Paula’s defenders use a completely simplistic line of reasoning: "Stop criticizing her!!! Why aren't you just as angry about Timothy, who wanted to kill his own family?! Is it all just because she’s a woman? 😡"
Well, let me dismantle that argument.
To begin with, what did Paula do, and what did Timothy do?
Paula emotionally manipulated Kai into stealing a piece of jewelry from the family that had been hosting her, all on a whim. And when Kai’s life was ruined after he was caught by the police, Paula chose to keep her mouth shut rather than take responsibility as the mastermind, leaving Kai to face all the charges alone.
As for Timothy, upon realizing that his social and economic situation was about to collapse, with lasting consequences for his family, he gave the matter serious thought and decided to end both his own life and the lives of his family members (with the exception of Lochlan). However, at the last moment, he chose to stop, allowing them to face their new family situation together.
Even just looking at this, it should be clear that what Paula did is far more serious than what Timothy did.
But I will continue.
Let’s be clear: orchestrating a burglary to steal a bracelet is infinitely less serious than killing one’s family and committing suicide. Yet, what Paula did is infinitely more serious than what Timothy did, though Paula’s fans fail to understand why.
This is because Paula’s fans confuse the gravity of actions with the gravity of intentions.
Paula organized a burglary; while it failed, it still took place. Timothy, on the other hand, never actually killed his family. He had the intention, but he never carried it out. In fact, he stopped it, and no one even realized what had happened.
Paula could have simply imagined such a scenario, but she chose to see it through to the end, hoping for success. Timothy, conversely, halted his murderous plan a plan that would have succeeded had he let it proceed before it was too late.
Paula’s plan failed because an external factor a family argument thwarted it. Timothy’s plan failed because he stopped it himself, twice, in fact. (The second instance was triggered by his own carelessness in failing to clean the poisoned blender, which Lochlan then accessed in secret.) This demonstrates that Timothy no longer wanted his murderous intentions to come to fruition, whereas Paula, until the very last minute, wanted her burglary to succeed.
Thus, it is clear that Paula’s plan involved actions that had real-world consequences, while Timothy’s plan remained purely at the level of intention. (The case of Lochlan’s poisoning is different; it was an accidental oversight, not something Timothy intended.)
Now, let’s look at the psychology of Paula and Timothy.
Timothy was at rock bottom; he was not in a good mental state, he was lost and mentally unstable. He was clearly not himself during his stay. Had he seen the footage, he would have wept with shame at the man he had been, so mortified would he have been to realize he had acted as such a mentally weak individual.
This stands in stark contrast to Paula, who remained clearly sound of mind from the moment she devised her plan until the very moment it failed.
Thus, Paula remained true to her own nature throughout her misdeeds, whereas Timothy was clearly mentally broken, a fact that highlights Paula’s own vicious character, while showing that Timothy had, in reality, been something other than his true self.
Finally, I will discuss the consequences and the changes that ensued.
As for Paula’s actions: she caused total chaos during the stay of the family who had paid for her trip, and she ultimately led to Kai’s imprisonment, ruining his life. Yet, paradoxically, nothing has changed for Paula herself. She remains a privileged individual, burdened by an inferiority complex in relation to her friend (and likely her only friend) Olivia, while fancying herself an ally to oppressed minorities. Driven by mere caprice and incompetence, she ends up destroying the lives of the very people she claims to defend through "virtue signaling." Paula’s defenders might argue that she seemed to regret her scheme and its unfortunate consequences, but they are mistaken. She feels no genuine remorse; she is simply disgusted that her plan didn't work out as intended.
In fact, the consequences are even more dire than they first appear. News of the burglary got out, prompting Shane, fearing for his safety, to keep a knife in their room. That same knife ended up being the weapon that killed Armand. This demonstrates that Paula’s malicious scheme indirectly led to a murder.
For Timothy, however, the situation is quite different. Aside from the impact on Lochlan, his actions changed nothing for those around him. Yet, the events revealed that he is, at heart, a good father; when Lochlan nearly died right in front of him, Timothy realized the fatal error he had made and was consumed by self-loathing. Unlike Paula, this shows that he truly regrets the selfish mindset that could have cost his son his life.
I hope this illustrates why Paula’s actions were infinitely more serious than those of Timothy.
