I don't know. I take it a complicated relationship but I think Olive is who she is and she's a caring mother and essentially decent person. My mom was like Olive but I connected to her as an adult and made an effort and have a great relationship with her.
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Yes. Henry deserved better from Olive, but Chris always acted like he was better than his mom and most of the town people. I get she could be emotionally cruel and slapped Chris, but only when he was cruel or insensitive to others.
Olive was an easy scapegoat for Chris's genetic struggles. She demonstrated random symptoms, while the father didn't.
Notice that Chris blames Olive for Mr. O'Casey, but not Henry for the mouse? Probably because of Chris's attraction to mouses.
Olive, to me, reminded me of someone from my Grandmother's generation ... ie born in the early 1900's. Very stoic, cold, unemotional. With all that though I thought she was OK. Her son was a pain in the neck. All this story and plot for 3 hours only to have her find her solace in the arms of a Rush Limbaugh fan ... that was like a slap in the face with a very bad joke. I hated it ... 2/10.
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