Messy, mesmerising and sometimes murderous, the antiheroine has become a firm favourite on the small screen.

Think Villanelle’s bloody rampages in Killing Eve, Cassie Bowden’s hungover detective-work in The Flight Attendant and, arguably, Cersei Lannister’s endless cruelty in Game of Thrones. These women are ruthless, and while we might not be drowning people in baptismal waters a la Villanelle, we relate to their anger and admire their pursuit of revenge.

These complicated characters make a welcome change from the one-dimensional or stereotypical women we’ve seen on screen over the past decades, and the latest vengeful woman to root for is Jenna Coleman as Liv in Prime Video’s gripping new series, Wilderness. 

Out now on Prime Video, Wilderness sees Liv (Jenna Coleman) pushed to breaking point by her husband Will’s (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) infidelity. A road trip around the stunning landscapes of America should be a dream reconciliation - but it’s about to become someone’s living nightmare.

Liv is a character we can root for, relishing her newfound power and control - and we are completely here for it.

No longer just love interests and mothers, women in TV are finally being afforded the meaty, complex, messy roles we need to see. So how did the antiheroine finally get her pedestal?

According to Anna Bogutskaya, film critic and author of Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate, there are a few key reasons.

“Firstly, the prevalence of streamers like Prime Video has created a demand for more original series and more budget across all genres to satisfy this demand,” she tells Stylist.

“You also have actors primarily known for film roles working in TV, like Nicole Kidman, Viola Davis and Cate Blanchett, while others have become staples because of their TV roles, like Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer and Kerry Washington.

“The fan culture around these characters also helps feed the demand.”

Anna notes that there are more female-fronted series than ever before across a range of genres, allowing space for female leads to play a diverse range of roles.

“There’s Annalise Keating in How To Get Away With Murder, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, Villanelle in Killing Eve, Big Little Lies, Good Girls and a very long etcetera,” Anna continues.

The list is ever-growing, and it’s not surprising, with the stats to back it up. In ReFrame’s report on gender in TV, 54% of the season’s top scripted TV series starred a woman in the lead role.

Shows in this study included Daisy Jones and the Six, Bad Sisters, Beef, The Handmaid’s Tale, Obsession and Swarm, all of which featured deceitful, vengeful or self-destructive lead female roles.

So what’s the appeal? For Professor Rachel Moseley, who lectures in Film & Television Studies at the University of Warwick, this more expansive landscape for female actors “demonstrates a more nuanced portrayal of decision-making, ethics and morality”.

Anna agrees, arguing that “antiheroines are characters with agency, flaws, doubts and drives. We talk about them as anti-, but aren’t they just fully-formed women?”

Essentially, we love these characters because they’re doing everything we wish we could do.

They’re loud, demanding, controlling and uncompromising. They take up space and get what they want without apologising for it. 

These characters carry out our wildest dreams, and we’re behind them each step of the way.

Take Liv in Wilderness – we’ve all dreamed of taking revenge on a cheating partner, right? Or told a friend in explicit detail exactly what we’d do to their scumbag ex?

As writer, creator and executive producer Marnie Dickens previously shared: “Who doesn’t know someone who’s been cheated on?

“That gut-punch on discovery, the trail of paranoia and suspicion it leaves behind, the difficulty of trusting again. It’s enough to tip anyone over the edge.

“And that’s where we meet our heroine, Liv, as she’s lied to over and over by the man she loves. Of course, she wants revenge, and I, for one, hope she gets it.”

What’s next for leading ladies? We definitely have a long way to go before all female characters are afforded the same complexity and nuance as their male counterparts. But the rise in female screenwriters and showrunners, as well as fan demand, is pushing things in the right direction.

For as long as women are treated badly, we’ll relate to and support them lashing out – just on TV, of course.

Looking for your next twisted antiheroine to root for? Stream Wilderness on Prime Video - out now - and watch Liv and Will’s ‘perfect’ marriage unravel as she plots her ultimate revenge. 

Illustrations: Carmela Caldart