Bests of 2014: Characters

No order or ranking.  Just my favorites. 

Gil John - Alpha House
The incredibly likeable but lazy senator from the great state of North Carolina suddenly got some presidential buzz after almost single single handedly passing a bipartisan bill, appearing on a reailty show, shutting down the party's wing nut standard bearer and winning a strong challenge to his seat.  Alpha House has a lot of things going for it, but John Goodman is probably the best among them.

Oberyn Martell - Game of Thrones
Duh.  No one delivered more against higher expectations or a bigger backlash of casting.  Maybe the only person out there who can both politic and fight, besides Tywin.  Again, there are high expectations of certain Storm of Swards scenes,done expertly, as well as scenes created out of whole cloth, like handing it to some Lannister guards in the brothel.

Dufresne - Black Sails
One of the background characters brought to the forefront to pump up the drama on Black Sails, Dufresne became best combination of a well acted, well executed, dynamic character on the biggest surprise show of 2014.  Dufresne becomes the de facto star of the shows best episode ("V.") in a way that brings to mind Band of Brothers' rotating focus on different characters.  Sadly, the actor portraying Dufresne had to bow out of the second season due to his bout with brain cancer.  


Flashback Nucky - Boardwalk Empire
Much more than a Steve Buscemi impression, both actors conveyed with dexterity both Nucky's and Buscemi's mannerisms, as well as the events and motivations that made him the man he is, implicitly brought up again by his interactions with Joe Kennedy. 

Helen - The Affair
The easy way to portray the wife of a cheating husband his to make her a harping shrew.  The other way is basically anything else, and to get Maura Tierney to do it. 
 
Rust Cohle - True Detective
This being easy and obvious doesn't make it wrong.  The laconic detective.  The undercover in too deep.  The drunk.  The redemption seeking.  The conspiracy theorist.  The commando.  The guy who's usually right. 

Hannibal - Hannibal
We KNOW what's going to happen.  Both from the season premiere flash forward and from our own knowledge of the movies and books.  Then Hannibal throws us.  All season long.  He's portrayed as a brilliant man being pursued by other brilliant people, which is also a complement to the show and the full cast.  It's easy to make a character seem like a genius by making everyone else seem stupid, but Hannibal (both the show and the character) are done the right way. 

Honorable Mentions:
Allison - The Affair
Grief stricken and lonely despite being surrounded by people.  There's clearly a lot going on with her in the early episodes and it doesn't feel winky or overdone. 

Louse - Bob's Burgers
Single funniest character on television.


Jamal - Tyrant
Barry thinks he's so smart, doesn't he?


Stephen Colbert - The Colbert Report 
Swan Song for the character, new verse for the man

Sherlock and Watson - Elementary

Watson's growth and Sherlock's non cliched addiction struggles coupled with fun investigating make this one of my most looked forward to shows each week, year round.

Nora Durst - The Leftovers
Like Dufrense, star of a great episode - Band of Brothers style.  Intriguing and dynamic


Roger Sterling - Mad Men
Finally coming into his own as a leader

Abby & Illana - Broad City
Funniest Girls on tv.