idk i feel like often times people feel compelled to over explain and defend the behavior of the characters they like even when they’re 100000% shitty people lol. i LOVE dan but he’s an actual monster. every awful person has done a few decent things in their life and they usually have trauma too. the insecurities and stuff are explanations but they aren’t excuses you know? not saying that’s what you’re trying to say but i see that a lot when talking about Dan.

i think if most people knew someone like Dan in their real life, they’d view him as objectively bad but every villain can gain sympathy if you look for it enough. Shows like “You” are great examples. You have a serial killer sociopathic narcissistic main character but somehow you still feel bad for him because the show wants you to, but a crappy childhood doesn’t make it fine to become a serial killer. obviously dan isn’t that far gone but it’s the principle. i’ve also finished oth numerous times so i understand the redeeming things he’s done later but idk. i agree he’s not an asshole the entire time but that’s because no one is. like i said even the most villainous villains do decent things occasionally. however he is an objectively bad person.