Five worst dads in the history of Netflix
Television has never been short of terrible fathers, but Netflix seems to be the best hoarder of them all, as if they are vintage vinyl records. Credit where it’s due, the platform has introduced us to some truly exemplary deadbeat dads over the years, the type that will make your own father look like a candidate for sainthood.
And the near misses are hardly choirboys. Take Ward Cameron from Outer Banks, who weaponises family loyalty whenever it suits him; Fire Lord Ozai is the brand ambassador of tough love, someone who can make love sound like a war crime.
Then there is Stranger Things’ Neil Hargrove, Billy’s father, a man who made life hell for someone who was just a teenage boy. And this responsible gentleman left his wife and daughter behind when he was grief-stricken, only to let them suffer in a trailer park.
What’s funny is they still did not make the final five.
Five worst dads in the history of Netflix
Frank Gallagher – Shameless (2011-2021)
Most definitely the top contender of the worst fathers’ race on Netflix, nay, everything else, Frank Gallagher has a funny idea of fatherhood: disappear when the work starts, then appear when there is something to gain. The Gallagher kids inherit his surname and, more often than not, the bill. Protection? Guidance? Huh, he doesn’t know Jack.
And that is what makes Frank so infuriating to watch. He is not stupid, no, no, far from it. This is one resourceful man; we’ve seen that on multiple occasions. Give him a scam or a loophole, and suddenly the man is a genius. Ask him to actually be a father, though, and watch the excuses come flying. Meanwhile, Fiona is left doing the job he should have been doing all along, while Frank still expects loyalty simply because they share blood.
But a huge chunk of appreciation goes to William H. Macy, who portrayed him so shamelessly that we got used to him. You know what they say: if you hate the character, then that means the actor did a good job.
Mr Wormwood – Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (2022)
Unlike Frank, Mr Wormwood does not need a couple of episodes or seasons to convince you he is a terrible father. Matilda’s intelligence and love of books should make any parent proud, yet Mr Wormwood seems irritated by both. This man wanted a son and hence keeps treating her like she is the problem. Brilliant example there, Dad.
Stephen Graham makes all that bluster funny, which helps, because otherwise you would spend the whole film wanting to launch something at the television. And the shocking part is that a child as young as little Matilda sees straight through him. He mocks anything he does not understand and demands obedience because he is the father.
But he really gets on your nerves when he seems genuinely offended whenever his daughter turns out to be smarter than he is. So when Matilda finally starts beating him at his own game, you are not exactly worried about parental authority because this man had this long coming.
Sir Reginald Hargreeves –The Umbrella Academy (2019-2024)
Sir Reginald Hargreeves is not even the biological father of the Umbrella Academy, which makes it even worse, because he goes out of his way to adopt seven extraordinary children and then spends their childhood treating them like a very expensive experiment he expects to produce results.
The man gives them numbers instead of names, for crying out loud. He trains them like soldiers and decides what each of them is useful for, and when one child does not fit into the system, well, Reginald simply starts rewriting the system around them. Viktor frightens him, so he suppresses his powers and has Allison tamper with his memory. Klaus can speak to the dead, so Reginald locks him in a mausoleum and apparently thinks terror counts as training.
And that is really the thing with Reginald: he chose to become their father but always seems surprised by the part where being a father involves actually caring about the children.
Walter White – Breaking Bad (2008-2013)
Walter White may be one hell of a character on Netflix, but as a father, come on, the man is an absolute disaster. He spends years telling himself that everything he does is for his family and then goes ahead and misses Holly’s birth because he is out delivering meth. At some point, you have to ask how long that excuse is supposed to hold up. By the time Walt Jr finally learns what his father has become, the family Walter claimed he was “protecting” is scared of him, so much for doing it all for them.
Then you get to “Ozymandias” (Season 5, Episode 14), and there is not much left to defend. After the fight with Skyler, Walt takes Holly and drives off with her, which makes all those years of saying he did everything for his family sound ridiculous. Bryan Cranston makes Walter so compelling that you understand why people stayed glued to him, but as a father? Please. He wanted to believe he was protecting his children, and instead they were left dealing with what he became.
Dr Martin Brenner – Stranger Things (2016-2025)
Dr Martin Brenner insisting on being called “Papa” has to be one of the most ironic jokes in Stranger Things, because what part of Eleven’s or seventeen other kids’ childhood actually resembles having a father? He keeps her inside Hawkins Lab as lab rats and treats their powers as something they must produce whenever he asks, especially Eleven. If they refuse, there are consequences, and when they give him what he wants, suddenly Papa can be gentle again. You do not need a psychology degree to see what is happening there.
And what’s appalling is years later, Brenner still cannot quite understand why Eleven might not trust him. When she returns to the Nina Project in season four, he withholds information and keeps making decisions on her behalf because he remains convinced that he knows what she needs better than she does. He wants Eleven to see him as a father, but what he really wants from her is obedience. And Eleven eventually learns that she is allowed to tell Papa no.