20 Most Hated Characters In TV History
15. Sons Of Anarchy - June Stahl
ATF Agent Stahl is, by some way, the most hated and despised character on Sons Of Anarchy, and considering that Charming, CA is a sinkhole for the most unscrupulous, duplicitous and murderous b*stards in America, that’s saying something.
To make matters worse, she’s on the side of the angels, although in practice upholding the law is only ever an outlet for Stahl’s ambition, not an end in itself. Initially supposed to be investigating the Sons Of Anarchy motorcycle club’s involvement in arms dealing, Stahl showed no fear or favour: stabbing anyone and everyone in the back that she possibly could in order to achieve her aims.
She tried to turn SOA member Opie into a government witness, which indirectly lead to his beloved wife being targeted and killed. Then she tried to turn Luann; then she tried to turn Luann’s husband Otto (which was clearly a massive error in judgement on her part, as anyone who knew the lunatic would have been able to tell her).
By this time, it’s stopped being about her career: this is personal. Not finished grasping at straws, Stahl tries to turn the IRA against SAMCRO, Jax against the IRA, Clay against the IRA, and Chibs against SAMCRO.
When she finds out that white supremacist Ethan Zobelle is an FBI informant, she makes sure that the club finds out as soon as possible. She makes deals with the IRA in order to get to the Sons Of Anarchy, and then murders her IRA contact and frames the club’s matriarch Gemma for the crime.
June Stahl is, directly or indirectly, responsible for multiple murders, frame-jobs, cover-ups and the kidnapping of club VP Jackson’s baby son by the IRA. She’s a sniveling coward, arrogant with the apparent invulnerability that her badge gives her, yet crying and blubbering with fear when that invulnerability is shown to be an illusion.
Stahls final, sobbing comeuppance at Opie’s hands in the season three finale, the manner of her death echoing the murder of his wife, felt like a moment of natural justice in a television show that usually preferred to deal in vengeance instead.