Hello Nerdlings! Breaking Bad is back for the conclusion of its final season, and in fact, your own AngryNerdGirl is recapping it over on TrashTalkTv (formerly TvGasm). As excited as I have been for the show to come back on the air, I’ve also been dreading the inevitable Skyler White bashing. How one of the few characters on the show who has never sold drugs, killed anyone, stolen anything, or even been arrested has come to be one of the most hated characters on television is beyond me.

The vitriol coming Skyler White’s way may be more intense than with other tv characters, but it is by no means new. Antiheros have been populating American television more and more in the past decade, and no one is riper for hatred than their wives. Betty Draper. Megan Draper. Catelyn Stark. Lori Grimes. Carmela Soprano*. Why do we hate them? The easy answer: because they’re annoying. Maybe they cheated on their husband. Maybe they’re a bad mother. Maybe the viewers are just misogynists. The real reason, however, is because they dared to get in the protagonist’s way. Continue reading →