WHY WE LOVE BAD PEOPLE — AND THE DANGEROUS REASONS WE EXCUSE THEM

Send us Fan Mail Why do we keep rooting for people who do terrible things? From Tony Soprano and Walter White to Dexter Morgan, Billy Butcher and Daemon Targaryen, television has become extraordinarily good at making us understand morally compromised characters. We know their trauma. We understand their motivations. We see their vulnerabilities. And somehow, the better we understand them, the easier it becomes to forgive them. But when does understanding become justification? In this nearly h...