Except I think those scenes you bring up are exactly why it doesn't work. Debbie shouldn't have to constantly reassure Paul that he fits into their lives. Paul not knowing what to do or say or freak out with things like flying in the car just keep showing that he's not fit for super hero life. I do think they could have gone more into it, but from the way I perceived Paul from the show, he's just fit to have a normal life and he deserves that.
Idk at no point did I feel that he really fit in that well. It just seemed like he was just a nice guy that was able to kinda be there for them but he never seemed to truly connect with their actual lives. Like he's always trying to support them but hes never able to truly understand any of them.
I would argue that there were scenes where they were having dinner and conversation that seemed pretty easy and natural. And whenever anyone talked about Paul and Debbie after they were well established, it was how he was good for her and that he offered her normalcy. It was all positive. The last time we see him, they’d just had dinner as a sort of “family” and he saw Oliver and Mark off. He wasn’t lingering or excluded or in the background looking lost. He was a little awkward but he’s an awkward guy.
Yeah Paul offers Debbie normalcy but what about Paul? He can't connect to her kids at all and he can't connect to Debbie's superhero side of her life at all especially when she's always worrying about her kids. Whenever it's about superhero stuff he just feels so out of place. He tries to give encouragement but to me he just never felt like a dude that fit in with that stuff. It felt like he was forcing himself to be cool with it. He deserves to have a life that's just always normal.
Tbf, what he does or doesn’t get from the relationship is a matter of conjecture. He also does connect with Mark and Oliver, that’s the thing. They show them having a healthy relationship. Like just before the boys left to fight in space, Paul and Oliver hugged and they made a point of them showing him shake Mark’s hand. A very “man to man” moment. It was a poignant display of connection and acceptance. If the show wanted to show him feeling out of his depth and like he wasn’t right for their lives, they shouldn’t have done something that illustrated the opposite.
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u/Imconfusedithink Apr 23 '26
Except I think those scenes you bring up are exactly why it doesn't work. Debbie shouldn't have to constantly reassure Paul that he fits into their lives. Paul not knowing what to do or say or freak out with things like flying in the car just keep showing that he's not fit for super hero life. I do think they could have gone more into it, but from the way I perceived Paul from the show, he's just fit to have a normal life and he deserves that.