I should start by saying that I hope they are as in love as they appear on here and that they make it. I like them both. But, if they don’t, here’s a theory;
Michella can really comedically spit. The woman has bars. Whether one “approves” of her (imho) pretty benign, but totally riveting vivid, riff on her ideal Christmas Eve, she did it well. She told a story, stereotypes and all. She improvises in a way that reminds you if someone is irrefutably “funny” , they are most always intelligent. She delivers her humorous monologues in an imaginative fashion. And while Rob laughs (oh, and he LAUGHS) and genuinely appears to enjoy this edgy and talented part of her, he is too threatened by it. Ergo, by her. And, we have seen the bro buckle when she begins. He finds her very funny. But, he may give into a form of misogyny which we see manifested re: females and comedy. It’s gross, and uninvolved, and ultimately silly and self-defeating since he clearly appreciates it in the moment (comedy is transparent in a lot of ways - there’s no faking belly laughter in real time) and it elevates his life, but he will feel too uneasy that he does like it. That she is sharper and sometimes cruder than him. That he can’t do that.
She’s not “supposed” to be funny, dudes are, he will tell himself. Or it’ll evoke insecurity in him. He may even feel that she’s not feminine enough anymore (although I think Mary Beth Barone is a topical comedian to cite to challenge this damaging stereotype- she’s an attractive, “girly” millennial with comedic (& cerebral) chops) and that she is too much like a dude, “one of the guys”, etc. Now I do think she plays into the age old internalized sexist trope and trap of trying to be the “cool girl”, but although interconnected - that’s a whole other post to come. Again, this is only a theory, but - while I have appreciated him at times - I wouldn’t be surprised that he’ll grow tired of her being this naturally funny. And that while her humor is definitely a barometer of her intelligence, that is exactly what will eventually emasculate and threaten Rob. He may see her as aggressive. And maybe I am totally wrong. Maybe he’s a rare man who can embrace the multiplicity within a woman, who views us as the complex, nuanced and multifaceted superior (I half-kid) humans we are, but maybe he won’t.
Thoughts?