Five characters on Netflix who will make you feel less bad about your day
Had a bad day? Don’t worry! We’ve all been there – spilt coffee, missed deadlines, and whatnot. But guess what? Somewhere in the chaotic corners of Netflix, a bunch of fictional folks are absolutely flopping at life in ways that will make your bad day look like a gentle breeze.
They’re not just having a bad day; they’re stuck in a permanent paradox of Mondays. No matter how much they plan, the universe always has other plans. Every step forward is three pratfalls back. And weirdly enough, watching them fumble and emotionally tumble can be awkwardly comforting.
In case you thought your two-hour traffic jam was the worst thing ever, watching them can be ridiculously satisfying. Sure, it’s a little morally iffy to feel better while someone else spirals. But misery loves company, and Netflix has found the ultimate support group party.
So, if you’re convinced today couldn’t possibly get worse, let these five characters prove you wrong. Grab a popcorn, get comfy, and prepare to greet the unintentional champions of epic bad days.
Five characters on Netflix who will make you feel less bad about your day
Janiyah Wilkinson from Straw
There comes one of those days when nothing goes right. And Straw throws light on that very day. Janiyah Wilkinson is a character who’s constantly under stress. Her daughter is sick, she faces eviction, her car gets impounded, her paycheck is withheld – all within a day. But the struggles are not even at the surface level. It’s deeply personal. She confronts racial profiling and bureaucratic indifference. And the worst? She even has to endure workplace mistreatment while her daughter is taken away.
Although she still tries to keep going for the sake of her daughter, Janiyah eventually comes to learn that she had died overnight. It’s literally that day when everything culminates into one full breakdown – the last straw.
Jessica Jones from Jessica Jones
Have you seen a mess in flesh? That’s Jessica Jones for you. Having suffered insurmountable trauma and torture at the hands of Kilgrave, she constantly struggles with severe PTSD. Although she is a Marvel Cinematic Universe character and a PI with superpowers, her job only adds to her misery. She always finds herself involved in cases that put her knee-deep in others’ trauma while sinking in her own.
Her coping mechanism is drinking. And that too, not the partying kind. She numbs her pain with alcohol, and still, the next day is just as miserable as the day before. She’s far different from traditional superheroes and wants nothing to do with the spotlight. She doesn’t have a catch-phrase or a gang of Avengers to back her up. In fact, she sees the powers as part of her problem.
So, if you thought superpowers could end your bad day, take lessons from Jessica. She knows that even with superpowers, she cannot save everyone, or herself, since she’s part of a society and a legal system that often fails the victims.
BoJack from BoJack Horseman
If there’s a common thread between BoJack and Jessica, it’s that they’re both very self-aware. BoJack drinks, isolates himself, ruins relationships, and stays at an arm’s length when it comes to accountability. Even when it dawns that he should change, he gives up too fast. But that’s not a habit; it’s a common repercussion of depression. His days are constantly and consistently terrible, and it has a lot to do with his past and family trauma.
Although he’s rich and famous, he’s emotionally hollow. He doubts himself, he pushes everyone away, but most importantly, he often believes he’s irredeemable. BoJack believes he deserves it since he hasn’t done enough to break the cycle of tragedy, making every day worse than the last.
Will Byers from Stranger Things
If there’s a punching bag in Stranger Things, it’s most likely to be Will Byers. From the show’s inception, bad days have been mounting like a Jenga stack that’s unbreakable. First, he disappears into the Upside Down, spends the entire season hiding, and is even declared dead. When he does come back, he returns possessed by the Mind Flayer.
While the otherworldly tensions flare up, so does his personal turmoil. With his friends obsessed with girls and growing up, Will spends an entire season feeling left out. And just when he thought this couldn’t get worse, his Spidey senses for the Upside Down and later Vecna started kicking in. Poor guy cannot even catch a break!
Fiona Gallagher from Shameless
Have you ever met a person and thought she belongs in the disaster museum? Well, meet Fiona Gallagher because, regardless of what your benchmark is for a bad day, she’s always having it worse. Fiona from Shameless is a deeply flawed character carrying an overwhelming amount of responsibility. She’s had to grow up too fast. She’s had to start working to support her dysfunctional family. She’s constantly facing financial struggles.
But each and every time she tries to get her act straight, she ends up making impulsive choices. From trusting the wrong people to cheating on partners and making disastrous business moves, she always falls into the Gallagher pattern of chaos. That too, without a miss. While Shameless thrives on dysfunction and poor choices, Fiona still takes the cake, always in survival mode.
