Perhaps the only thing we can all agree on is that Will Sharpe’s Ethan, the softly spoken tech bro and introverted husband of Aubrey Plaza’s deliciously snarky Harper, is easily the least toxic of the bunch. Yes, he does party with sex workers while his wife is away, but when one of them, Beatrice Grannò’s Mia, kisses him, he tells her that he can’t take things any further. When Harper later confronts him, he lies to her before finally coming clean. Then, after he becomes suspicious of Harper’s relationship with his friend Cameron (Theo James) and she confesses that they kissed, it’s implied that he retaliates with a beachside tryst with Meghann Fahy’s Daphne—one that, in the end, seems to save his marriage. So, all in all, not entirely innocent, but practically angelic when compared to the rest of this ragtag gang.
F. Murray Abraham, The White Lotus
Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO
The sort of old-school toxic man whose behavior is frequently explained away with phrases like “harmless” and “of his time,” F. Murray Abraham’s jolly, womanizing patriarch Bert can’t help but leer at everyone he encounters. “I get older and older, but the women I desire remain young,” he grins at his son, Michael Imperioli’s Dominic (more on him later…), and grandson, Adam DiMarco’s Albie. He harasses hotel staff, keeps talking about his virility over dinner, can’t stop saying “rape” in front of Haley Lu Richardson’s Portia, and boasts about how effectively he hid his affairs from his wife—only for his son to confirm that she’d always known. And it’s not only Bert’s own behavior to the women around them that’s damaging—it’s also clear that he’s fundamentally shaped the less-than-ideal relationship his son and grandson have with the opposite sex, setting them up for failure from the very beginning.
Alan Ruck, Succession
Photo: Courtesy of HBO