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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ome" data-source="post: 259893" data-attributes="member: 2"><h2>20. Vic Mackey (The Shield)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25553[/ATTACH]Played by Michael ChiklisAs people report spending hours in quarantine working their way through now-canonical TV shows like The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad, the legacy of FX's perpetually underrated The Shield feels shaky. It's on Hulu, available to stream at any moment, but is it getting discovered and discussed? Given its aggro reputation and familiar subject matter -- yep, another cop show -- The Shield can be a hard sell if you're not inclined to watch an often excrutiatingly tense, aesthetically grimy series with this song for its opening theme music. Created by writer Shawn Ryan after years spent writing the Don Johnson network police drama Nash Bridges, The Shield doggedly pushed against conventions, casting Chiklis, known as the good-humored star of ABC's The Commish, as a morally bankrupt detective who kills another cop to save his own ass in the pilot. That's the original sin the show then spent seven seasons digging into, building to one of the most satisfying (and devastating) finales in television history. -- DJ<h2>19. Lucille Bluth (Arrested Development)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25554[/ATTACH]Played by Jessica WalterLucille Bluth is the kind of character destined for meme-dom. The matriarch of the corrupt Bluth family is not the only or even the first wealthy, bigoted, functioning alcoholic of an older white woman in pop culture, but she's definitely the best-written of the kind. It's no wonder you can't scroll through a thread of Twitter replies without seeing at least one of her reaction GIFs, or why so many of those "Is this a quote from Lucille Bluth or Donald Trump?" posts exist. We debated for a while which Bluth to include here. Was it Michael, the only "normal" one? Poor, sad George Michael? Maeby with her harebrained schemes? Buster and his litany of issues? Magician Gob? But really, there was no one but Lucille, played to perfection by Jessica Walter. Not only is Lucille memeable, she's the embodiment of the Bluths' Bush-era ignorance, perfectly content in her bubble of wealth. ("It's one banana, Michael, how much could it cost? Ten dollars?") Pour a shot of Cloudmir Vodka out in her honor because, as the GIF you know and love says, "Good for her." -- SB<h2>18. Tom Wambsgans (Succession)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25555[/ATTACH]Played by Matthew MacfadyenLook, our obsession with the members of the Roy family -- the nasty and often downright evil media moguls at the center of Succession -- is well documented. However, Succession's best character is an interloper. Yes, it's Tom Wambsgans, Shiv Roy's partner/lapdog, portrayed with his tail perpetually between his legs by Matthew Macfadyen. Tom, let's be frank, is a fucking weirdo. His voice sounds like an affectation of New England new money, even though there's a hint of a Midwestern lilt. He's a consummate striver and opportunist, prone to his own bouts of cruelty, but has no idea how to read a room. He's like the loser at the party trying to keep up with the cool kids. His desire to be connected to the Roys only leads to repeated humiliation. (See, for instance, the sexual act he performs at his bachelor party. Also, "boar on the floor.") In spite of this, you can't help but feel sort of sorry for Tom, especially in the second season as Shiv slowly crushes his spirit. Tom is the human embodiment of the Roy's selfishness as he becomes a shell of himself who uses human ottomans and won't let you forget that you need to break a few Greggs to make a Tomlette. -- EZ <h2>17. Arabella (I May Destroy You)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25556[/ATTACH]Played by Michaela ColeIs it recency bias to put a character from a show that just ended its run this high up on the list? Probably, but also a series as jaw-dropping as I May Destroy You rarely crops up on screens. Coel, also known for her more straightforwardly comedic series Chewing Gum, created and plays Arabella, a writer on deadline for a novel. After arriving back from a sojourn in Italy, she blows off steam by going out with an old friend. At some point in the night, she is drugged and raped. It would be so easy for "victim" to be Arabella's sole trait, but that's not the kind of writer and performer Coel is. Instead, we watch Arabella navigate her trauma. She's someone who, until this point, let her life be ruled by her own impulses, and now is reconciling that with the pain of what she endured. Arabella is painted in little details like her drunken exuberance that a DJ might play Hamilton and her obsession with social media. She's easily identifiable and entirely herself. -- EZ <h2>16. Lizzie McGuire (Lizzie McGuire)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25557[/ATTACH]Played by Hilary DuffLizzie McGuire's significance cannot be overstated. For many tweens in the aughts, she was like a built-in how-to guide for surviving adolescence. Lizzie was nothing more than a "regular" middle schooler: insecure, bratty, and not really sure of who she really is. Few young adult series feature teenagers as authentic as Lizzie. There's something comforting about watching a Disney Channel star screaming at her mom at the mall how much she wants a bra or wearing the totally wrong outfit for picture day. Sure, she got her fair share of teen dream moments, like locking lips with guest star Aaron Carter, but she always remained relatable in a way that kids could actually project themselves onto. Keep your boy wizards and superpowered teens from dystopian societies, there's something special about seeing a kid who's actually not so special. -- SB</blockquote>

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