Like Mother Like Daughter
I never noticed this before, but it's interesting how in a way, Joyce and Chloe both found different people who helped them move on from the people they loved and lost. Joyce lost William, and Chloe in turn lost both William and Max. William and Max were part of a happy life, an era where while things were not exactly perfect, they were still memorable and good. So good in fact, when William died and Max had to leave for Seattle, Joyce almost immediately began dating another man while Chloe was spiraling into self destruction. Going into dangerous places and associating herself or getting into trouble with dangerous people.
Chloe, for the life of her, could not understand how or why Joyce would practically run into the arms of another man when her own father's funeral wasn't that long ago. How she could betray William, a good man, like that over David who is a total stranger.
Which makes so much sense as to why Chloe never made that comparison with Rachel, a total stranger at the time became who Chloe fell head over heels for. To Chloe, at least she had reasons. Max abandoned her (granted Max was 13 and had no control over the situation and in theory was afraid Chloe was the one moving on without her.), and in addition was not even feeling comfortable in her own household. Rachel gave Chloe reasons to keep going forward in life, she came to her like an angel ascending in to the darkest period in her teenhood.
Chloe never once thought that was probably why Joyce did what she did. For Joyce, it felt like what Chloe felt about William all this time.
"HE CHOOSE TO LEAVE ME!"
Joyce might have been angry at William for dying, as irrational as that sounds. "Why didn't he just took the bus to pick me up? Why couldn't he leave home earlier? How could he do this to me?" This of course does not excuse Joyce for choosing a man over her own child and make excuses for his actions instead of being understanding of what her daughter was going through. But it does show that in some ways, Chloe did get her irrationality and a desperate need to move forward as a coping mechanism from her. With David, he gave Joyce a reason to be happy, and like Rachel to Chloe, he showed her that she could find love in her life again. Unlike Chloe, maybe Joyce saw that comparison too, and was at least grateful that while Chloe was still a delinquent, Rachel was there for at least a distraction.
And it couldn't be just a coincidence that after the anniversary of William's death, that's when Max popped in to Chloe's life and saved her.
