(11-05-2017, 07:15 AM)Robyn Wrote: Henry, you’re referring to an action/event - Adalind went back to work. I’m referring to motivation/aspiration. Did Adalind suddenly go back to work for any reason other than the writers contriving a scenario where Bonaparte would have unfettered access to her? Was there any suggestion that Adalind was beginning to worry that staying with Nick might not be a option? She didn’t remind Nick over breakfast that she was ready to go back to work because it was time she contributed to the budget. She woke Nick up to tell him she forgot to mention her job interview the next day. IIRC, Adalind didn’t offer an explanation for her sudden desire to go back to work and Nick didn’t ask.This show is nothing but a series of shallow contrivance due to the writers' disinterest in writing for the characters themselves because their focus was elsewhere. I feel it's self defeating to hold something/particular arc against the show when that's been the case across the board. It tends to make arguing against particular actions in one season vs a previous season moot because you must argue against the entirety of the show. You may as well pick apart everything that happened to come up with a different end result.
Adalind was compensated while working for the Royals. I don’t really see the point of questioning why she didn’t seek employment while being held hostage by the Royals. I’ve not questioned Nick’s function in the relationship, but rather, Adalind’s immediate compulsion to have a relationship despite his obvious lack of enthusiasm during the last twelve episodes of S5.
I completely agree that Adalind was never independent, working on her own only when necessary. And much of my questioning Adalind’s motivation comes from her being equally dependent in her relationship with Nick, not just financially but overall desperation to establish and maintain the relationship. With all else remaining the same, I would question Adalind’s compulsion and dependency had it been Renard, Meisner, or someone else. But I don’t think my questioning would receive the same rebuttals had the scenario been Adalind/other instead of Nick/Adalind.
Respectfully, Henry, I feel you’re focusing the sanctity of Adalind’s relationship with the ‘central character/hero’. I’m only focusing on Adalind’s evolution, or lack of, regardless of who she’s in a relationship with. That it happen to be Nick doesn’t influence my assessment of Adalind or her need to make the relationship.
I don't have problems with the characters' motivations for what they did throughout the show because I could at least trace the thread from the beginning of the show, whether it's Adalind ending up with Nick instead of Meisner/Sean or Nick being distrustful of Adalind in S5 over a mysterious powerful artifact and yet not worried about his son with the same woman. It's all contrived but it can at least be explained away using the show itself and what's already aired.
As for going back to work, Adalind mentioned it as far back as the fourth episode after she ran into her former colleague. She told Nick that she needed to contribute, and didn't like feeling so helpless, I assume she didn't want to be be completely dependent on him for her livelihood. Sure it wasn't about fearing him kicking her out because at that stage neither was interested in taking Kelly away from the other. They were cohabiting and she wanted to be an equal contributor as well as being a co-parent to their son. For too long Adalind had made the mistake of being too dependent on others like Sean, Erik, Viktor and now there was Nick, on some level she knew she needed to be able to stand on her own two feet and she went back to work, Bonaparte/BC plot aside.
Adalind was hasty in telling Nick she loved him, this is true and has been discussed at length. Nick wasn't clamouring to be in a relationship and honestly neither was Adalind, she was acting out of fear, afraid of not seeing Nick again should his trip to Germany go badly. Nick not telling her he loves her is something I can't hold against him since, it was too soon and he wasn't in the same head space that she was in. He was confident about the trip to Germany and his return so he wasn't thinking about never seeing her or his son ever again. I don't believe he was indifferent to her, he had feelings for her. He tried to assuage her fears, not condescendingly but because he did in fact care about her. He could have easily answered Monroe's question the day after in a definitive negative when he was asked if he was in love with her but he was much more thoughtful than the question warranted.
Things clearly slowed down after his return but I didn't see Adalind compulsively pushing for a relationship beyond the fact that their relationship had turned a page after the had sex. The hesitancy was in fact on both fronts, Nick with his magic sick and Adalind with her powers now returned. They shared a few hugs and even fewer kisses until after Nick found out about the hexenbiest by then they were far too busy to make time for a relationship and Adalind pointed it out that it was due to the both of them. When she called him to bed he readily responded. Whatever Nick's hesitancy towards verbalising his feelings for Adalind, his actions did most of the talking for him. Perhaps Adalind was taking her cues from that about her relationship prospects with Nick.
Regarding Adalind's evolution, I still feel that's due to her seeking a better life for her children. It's not about Nick, it never has been. She could have ended up with Meisner and still gone through the same process, except for the powers suppressed, then returned, since that particular arc was Nick centric when she went to him for protection for her unborn child. However, I don't think Meisner offers Adalind anything better than Nick, in fact he could offer less considering he was much more mission oriented, and after exacting his revenge on the Royals would Adalind feature in his life. Nick at least made room in his life for the woman he once hated, Meisner wasn't so inclined over the woman he was at least mildly attracted to. I won't even mention Sean because we know he cared very little for Adalind, probably the same as Nick but unlike Nick, he wasn't willing to make concessions to make a family with her for his daughter's sake.
I understand your disappointment in Adalind's journey on the show, I probably could have felt the same if everything was as frustratingly one sided as I feel your argument is against her relationship with Nick. It's not just about Adalind and what she's been through to end up where she did, but also about those men and what they did to find themselves where they did.
It's obvious these characters could have been written differently under the same circumstances, giving us a completely different show by the end. There are countless possibilities of where everyone could have ended up but only one was ever written for these set of characters. It could have been written better but it is what it is. If the show ever returns, it will probably be with a fresh batch of characters. Personally, I'd love that only if they explore the grimm/wesen/fairytale mythology that started it all, no more wesen of the week plots cluttering the season unnecessarily.