Matt Mason | Falling Skies
Falling Skies enjoyed the biggest cable premiere last summer and has turned out to be a passable version of an oft-told story — the plight of a plucky group of survivors after an alien invasion. (Substitute zombies for aliens, and you’ve got The Walking Dead.) So what’s the catch? The cherubic Matt Mason (Maxim Knight), the youngest son of Noah Wyle’s character, and his sole purpose on the show: to provide a treacly message about family or humanity. In the series premiere, the climactic victory over the aliens is followed by the saccharine denouement of Matt riding a RipStik in front of a crowd of grimy but adoring survivors (set to tinkly music, of course). Because that’s what people who’ve survived an alien apocalypse love to do — watch annoying kids ride stupid skateboards.
Tara Thornton | True Blood
True Blood has several characters that are hard to care about, but none more so than Tara (Rutina Wesley), Sookie’s best friend who spends most of her time acting bitchy and making her lip quiver. The show’s writers don’t even like Tara: They’ve made her a moron whose bad decisions turned her first into a mindless sex slave of Maryann and then a prisoner/sex slave to the vampire Franklin Mott, an evil undead sociopath who was actually more likable than Tara. Season 4 ended with Tara taking a shotgun blast for Sookie, but it’s unclear whether she’ll survive her wound. I’m sure we’re all hoping she doesn’t.
