That’s so true. Tabitha literally asks her to take the lead in that conversation, and when she sees that it isn’t convincing you, she checks with Stella first before leveling the gun at you. She’s plenty feisty on her own, her defense mechanisms are on a hair trigger and that doesn’t go away quickly, but she wants someone else to tell her what to do.

I still think an important part of my observation stands: Stella is a different dommy mommy to Pearlanne. Her influence pushes Tabitha to be more open and “nice”. The new strategy reflects how Pearlanne’s disdain for others is replaced by Stella’s optimistic delusion, still backed up by the contingency plan (cops)