If you want to watch a sad story that gives you a glimpse as to how messed up some people can be in this world, look no further than A Friend of the Family on Peacock.
The show tells the insane true story about the Broberg family and their association with a family friend named Robert, nicknamed "B." Bob and Mary have three daughters, including Jan, who, despite her young age, catches the eye of B, a fully grown adult with a family of his own. But the creepiness only begins here.
Bob and Jan have their moment alone (again, Jan is just a child at this point), and Bob pulls a number on her that would affect her for the rest of her life. Bob comes up with a plot using the radio and pretends that aliens are talking to Jan through the radio, informing her of a massive plan of destiny that she was chosen for, which involves B impregnating her. B thoroughly convinces this poor young girl that all of this alien stuff is real, to the point that she feels compelled to keep it a secret. B even uses this façade as a way to manipulate Jan to not show any more physical affection toward her father whatsoever, which obviously significantly alters the course of their relationship and one of the most tragic bi-products of B's twisted story.
Wait, it gets better. What ensues is the bizarre tale of how B abducts her, runs off to Mexico with her, and tries to marry her (again, Jan is a child at this point). The FBI helps track them down, and Jan is returned to her family, though by this point, B had turned her against her family, enough so that Jan later decides to fly off to another state to stay where B is (he stays with his brother for a while).
B is played by Jake Lacy, whom most people know as Pete in The Office. It's bizarre to see Lacy in such a serious, heavy role instead of playing a dorky office worker, but Lacy nails his performance. He elegantly and effectively emits that charm and influence that is needed to believe such a horrible person could get away with so much manipulation, and he's able to turn a switch and become a mean, self-serving liar when necessary, too.
The story of Jan's abduction clearly is the saddest part of this story, but I somehow found myself more angry about other storylines.
First of all, the entire legal repercussions that B faced were laughable and infuriating. Instead of taking B to court and getting him locked up for what should be, I don't know, forever, B somehow manipulates Bob and Mary. Earlier in the season, B took his smooth-talking charm to a whole other level when he convinced Bob to do a really egregious sexual act in the car. This is how sick and twisted B is. He convinced Bob to commit a homosexual act just so he would have something to hold against him or use to manipulate him later. And that's just what B does. He threatens Bob and says if he takes the case to court, he would have no choice but to reveal their disgusting moment to the public (he's heavily involved in his church). Not only that, but the police and FBI apparently don't have enough goods on B to get him locked up permanently, anyway.
What's worse is, as previously aforementioned, B convinces Jan not to testify anything harmful against B. I was floored that the court system somehow went along with that. It was as if the courts played dumb, even though everyone knew full way that Jan (may I remind you once more that she is a child) obviously was coerced.
The second story that upset me more than even B's abduction involves Mary, Jan's mother. After Jan is returned home from Mexico, Bob clearly knows that having B around is not good for her or the entire family. Sounds reasonable, right? Well, apparently not reasonable enough to Mary. Her handling of B is a total joke. She doesn't support her husband, and despite her efforts to show how much insight she has, she instead proves how easily she can be manipulated and how stupid she can be.
Oh, and one other thing: Mary ends up cheating on Bob with B! Unbelievable!
Watching Jan finally become enlightened years later to B's evildoings was nothing short of emotional and relieving. It's a wonder if someone who was in her position could ever go about life normally ever again, but the show tackles her attempts at reuniting with her family and trying to put the pieces of their family relationships back together again. The revelations her family has after hearing her horror stories really get emotional.
It was a true punch to the gut to see that B went on to manipulate other young girls in the same manner. And while I'm sad that he ended up committing suicide, I'm not sad that someone like him can no longer influence people like that again.