15 Female Characters on The CW Who Deserve(d) Better
13. Lola Narcisse (Reign)
Contrastingly, Lola’s death actually made up for the way her character was used previously in Reign. Lola’s stories all had to do with the men in her life. Whether that was Colin, Francis, Lord Julien, or Lord Narcisse.
This is not to say that they weren’t good stories. Just that she was treated as a background character until there was another man in her life, then she was deemed important enough to get a little focus.
This was an unjust pattern when the character the Reign writers created was so compelling by herself. Her character leading up to her death deserved better; however, her character’s death finally got better when she decided to be her own hero and make a decision based on what she believed was right for her country.
14. Hayley Marshall (The Originals)
Queen Hayley Marshall. She is resilient, stubborn, smart, reliable, and strong.
Throughout the series, we’ve gotten to see Hayley grow into an amazing woman and mother who would do anything to live life with her daughter as a decent, happy family. But this all vanishes when it comes to Elijah Mikaelson.
In the same breath of her yelling at Klaus to be a better man, she kisses Elijah and gives him the puppy dog eyes when he does the exact same things she yells at Klaus to stop. She swears she wants to keep Hope away from danger and violence, but she only gives Elijah soft lectures that have done nothing but go in one year and out the other.
A love interest shouldn’t be the reason why a mother is willing to sacrifice her daughter’s and her happiness. Hayley is a great character, I just need the writer’s to remember what they’ve shaped her to be when she’s with Elijah as well.
15. Felicity Smoak (Arrow)
Before you say it, I know what you’re thinking: how can a woman who gets just as much screen time as the protagonist deserve any better? Well, folks, the answer to that is efficient character progression in the time allotted to her character.
The show seems to feel it’s more important that Felicity is right or witty than for her to grow as an individual. That doesn’t work. She deserves to be more than Oliver’s love interest that throws her entire life (i.e. job, relationships, etc.) to the wind for the sake of Oliver.
What characters do you all think should have been on this list? Anyone who shouldn’t have been added? Let us know your thoughts below in the comment section!
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Candice Horde
An English enthusiast that watches a couple of shows from time to time. Candice is an honors graduate of Texas Tech University with an English double major in Creative Writing and Technical Communication. She loves the colors turquoise and pearl pink, and binges all 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at least once a year. She’s also a huge fan of anime, basketball, and Japanese and Chinese action movies.
9 comments
I don’t watch all these shows but I do agree with what you said about Bonnie and Elena but I thought Caroline should be included as well. It sucks to be a woman on that show! I don’t agree about Kara. First off, Ka-el is her cousin, Superman. Mon-El is her boyfriend who is according to the comics, a super hero in the future. I think you should have included Emma Swan from OUAT instead of Kara. Now everything you said about Kara applies to Emma plus Emma changed from the strong compassionate woman she was before Hook into a meek, fashion clueless, excuses her boyfriend no matter what he does woman! She is the fixer, Hook is the Fixer upee who feels no need to really change. Mon-El and Kara started with Kara showing him how to control his powers and do good. Mon-El was never given any kind of background in how to be good but he learned and Kara took no shit from him. She inspired his change whereas Hook is dependent upon Emma for his change and the minute she is gone, he reverts back to form. I saw none of that with Mon -El and I saw Kara only grow stronger through her relationships with her sister, friends, and Mon_el. Emma couldn’t let Hook go, Kara could and Mon-el unlike Hook, left. Are Kara and Mon-EL perfect together, no they had problems but I felt that would change over time because with or without Kara, I am sure Mon-El would continue on the hero path that Kara is on unlike the mess that was Hook and Emma. I will probably get a lot of hate for this and I am sure someone will bring up Belle and Rumbelle from OUAT but they have a different viewpoint than I do and I can only write what I see. Now Belle is underused and often the heroes on that show and the villains use her for a pawn but unlike Emma, she remained strong and held fast to her beliefs and changed and grew as a character should do despite lack of appearances. I just don’t see the Mon-El/Kara romance as bad as you said. I know there is a lot of hate and I have had debates about this but I just don’t see it but I saw it with Emma and Hook!
My mistake since this is cw only. I am sorry but I stand by what I said about Kara. Sorry again over the confusion.
Felicity deserves to be on that list as much as any other female character you’ve listed but not for the reasons you’ve listed. Felicity has always been more than her relationship with Oliver. I’m sorry that your bias doesn’t allow you to see it but since I don’t remember you tweeting about her besides bashing said relationship, the character, her fans or even the actress most recently, I don’t think I should bother with this. Because you never cared about the character unless she’s a prop to #15
Awesome article!
Who knew? Very enlightening article. Great insight!
Wow, I agree with you on all the shows I watched! Someone calling Damon out on his bs instead of romanticizing his character. All the applause!
The Originals has 3 women on this list and honestly you couldn’t be more right. Davina and Cami had so much potential that their deaths still feel pointless and aggravating to me even after all this time.
TVD is much of the same, and the worst was Bonnie. She got screwed up again and again, and even in the end they killed Enzo’s for no reason and so she doesn’t even get her happy ending.
Interesting read. I’ve only watched a hand full of shows youve listed but it was interesting learning about others. It’s funny how people in the comments can say you’re being bias and then they give their bias opinion though. But that’s neither here nor there. Thanks again for this insight candice.
As a person who constantly spends her time bashing Felicity Smoak as well as her relationship with Oliver I find it hilarious that you’re pretending to care about her character in this article, which is why I can’t take you seriously. Don’t be fake.
I do think she deserves better, but not for the reasons you listed (which I think is way off base). Felicity deserves her PoV to be more explicit, she deserves to have powerful storylines (like how she had in season 5), she deserves to continue to interact with different characters.
And it’s hilarious that you reduce Felicity to only just a love interest when she has always been more than that. You just refuse to see it because you hate her that much.
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