Commentary with a Co-ed: TV's best villains

by Ashley Gouveia

Evil, cunning, manipulative, and powerful. These are all traits that I expect to see in my TV villains. Which ones do I consider simply the best? Better than all the rest? (Ok, you knew that was coming!) Here are my choices for the best villains of TV shows past and present. Agree or disagree, these people scare the daylights out of me.

Benjamin “Benry” Linus, Lost : The eyes alone would scare anyone. Ben has the ability to look at someone and see right through them. He uses the person’s weakness against them to his own advantage. He has been manipulating our Losties since he came on our screens. He has gotten Michael to become a murderer, and I think he may have set up the Alex, Carl and Rousseau ambush. I know he’s evil, but I can never tell if he’s telling the truth. That’s how good he is.

Lex Luthor, Smallville : He didn’t start off as the criminal mastermind we all know and love, but Lex is certainly reaching that dark destination. This season the character has really made his leap into becoming Superman’s arch nemesis. He has already reached the point where he has killed innocent people (Dr. Swann’s daughter, Patricia) just to get what he want, only one of the final steps until he makes his descent into being the ultimate villain. I love some evil Lex and no one has played it better than Michael Rosenbaum. He is by far my favorite Lex Luthor out of all the other incarnations.

Angelus, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Angel lost his soul and became psychotic Angelus in season two of Buffy. I don’t think I was the only one who was hiding my eyes when he chased poor Jenny Calendar through the hallways of Sunnydale High. What he did after that was even more disturbing. He was the epitome of pure evil, the king of the lurking in the bushes and watching his victims fall apart. Creepy!

Sylar, Heroes: He cuts open peoples’ heads…’nuff said.

Wilhelmina Slater, Ugly Betty: She hasn’t killed anyone, yet. But she has stolen a dead man’s sperm to produce an heir. She’s intimidating, threatening and could make a grown man cry. She’s a completely different kind of villain, but that doesn’t make her any less enjoyable to watch.

Those are my picks for favorite baddies of the tube. Let me know if you think I missed one that should have made my list. ‘Till next week!

Commentary with a Co-Ed is a weekly column at Tube Talk new every Friday.