1x08 Bear Hunt

People are saying it's her fault, but this is what domestic abuse is like. Like many victims of DA she went back because she has unequal power in the relationship for example he made her ask for money by telling her to quit, controlled where she went by bringing the car back, almost was able to control who she talked to through only using his phone and all his decisions were final and not discussed at all. He constantly manipulated her by begging her to come back and constantly brought up his issues and how he "has gotten better" - appealing to sympathy.

You can't just say emotionally abusing her is her fault because she didn't "give back," that's victim blaming. Nothing victims do will stop the abuse, only abusers can stop it through therapy and all Sean did was go to AA meetings, which are good, but don't address the underlying issues.

Nate only helped her to win her over and Sean tried so hard to become a better person only to win her back. I doubt he even did it for Maddy or it didn't come across that way because he even said they won't be like their parents but still does all this.

Why do i feel like Alex is the one handling it wrongly and it's not entirely Sean's fault? I mean yea she tells him no, they are not together but her actions says otherwise (sleeping with him multiple times). Sean shows that he's trying and even told her that he's doing it for them (even though he should be doing it for himself too) but he did became sober, he was working 2 jobs to try to make things work, he cares about her mom, he rejected her dad because she wanted him to and even broke off with that potential gf for Alex. I feel like Alex ruined it because her words and actions can be confusing in a relationship and as much as i feel bad for her being left with no options but to stay with Sean, she also did say they were gonna make it work together but she left him out on alot of things that would affect him indirectly so yea, to me, she is kinda selfish and ungrateful for the things he has done for her.

Now as for him going back to his drinking ways after he returned the car to Nate, that was definitely not the right way but hey, Alex pushed all the wrong buttons and overlooked his efforts so i guess Sean exploded in his own way and i wouldn't say Alex was totally innocent.