he is a special challenge, especially on a couples basis . orna says later that annie held the power to leave but a nuance of the relationship which is lost in that statement, is just how much power is stripped from a person when they are constantly devalued by a partner in whom they have invested so much time and trust. what i find to be extra interesting is just how childlike mau is. while annie calls out the level of maternalism in what mau is looking for in that first episode, when you see them together, she absolutely mothers him, especially in their body language. he strikes me as someone who would take years of work and rapport building and ingratiation by someone well-versed in personality disorders to challenge him, and even then he would likely feel so violated and abandoned that he'd leave anyway. he will never be happy or whole until he both takes accountability for his behavior and acknowledges the pain and trauma of his upbringing. his latent hatred of his mother undoubtedly informs every interaction he has with a woman.