I find it incredibly funny how the implications that come with Ira being an Earl gets thrown out of the window in order to make it seem like he does not like Wesley as a future son-in-law yet is unable to cancel the engagement. Like that man could have very easily sent Wesley on his merry way and still have found a suitable suitor for Annabel Lee without the whole chess farce.
I'm not going to anguish over this writing decision but I can't lie, I really liked the idea of Annabel Lee coming up with this clever way to avoid marriage and it being Ira to finally put a deadline on it out of a desire to get things done and over with as it was taking too long and was no longer a fun parlour trick, because in societies eyes a woman smartly trying to avoid the trap of marriage in a way that won't cause socially ostracisation/being institutionalised is nothing but an entertaining trick. To be honest I feel like this comic is going in a direction I dislike where Annabel Lee has little to no agency in her decisions (and I don't mean the whole societal issues taking away her agency, more so the ability for her to navigate within them to bend things in her own favour as seen in previous chapters.).
I'm also disappointed with how in the recent few eps she's become this accessory to Lenore and whenever Lenore makes decisions that would deeply upset Annabel Lee due to the recklessness involved/use crude language, instead of Annabel Lee showing even a modicum of discomfort she is instead blushing over Lenore or showing irritation in this (for lack of a better word right now) docile manner. Am I really supposed to find it incredibly romantic that while Lenore in an effort to fit in uses incredibly derogatory language (in a way that if anything outs her as an imposter due to the fact she is being a disrespectful host rather than just successfully masking as a gentleman) comparing Annabel Lee to a sex worker (this is not a diss at sex workers, more so making a point of how poorly they are seen by high society and how they are being used with the intention of mocking and bodyshaming Annabel Lee) whilst Annabel Lee is blushing at the suggestion of marrying Lenore because she cannot hear what Lenore is saying about her?!?
I understand that this story is mostly from Lenore's perspective, not Annabel Lee's. But even when it was mostly focused through Lenore in s1 (hell even the stag arc which I ended up loathing due to a bunch of setup that never really seemed to pay off because this comic has a habit of setting up things just to smooth over conflict when the fuse sparks) I never really felt this way. It honestly surprised me how delighted I was for the small crumbs provided of Annabel's life outside of Lenore this recent ep because this is something I hadn't felt was provided in an incredibly long time.
Unfortunately for me I am still hooked, so I will be tuning in next week. I'm looking forward to returning to the rest of the cast, these back to back flashbacks have been tiring as someone who is a Lennabel fan second, incredibly invested fan of these characters as individuals first.
