>>150880780
>the beaten woman didn't have a "honeymoon" phase with the abuser
Except that is what happened, for a good long time. It had to be pointed out to Mike, after years of forgiving her, that Lucy was kind of an abusive little shit. Probably because the rest of Mike's friendships weren't much better so he had no point of reference outside of Sandy. No wonder he gravitated toward her so strongly. And as you noted, no one else stepped in.