10 TV Characters That Didn't Deserve The Hate

2. Skyler White - Breaking Bad

January Jones Mad Men
AMC

There's surely no more overhated character in the history of TV than Breaking Bad's Skyler White (Anna Gunn), who was so thoroughly demonised by the show's (predominantly male) fans for basically serving as an obstacle to her husband Walt's (Bryan Cranston) drug kingpin aspirations.

Despite acting in a generally reasonable manner - relatively speaking, at least - Skyler was routinely mocked by fans as a wet blanket or "b*tch" for simply wanting her husband to, you know, not make meth for a living.

It's undeniable that much of the Skyler hate was couched in a general brand of sexism, that the severe, upset woman wasn't letting our "hero" be a badass and build his empire.

That fans so conveniently brushed over Walt's horrendousness while focusing their ire on Skyler is, frankly, ridiculous, something that even the show's creator Vince Gilligan called "troubling."

The vitriol became so volcanic that some ill-intentioned fans even sent threats of harm to actress Anna Gunn, who consequently feared for her safety. All for playing a character who didn't want the bad guy to do bad things.

Skyler was plenty flawed in her own right, but that she's ultimately loathed by orders of magnitude more than any of the show's real villains is outrageous. If you hate Skyler, you're basically telling on yourself.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.