Just when you think Judy (Linda Cardellini) on Dead to Me has found a semblance of happiness with a new love interest, best friend Jen (Christina Applegate) accuses her of getting off on abuse in a nasty tirade. Its the final straw in a long line of Jens micro- to macro-aggressions toward Judy.

Dead to Me, which premiered its second season Friday on Netflix , is the latest project to showcase deep-rooted toxicity in female friendships on screen. It is, of course, not a new trope but has popped up recently between several women and girls in TV dramas and comedies such as Insecure, Selah and the Spades and Mrs. America.

Its easy to suggest that these feuds feed into the male gaze that sees women as joyless, uncontrollably hormonal and unable to get along with each other. But that would ignore the tension that naturally develops in female friendships that doesnt always derive from patriarchal stereotypes.