicia Florrick, Diane Lockhart, and Will Gardner. Her evolving and devolving friendship with Alicia in particular is a highlight of the show, the two of them growing close and then estranged and then close again, even as Kalinda's past starts to catch up with her. (And as behind-the-scenes drama reportedly pulled Panjabi and co-star Julianna Margulies apart.) Brilliant, cunning, and rarely surprised, Kalinda is the kind of friend we'd love to have on our side -- and a formidable enemy. -- ES<h2>57. Bernie Mac (The Bernie Mac Show)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25516[/ATTACH]Played by Bernie MacPromising to "kill one of them kids" within the opening minutes of your family sitcom, smoking a giant cigar while detailing the way you'd snap their necks like chickens, is a surefire way to generate controversy. At the time of its release, The Bernie Mac Show, which arrived a year after the Chicago-born comedian stole the show from three better-known stand-ups in Spike Lee's raucous The Original Kings of Comedy concert film, inspired a fair amount of hand-wringing in the press over its depiction of parental tough love, with The Chicago Tribune noting that Mac's proudly old-fashioned patriarch fell somewhere between Cliff Huxtable and Homer Simpson on the TV dad spectrum. But in the current moment, the series, which was created by future The Nightly Show host and Insecure co-creator Larry Wilmore, is perhaps more notable for its nimble single-camera style and its formal innovations, like the way it broke the fourth wall and used scribbled text-on-screen to pack the screen with jokes. Loyal viewers, who Mac addressed with the same boisterous familiarity he perfected in his stand-up, quickly keyed into the warmth, kindness, and love beneath Bernie's confrontational demeanor. That ability to mix big laughs with moments of poignancy might be the show's true legacy. -- DJ<h2>56. Taystee (Orange Is the New Black)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25517[/ATTACH]Played by Danielle BrooksDanielle Brooks' Taystee gets the lion's share of comedic moments on Orange Is the New Black. She's the light of Litchfield Penitentiary, encouraging mock job fairs, becoming a GED tutor, and fostering a community. Even though "the outside" did nothing but f**k her over, inside she can find solace and purpose. Her arc is also one of the most harrowing on the series, as she moves through grief, anger, depression, and a series of injustices once her best friend Poussey is killed. OITNB didn't spare fans' feelings with this one either: Taystee's plot shows the harsh reality of being Black, low income, and failed by yet another flawed system. -- SB</blockquote>

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