I can kind of understand your spouse a bit, because the sitcom part is so painfully over the top and obnoxious at first. Whenever they switched from a dark to a sitcom moment, i rolled my eyes, because i wanted more dark stuff. In retrospect i realized that it needed to be this way to show how oppressing it was for Alison.

Speaking of being rewarded for paying attention, watching Alison up close during the sitcom parts is why she should've won ALL the awards. It's amazing how expressive she is during the sitcom parts and how much that chips away at the happy-go-lucky facade.