9. The Seductress
Mutant Enemy ProductionsAs you might expect from a genre perceived as the stomping ground of nerdy males, science-fiction shows are not exactly bereft of beautiful women. Whether its a slinky Borg catsuit or outer-space shower scene, TV producers get the channel-hopping audience engaged with copious amounts of fan-service but most of the time, unless theyre the shows designated lothario, the main characters are either oblivious or duty bound to ignore how attractive all of their co-workers are. Having established that the heroes are mostly too noble and professional to be distracted by a passing femme fatale, writers seem to love the notion that a voluptuous villain will instead use some sort of pheromone control or hypnosis to grab a position of power and have all the regular male characters acting as her panting lapdogs. Its a hackneyed teenage power fantasy that dismayingly managed to make it into this years Agents Of SHIELD, a show supposedly under the eye of Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon. Initially presented as a cool and calculating vamp, the Seductress is usually revealed as a spoiled tantrum-thrower when whatever trick shes using is exposed. Apart from perpetuating the outdated notion that beautiful women must be tricking and seducing their way into authority, these episodes normally have nothing meaningful to say and contain little for the actors to work with. Romance-by-hypnosis is no longer risqué TV its just creepy and embarrassing to watch.