3. Lane Pryce, Mad Men

The addition of Lane Pryce to the world of Mad Men saved it from a purely practical standpoint. Without his collusion in creating Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, after all, the ad agency would have been slashed and sold off, its central players scattered to the wind. Lane was also instrumental to keeping the whole ship afloat while everyone else got sozzled and screwed around; as Don Draper, Roger Sterling, and Bert Cooper all admitted, they had no idea “how to do what he does.” But more than just being the guy who kept the lights on, Lane gave the AMC drama new life, becoming one of Mad Men’s most fascinating—and, ultimately, tragic—figures. Jared Harris imbued Lane’s every stiff Britishism with humor and heartbreaking pathos, as his polite desperation to connect (with his colleagues, with his “chocolate bunny,” with Joan, with America) was repeatedly stifled and, finally, strangled out of him. And Lane’s story arc provided many of the series’ most memorable moments, whether it was getting drunk at Gamera with Don, punching Pete in the face, or his heart-rending exit. Though the partners did their best to scrape his name off the door and forget him in its final seasons, the loss of Lane haunted both the agency and the show long after he was gone. [Sean O’Neal]