I almost rated this lower but after the rewatch... Sooo, after the shock ending I actually rewatched the show knowing that Rob had switched bodies with Adele and seeing if from a different perspective. It made me appreciate it so much more, cause honestly I found it rather boring the first time around until we got into the meat of what had happened after all. I actually enjoyed the astral projection twist, rather than the same old 'jealous lover snaps and starts killing people' trope.
Now, in saying I found it boring the first time around, I do still believe they could have made this a bit shorter of a series or maybe even a 2 hour movie. There was a lot of unnecessary filler.
From what I have read in negative reviews, those who didn't pay attention or didn't notice little hints then let me add in my 2 cents...
Adele (flashbacks)-
Adele is actually a sweet and giving person. She tells Rob that it's ok to trust others. Her trust of him was her downfall.
She shares a secret with Rob, something she's never shared with anyone and teaches him how to astral project. This is the beginning of the end for her.
She had nothing to do with her parents' deaths and was astral projecting when the house caught fire.
She genuinely loves Rob as her best friend but she is completely in love with David, her bf turned fiancé.
She is not an addict.
Her astral soul is pink.
Rob (flashbacks)-
Yes, he's gay, as he says as much right from the first episode.
He's a magnificent cook. He said he learned how to cook in the psych ward, as that was his job there.
Rob has a personality disorder that you can start to see due to the things he says and journals about. He hates his life, himself, and others, and that nobody is to be trusted (not even him, as he states just like everyone else he is only out for himself).
He seemingly loves and idolizes his best friend Adele. But it's not the true love of a friend. More so, similar to Single White Female, he envies everything about her and wants her life. She is everything that he is not, in his own words "she's beautiful and rich". He states over and over how he doesn't want to leave, he wants to stay with her forever. In a nutshell, he's obsessed with her and what he views as a perfect life.
He seems to be protective of her and is wary of her love for David. He is not actually protective, but rather wants her all to himself. He wants her to see David as a bad boyfriend so she doesn't leave the friendship. He said himself that he didn't understand what it was like to love or to be loved and asks her how it feels. He thinks he will be kicked out of her life when she marries David.
Once he meets David and realizes that he is a good person that saved Adele's life and is completely in love with her, he wants this for himself. He is projecting the obsession he had for Adele as a friend onto David as a new love interest. He's never had these feelings before and will do anything to keep it going, as his life has been nothing but empty. He wants to feel something, this is why he is also a heroin addict.
He picked who he wanted to be nice to, who to manipulate, and who to be nasty to.
His astral soul is blue.
Adele/Rob merger-
I think it's unfair to say that Adele didn't have Rob's mannerisms after the merger. Rob had 10 years of life with David to develop his Adele personality. He knew he couldn't act like himself, but rather had to try and take on Adele's persona. But instead of coming across as a sweet and caring Adele, he showed what he really was...a deceptive, selfish, non empathetic manipulator.
You can see this when he takes over Louise's body. He tries to emulate her in every way.
The reason he doesn't give Adam to his father after taking over Louise? He doesn't seem to like Adam, but he stated before that he wanted a family. He is also all about facade and he knows that Louise lived for her son. If he suddenly changes his attitude, this wouldn't sit well with David.
Rob doesn't love David. Again, he is incapable of giving or receiving love. If he ever tired of David, it would be the end of David. Just like it was the end for Adele.
You see him cooking elaborate feasts for David, just as he had before he switched with Adele.
He's still addicted to heroin, Adele was not an addict. He injects himself between the toes to hide track marks from David.
He manipulates David into staying with him by saying if he doesn't he will tell everyone he killed 'Rob'.
He tells Louise that he wanted her to choose him (as Adele) over David, that he wanted her love.
He was molding Louise from the beginning to be like him as Adele, like having her jogging, being a gym rat, and telling her what to eat. He had plans from early on to take over her body.
How could he possibly predict that Louise would come to his rescue at the end? He didn't. But, he had stated before that he knows people. He watched her during his astral projections and the fact that she came to his rescue once, breaking into his house to help, while he was astral projecting. So he assumed her human nature would do it again. But if not, he would die in the fire rather than live his life without the object of his obsession.
As Adele his astral soul is still blue.
David-
No, David had nothing to do with Adele's parents dying. He was a good guy who loved and adored the real Adele.
No, he is not aware that Rob is Adele. The reason he is not nice to her is because the whole relationship (after the merger) was built on blackmail. He was told if he didn't stay he would be blamed for 'Rob's' death. The real Adele had also stated that David would never understand astral projection because he was too analytical. So there is no way David would suspect this.
He had told Louise he didn't know what happened to the girl he had saved from the fire. He says this because there was an obvious switch of personality with the real Adele that he fell in love with to the after merger Adele.
He also told Louise that he had a hard time living with Rob's death on his conscience but that Adele had no issues moving on, even though Rob was her best friend. This really bothered him and also led to his loathing and distrust of her.
Yes, David was nasty to Louise. For one, to throw the viewer off to who's the bad guy. But for two, he felt extremely betrayed by what Louise did (behind his back, befriending his wife who was really Rob). Again, that distrust was there and he had every reason to be angry after all he'd been through.
No, he doesn't see the switch in personality with Louise after the merger because there is no traumatic betrayal leading up to the marriage. With Adele it was obvious to him that something was wrong with her throwing her friend's body into a well and saying she'd blame him if he called the police, then moving on like nothing happened. With Louise he had the relief of Adele writing the note taking blame for everything and then dying. Adele was out of his life, the burden was lifted and he could be free. He sees Louise as his source of happiness.
Louise-
There was a reason Louise becomes so attached to Adele. She said herself that her ex husband cheated and left her for someone else. Not only did she feel extreme guilt now that she was the other woman, but she also said she saw herself in Adele. That she used to be that broken woman being cheated on by her husband.
Why would Louise risk her life to save Adele after everything she had done, especially when she has a child at home? Technically she doesn't risk her "body" per se, but she astral projects to see where Adele is at in the house while she waits for emergency trucks. At that point she had no idea that Adele had OD'd. She goes into her body, maybe hoping to get her up and out of the house. But why? Because even though she called her a "nutter" she still cares for her, she's not a sociopath like Adele/Rob is.
Her astral soul is green.