Board 8 > Scarlet Ranks His Top 108* TV Characters of All Time

(+) Yeah! (+)

Will Schuester

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Jemaine Clement

Or Bret

Or maybe Galavaaaant?

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#107 - Rodrigo de Souza
Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon; 2014-2018)
40 Episodes (First Appearance: "Pilot", February 6th, 2014)

You know what you don't run into a lot these days? Television shows that focus entirely on the inner dynamics of a symphony orchestra. That maybe why Mozart in the Jungle shocked me and drew me in so completely. There are a number of factors complicit in the effort to steal away your imagination - the backbiting between strings and woodwinds can be hilarious and at the same time entirely surprising, and there's no dearth to the amount of backstage politicking that makes an orchestra tick - but the focal point of the show is actually a brand new conductor to the symphony. At first, Rodrigo de Souza seems pompous and arrogant, but as you dig into the character over the course of four seasons, you find that he is a true passionate advocate for the show's focal point: the failing New York Symphony. Gael Garcia Bernal, perhaps best known for his work in The Motorcycle Diaries as well as Pixar's Coco, knocks it out of the park as this rising star in the classical musical world.

I love characters that force me to re-evaluate them and their actions over the course of a series, and as Rodrigo is fleshed out more and more over the course of the show, he stops being this narcissistic prick that the series wants us to believe he is. He starts becoming a man who is demonstrating a veneer of heavy bravado to mask his own misgivings. As the orchestra grows and fights its way tooth and nail back into relevancy, Rodrigo is revealed to be less of a towering, self-centered mess and more nuanced.

Much like a real-life orchestra, Mozart in the Jungle succeeds predominantly because of the focal point - a director sets the tone, the pace and the conducts a symphony in the way that Rodrigo does the same for the series.

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oh come on that one's easy

White Josh

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Oh man I love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Though thinking from a character perspective they're all pretty awful. I think it has to be Rebecca by default?

Valencia is probably my favorite though.

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Mega Mana posted...

Jemaine Clement

Or Bret

Or maybe Galavaaaant?

these guesses were on point

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TotallyNotMI posted...

Though thinking from a character perspective they're all pretty awful. I think it has to be Rebecca by default?

White Josh is a prince

Daryl and Heather are also pretty great characters

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Johnbobb posted...

White Josh is a prince

Daryl and Heather are also pretty great characters

Awful people, I meant. Not awful characters.

If that makes it any better lol

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Like, I love White Josh but he's really mean to his friends.

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TotallyNotMI posted...

Like, I love White Josh but he's really mean to his friends.

To be fair they usually deserve it

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scarletspeed7 posted...

You know what you don't run into a lot these days? Television shows that focus entirely on the inner dynamics of a symphony orchestra. That maybe why Mozart in the Jungle shocked me and drew me in so completely. There are a number of factors complicit in the effort to steal away your imagination - the backbiting between strings and woodwinds can be hilarious and at the same time entirely surprising, and there's no dearth to the amount of backstage politicking that makes an orchestra tick

I've never seen a single moment of this show but this sounds 100% true to life. Classical musicians are the cattiest, most dramatic, most gossipy, most cliqueish people you will ever meet.

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#106 - Rebecca Bunch
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CW; 2015-2019)
62 Episodes (First Appearance: "Josh Just Happens to Live Here!", October 12th, 2015)

The facts are these: Rebecca Bunch is a little bit crazy. But the word "crazy" in and of itself is a pejorative that show explores with a great deal of nuance. When Crazy Ex-Girlfriend begins, we witness a straight-laced Ivy League graduate who appears to have had very little agency in her entire life become unraveled when she starts to loosen those laces. Rebecca has a certain amount of predisposition for romanticizing the world around her, and what better way to illuminate that characterization than through music? Her daydream musical interludes demonstrate Rebecca's reliance on her own mental distress as she constantly throws caution to the one, turning sharply away from what the world would believe as rational in a quixotic quest to find love and agency.

Rebecca is often rather cunning in her attempts to find love, specifically in the arms of Josh (and Greg), and especially by the end of season two, it's easy to finally deconstruct this character in her entirety. Rebecca can be generous and empathetic, but at the same time many of her choices (healthy and unhealthy) are grounded in a neurosis that few characters on the show actually attempt to address (including Rebecca). In many ways, the show is a tragicomedy, as we watch someone spiral through fantasies brought on by mental illness. Yet, as a viewer, we find pathos as those around Rebecca become just as terrible as her (but lacking the excuse for their behavior). Our sympathies allow us to forgive her behavior, or at least treat it more favorably than the other characters of the show, and I find that fascinating. Just like Frank Underwood on House of Cards (who did not score a place on this list), audiences can forgive a bad action if there's an ounce of understanding involved.

Hint for #105: An enduring British icon.

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Tag!

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Mr. Fucking Bean

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The only thing I can think of with British Icon is Hugh Laurie so I would guess House, but I don't think that fits the theme of the hints so its very likely wrong

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Sherlock Holmes

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alan partridge

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LeonhartFour posted...

Sherlock Holmes

this, specifically the Bendydoodle Creptycrep one

or MAYBE one of the Doctor Whos

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Lets go Basil Fawlty!

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Margaret Thatcher from The Crown.

Also I'm once again reminded to continue watching Crazy Ex-gf.

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Next two tomorrow!

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By tomorrow I meant Monday.

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The Doctor

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well it was fun while it lasted

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LeonhartFour posted...

well it was fun while it lasted

he meant next monday

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I had a computer breakdown that really threw things off. I still fully intend to complete this.

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Ouch, sorry to hear that.

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I should be good to pick this up tonight.

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The bumpings will continue until morale improves.

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I vaguely remember a show from the 90s called Remember WENN but no one else seems to remember it which is really ironic .

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I do not remember that

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I have it on bad authority that this is still a thing

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I believe you.

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Denny Crane, name on the door

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