Safety and Why Adrien’s “Sudden” Crush on Marinette Makes So Much Sense
Season 5 sees Marinette jumping headfirst into a crush on Chat Noir because her faith in a relationship with Adrien has been rocked considerably. She doesn’t trust the strength of their friendship. She doesn’t trust that she’ll make the right decisions around him. The foundation isn’t even there for her to trust his love for her. Their future is fraught with uncertainty.
Chat Noir is her loyal partner. Chat Noir is in love with her. She’s comfortable with Chat Noir. Chat Noir is the safe romantic choice.
While it’s also true that she has gained a newfound respect and loyalty to Chat Noir, she is also rebounding with him pretty hard. Especially after his unwavering support of her in ‘Strike Back’. He is her rock.
Adrien is doing the same thing. Ladybug neglected Chat Noir. He upset Ladybug to her breaking point with his excessive wooing. Every time he has any hope for he and Ladybug, it is abruptly snatched away by Ladybug herself or outside forces.
Marinette is comforting and kind. Marinette is harmless. Marinette has never shown pushiness or aggression toward Adrien. Marinette feels safe- moreso than anyone else in his life besides Plagg- and his trust in her has been building since Season 1.
In ‘Gamer’, Adrien takes an ego hit. He dazzles his classmates by winning against Max- you can see a little Chat Noir coming out in his body language there. Only to be beaten easily by Marinette during their practice session. He laments his insecurities to her and she comforts him by giving him her lucky charm bracelet. This becomes a symbol of their friendship and mutual support and clearly means a lot to Adrien. It’s a comfort. He keeps it on him wherever he goes.
In ‘The Gorilla’, Adrien almost tells Marinette that he is uncomfortable modeling. I’ve seen people saying that his telling her in ‘Risk’ was “unearned”, but the truth is, he felt comfortable enough to open up to her 3 seasons prior.
Marinette takes Adrien to hide from his unhinged fan club in the fountain. She comments on how it’s awesome that he has such a popular ad and he says “I don’t know about that. It’s actually pretty… embarrassing”. He gets distracted by her pajamas and she becomes embarrassed at his wandering gaze. Then his fan club shows up and the chance to further elaborate never comes up, but he was super close to sharing his discomfort around modeling with her in that moment without the effects of Risk.
In ‘Frozer’, Marinette is the first person Adrien asks for advice about Kagami after ultimately deciding against all of the “close” adults in his life. Nino may have been the most obvious choice- but considering Nino’s hopelessness in ‘Animan’, I can understand why he trusted Marinette. And he felt comfortable enough with Marinette as a safe zone to ask her to come along.
In ‘Malediktator’, while the rest of the class is celebrating Chloe’s curt exit, Adrien is extremely put off. When Marinette explained what happened, he felt comfortable enough with her to disagree and to call her out on the “She was useless anyway” comment. I’m not sure what Adrien expected from Marinette after this. He’s used to people either punishing him for disagreeing or just ignoring him/standing their ground. But Marinette feels guilty and takes steps to remedy what happened and bring Chloe back- something he clearly appreciated in the end.
In the ultra controversial ‘Chameleon’, Adrien advised Marinette not to take an aggressive route with Lila and she listens (at first anyway. She’s back at pointing out the inconsistencies in Lila’s fibs by the end of the season. Girl just can’t help herself. Lila pushes all her buttons). It doesn’t stick, but she makes an effort and doesn’t antagonize Adrien for not taking her side. Compare this to his conversation with Lila in the same episode in which he asks her not to lie to him and warns her about the class turning against her. He’s nice about it and offers his support, but Lila jumps on the defensive and accuses him of ‘playing superhero’. Similarly, when he gives Chloe advice, she won’t even change her ways for more than a day- even under threat of losing her friendship with him.
Lastly, Adrien allows himself to “slip” with Marinette. He trusts that she won’t admonish him for his jokes or “being silly” Marinette is quite silly herself (that’s why they made such a goofy couple in ‘Elation’). She only takes offense to his prank in Puppeteer 2 because she humiliated herself. She even apologizes profusely for the misunderstanding later.
‘Risk’ made clear to Adrien what MLB has been building to for seasons: Marinette feels like a safe and comfortable space for Adrien. His father is cold and controlling. Nathalie is cold and in league with his father. His bodyguard is emotionally distant and silent. Chloe is pushy and doesn’t listen to him. Felix antagonizes him. Lila is dishonest and manipulative with him. Ladybug has been a neglectful partner who he secretly reasons only wants him around as far as his miraculous can assist her. Kagami led their entire relationship and he felt uncomfortable challenging her. Nino was fine until Rocketear where he denounced Adrien’s entire alter ego as a useless playboy.
Even the fact that Marinette has never managed to confess properly, is a safety to Adrien. She’s never put any pressure on him. She’s always just been that cute, silly girl who is compassionate with him and stands up for what she believes in. Never controlling. Not at all intimidating. Down to listen. She’s (the everyday) Ladybug without the strife. Marinette is “safe”.
