The 50 Best Characters From "Game of Thrones" (PART TWO)

Game of Thrones is a fantastic television show. I would even go as far as to say it's hands down the best show on T.V. right now. Us fans only get ten episodes a year because the show takes so long to film, but those ten episodes always feel extremely special. There are hardly ever any "boring" parts due to the absolutely phenomenal world that author George R.R. Martin has created. There is so much stuff going on in the world of "GoT" that it's almost impossible to keep track of all of it. Sometimes you need to watch an episode three separate times just to make sure you didn't miss anything.

While the show is mainly known for it's violence, nudity, cruelty, and battles, it's also known for the crazy amount of interesting characters in it. There are so many interesting characters in this world that the show creators have had to cut some of them out because there's no way they could fit them all into the show. My job here is to rank all the characters we've actually seen on the show and how interesting they are. It's not an easy job, but someone's gotta do it. That someone is me.....

First though? A few quick notes:

-I'm ranking characters mainly based on what they've done on the show, but since I've actually read the books, it's hard for me to separate them sometimes. Therefore I will be taking what that person has done in the books into consideration when I rank them.

-Since "GoT" is a show based on books, I decided to post pictures of what the character is supposed to look like if you go by the books. It's just a fun little experiment to see how well the casting people have done as far as it pertains to a certain character.

-This is not a list of my PERSONAL favorite characters. If it was, King Joffrey would probably be #1 (insert smiley face emoji). Instead, this is a combination of how much I like the character and how interesting the character is. If the character is boring as hell, you won't see them ranked here.

-If you've never seen the show or have any intentions on reading the book, DO NOT READ THIS! This is filled with spoilers from the books and the T.V. shows. Consider this your warning.......

Top 50 Characters from "Game of Thrones"

Part Two

25. Brienne of Tarth

House: Tarth

From: Evenfall

Dead/Alive: Alive

Brief Synopsis: She may not be the prettiest lady in Westeros, but who doesn't love them some Brienne? She's one of the best swords(wo)man in the land and even though she doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to protecting people (Renly Baratheon & Catelynn Stark for example), you would still rather have her on your side than against you. Don't believe me? Just ask The Hound and Stannis Baratheon. 

The 50 Best Characters from "Game of Thrones" (PART ONE)

Game of Thrones is a fantastic television show. I would even go as far as to say it's hands down the best show on T.V. right now. Us fans only get ten episodes a year because the show takes so long to film, but those ten episodes always feel extremely special. There are hardly ever any "boring" parts due to the absolutely phenomenal world that author George R.R. Martin has created. There is so much stuff going on in the world of "GoT" that it's almost impossible to keep track of all of it. Sometimes you need to watch an episode three separate times just to make sure you didn't miss anything.

While the show is mainly known for it's violence, nudity, cruelty, and battles, it's also known for the crazy amount of interesting characters in it. There are so many interesting characters in this world that the show creators have had to cut some of them out because there's no way they could fit them all into the show. My job here is to rank all the characters we've actually seen on the show and how interesting they are. It's not an easy job, but someone's gotta do it. That someone is me.....

First though? A few quick notes:

-I'm ranking characters mainly based on what they've done on the show, but since I've actually read the books, it's hard for me to separate them sometimes. Therefore I will be taking what that person has done in the books into consideration when I rank them.

-Since "GoT" is a show based on books, I decided to post pictures of what the character is supposed to look like if you go by the books. It's just a fun little experiment to see how well the casting people have done as far as it pertains to a certain character.

-This is not a list of my PERSONAL favorite characters. If it was, King Joffrey would probably be #1 (insert smiley face emoji). Instead, this is a combination of how much I like the character and how interesting the character is. If the character is boring as hell, you won't see them ranked here.

-If you've never seen the show or have any intentions on reading the book, DO NOT READ THIS! This is filled with spoilers from the books and the T.V. shows. Consider this your warning.......

Top 50 Characters from "Game of Thrones"

Part One

50. Balon Greyjoy

House: Greyjoy

From: The Iron Islands

Alive/Dead: Presumed alive on the show/Died of a fall in "A Storm of Swords"

Brief Synopsis: Balon Greyjoy (father of Theon and Asha) doesn't do much of anything in either the television series or the actual books, but as far as the history of Westeros goes....he was pretty important. He declares himself "King of the Iron Islands" during the "War of the Five Kings" and dies (at least in the book) soon after. Like I said, he's not that important to the actual "Song of Ice & Fire" series, but his history (Greyjoy's Rebellion) is somewhat interesting if you ever decide to look that up.

Ranking The Top 50 Characters From "The Wire"

"The Wire" is one of the greatest television drama's in television history. Entertainment Weekly and other respected television outlets have called it the "greatest show of all-time". While it may not be my favorite show of all-time, it is definitely up there with the likes of "Breaking Bad", "The Sopranos", and "Game of Thrones". That's how good it is. I would get into more detail about the show, but something tells me that if you're reading a list of the greatest Wire characters ever....you've probably seen it for yourself. So, without any further adieu....here we go......

50 Best Characters From "The Wire"

Voting Criteria

1: They HAVE to be interesting. This is probably the most important key to any character on television (duh).

2: I have to like them. "The Wire" may be full of characters that you like. But it also features tons of characters that you would like to go through your television screen and punch them in the throat (looking at you William Rawls). You won't see those guys ranked here.

3: This is MY list. If you don't like it, make your own. You know what's great/not-so-great about humans? Everyone has an opinion.


Warning: This list is meant for fans of "The Wire" who have already seen the show, so it's chalk filled with spoilers. If you've never seen the show and have intentions on watching it, DO NOT read this column until you have. I can't express that enough.

The Wire: Season 5

Best Episode: "30"


Worst Episode: "The Dickensian Aspect"


Favorite Characters: Jimmy McNulty, Bunk Moreland, Lester Freamon, Omar Little, Slim Charles, Tommy Carcetti, Chris Partlow, Snoop Pearson, Bubbles, Michael Lee, Dukie, Ellis Carver, Sydnor, Prop Joe, Norman Wilson, Augustus Haynes, Kima Greggs


Least Favorite Characters: Ervin Burrell, William Rawls, Clay Davis, Cheese Wagstaff, Proposition Joe, Marlo Stanfield, Scott Templeton, Maurice Levy, Michael Steintorf


Overall Grade: 8.0 out of 10. And here we are at the end of one of the greatest television shows of all-time. I have to admit. When I first started this "Wire" re-watch, I never thought I would enjoy the whole overall series this much, but I did. It's more than likely definitely jumped into my top 5 shows of all-time and that's something I never thought I would say back in January. As great as the series itself is, it's unfortunate that the show went out on a shortened 10-episode season that seemed extremely rushed when compared to other season's of the show. The fifth season gets a lot of flack from "Wire" fans for not being as good as the others, but I thought it was fine. The whole McNulty/serial killer storyline was interesting and was a great way to send McNulty and Lester out with a bang. The newspaper storyline wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, but it served it's purpose and helped shed some light on an industry few people know the inner workings of. We also saw the end of one of the greatest television characters of all-time and it came at the hands of someone that no one expected.

As for the ending, I was completely satisfied with everything that happened. All throughout the series "The Wire" has felt like a horrible reality show (in a good way...) and we all knew it wasn't going to end with everyone holding hands and singing songs. Some people got what was coming to them in the end (Cheese) and some people ended up getting the short end of the stick regardless of how much we like them (poor ol' Dukie). That's how life is on the streets of Baltimore and god bless "The Wire" and David Simon for taking us along for the ride. I highly recommend this series to anyone who hasn't watched it. It's one of the best written and acted television shows ever produced and there's a reason Entertainment Weekly named it "the best television show of all-time". It's pretty damn good people. 

Better Call Saul: Season 1

Best Episode: "Mijo"


Worst Episode: "Marco"


Favorite Characters: Jimmy McGill, Mike Ehrmantraut, Kim Wexler, Tuco Salamanca, Chuck McGilll (for most of the season anyway)


Least Favorite Characters: Betsy Kettleman, Craig Kettleman, Howard Hamlin (for most of the season anyway)


Overall Grade: 7.0 out of 10. It's hard to grade "Better Call Saul" right now. Why? Because most of us (Breaking Bad fans that is....) know where the story goes, and we all love what happens when we get there. Therefore, most of us are going to put up with whatever the writers and everyone involved with the show put forward, because we want to see what happens. That moment when we first see characters like Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, Gus Fring, etc. That's the reason most people are watching this show and that's the reason most people put up with prequels to begin with. However, let's take all that out right now and just focus on "Better Call Saul" as it's own TV show and not a part of something bigger.

On it's own, "Better Call Saul" is a good TV show that is on the cusp of being great. Much like "Breaking Bad", the camera visuals, writing, and acting are all outstanding. "Breaking Bad" was constantly taking home awards and it wouldn't surprise me to see "Better Call Saul" end up the same way. The people involved with the show know what they are doing and they know what needs to happen in order for the show to be successful. My main problem with the show is the flow of the story. Sometimes it feels like the story is dragging and that's one of the main problems with prequels. You can't get too ahead of yourself and you also have to be careful not to contradict anything that happens in the future.

Another problem is, I never felt like anything big happened. When the season ended, it almost felt like someone could just sit down and tell me everything that happened in season one in 10 minutes and I would be all caught up. That's not good. Shows like "Game of Thrones" have so much happening in every episode that you can't afford to miss one or you'll be stuck on an island by yourself. That wasn't the case with "Better Call Saul" and hopefully that's something that changes in the future as we move closer to Saul Goodman coming out.

Either way, regardless of how I feel about season one, I'm 100% on board with the show. It's a good show and I'm still extremely interested to see if guys like Walter White and Gus Fring end up appearing in some cameos and that alone is enough to get me to keep watching. Something tells me that's the reason most of you will continue watching as well.....

The Wire: Season 4

Best Episode: "Final Grades"


Worst Episode: "Alliances"


Favorite Characters: Jimmy McNulty, Bunk Moreland, Lester Freamon, Omar Little, Slim Charles, Marlo Stanfield, Bunny Colvin, Tommy Carcetti, Bodie Broadus, Poot, Chris Partlow, Snoop Pearson, Cutty, Bubbles, Randy Wagstaff, Roland Przybylewski, Namond Brice, Wee-Bey Brice, Donut, Kennard, Michael Lee, Dukie, Ellis Carver, Sydnor, Prop Joe, Cheese,


Least Favorite Characters: Ervin Burrell, William Rawls, Clarence Royce, Clay Davis, Herc, Spider, Bubble's Bully, Michael's Mom, Michael's Step-Dad, Dukie's Family, De'Londa Brice, Anyone associated with Baltimore schools


Overall Grade: 9.5 out of 10. This season of "The Wire" is not only the best one of the series, but it's one of the best single seasons of any television show I've ever seen. I was absolutely enthralled with the happenings of "The Boys of Summer" and everything surrounding them in season four. You want to know the definition of a "great TV show"? It's a show that makes you think about what you just saw. When an episode is over and you're sitting on your couch trying to comprehend everything that just came across your television screen, that's the definition of a "great TV show" and that's exactly what "The Wire" does. Watching "The Wire" can be a task sometimes. Not because it's not a great show (because it is), but because it almost feels to real at times. Sometimes I feel like I have a live stream of everything that's happening in Baltimore right now and yelling at my screen that "Randy isn't a snitch" is actually going to help matters even if it doesn't.

I don't want to get into too much detail here regarding this season because I would like to keep it as spoiler-free as possible, so I can recommend EVERYBODY check it out! Seriously. This season was not only one of the best things I've ever seen on television, but it likely helped boost "The Wire" into my top 5 television programs of all-time. Two months ago when I said I was going to re-watch "The Wire" to see what all the hype was about, I mentioned that I doubt I would rank it as a top 5 all-time TV show. Well....it appears that I was wrong.

The Wire: Season 3

Best Episode: "Middle Ground"


Worst Episode: "Straight and True"


Favorite Characters: Jimmy McNulty, Bunk Moreland, Lester Freamon, Omar Little, Brother Mouzone, Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, Slim Charles, Marlo Stanfield, Herc, Bunny Colvin, Tommy Carcetti, Bodie Broadus, Poot, Bernard, Squeak, Chris Partlow, Snoop Pearson, Cutty, Bubbles


Least Favorite Characters: Kima Greggs, Ervin Burrell, William Rawls, Clarence Royce, Clay Davis, Fruit, Dante


Overall Grade: 9 out of 10. After some time down at the docks in season two, the MCU returns to dealing with the drug lords of the Barksdale gang and once again, the show is an incredible piece to watch. There was definitely a lot to like in this season.

You had the Avon vs. Marlo drug war.

The Hamsterdam experiment.

The roller coaster that was Cutty.

The tag team of Omar Little and Brother Mouzone.

And of course, the end of one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen on television....Mr. Stringer Bell.

Now, there was also some stuff I didn't like (anything having to do with politics, Kima not taking care of her responsibilities, and Bunny getting screwed in the end), but that's to be expected from this show. The good news is, the good far outweighs the bad and season three had plenty of good in it. All I ask is that we get some more Brother Mouzone on the screen because that character has been vastly underused so far. Anyway, I can convincingly say that season three of The Wire was one of the best seasons of television I've ever seen and I'm starting to understand why some people have this show ranked as a top 5 all-time program. Now it's on to season four......

The Wire: Season 2

Best Episode: "Bad Dreams"


Worst Episode: "Duck and Cover"


Favorite Characters: Jimmy McNulty, Bunk Moreland, Lester Freamon, Omar Little, Brother Mouzone, Frank Sobotka, Ziggy Sobotka, Avon Barksdale, Sergie Malatov, Cheese


Least Favorite Characters: Stringer Bell, The Greek, Spiros Vondas, William Rawls, Major Valcheck


Overall Grade: 8 out of 10. I didn't have a lot of high hopes for season two of "The Wire". My first go-round with The Wire (2-3 years ago), I remember thinking season two was absolutely awful and it pretty much killed my relationship with this show. This time though? I loved it. I don't know why and I wish I could explain it, but season two and all the action that transpired at the docks had me much more interested and invested than I was before. I still think it's stupid that the Major Valcheck/Frank Sobotka feud starts over a church window, but it is what it is. One of the biggest kicks I'm getting out of this show is watching everything get put into motion and than watching it all unravel in an explosive fashion. I've read time and time again how "The Wire" is basically a novel. It starts out kind of slow, gets all the pieces in motion, and than BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! Much like season one, season two ends with a little disappointment (especially for fans who love seeing bad guys get theirs in the end....), but you couldn't help but snicker at "The Greek" actually not even being greek and walking away scot-free. Still though. I give season two a thumbs up and it's starting to look like this show could jump into my all-time top 10 (maybe even top 5) depending on how the other three seasons pan out.

The Wire: Season 1

Best Episode: "Cleaning Up"


Worst Episode: "The Cost"


Favorite Characters: Stringer Bell, Avon Barksdale. Wee-Bey, Wallace, Bunk Moreland, Omar Little, Poot, Herc, Lester Freamon, Jay Landsman, Stinkum


Least Favorite Characters: Major Rawls, Deputy Ervin Burrell, Warren Frazier, Brianna Barksdale. Clay Davis


Overall Grade: 9 out of 10. First of all, I've never been a big fan of crime drama shows, so the first time I watched "The Wire", it failed to suck me all the way in. However, I'm willing to give it a second chance and this time, I promise I'm going all the way through (last time, I didn't enjoy the second season and the show just lost me...). Just like the first time I watched the show, I absolutely loved the first season. The acting is top notch and there's a scene (WHERE WALLACE AT STRINGER???) that is one of the best I've ever seen on TV. There are so many interesting characters on the show, that I was immediately drawn in once again. The show starts off a little bit slow because they have to introduce some people and show the audience just how fucked up of a town Baltimore is. However, once things get rolling around the fourth or fifth episode, it's a non-stop ride that had me captivated, especially when members of Avon Barksdale's crew were on the screen. The mind games between the Baltimore police and Barksdale's crew were some of the best I've seen on television since season four of Breaking Bad when Walter White and Gus Fring traded blows. Yes, it may have ended a little disappointing (has there ever been a season finale as depressing as this seasons?), but once again, I'm excited to see how things play out. Just don't lose me again when we go back down to the docks.

Game of Thrones: Season 1

Best Episode: "Baelor"


Worst Episode: "Lord Snow"


Favorite Characters: Ned Stark, Joffrey Baratheon, Robert Baratheon, The Hound, Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Khal Drogo,


Least Favorite Characters: Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Viserys Targaryen, Alliser Thorne, Grand Maester Pycelle, Walder Frey


Overall Grade: 10 out of 10. Absolutely captivating television. It took me awhile to watch "Game of Thrones" because it didn't look like the type of show that would catch my fancy, but man....I was wrong. This season was one of the best seasons of any television show I've ever seen, so that deserves a 10 rating in my book. From the beginning when King Robert Baratheon and company show up in Winterfell to the shocking ending that involved the death of one of the most important (if not THE most important) people on the show, I was captivated. If you haven't seen "Game of Thrones" yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. You'll thank me.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Ultimate Television Blog! I'm your main man Dustin James and this is a blog I created to keep track of shows that I've reviewed. Enjoy!