It seems audiences have become fatigued by predictable protagonists and in response, multi-series television has given rise to an alluring alternative.
The anti-hero is a complex, multi-layered character with significant moral shading, their often outright criminal actions and questionable behaviour made compellingly watchable by their recognisably human traits, such as self-doubt, a nagging conscience, a tragic backstory or their unshaken belief that the end justifies the means.
James Spader is no stranger to compelling turns as the appealing antagonist, and his role as Raymond “Red” Reddington in 'The Blacklist' might be his best yet. To celebrate Red’s endearingly ambiguous villainy in the second season out now on DVD and Blu-Ray, we’ve reflected on other roles that nail this complex combination, counting down our top ten of TV anti-heroism...
Top Ten TV Anti-Heroes
Vic Mackey - The Shield(01 of10)
Stealing money from drug dealers and beating suspects is all in a day's work for Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), a corrupt and brutal cop in the Los Angeles Police Department. However, even with the preceding hour of shady activities, audiences still weren't prepared for the shocking moment at the end of The Shield's first episode when Vic pulls a gun and cold-bloodedly murders a fellow officer he suspects is part of an Internal Affairs undercover operation against him. Fuelled by Chiklis' riveting performance, Vic's subsequent lies, manipulations and cover-ups made for compelling viewing over the course of The Shield's seven seasons.
Jack Bauer - 24(02 of10)
On the surface, Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer is a traditional hero. After all, he's a dedicated agent of the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), he's loyal to trusted co-worker Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and he loves his daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert), despite her penchant for getting herself kidnapped. However, Jack's methods are decidedly questionable and he's routinely prepared to torture, maim (Jack likes nothing more than shooting unco-operative people in the leg) and flat-out murder just to make sure the job gets done. Notable highlight: Jack decapitating a drug dealer just to prove his bad-ass credentials when going undercover in Season Two.
Dexter Morgan - Dexter(03 of10)
As anti-heroes go, it's difficult to think of a more extreme example than a character who's a serial killer, even if he is also a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. Obviously it helps that Michael C. Hall's Dexter has a strong moral code and only kills bad guys, but he does seem to rather enjoy the actual murdering. What made 'Dexter' compelling over the show's eight seasons was the voiceover that allowed us into his head, along with the gradual, almost child-like discovery of his own humanity, as he grew to care for the people around him.
Jamie Lannister - Game of Thrones(04 of10)
In common with 'The Shield's Vic Mackey, 'Game of Thrones' Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) commits an unspeakable act in his very first episode when he murders a child by throwing him out of a window. So far, so evil, especially when you throw in the fact that Jamie was bonking his sister Cersei (Lena Headey) immediately beforehand. However, it quickly becomes clear that Jamie is a much more complex character than it first appeared, largely through his acts of kindness towards the show's more likeable characters, but also due to a sympathy-inducing injury, some off-the-scale charisma and, crucially, a sense of humour.
Raymond 'Red' Reddington - The Blacklist(05 of10)
One of the most recent additions to TV's growing roster of anti-heroes is 'The Blacklist's Red Reddington, expertly portrayed by James Spader, who's no stranger to playing morally ambiguous characters. Reddington is a former government agent turned elusive high-profile criminal, who voluntarily surrenders to the FBI, offering to cooperate on capturing a list of dangerous criminals. The hook is that Reddington insists he'll only work with rookie profiler Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) and the continuing mystery of their connection, coupled with Spader's suave, witty and eminently slippery performance is a huge part of the show's appeal.
Hannibal Lecter - Hannibal(06 of10)
Mads Mikkelsen's Hannibal Lecter is another serial killer anti-hero, although, unlike Dexter Morgan, he has no inner monologue and thereby retains an air of mystery and darkness, since we're given no real insight into his interior life. Admittedly, there's a certain amount of safety in the knowledge that Hannibal will eventually get caught, but there's also an undeniable pleasure in seeing him evade capture week after week, even while he's killing people and fricasseeing up their organs for a dinner party. Also, he can wear the hell out of a suit, at least in the TV version.
Frank Underwood - House of Cards(07 of10)
In the first episode of House of Cards, power-hungry congressman Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) calmly kills his dog, before turning to the audience and announcing that he has no patience for useless things. This constant breaking of the fourth wall, with Frank conspiratorially confiding his schemes to the audience, ties us to his character and allows us to root for him, even after he ends up murdering a fellow congressman. As with others on this list, there's an illicit pleasure in seeing Frank continually worm his way out of trouble, and Spacey's masterful performance keeps us enthralled as he does so.
Omar Little - The Wire(08 of10)
“Omar coming!” Sawn-off shotgun-toting, tune-whistling, homosexual stick-up man Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) struck terror into the hearts of 'The Wire's various drug dealers, and with good reason. Essentially a modern-day Baltimore version of Robin Hood, Omar had a strict moral code (“Come on, now. When you ever know me to put my gun on anybody that wasn’t in the game?”), a dislike of profanity, a colourful way with words, a laid-back demeanour and a perpetual twinkle in his eye that made him one of the show's best-loved characters. His eventual demise in Season Five was a truly sad moment.
Tony Soprano - The Sopranos(09 of10)
No list of TV anti-heroes would be complete without James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano. As head of the New Jersey mob, Tony lied, cheated, manipulated and murdered his way through six seasons of 'The Sopranos', but his regular psychiatry sessions with Doctor Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) allowed us to see the psychological damage caused by his mob-based activities, including panic attacks, nightmares and crying jags. Coupled with that is Tony's desire to be a good father to his children and a good husband to his wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), despite the fact that he seemed to get through a mistress per season.
Walter White - Breaking Bad(10 of10)
Along with Tony Soprano, cancer-ridden chemistry teacher-turned-meth cook Walter White is one of TV's all-time greatest anti-heroes. Over the course of five seasons of 'Breaking Bad', creator Vince Gilligan committed to the promise in the show's title, taking Walter from sympathetic, desperate family man to a lying, manipulative murderer who allowed his partner's girlfriend to die in front of him and was ultimately prepared to poison a child in order to get his own way. The fact that he remains such an eminently compelling character throughout is down to the quality of the writing and the magnificence of Bryan Cranston's performance.
The Blacklist: Season 2 is out now on Blu-ray and DVD.