There's this softness about her

[Johanna]

So I was listening to the commentary, about how Cybill thought Maddie didn't have the same edge as she used to and that they thought it was because her relationship with Walter made her softer. She caring about him made her more calm. What do you think? Has Maddie lost her edge? And why?

Since many of the other episodes of this season are dramatic I believe this one was meant to be that too, so I don't think Maddie is softer because Cybill didn't approve of Maddies marriage and that whole story.

[haddie mayes]

Yeah i think your`e right .Cybill is too much of a professional to let her personal feelings get in the way ,Maddies character meant too much to Cybill -she always played her true to form.

My op is that the reason Maddie came across as softer was not because of Walter ( although she did care for him in a certain way ) but because of her pregnancy.
Pregnancy hormones can do amazing things to a woman and just by having this whole little human being inside you it can make you evalulate your life and what`s important.
Cybill was a new mum herself at the time as we all know so she knew how Maddie would have been feeling and Cybill used that to play these scenes .

[rose35]

I forgot that Cybill said Maddie seemed softer during the commentary. She was right and i also agree with Laura that it wasn't due to Walter so much as being pregnant changed her attitude. Though when she really wanted to Maddie could easily get mad at David like old times.

[Johanna]

Thank you, that makes much more sense to me. I was thinking it could be her pregnancy or that maybe, just maybe she was trying to be nice. She only got Maddie-mad when she had a really good reason (in her opinion).

[Tamm]

I enjoyed seeing a softer side to Maddie, we didn't get to see that very often

[honeyblondenoggin]

I also think that Maddie is "softer" because she was written in such a negative light for so much of the 4th season, that perhaps Cybill (maybe this is unconscious on her part) wanted Maddie to be a little more likable character. So she toned down a little of Maddie's edge. This isn't off base, character-wise, because it is completely plausable for this shift in her character due to Maddie's pregnancy (and who better to play a pregnant woman than a woman who was recently pregnant!)

Or who knows, maybe she was just really tired, like she said in the commentary

[istanforthee]

5 years late on this one. LOL I think the reason why she wasn't as edgy was because Maddie was pregnant in this episode. Nobody wants to see a pregnant woman screaming and angry. Also, I agree with the Walter angle. Because she married Walter, who was calm, rational and non-confrontational, I think she decided she would follow this attitude as well.