mimi

For example, with Santos, she challenges him, he challenges her back; she’s suspicious of him, he becomes guarded around her. He responds with the same energy back.

With Robby, this tendency manifests completely different. Robby put Langdon in the position of his protégé, so Langdon responded by giving him all he could and more, loyalty, admiration, friendship. He wanted to give back as much as possible because he wanted to remain worthy of the place Robby had given him while also trying to keep his approval. But after rehab, when he was met with Robby’s coldness, he eventually started returning that energy too. He tried to make amends, sure, but once he understood that forgiveness wasn’t coming anytime soon, something shifted. He stopped reaching and started avoiding him instead.

That’s why his relationship with Mel feels so different to me. Santos brings out his defensiveness and competitiveness. Robby brings out his need for approval. But with Mel, she simply meets him with kindness, solidarity, understanding, and support, while he seems genuinely in awe and almost in disbelief of the person she is. So he doesn’t seem to be consciously trying to become a different person around her. If anything, it feels like Mel gives him a space where he doesn’t quite know what role he’s supposed to play or how to respond to it and because of that, we get to see reactions from him that feel incredibly genuine and instinctive. He watches her. He adjusts to her. He softens around her. It feels like she completely disarms him, because she treats him as though he is already worthy of her kindness, contrary to always being used to prove and show that he deserves it first.