(I tried to update the tags on my phone and the text got fracked up. I’ve tried to recreate this post to the best of my abilities.)

I got some comments about the direction I’m taking Chloe in Cleave, so I thought I’d break my reasoning down.

So here are Chloe’s three appearances. Not much to go off of I know, but that’s what they gave us so that’s what I’m going to work with. Honestly, if she had only made her Britta’s Tacos appearance I’d have a different train of thought when it came to her, but seeing her expressions the other two times made me rethink her character. Is it the line of thought that was probably intended, maybe not, but this example of inclusion was really just a plot device the show doesn’t get to claim any moral high ground or instant good will as far as I’m concerned.

Appearance Assessments:

Britta’s Tacos: The appearance most people will remember since it actually lasted more than 3 seconds. In this appearance Chloe is essentially French Jackie (which honestly is probably as much thought was actually put into her character) who on initial view seems to be thinking something like “is this the fool who pushed mon chéri into my arms?” or something like that. This is an overall positive appearance since Jackie seems happy and we’re meant to believe that at least some of that is due to Chloe.

Mama Star: The shortest appearance, but one in which Chloe looks less than happy. Is she annoyed to be back at the taco stand for the second time in two or three days? Back at a place where they just saw Jackie’s ex? Did someone connect the dots that Jackie’s grown-up/change-referencing is pretty similar to Marco’s own grown-up jacket? Or maybe it’s just the way her eyebrows and chewing combine, but that would be some oversight considering it would just take curving her mouth line to change her expression and still work for chewing. Regardless, not everything seems happy in Chloe’s mind.

Cleaved: The final appearance (for everyone really), and one that’s defined by indifference, apathy even. The whole town’s been shaken by a massive earthquake which has caused a visible “gas leak” and here we have Chloe not seeming to even care about being close to the one person she knows on this side of the planet and that we’re meant to believe she’s in a relationship.

It was hear that I was prompted to rewatch and really listen to Marco and Jackie’s conversation in Britta’s Tacos. This conversation basically boils down to:

Jackie: “Meet my gal pal” -> “We never fit so go be with Star”

At first this seems like Jackie trying to encourage/make Marco feel better (even if the way her lines were written go against the majority of onscreen interactions between the two, that’s another rant though) but after seeing how annoyed/disinterested Chloe seems I think to her it could have sounded like this:

“Chloe” -> “We (Marco and Jackie) will never be together”

From her perspective it could be seen as if she’s “won” over Marco, which might account for her more chipper personality in this scene. But when they return to the same taco stand soon after Chloe might start to realize her “exotic” American girlfriend might not be so exotic and that the boy she beat out will still be around (or at least reminders of him will be). Which could lead her to more and more sour out on the whole experience.

So while I don’t think she’s evil or anything, I do think she’s mostly there just to have a good time and go along with the ride. But the less that ride is Chloe-focused the less I think that she’s going to care about anything and anyone related to it, if she ever really cared at all. I’ll once again admit that there’s not a lot to go on, but what is there doesn’t disprove my thoughts nor prove the opposite so it’s up to each of us to assess what’s available to the best of our abilities. For me that assessment has led me to a negative outlook on the character.

TL;dr - Based on Chloe’s second and third appearances I think she’s not really that great of a person.