When you say the creative team didn’t need to state that Adalind was a pawn because some viewers gathered that from Renard’s actions toward Adalind, all that amounts to is your interpretation. There is absolutely nothing in any of that that that indicates in any way, shape or form that Adalind was some kind of pawn. She was never innocently duped into deception by Catherine and Renard. In point of fact, there was no deception. Catherine owed a debt to Renard. Adalind could settle the debt by obtaining the key for Renard. Adalind agreed. It’s as simple as that.
Complications arise when Adalind fails. Catherine yells and slaps her. Renard insults her and tells her she’s useless, an amateur. And so, rather than make it what it is, a failure, fans want to spin this into some kind of intrigue where Adalind was unwittingly manipulated by Catherine and Renard.
I’m not disagreeing with you when you say that being a pawn has nothing to do with being abused, but I never said that. What I am saying is that fans say she was a pawn, (and) abused by Catherine and Renard. I left out the word, ‘and’ to shorten the sentence. I know you’ve read other posts where, not only is it pointed out that there was abuse as Catherine administered the slap, but also left Adalind alone. I also know you’ve read posts where Renard’s abuse consisted of insulting her by calling her just another pretty girl and telling her she was useless. The implication there was is that Adalind was not only manipulated, she was also abused.
You ask the question, why should some of Adalind’s fans be any different for hating Adalind as a villain, and so, want her to be good? My answer is I don’t think they should be different. But I also expect them to be lenient enough to allow for differing opinions. In mine, I found Claire’s acting ability in that department to be less than convincing.
No one can deny that either of these two people have had some very complicated issues that have just become even more complicated. Instead the storyline seems to skip all of the important stepping stones for this to be a believable relationship. I know it’s fine for you, but for me, it wasn’t. The creative team went through a lot of stepping stones to build Adalind into the villain we saw her as for the first four seasons. Claire’s acting supporting that villainy, whether fans hated it or not.
Then, in four-five months, maybe not even that much, all of the sudden Adalind tells Nick she loves him and takes her shirt off to prove she’s willing to sleep with him. Instead of reciprocating, he simply plays the part of male pig and takes what’s offered. I don’t like Nick, so what he does is just par for the course. Adalind, on the other hand, is in a complicated situation that she initiated. She has supposedly changed. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Claire’s acting just didn’t stand up to that change.
The best way to frustrate a cyberbully is to ignore him.