It’s been a pretty rough tv season for female characters so far. I have Cuddy on House but with 30 Rock still not back and The Dollhouse not starting until later I’m starving for badass women until I started watching Dexter.
Deb is Dexter’s sister and a police officer and I officially want her to be my new best friend. I have just started watching the third season so I do not know what her character development has been through the other two. She won me over with her response to Dexter having a child: “A mother-fucking, rolly-polly chubby-cheeked shit machine” which is pretty much awesome.
Deb is a problematic character in many ways and is far from the feminist icon status that we give characters like Lisa Simpson. She is desperate for respect and lives in the shadow of her father so there are aspects of her achieving to please a man. However, she takes her work seriously and does not back down from a confrontation. She is currently dealing with Internal Affairs wanting her to report on a fellow officer and promising a desired promotion in exchange. She does not play the politics role well and was kicked off a case for discovering the brother of the DA was a drug addict and announcing it loudly in his company. Her journey seems like it will be an interesting one and I am excited to see it unfold.
Who are everyone else’s favorite female characters on TV right now?
What a crazy random happenstance 
I found Deb a little annoying in the first season with the whole Ice Truck Killer business, but I still like her. My favorite Dexter character (besides Dexter) is Lt. LaGuerta, even though she annoyed the shit out of me at first (also I’ve only seen the first season and part of the second, so I have no idea what her character is like now).
My other favorite feminist television characters (besides Liz Lemon):
* Emily Prentiss and Penelope Garcia, from Criminal Minds: What’s great about Criminal Minds is that feminism is woven into the fabric of the show. It’s not “rah-rah” feminist, but that’s because there’s a general sense of equality among the team members. The female members aren’t treated any differently from the male characters, there’s an almost equal ratio (4 men, 3 women), and the characters are essential to the show’s framework in various was regardless of gender. Prentiss is brave and a little reckless and kick ass and Garcia is hilarious and charming and an irreplaceable computer whiz. (The other female character, JJ, is also an interesting, but she’s just not my favorite.)
* Peggy from Mad Men is more of a proto-feminist, but I think Mad Men</I, somehow manages to be a feminist show despite its misogynist context.
* Sarah Connor from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronices except, again, I’ve only seen a fraction of episodes, so I’m no expert.
By: aviva on October 20, 2008
at 12:00 am
I really need to start watching Dexter – everyone keep saying how wonderful it is!
Anyway, right at this instant my favorite female character on TV is Oliva on Fringe. The show itself is starting to annoy me in the same way that Lost did (hmm, wonder why… :)), but I really like the character. It is interesting that she is highly emotional, yet she never lets her emotion get in the way of what she’s trying to accomplish. In other words, she’s *really* tough.
Before that, it was Sarah Conner, but I don’t like the latest developments of her character. She seems to be losing personality.
I also need to catch up on Pushing Daisies – I really like Kristen Chenworth’s character (Olive, I think it is?), but I haven’t seen any of the second season yet.
By: Brianna on October 24, 2008
at 6:23 pm