The term Stockholm Syndrome has mainly been used to explain a person developing an emotional attachment to his/her kidnapper, but I think too much emphasis is being directed to the idea that it can’t occur unless there’s been an actual legally defined kidnapping. Nick and Adalind weren’t physically forced or threatened by one another into cohabitation. But their initial union was forced by their need to survive and protect their child from an immediate threat.
While Adalind wasn’t physically forced to remain with Nick once Juliette was no longer a threat, she didn’t have the necessary means to survive without his support and protection. Adalind was dependent on Nick for the barest of necessities, especially if she wanted to keep her son with her. I don’t see Adalind believing that Nick would actually allow her to take Kelly and leave even if she had the means to support them. So although Nick was kind and respectful to Adalind, if she was only with him because she didn’t have the means to change her situation there’s still a sense of being trapped.
Nick was in the same emotional boat. A child with a reviled enemy, forced to choose between taking another child from the woman or creating an environment that kept mother and child together and safe. Nick wasn’t physically forced to do anything, but his compulsion to do the right thing trapped him in a situation he didn’t want to be in. All this on the heels of the violent destruction of the relationship he wanted and the gruesome death of his mother would cause a sense of being trapped.
Nick and Adalind believed the Juliette who wanted to kill them had returned, which spurred them to bond over a shared threat. That hurried fast forward leap progressed the relationship beyond what it was ready for. Without that new and immediate threat, they could have made a gradual transition to a healthy relationship/partnership.
So I’m not suggesting that either was literally and physically held hostage against his/her will, but that both were held hostage by an overwhelming situation.
While Adalind wasn’t physically forced to remain with Nick once Juliette was no longer a threat, she didn’t have the necessary means to survive without his support and protection. Adalind was dependent on Nick for the barest of necessities, especially if she wanted to keep her son with her. I don’t see Adalind believing that Nick would actually allow her to take Kelly and leave even if she had the means to support them. So although Nick was kind and respectful to Adalind, if she was only with him because she didn’t have the means to change her situation there’s still a sense of being trapped.
Nick was in the same emotional boat. A child with a reviled enemy, forced to choose between taking another child from the woman or creating an environment that kept mother and child together and safe. Nick wasn’t physically forced to do anything, but his compulsion to do the right thing trapped him in a situation he didn’t want to be in. All this on the heels of the violent destruction of the relationship he wanted and the gruesome death of his mother would cause a sense of being trapped.
Nick and Adalind believed the Juliette who wanted to kill them had returned, which spurred them to bond over a shared threat. That hurried fast forward leap progressed the relationship beyond what it was ready for. Without that new and immediate threat, they could have made a gradual transition to a healthy relationship/partnership.
So I’m not suggesting that either was literally and physically held hostage against his/her will, but that both were held hostage by an overwhelming situation.
"If my devils are to leave me, I am afraid my angels will take flight as well." Rainer Maria Rilke