On February 16, the toxic friend group of Hulu's Tell Me Lies had one last hurrah. After three seasons, the codependent, self-destructive bunch at Baird College did something they had never done before: They communicated with one another. They were honest. The series finale could have been called Tell Me the Truth. It was a fitting, perfect end to a brilliant sleeper hit of a show that allowed viewers to go back in time and ask, "What if my college years had been super-messed up but also really, really sexy?" Except here's the thing: One character, Pippa, was (mostly) honest the entire series, and for some reason, she's the person people love to hate the most. Even when she wasn't honest, Pippa (Sonia Mena) was good - or tried to be - and yet, everywhere you look on social media, she is deemed "annoying" and the "worst character." And I don't get it. When we met Pippa as an incoming freshman, she was insecure and prone to telling white lies to make herself seem cool. (Who hasn't been there?) She talked about sex the most but (surprise!) unlike Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Macy (Lily McInerny), hadn't actually done it yet. The late-blooming college freshman inside me felt seen by her forced bravado and desire to connect. Sonia Mena Disney/Ian Watson Over three seasons, her self-confidence grew, and while her friends and frenemies acted (at best) amorally and (at worst) immorally, Pippa remained a steadfast safe harbor. That doesn't mean she never hurt anyone, but she never tried to or rationalized her way out of bad behavior. Her two biggest lies were born of shame: first after a sexual assault and then when she realized that she's gay and starts cheating on her boyfriend, Wrigley (Spencer House), who, oh yeah, is also cheating. Wrigley is widely considered the one pure hero of the show and a fan favorite. I also love him. But I love Pippa too. And it bugs me that people are so easy on him and so hard on her. Tell Me Lies' [Spoiler] Defends Controversial Reveal Before Finale Everybody (mostly) agrees about the baddies on the show: Stephen (Jackson White) is a sociopath. Evan (Branden Cook) is entitled and selfish. To Lucy haters, she is a heat-seeking missile perpetually pointed toward anarchy; to those of us who defend her, she is someone in the throes of a mental health crisis. Either way, she's a hard person to have a relationship with. But Pippa? Pippa is none of those things. And when I posted on Threads this morning that Pippa was the best character, responses included: "Did we watch the same show? Or have you not finished it yet?" and "Girl what." One person just sent a GIF of Schitt's Creek's David Rose making that "ew" face he makes. But what about her is so offensive? Catherine Missal and Branden Cook Disney/Ian Watson My hunch is that people dislike Pippa's softness. She is more thoughtful and passive and measured than any of her friends, and I suspect this makes her an easy target. Her girlfriend, Diana (Alicia Crowder), spends a lot of the series acting boldly in her own self-interest, and we cheer her on: She beats Stephen as his own manipulation game, conning him into breaking up with her to break free from his abuse. She is dispassionate about having an abortion when she inconveniently gets pregnant. She is kind to others when they deserve it and not when they don't. So is Pippa, she's just more naked in her needfulness. While Lucy's need manifests in big eyeliner-streaked chaos driven by id, Pippa is quiet. She sits alone in her dorm bleaching her hair. She clings to Wrigley even when she knows they're better off as friends. (And let's not forget that she spent her entire winter break by his side after his brother Drew's death.) Why do people hate her for it? 'Tell Me Lies' Stars Break Silence on [Spoiler]'s Shocking Romance Reveal Showrunner Meghan Oppenheimer has called out the sexism of viewers who equate the cruel-for-sport Machiavellian motives of Stephen with the unintentional havoc Lucy wreaks wherever she goes. I agree with her. And I wonder if some sort of -ism-sexism or racism or homophobia - is to blame for the widespread reaction to Pippa too. She doesn't have Lucy's or Bree's perfect alabaster skin. She is the one gay friend (she only likes girls, she tells Wrigley; we don't know Diana's sexual orientation). We root the hardest for the women of the show when they are getting retribution (as they deserve to), and retribution feels male. It is action, not passivity. Bree (Cat Missal) has an affair with the professor and finally lets herself have Wrigley. (Admittedly, she is also a victim of the professor's, in multiple ways.) Lucy does whatever she feels like whenever she feels it. Pippa thinks things through, and when she's wrong, she apologizes, then tries not to do it again. If I were a Baird student and I had to pick one friend, it would be Pippa (O.K., and maybe Wrigley). Would you really not?