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So many villain origin stories portray this idea of a person who tries incredibly hard to be a good person, who takes every opportunity to be kind and to better themselves, but are ultimately doomed to fail by the narrative. Their environment and their circumstances make it impossible for them to be a good person, and while this is effective from a storytelling point of view it’s not exactly accurate to real life

In real life there is always a point where a bad person makes the decision to do something bad, they make the decision to prioritise themselves, their own power, money or desires over someone else. That’s how real life dictators are made, they are presented with every opportunity to be good, and they purposefully choose to not take it

This makes Snow’s storyline so effective because he is given so many opportunities to do the right thing and yet, at every single turn, he chooses to serve himself instead, exactly like how real dictators are made

Snow, unlike most people we see in the capitol, is in a unique position where he could genuinely have the chance to understand and relate to the people from the districts. He, unlike his classmates, is poor and spends most nights going hungry, he witnessed firsthand the cruelty of the capitol when Clemensia was bitten by the snakes for nothing more than lying about doing her homework, when his sister was forced to sell herself on the streets in order to feed the both of them

Throughout his book, the three people he is closest to are Tigris (who dislikes the hunger games, is a rebel, and a victim of the capitol forced to turn to prostitution), Sejanus (who is originally from district 2, dislikes the capitol and knows he will never be accepted there, and also a rebel) and Lucy Gray (who is a victim of the hunger games, from district 12, and is also treated horribly by the capitol). These are all people who gave him an opportunity to realise the cruelty of the system he was in, a chance to directly confront his prejudices and see that people from the districts are just the same as him, and yet he still refuses to take the chance to change

He is given every opportunity, he’s sent away from the capitol to be a peacekeeper in the districts, he forms personal connections with people from the districts, he helps Sejanus perform funeral rites, and yet at every moral crossroads he comes to he makes the wrong decision. He didn’t have to become a villain, and yet he made the choice to do so anyway, despite every chance he was given

Over the years the opinion of his performance shifted to Hayden being an unfortunate victim of George Lucas' writing and directing, saddled with lines no actor could make work. But even that opinion still largely discounted Hayden's acting ability.

Excerpt of Matt Lanter’s interview from Star Wars Insider

Rather than having an animated character that complimented the live action portrayal, TCW Anakin ended up almost at odds with Prequel Anakin, with plenty of people preferring the more ‘charismatic’ animated version over the ‘whiny’, ‘bratty’ movie version.

While Obi-Wan Kenobi helped show Hayden is and always was a far better Anakin than he got credit for, his part was based in his prequels performance and didn’t give him much chance to expand on his version of the character. He was still very much ‘bratty’ Anakin.

But in episode 5 of Ahsoka, Hayden finally gets to incorporate the "dueling" Anakins of the Prequels and TCW together while adding some all new facets. During his 10 or so minutes of screen time we get the full spectrum of who Anakin Skywalker is: he’s a wise force spirit with a smartass streak like his masters before him, he’s a cool, confident, loyalty-inspiring war-time general, he’s a reluctant but caring mentor (with a side of lovingly jerky big brother) to teen Ahsoka, he’s a conflicted soul constantly teetering on the edge of the dark side, and when he tips over he’s imposing and frightening and raw.

Hayden cycles through all these sides of Anakin/Vader with ease, often shifting multiple times in a single scene. His acting strengths have always been in his facial expressions and physicality, and you can see exactly what "stage" of Anakin/Vader he's in by looking at his face and posture. In his final scene of the episode, with just his expressions, we watch the fury and rage of Vader morph into the shame and sadness of Anakin, before he seems to release it all and take on a look of peace and balance, the things Jedi are always striving for but that Anakin could never achieve when he was alive. He finishes off with a soft prideful smile that his padawan has passed this final lesson, a look that feels somewhat more TCW Ani than Prequels Ani, but also feels like a whole new side we haven’t seen.

#THE RETURN OF THE KING

Billy not wanting to leave the trailer but hearing/seeing what happened to Chrissy because he was smoking out his window so of course he tries to help them clear Eddie's name. Billy making snarky comments and getting humbled but pulling "I almost died for you shit heads" so they all shut up. Billy who goes to dive into the lake before they all stop him and he begrudgingly let's Steve jump in instead but not before they have a back and forth about who's the best swimmer. Billy who is closer with Max but is being targeted by Vecna for his guilt of all the MF victims so he isn't fully there yet.

Billy who acts like everything is fine and he's so over it all but he's actually guilt ridden, miserable and terrified. Billy who isn't healed physically or mentally but he's getting there. Billy who has to earn his trust and forgiveness for what he did and does it of his own free will. Billy who apologises to Steve while they're exploring the Creel House. Billy who apologises to Lucas while in the RV. Billy who has a moment with Max before he gets used as bait.

Give me Neil hunting him down in the Creel house instead of Billy chasing Max. Give me a horde of victims marching towards him in the parking lot of the Mall where he goes to try and process his grief and trauma. Give me Max putting music on because she knows exactly what song he would need to hear. You could even keep Kate Bush it still works.

Dacre would have ate this shit right up and shat out an Emmy.

He doesn't respect the boundaries of others but expects others to respect and uphold his boundaries.

The example: he yells at Billy to open his bedroom door, as opposed to Susan who just prior had knocked. Both want to talk to him, but only one respects that Billy shut his bedroom door for privacy. Example 2: He walks straight into Billy's room uninvited while Susan stays in the hall. Example 3: while speaking with Billy, Neil becomes surprised and quickly angered that Billy raised his voice. One could argue that this is a matter of manners, how one raises children etc about not raising your voice to your parents. However the main point is that thus far Neil has ignored at least three separate boundaries of Billy's and the moment Billy treads on a single boundary that Neil has... He becomes angry.

Another example Neil was late to return home, but when Billy points that out, it is considered crossing a line. Billy is the one that is flawed. But he is not allowed to point out flaws in Neil.

Neil has a sense of entitlement.

Again with the example of not feeling the need to knock at Billy's door and instead yelling and demanding he open it. So what if Neil believes I paid for the house I own it, I own the door, etc etc. Neil operates with a belief system that if he yells at Billy, Billy will open the door. If he tells Billy to "watch his sister" he'll do it. And so on. And when these high and mighty expectations aren't met. Neil takes them like a personal affront. That Billy's hurting him, making him angry, or possibly disobeying him on purpose.

Neil believes that Billy owes him his loyalty, and that as a son he should be dutiful and ask no questions. Neil believes that he is owed a lot from Billy... He demands that Billy apologize even though Susan says it's unnecessary. The apology truly isn't for her it's for Neil and what he believes he's owed.

Neil uses coercive language.

When Neil has Billy pinned to the wall he uses "we" statements. "What did we talked about?" As if to suggest that this topic is something that was mutually agreed upon rather than just told and yet again expected of Billy.

He then uses more pressured coercive language with an unspoken threat attached. That Billy will sacrifice his date night because he's instead going to prove what a good loving brother he is, "isn't that right Billy?"

Neil uses multiple forms of intimidation.

He mainly uses physical intimidation, entering Billy's room immediately. Using closed off or standoffish body language. He already doesn't believe what Billy is going to say no matter what it is. When Billy eventually does something that Neil finds worthy of biting onto and becoming fully aggressive with he then relies on full eye contact. It's like he hardly blinks compared to Billy and that he's trying to burn holes into him.

When Neil pulls away and it seems like the threat is dwindling Neil turns back and again leans into direct eye contact. He also becomes more tense locking his jaw.