Could we reflect on our opinions a bit longer?
First of all, I think this show intentionally manipulates the audience into cycles of blame. Early on, it nudges viewers toward condemning Jason Bateman’s character. Later, it redirects suspicion and resentment toward Linda Cardellini. Eventually, the story becomes less about “who is right” and more about how damaged, lonely, ego-driven, and emotionally trapped people collide with each other.
That’s why I find some of the discourse around it deeply disappointing.
To be blunt: I think we’ve become increasingly uncomfortable extending genuine empathy toward masculine suffering unless it arrives perfectly articulated, emotionally mature, and non-threatening. Male loneliness, insecurity, resentment, confusion, emotional suppression, sexual frustration, fear of inadequacy — these are often interpreted first as moral failures or latent dangers rather than human experiences worthy of understanding.
That doesn’t excuse destructive behavior. It doesn’t erase misogyny. It doesn’t make women responsible for male pain. But if every portrayal of flawed masculinity is immediately flattened into “misogynist,” I think we lose the ability to ask the more difficult question: what produced this person emotionally, relationally, culturally?
And ironically, I think the show is trying to ask exactly that question about everyone involved.
The tragedy here isn’t “men bad” or “women bad.” It’s that modern people increasingly encounter one another through defensive frameworks before they encounter each other as human beings.
Masculine and feminine wounds are not identical, but they are deeply entangled. We are shaping each other constantly, often unconsciously, and then acting shocked by the outcomes. I’m not asking people to abandon criticism. I’m asking for a deeper layer beneath it.
This part of Reddit saddens me and betrays us.