Hey there, buddy. I hope you're having a good day by the time you read this.
Okay, here's the thing, my brain occasionally chooses to remember little details that come back to haunt me and hit me in the skull like a fucking boomerang. And due to the last chapter of the free pass, I come to leave here the one that has bothered me the most lately for you to suffer with me.
Why on earth would Thaddeus want anyone to talk to Lenore and why would Ira consent to that?
No. Seriously. When Annabel tries to ask about Lenore, Thaddeus even denies having a daughter, why would he want to alleviate Lenore's loneliness by asking a young woman about her own age to visit her for company? On Ira's side, yes, the man wants Thaddeus to like him, but the guy seems like someone pretty obsessed with appearances, why would he want his precious daughter to be related to a potentially dangerous lunatic who is locked in the attic?
That makes me think the fact that they asked Annabel was a lie. But then, how did Annabel find out about Lenore? What were her intentions in wanting to meet her?
I have more. But this one has been eating me alive now that we had another flashback.
Oh, my favorite blog sent me a submission. Yes, buddy, we're suffering together. Have been for a little while, considering how I feel about the topic.
I think about Thaddeus and his actions quite a lot (when I'm reminded of his existence), actually, because he's an enigma. He's my version of a walking paradox.
Let's say he did contact Annabel Lee to be, as she had quoted, "A good influence for his hysterical daughter." He had done so with the knowledge that Annabel Lee was a temporary friend, that Lenore was forever going to be a spinster, and after that?
Nothing. No husband, no friends, no life outside of the Vandernact estate. Just a good, influenced "lady" in a house on her own.
One can only assume that in some sickening way, Thaddeus cared. He cared as much as a misogynistic Victorian man mourning his son, the only heir to the estate and wealth, can possibly be.
I can somewhat back this train of thought up with episode 65: he did seem shocked at the news of his daughter's possible death. That was the face of a man with fear in his heart. Then, after denying that he had a daughter in the first place, he looked...guilty. Truly and utterly guilty. For a moment, I pitied him.
Just for a single moment.
That then begs the question (isn't this a complicated topic?) — why did he then deny Lenore's existence?
Well, I have a theory or two.
1. He was not alone. There were servants in that room, and we all know that Thaddeus had intented to keep Lenore's existence a secret between himself and Annabel Lee.
2. Stay with me on this one, because its held together by bubblegum and a bent paperclip. Are we all aware of the stages of grief? First came the shock. We've seen that on Thaddeus's face. Then, there's denial.
Well, I can see this one. Annabel Lee did say that this was an arrangement made by their fathers — so, what did Ira, a man obsessed with appearances, get in return for his saught-after daughter to chill out with a mad woman?
I'm not sure if this has been noticed, but the Whitlocks are staying in the Vandernact's estate in New York for the social season. That's a pretty big favor.
There's no downside on Ira's side if all goes according to plan. Annabel Lee makes a friend with a girl whose existence is to be kept secret, all while Ira finally finds her a eligible husband in New York.
I suppose neither Thaddeus nor Ira considered the fact that their daughters might be achingly sapphic and fall for each other in the process, subsequently leading Lenore to burn an entire house to the ground for the slim chance of Annabel Lee's hand in marriage.
Isn't this a complicated situation?
