In case you needed any more reason to feel like this summer flew by, Fall TV is back in juuust about one month. Meaning my regular routine of wine and sweatpants is almost a reality again. So, to mourn celebrate, here are five female characters (in no particular order) that I can’t wait to see back on my TV so they can slap me with all of their badassery.
1. Constance Zimmer as Quinn on #UnReal
Okay. I know she’s technically not back this Fall, but I can’t talk about some of my favorite badass women without showing her some love. She is unreal on the show Unreal (not even sorry). Any woman that gets the words “Money. Dick. Power” tattooed on her wrist and has things like, “That is a boner-killer” actually come out of her mouth, is okay in my book. But besides from being a powerful boss-lady, she’s also extremely vulnerable and conflicted. Simply put: she’s proof that woman can not only be more than one thing, but that it’s more than okay. Her storyline this season about embracing her maternal instincts only to learn that she can’t bare children was heartbreaking to watch. This is a woman who has treated this job like her baby. Raised it. Messed up. But loved it all the same. I love that a show based on a reality show, got so real about what I imagine it’s like trying to build an empire, while trying to build a family. At the end of the day, Quinn makes ZERO apologies for who she is. She is queen of her kingdom and expects everybody else to bow down. Spoiler alert: they usually do.
2. Sophia Bush as Detective Erin Lindsay on #ChicagoPD
To be fair, she’s been my woman crush since she played Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill back in the day, but getting to see her literally kick ass on a show that puts what she’s capable of on full display has been amazing. She plays Detective Lindsay, part of the Chicago PD police squad, but when she was growing up, found herself on the opposite side of the law. Through Hank, her sergeant, she was able to turn it around, but like anyone dealing with addiction, keeping her demons at bay proves to be an #AllDayEveryDay process. After a close friend and colleague was killed “because of her” she found herself on a downward spiral back to her troubled past. What I loved about this whole thing was how raw and real Sophia Bush allowed herself to be. She made bad decisions. She questioned her identity. She made you feel her pain. The best part thought, was that this storyline wasn’t something that was resolved instantly. It lasted for weeks and weeks just like downward spirals do. As the weeks went on, Sophia made you feel it from every angle; every high and every low. Just like she was literally experiencing on the show.It was painful to watch but even harder to look away. She was that convincing. But that’s what Sophia Bush has brought to this character. She’s made her someone who can break down doors, and two scenes later, break your heart. And that’s just badass in my book.
3. Priyanka Chopra as Alex Parrish on #Quantico
Imma tell you this straight out: Quantico was one of my favorite new shows last Fall. First,their was the unique way of story-telling (two timelines run parallel to each other, for those making the mistake of not watching). Second, was the entire premise of the show: an agent who was trained to find terrorists, becomes the FBI’s most wanted. And third: Priyanka Chopra. This woman is probably the most loyal character on TV — and not in the “she’s loyal to her love interest” kind of way. Despite being framed for a terrorist attack in NYC, her love for the city and country never waivers. In the “past” storyline, you see Alex as one of the rising stars. In the “present” storyline, you see her as a suspect. The fact that she is simultaneously able to play these two versions of herself – without giving you whiplash – is a testament in and of itself. She’s smart. Confident. And unapologetic about her beliefs. Watching her kick ass and take names, most times literally, is refreshing. Do I wish they’d let her do it without make-up and perfectly blown out hair sometimes? Yes, but a part of me is okay with it. I kind of love that even though she looks like a stereotype, she’s playing against it. If people are gonna be distracted by her looks, she uses it to her advantage. She lets it define her, but always on her terms. If people are gonna assume she’s just another pretty face, she lets ’em. And when they do, they quickly learn they’ve got another thing coming.
4. AJ Cook as Jennifer “JJ” Jareau on #CriminalMinds
IMHO, Criminal Minds is one of the most criminally (again, not sorry) underrated shows on TV right now. For those not keeping tabs, it’s about the Behavoiral Analysis Unit, a part of the FBI that hunts serial killers… among other things. JJ, as pretty much everybody calls her on the show, has been on it since the beginning and gone from handling media relations to handling serial killers like a champ. She’s been captured. Fallen in love on the job. Left the BAU. Been tortured. Become a mother. Then returned stronger than ever. And she’s done it all with this fearless integrity. Even with her life on the line (which has happened plenty of times), she’s had this unwavering certainty about herself. And that’s refreshing on TV. Especially on a TV show where the women could so easily be written as being “too soft” to handle the grotesque and unnerving things you see every week. But that’s not the case, and it’s mainly because of the way AJ Cook plays her. Yes, the writing is great and that helps, but being able to deliver a line that is cold and confident is easy (says the girl who is not an actress), but doing it across the table from a man who’s list of victims matches your exact description? And then make it believable for the viewer? I’d assume that’s a little harder. And yet, every time she introduces herself as Special Agent Jareau, you feel like she’s got this —and that’s because 98% of the time, she does.
5. Maura Tierney as Helen Solloway on #TheAffair
Gonna end this list with one of my favorite Hot Messes on television. And I’m using “Hot Mess” as a term of endearment here. The Affair is a show that snuck up on me. I wasn’t really sure what to expect about a show that revolves around people cheating, but man am I glad I gave it a shot. I love that the story is told from different perspectives, leaving the viewer guessing every episode whose version of the truth is, well, true. But out of all the perspectives, and lord knows there are a lot, my favorite to watch is Helen played by Maura Tierney. I never watched ER so I know some of you reading are gonna be like, “We knew this already,” but I didn’t know this, so let me have this moment. You want to talk about compelling characters on TV, let me show you exhibit A. This woman has made me go from hating her, to relating to her, to feeling sympathetic towards her, to actually liking her. She’s managed to take a character that could have SO easily just been boiled down to “scorned lover” or “bitter ex-wife” and made her a complex person. She was “woman enough” to take blame, where blame was do. She was also “woman enough” to know when enough bullshit was enough. You don’t often get to see both sides of that. To be mature enough to allow yourself to feel pain, but then also be mature enough to let it go. I hate when people use the phrase “complex female character” because in news that would come as no surprise to ANY female: we’re all complex. But if I had to make the exception, I think she would be it. There’s a reason she is nominated for an Emmy this year. And I honestly think that for many people, the reason they are fully committed to a show about an affair, is because they’ve fallen in love with her.
Any other reasons you love some of these ladies? Who are you looking forward to seeing on your TV screens this Fall? Drop your thoughts in the comments.