oh my god WAIT! i had a thought.... okay so obviously there is a lot of similarities between barb and lucy -- characteristically -- such as their strong convictions, intelligence, self-confidence, and (as we are later proven wrong about in barb's case) their goodness.
and so maybe that is why cooper is SO insistent and sure that lucy will turn out to not be a good person. because he's been here before. a beautiful woman, smart and assured -- and the sort of kind that is almost too good to be true.
"i know you always try to do the right thing. that's what i love about you."
AND HE WAS WRONG. cooper was wrong about barb, and burned in the most horrific way possible. and he's scarred for it. physically. emotionally.
and then fucking lucy maclean comes along with her "conflict de-escalation" and "golden rule" and she's this ray of sunshine and goodness and decency and cooper is taken back. she's this piece of pre-war "purity" that he was disillusioned to because of barb's betrayal.
"disillusioned" because, well, that goodness NeVeR eXiStEd. and he wants to make lucy fucking pay for MASQUERADING. for being a LIAR.
he's so certain she's the same as barb.
he knows it.
but, he doesn't. he doesn't know jackshit about it. about lucy.
lucy is good. she is kind. and yes, she's strong and determined and will therefore be able to adapt to the wasteland. but at her core being she is the light.
lucy means "the light bringer", and i believe that she will bring the light back into cooper. she will heal the wounds of the past, of his wife's betrayal, by proving that there is goodness in the world -- by being the goodness herself.
