Murphy show, it’s full of gorgeous costumes and lots of melodramatic excess. At the same time, it also features engaging, complex characters that are endlessly fascinating to watch, to mourn with, and to share joy with.
While some are incredibly likable, there are more than a few that are very easy to dislike.
Likable: Blanca
Blanca is something of the patron saint of the show. From the very beginning, she’s made a point of opening her heart and her home to the less fortunate, to those that have been cast out. Every time that she appears on the screen, the audience can feel the profound love that she has for those under her care. However, there’s more to like about her than just her comion. She’s also a driven young woman who is determined to make the most out of life, no matter what it throws at her.
Can’t Stand: Dick Ford
It may sound a bit counterintuitive to say that a character played by the great Christopher Meloni would be easy to dislike, but that is definitely the way one has to describe Dick Ford. In the first season, he is Elektra’s lover and the man who financially s her.
While he seems nice enough in some ways, his absolute refusal to acknowledge Elektra’s trans identity and her desire for gender confirmation surgery ultimately robs him of whatever sympathy he might have as a character.
Likable: Pray Tell
There truly is no one quite like Billy Porter, and he plays the role of Pray Tell to the hilt. Pray is one of those characters that simply electrifies the screen any time that he appears (and Billy Porter does the same), and his outlandish insults and outfits are a highlight each and every episode. That being said, there is also a richness and a depth to Porter’s characterization, one that lets the audience see into Pray Tell’s heart and allows for a rich, nuanced understanding of what motivates him.
Can’t Stand: Stan
Like so many of the cisgender men that appear in the first season, Stan is a bit of a cad (though Evan Peters deserves credit for making him a compelling character). He begins an affair with Angel, despite the fact that he is already married, and despite the fact that it’s clear his wife loves him dearly. More importantly, he continues to string Angel along in ways that are absolutely infuriating to watch, because it’s fair to neither her nor to his wife. He’s one of those men who just can’t make up his mind, and it’s maddening to watch.
Likable: Angel
Angel is another of those characters from this show that is impossible not to like. While she’s not quite as saintly and angelic as Blanca, in some ways that makes her a more complicated character. Like the other women that appear, she has ambitions and desires, and she is determined to get them, even though doing so often requires her to make huge sacrifices. Indya Moore imbues this character with a richness and a depth that continues to draw audiences in.
Can’t Stand: Elektra
Elektra is a complicated character, precisely because she’s one of those characters that audiences just love to hate. While she has her moments of vulnerability, for the most part she basically acts as if everyone exists simply to serve her in whatever way that she sees fit.
She’s not afraid to stab anyone in the back if it means that she’ll get ahead, and she seems to have very little sense of loyalty or true friendship (despite the fact that others frequently offer such things to her).
Likable: Damon
Like Blanca, there’s something almost too good about Damon. From the very first episode, he just seems to exude a certain goodness and naivete that it’s absolutely impossible to resist. He’s a spot of brightness in a world that in many ways seems unremittingly bleak. The audience can’t help but cheer for him as he sets out on the path to become a dancer and, like so many of the other characters, he’s exactly the type who won’t give up until he achieves what he wants.
Can’t Stand: Frederica Norman
Leave it to Patti LuPone to play the type of character that everyone loves to hate. Though she doesn’t have a lot to do in the show for the most part, the times that she does appear makes it clear that, like many of the other people of her time, she has a lot of antipathy toward trans people. The fact that it’s LuPone playing her makes her a bit of a joy to watch, even as the audience can’t help but wish that something bad would happen to her.
Likable: Judy
Sandra Bernhard is another of those actresses that it’s always a joy to watch, and she has a magical ability to draw out the fundamental humanity in whatever characters she chooses to play (particularly those created by Ryan Murphy). That is certainly the case with Judy, a nurse who works with AIDS patients in the hospital. Given the fact that in real life many people were afraid to be anywhere close to those with the disease, Judy is a breath of fresh air and a reminder of the fundamental humanity of those in the nursing profession.
Can’t Stand: Matt Bromley
Though he was only in the first season, the character of Matt Bromely made quite an impression, largely because he was played by James Van Der Beek (who's been in quite a few shows). Like Stan, he’s definitely a cad, and in some ways he’s the epitome of everything that was wrong with 1980s and 1990s masculinity. He just seems like a not very likable person, and he seems to have a very retrograde attitude toward women and, well, anyone who doesn’t fit in with what he thinks a man should be. Thank goodness he was in only one season.