Over the past couple weeks, my wife and I have been binge-watching the TV show, The Blacklist. For those unfamiliar with the show, the star, “Raymond Reddington”, is one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals. He turns himself in, strikes a deal with the FBI to provide them with intel on taking down the worst criminals in the world who operate in the shadows–these are people the FBI doesn’t even know exist. He’s a ruthless criminal and no matter how much he helps the FBI, he’s always, in some way, serving his own interests.

Reddington is an antihero. He’s 99% bad-guy 1% good guy. I started going down the rabbit-hole and wondered, how many other shows have antiheroes? Well, a few instantly came to mind:

Vic Mackie (The Shield)
Mackie was the quintessential tough-guy cop. He’s abrupt, abrasive and rarely kind. His methods of policing are far from orthodox. He literally makes deals with drug dealers to divide and define territory, all while taking a cut off the top. But you can’t hate him for it, he makes sure the drug-dealers never deal to kids. When interrogating a pedophile, he beats the literal hell out of him, but, he gets the address where a trafficked child is kept. Perhaps the best description of his character, comes from the character himself: “Good cop and bad cop have left for the day. I’m a different kind of cop”. No matter what he does, no matter how out of bounds he gets, you always find yourself hoping he doesn’t get caught, or, in some strange way, cheering for him.

Dexter Morgan (Dexter)
In a quick turn into the macabre, we find Dexter Morgan. A serial killer, who only kills, well, killers. Sounds righteous, doesn’t it? Of course it does. Morgan is a top forensics expert for the Miami police department. He works through cases and will flub the evidence to get the murderer off, only to kill them. Why does he do this? In the system, the criminal would’ve gotten off with a less than just punishment. Dexter, acting as judge, jury, and executioner knows, the only worth punishment for the killer is death. Morgan’s MO is to capture the killer, shrink wrap them to a table, expose their crimes and have them confess. After they confess, he murders them. A killer is removed from our world “justly” by another kiler…makes sense, right? Yet again, like Mackie, we find ourselves on the edge of our seats, hoping he doesn’t get caught.

Raymond Reddington (The Blacklist)
James Spader stars as a former US Military intelligence officer, turned traitor/criminal making a fortune in the darkest of the dark, criminal underbelly of the world. He is the most elusive criminal in the world, who just so happens to turn himself into the FBI to help them catch the worst of the worst. Why? It’s all to serve his own interests. Assists the FBI in taking down a Japanese crime syndicate, but only because he’s able to get something out of it. Every bad-guy he helps the FBI take down, is another opportunity for Reddington to get something for himself; information, money, power, territory, etc. The natural persona of his character is that of the charming, but ruthless villain. Butting up against that in every episode, is this tiny glimpse into what appears to be a tender-hearted man, who’s lost his way. Granted, it’s an extremely brief glimpse, yet, you want to give him a hug and hear him out. How does he do it? Why do we, even with Reddington, root for the bad guy?!

The Entire Main Cast (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
The show is as crass as it is funny. Without a doubt, one of the most, off the wall shows ever made. Every character in this show is downright awful. There is nothing redeeming about any of them! Every situation and antic is depraved. It’s Always Sunny is the theme-show of depravity! In this show, you never cheer for anyone because no one ever wins, you simply watch and laugh at the misery. What is wrong with us?!

We really have fallen for the bad guys haven’t we? No longer are the TV shows we watch filled with the crystal-clear dichotomy of Good vs. Evil. There is the sort of good, good-guy, and the sort of good, bad-guy. All we have now, is this muddy middle-ground where any character can break bad. If that wasn’t bad enough, there is almost always a character that is the over the top boy scout. His morality is jammed down your throat and he/she is usually the least compelling character of the show; often times, you abhor the character. Do we despise goodness so much in our own hearts that we long to hate the good-guy, or is that we know in our heart of hearts, that we’re maybe a little more bad, than good and identify with the antihero that shares that; albeit a more lopsided proportion (I hope)?

Why have we given up on the Charles Ingalls’, Ward Cleavers, and Danny Tanners (why are all of the good guys from television that I remember Dads?), of television? Are they too boring? Do we despise their good and upright nature? Or could it be we really don’t identify with them anymore? The moral altruism they once presented is lost. Our culture no longer demands a moral premium from anyone and we certainly have no reminder to watch on our TV sets. Could this be what happens when a culture drifts far from morality to embrace a fascination with evil? I think these are important things to ponder as we sit with our families to be entertained. When we objectively look at the programming in front of us and compare it to our own values, where does it line up?

I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts, which is why I’ve ended this article with questions. Is our love of the antihero harmless, or does it give us shocking insight into our own values?