10 Best Female Antiheroes On TV

Antiheroes have long been the staple of high quality shows on the air. Walter White, Don Draper and Tony Soprano have dominated the discourse around the sub-genre and have been applauded as some of the greatest characters on television.

TV has over saturated itself with male antiheroes, however, leading to a very overcrowded space of men that do bad things that we love to watch. Women are usually relegated to the tortured spouse or are otherwise not present at all. A slow but gradual shift into exploring these kinds of roles for women has started in recent years and as a result, some of the best female characters on television were created.

Whether they just enjoy being bad or their actions are justified by their need for survival, the female characters on this list all fit the traditionally antihero archetype. In some ways, they elevate it to a new level and have become complex and iconic characters on their respective shows. As more roles like this are being written every day, it's a good time to highlight the trendsetters that came before and paved the way for the female antihero.

Alex Levy is a morning news anchor and American sweetheart to her adoring fans, but behind closed doors she is dealing with far darker decisions that position her more as a self-serving survivalist. After her "TV-husband" and co-host Mitch Kessler is embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal, Alex attempts to weather the storm and protect her own career rather than help expose Mitch as the monster he is.

Alex is a complicated character who is dealing with her own issues as powerful men try to control her and manipulate her as they see fit. In an incredibly competitive industry, Alex has no choice but to look out for herself, whilst struggling with the fact she and Mitch were close friends.

This leads Alex to inadvertently promote an environment of silence culture around Mitch as they all turn a blind eye to his abuse of power. Alex reckons with these past choices throughout the first season and struggles with what to do, but she knows she has to do the right thing eventually as, unlike Mitch, she has a moral core underneath her cold exterior.