Or if we have a villain in the pair, the other character needs to be (1) extremely likable and (2) they must really care about the villain character, thus transmitting some of that emotion to the audience by association.
I think you summed it up really well. I sorta agree with AKA or anyone else defending Rumple because in his own way this is how he protects his family and he’s literally just being the same person he’s always been. Belle comes across as an absolute indecisive shrew but that’s also pretty unfair to how her character has been presented in the past. Neither of these two are very likable anymore.
I really don’t understand why they bothered including Belle in this show, because IMO they have done such an awful job with her character throughout.
That too.