Episode 68 - Nothing but Red Flags

Mike runs his mouth about why broken men keep getting glamorized, how red flags get mistaken for romance, and the real predators who skate by because they’ve got talent, charm, or a clean-cut image. From Joe Goldberg to Wade Wilson to Justin Tucker, it’s a look at how danger gets ignored, excuses get made, and why the line between fantasy and reality keeps getting blurred.

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Transcript

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Binge-watching "You" while sick

Mike 0:10

All right . So , oh sorry , I've been sick for the past couple of days , as you could probably tell , and I mean like crawled up on the couch hacking up a lung , questioning my life choices , kind of sick . So I figure you know what's a better thing to do while you're down bad with a cold than to binge watch a television show about a guy who makes your red flags just seem like pink suggestions . So if you haven't guessed , I finished the show , you . And just a fair warning if you haven't seen it or if you haven't finished the show yet , then there's going to be some spoilers ahead . Warning if you haven't seen it , or if you haven't finished the show yet , then there's going to be some spoilers ahead . But I watched seasons four and five back to back and , trust me , I need some therapy after that . But I got some thoughts , because you ever watch a show halfway through and you realize , oh , you know what

Why we glamorize broken men

Mike 0:58

. I actually might be the one with the problem here , because somewhere between rooting for joe and wondering why this dude is still getting fan mail , I had a moment of why do we seem to glamorize broken men ? Why is he the villain but also somehow the guy people want to see win . And yeah , I'm still talking about the same Joe Goldberg who's killed more people than Bundy but still had the nerve to monologue about morality while hiding a body Like bro . You can't say that I did this for love when your love language is murder . Because , trust me , as insane as this sounds , I was low-key rooting for Joe in seasons one through three . Not because I condone anything he did . Dude was obviously bats hit , but the way that the show framed his internal monologue and the way that he thought about what he was doing , you just kind of started thinking wait , is this guy kind of morally justified here ? And that's where they kind of get you , because it's not that he's a good guy , it's more that he's a well-explained guy , plus .

Mike 2:04

Also , part of me didn't want him to get caught yet , not because I wanted him to win , but because I knew that if he gets caught then the show is over . So I kept watching , also like how far is this actually gonna go ? Like how far can this dude take this ? And the answer was clearly way too far . Because by the time that we hit seasons four and five , that sympathy window slammed shut . Like I get it Trauma , abandonment , childhood wounds . But my guy started realizing that he was the problem and he still kept going . That's when it flipped for me . You can't be self-aware and still be a menace . And he knew that he was toxic and he knew that he was dangerous and at some point you just want to see the consequences actually catch up to him .

Mike 2:51

It got to a point where I didn't want to see him get away anymore . I wanted to see him suffer , and not in some artsy , self-pitying montage way . I mean , let the man just rot . And this is where the spoiler happens , because he does end up going to jail . But the way that he gets caught is fucking fantastic . I mean it was a crazy ass episode . But it's crazy because at the end he's also getting fan mail while he's in jail , which honestly wasn't really how I wanted the show to end .

Mike 3:20

I kind of wanted the show to end with a little bit more of him in jail and seeing what he was going to go through , seeing what the other inmates might have done to him , like what would have happened if he dropped the soap and Bubba came running around the corner , like give me some insight on that . But also the thing I thought that Joe feared the most was being alone in life , and I could have misinterpreted this with the jail scene , but to me it didn't seem like he was in full solitary . And it's not like I could speak from experience on this , but I don't know if somebody would be receiving letters if they were in full solitary . But instead of watching him rot with his own thoughts , he gets a cute little montage and a wink at the camera . Where's the prison beatdown ? Where's the existential crisis ? Where is the accountability ? But also , for a guy like Joe , you know that he's never going to take accountability because he just thinks that whatever he's doing is right and there's nothing out there that can make him see the consequences of his actions . But yet in the show at the end , he's still getting his fan mail . Now I know what you're thinking . All right , mike , it's just a show . It's Hollywood . Of course Joe Goldberg's gonna get fan mail . It's TV . That wouldn't happen in real life , right

Fan mail to real murderers

Mike 4:36

Wrong ? Have you heard of Wade Wilson ? No , not Deadpool , I mean an actual dude in Florida .

Mike 4:44

This guy had a Joker smile tattoo and was convicted of murdering two women back in 2019 . And while he was in jail awaiting his trial , this man received almost 4,000 messages . That's right , 4,000 . People were really out here writing letters to a double murderer , like he's on the Bachelor Death Row edition , and it wasn't just thinking of you letters . Authorities actually flagged over 160 photos for being explicit . So yeah , 160 women sent in nudes to a guy who strangled two women and ran one over with his car .

Mike 5:24

But go ahead , let's keep romanticizing serial killers as long as they've got good bone structure and a troubled past right . And it goes back to this idea of let's just stop glamorizing broken men , because it's hilarious to me that women are afraid of men . Remember that whole social media trend of would you rather be stuck on a trail with a bear or a man ? And a lot of women chose the bear . But then they're also sliding into the DMs of murderers . Like , make it make sense , I don't care how bad your ex was , you don't need to rebound with someone who actually has blood on their hands . And I get it .

Mike 6:01

Some women watch true crime to feel prepared like they're studying red flags . But if you're studying red flags while simultaneously thirsting over dudes who literally collect them like Pokemon cards , we gotta talk . And I think part of this stems from this idea that women can fix men Like he's not a threat , he's just misunderstood . No , Brenda , he's a serial killer . He's not a Build-A-Bear , just like those talking hearts that say I love you , the battery's going to run out eventually . You can't love the stabbing out of someone , but you can lovingly get stabbed by someone , ayo . But then sometimes the stabbing is just so good and that's why we stay with the men who are wrong for us . But hey , you know , on the flip side , when it comes to men dating toxic women , you know what they say grippy socks equal grippy box . Am I right , fellas ?

Mike 6:56

Sorry , let's get back on track here , but you know , psychologists have even come out and said that finding comfort in true crime is a red flag in itself . But we ignore that because the packaging is pretty , ted Bundy , pretty boy . Joel goldberg looks like he listens to . John mara writes poetry in his notes app , but that doesn't change the fact that he's got a higher body count than that douchebag frat boy that can't get enough Creed . But speaking of red flags , have you seen the stuff going on with Anthony Edwards

Anthony Edwards and baby mama drama

Mike 7:26

?

Mike 7:26

If you don't know who he is , he's a basketball player for the Timberwolves , but he just recently had some baby mama drama and he offered to pay the entire child support in a lump sum up front . It was almost like he was pre-ordering his karma and that's either the most toxic or the most financially responsible move I've ever seen . Here's the full amount for 18 years . Now let me go live my life . Bro didn't even want partial custody , he just wanted out . I mean , who needs visitation when you can get Venmo freedom in advance ? Right ?

Mike 8:01

And look , I'm not saying I fully disagree , and I've said it before . It's a woman's body , it's her choice , no matter what . But a man should have some kind of say when it comes to his wallet , and I don't know if this was the case , but especially if the decision was to keep a kid . That wasn't mutual .

Mike 8:20

Now let me clarify something before people start labeling me like I've got a Bugatti and misogyny subscription . I'm not saying men shouldn't take care of their kids . I'm also not saying that we should just ghost responsibility . But what I am saying is let's talk about fairness . If a woman doesn't want the baby and the man does , he has to live with the fact that she gets to make that final decision . That's her legal and bodily right and I'm not contesting that . But then flip it . If she does want the baby and the man doesn't , he has to foot the bill , even if he made it clear that he wasn't on board . And look , I get it . Life isn't always fair . But when the stakes are this high , when it's literal life or long-term financial commitment , shouldn't we at least talk about how one party's choice becomes both parties' burden ? It's not about skipping out , but it's more about having an honest conversation on where consent ends and consequence begins .

Mike 9:25

But also , you don't think this woman knew the kind of man that Anthony Edwards was ? Bro has four kids with four different women and you still went out with him At some point . We gotta stop dating red flags like they're fixer-upper projects , then acting shocked when the roof caves in . You didn't stumble into chaos , you RSVP'd . So yeah , maybe stop dating men with red flags and then acting shocked when the circus shows up at your door . But here's the thing Not every woman chooses the chaos . Sometimes the chaos shows up in cleats and a fucking Ravens jersey .

Justin Tucker's assault allegations

Mike 10:04

Enter Justin Tucker , the GOAT of kickers , the golden boy , the guy you trusted to make a 61 yarder in the snow and now sexual assault allegations . And look , I'll joke all day about the women romanticizing broken men , but this is not that . This isn't someone falling for the wrong guy . This is just a guy abusing power . And the fact that he's a kicker makes it more insane to me . Like you were the quiet one , you were the guy with zero fantasy points until the offense stalled .

Mike 10:40

Let's be real here . Being the best kicker is like being the best waffle house open after midnight . People love you , but it only takes one fuck up for you to be the most hated man in sports . I mean , you miss one field goal and people forget that deshaun watson exists for like three days . And you know there's some asshat out there that's gonna be like , hey , maybe you just needed something to take the edge off the pressure of being a kicker , which , yeah , sure you could maybe argue if it was consensual , and he was consensually cheating on his wife . So no , the dude is just a fucking asshole .

Mike 11:22

And you know what really pisses me off the most about this issue Is the fact that if we learned anything from what the NFL did about Deshaun Watson , they won't do shit about this . Because what did they do with Deshaun ? They gave him an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine . Oh , fucking boo-hoo-hoo , he got an 11-game suspension go fuck yourself . I've said it before , I'm going to say it again the only orange that that motherfucker should be wearing is a fucking jumpsuit . And now the only reason they want to get rid of his ass is because he forgot how to fucking football . It's not even because of all the allegations that he got and the fact that his team doesn't even want to play for him and the fact that the fans literally booed him when he got hurt , when , in retrospect , they should have fucking cheered . So when , hopefully , the Ravens do the right thing and they cut Justin Tucker , we know that there's a rapist roster spot open up on the Browns organization and they're probably gonna pick his ass up , because the Browns do what the Browns do and they collect criminals like they're fucking infinity stones . And you know , I always thought that the Browns was a really stupid name for an NFL football team , but the more that I keep seeing that organization run , it actually makes perfect sense , because they're just pieces of shit . So , yeah , that's my big prediction for the 2025 football season . And look , I get it .

Mike 12:54

Some women really are in danger , the kind of danger that makes that bear meme feel valid as hell . And you hear the stories about Justin Tucker , deshaun Watson and you go yeah , that fear makes sense . But then , on the flip side , you've got women like my ex , who filed a restraining order against me because I happened to bump into her on a hiking trail with my sister , her husband and a friend of mine , and she moved out of my state . No threats , no stalking , just me accidentally sharing oxygen with this person . And the problem with stuff like that is it invalidates the real stories , that it gives people with just enough doubt to dismiss the women who are in danger .

False accusations and real threats

Mike 13:38

So , while my ex was out there playing the victim because I had the audacity to exist near her on a mountain trail , it's the women who had to deal with the Justin and Desaun Cosbys of the world that pay the price , because now people hesitate , they lump everyone together and real victims get thrown in the same box as the performative ones . So congrats . You didn't just throw dirt on my name , you helped dirty the water for everyone else too . And you know , maybe that's what this episode's really about Not just glamorizing broken men , not just calling out monsters , but the messy middle where danger hides in charm , where fake claims blur real ones and where red flags get romanticized because we're too lonely , too entertained or too invested in our own fantasy to call it what it is .

Mike 14:28

I've rooted for Joe Goldberg . I've laughed at true crime memes . I've watched people defend serial killers because they had cheekbones and trauma , but I've also seen what happens when the real threats go unchecked and when people like me get falsely lumped into the same category . So no , I don't have a perfect answer . Just this Monsters don't always wear masks . Sometimes they wear jerseys or cardigans or a smirk that looks romantic until it isn't . Eventually , the red flags wave themselves . The only question is are we still pretending it's a parade , because Wade Wilson strangled two women and got 160 nudes in jail Meanwhile ? I can't even get a text back . So yeah , something's broken and it's not just the men . Anyways , that's all I got .

Mike 15:22

If you like this episode , send it to a friend or your ex or someone currently watching you thinking Joe's kinda hot . And if you're one of Wade Wilson's pen pals , stop Seriously , get some help . Also , follow me on Instagram and TikTok @thelnbe odcast . Or if you've got something to say hate mail , fan mail , unhinged thoughts send it to lnbemedia@ gmail . com . I read everything , even the weird stuff . All right , guys . Thank you so much for listening and have a great week .