Best 2026 Paramount TV Shows for villain quality

#1 MobLand, Season 2
4.8

Frankie is the breakout threat for most reviewers—strange, menacing, funny, and unpredictable—while Kat adds strategic pressure. One major dissent calls Frankie a temporary stopgap whose early menace lacks consequences.

Pros: story quality, entertainment value

Cons: season pacing, visual style

#2 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 4
4.5

Trelane and other antagonistic figures are generally enjoyed, with praise for personality and the way they support the episode’s conflict.

Pros: entertainment value, humor

Cons: genre satisfaction, story quality

#3 The Madison, Season 1
4.0

The season has no conventional antagonist, but one reviewer considered that absence a strength rather than a flaw because the conflict comes from grief and family tension.

Pros: cast chemistry, humor

Cons: story quality, writing quality

#4 Lioness, Season 3
3.8

Villains are uneven. Babat arrives with real menace, but the season sometimes removes threatening figures too quickly or leaves the larger antagonist too abstract to become fully satisfying.

Pros: action quality, main cast performance

Cons: dialogue quality, episode structure

#5 Avatar: Seven Havens
3.5

The mysterious energy creature fascinates one viewer, while others miss a clearly defined, complex antagonist. Early environmental threats do not always carry the same dramatic weight as past villains.

Pros: visual style, suspense

Cons: episode pacing, season pacing

#6 The Varnell Hill Show
2.0

Jonah’s reasons for targeting Varnell remain too vague to make him a convincing long-term adversary.

Pros: guest appearances, acting quality

Cons: humor, fourth-wall narration

#7 Golden Axe
1.7

Death Adder disappoints viewers looking for either real menace or a memorable comic personality. He can feel generic and is sometimes outshone by lesser villains.

Pros: humor, faithfulness to source material

Cons: visual style, tone consistency