Guilty Party: The 10 Most Likable Characters, Ranked

Content Warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault

Guilty Party on Paramount+ tries to execute a murder mystery in which the core cast of characters is inherently unlikeable and flawed. Sometimes, this can work to a show’s benefit; people can relate more to humanized characters that make mistakes and have weaknesses.

However, with this tactic, there have to be some redeeming qualities to the characters, or else a show runs the risk of having protagonists that audiences are unable or unwilling to root for. That’s the problem that Guilty Party has encountered. Thankfully, there are some characters that are less unlikeable than others.

10 Beth Burgess

The lead character of the entire series, Beth Burgess, is the least likable person to watch on the show. For comparison, Chucky manages to be the most likable on his show, and he’s a murderous doll. Everything other characters call out Beth for is right on the money–from her immaturity to her work ethic.

She’s a very unprofessional journalist, and audiences are supposed to believe that she won an award for her work. She finally gets an opportunity to fix her reputation, and she travels to the prison to see Toni without doing a shred of research on her case. Even worse, she constantly lies about being underprepared, as well as everything else. It’s as if she’s allergic to integrity. The cherry on top is that the “BS claim” of her doctoring a quote–that she adamantly denies every episode–ends up being completely true.

9 Marco

As far as marriage between two very unlikable characters goes, Beth and Marco are soulmates. Marco is reminiscent of the red-flag-bearing movie boyfriend Nate, from The Devil Wears Prada. Just like Nate, Marco seems unable to support Beth’s ambitions and constantly makes her job a problem for their marriage. He repeatedly tries to get her to give up, going as far as to tell their friends they’re moving away without even asking Beth.

Disgustingly, there are numerous times Marco tries to pressure Beth into having sex, which is tantamount to rape by coercion and is very uncomfortable to watch. Furthermore, after agreeing to not have children and even getting a vasectomy, Marco suddenly changes his mind and wants Beth to immediately be on board. It’s entirely unfair to her, considering they had discussed the matter and already made a decision previously.

8 Amber

Amber is a crude caricature of what other generations think millennials and Gen Z adults are like. She is a social justice warrior taken to a satirical extreme while also representing the “boss who doesn’t want any articles of substance,” when, in reality, she’s right to do so–many of Beth’s suggestions make no sense for their brand of pop culture-centric news.

While Amber can be a bit frustrating to listen to, she makes a lot of correct observations about Beth. She points out that Beth is more concerned with her “white saviorism” and career than actually helping Toni, and she calls out Beth when she lies about her knowledge of pop culture topics. Her general attitude may be a bit cringy to watch, but she’s one of the more level-headed characters.

7 Charles “Tuna” Billingham

Interestingly enough, the literal serial murderer of the show is much more tolerable than the lead characters. Though he may be running an illegal weapons operation, Tuna is cool and collected during his time on the show. Beth could also learn a thing or two from his professionalism; he takes everything very seriously and has great attention to detail.

Tuna is also just a good villain. He has a similar energy to Darlene Snell, one of the most powerful characters on Ozark. He’s compelling to watch and talks with a relaxed confidence that’s intimidating. Even when he’s in prison, he commands every conversation and his threats are believable.

6 Patty

Patty has got some insatiable jealousy, but it seems like her heart is in the right place. Although, she does make some hurtful comments to Toni about her prospects and Beth’s intentions. Nevertheless, Patty’s affection for Toni appears to be genuine, and she helps her get a lot of the amenities she needs by donating to her commissary and even smuggling her in a cell phone by paying off a guard.

When Patty tracks down Beth using her cell phone number, it’s honestly impressive. Though she pulls on Beth’s hair a bit, she doesn’t cause her any bodily harm and just gives Beth a bizarre threat to leave Toni alone–mostly fueled by her belief that Beth and Toni are secretly seeing each other.

5 Fiona

Fiona starts off being one of the more likable characters on the show. She’s friendly to Beth, has good article ideas, and helps Beth out with her story. Later on, she even comes to Beth’s aid when she’s at Tuna’s party and is surprisingly witty and charming when she’s trying to get information.

At the party, Fiona shows off some pretty impressive butt-kicking in the form of self-defense, but that’s also where her character starts to go downhill. Even though Fiona came to the party willingly and was invested in the mission, she blames Beth for the risk to her life and mental health and essentially has her fired. She also does an interview with Beth’s enemy, Tessa, about the entire ordeal.

4 Wyatt

Wyatt is not necessarily a good person–but he is likable. With his mullet and funny naive nature, all of his scenes are entertaining. He’s not the brightest bulb in the pack, but he loves his komodo dragon and has a joking–albeit, unstable–friendship with George.

Although Wyatt isn’t smart enough to even realize that Beth and her alter ego, Vivian, aren’t the same person, he’s a good listener and does whatever Tuna tells him to do. He may not be as tough as the ruthless henchmen of Narcos, but he tries his best. He was also obviously heartbroken at the loss of his brother and still carries a lot of the hurt with him.

3 Toni

Fans’ hearts break for Toni. She’s a wrongfully accused woman serving a 92-year prison sentence for a crime that she didn’t commit. She’s also very smart, even if she had a rambunctious, troublemaking past. She was smart enough to write ego-boosting letters to several journalists in the hope that one would land on listening ears.

Now, Toni is seemingly taking advantage of Patty, although that still hasn’t been said verbatim. However, her interest in Patty definitely leans more superficial, as she regularly mentions things that she needs from Patty as well as monetary concerns. Overall, though, Toni is just an innocent woman and mother who’s trying to be reunited with her daughter.

2 Allegra

Allegra was one of Toni’s old friends. Even though she admitted that she’s never visited Toni and didn’t even go to the trial, she still obviously has a lot of love for her. She’s also the only one of Toni’s friends who’s kind to Beth when she comes asking questions about everything that happened.

When Beth needed details, Allegra thought of everything she could and even helped Beth get closer to Chevonne by inviting her out with all the girls. Allegra and Toni were neither the best nor the worst TV series BFFs, but somewhere in a middle ground. She seemed to truly believe in getting justice for Toni.

1 George

George is, by far, the most likable character on the show. He’s complex in a way that better represents what Guilty Party tried to do with Beth. He is flawed, yes, and is a part of a criminal syndicate in addition to having a violent secret. The thing that redeems him is his personality.

Viewers can tell that George is trapped in his shady business and doesn’t want to do it anymore. He expresses a dream of rafting downriver, adventuring through nature. He also has a boyish crush on Beth and wants her to like him. These things help make him a more complete character.

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