Marinette's emotional state as of Secret Protocol and Nemesis is so fascinating. I don't think the question "is she doing the right thing with Adrien?" is super interesting; she's not, she's in the wrong, and she canonically knows this and feels bad about it. No, what's really worth watching is why she's stuck in that hole and why she fails to dig herself out of it.
First there's the lying, something Marinette hates that she's also really good at. She's been lying about being Ladybug all her life the entire last school year and she's gotten excellent at it. Making up fibs on the spot, keeping huge parts of her life secret from everyone she knows and loves, this is a skill that must be learned and that she learned well. At this point it's her default mode of being, with thousands of secret protocols to keep the lie going. Lying to Adrien and Alya about one more thing associated with red and black dots seems like just another one on the pile.
And emotionally, she has a long history of training herself to think it's necessary and good to do so. Lying protects Paris, her friends, her parents, Adrien, everyone. Telling the truth is risky; controlling the narrative is not just morally okay, it's her solemn duty. Secret Protocol proved that, as did the complex and almost successful plan in Nemesis.
The lie about Gabriel is different, and she knows it, feels it in her soul, but it still fits neatly into this scheme she developed and spent a lot of time perfecting.
And then on the other side, Marinette has very little to no experience telling the truth. A few people figured out she's Ladybug on their own; a few people she told essentially under duress, with zero plan, when everything else got too much. How do you tell people that you've been lying to them for months? That would be mortifying for all of us but she in particular has no idea.
Lying is her safe space. The default. The thing you do without thinking, the choice that is always correct, because the truth may have consequences. And it's not working here, she knows it's not, but how does she get out? Isn't it scary? She's going to hurt him, herself, everyone, and crucially she can't control any of it once the truth is out.
And of course there's her whole anxiety. It took her forever to admit her crush on Adrien, tell him she loves him, kiss him, because she's an anxious little bean who gets herself worked up to hell and back both over valid things and over absolutely nothing. The same thing that makes her a great superhero keeps ruining her life.
This season more than any before has made sure to point that out, with references to "Marinette moments", Max pointing out that Marinette has a particular way of thinking and so on. Where her behaviour was just cartoonish in season 1, these days it's gently pointed out that those seem to be issues that hurt her. I still genuinely think there's a good chance that we will see an episode end with Marinette in the therapist's office, and when the therapist asks Marinette why she's there, Marinette responds with, "Tikki, spots on".
Anyway, it's so fascinating and heartbreaking to see her here, trapped by her own choices, her own preconceived notions and her own mind.
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