A few random things that stood out to me:
- Minnie was studying for her psychology exam. I guess, she too has taken interest in it. In a way it's good for her as she'll understand a lot of behavioral concepts that may have otherwise been unknown to her.
- Babita was reflecting on Naeem Bi's words but it didn't seem like she really understood them. When she apologized to Minnie, there was a childish quality to it. She apologized for forgetting her birthday, but not for the way she treated Minnie in the past two days. The comparison to Meeta, humiliating her in front of her friends or even slapping her. They were all forgotten by her. Instead, she immersed herself and displayed her excitement in the cake she baked and the gift she got. I'm not faulting her for having these moments but she had the perfect opportunity to address the real problems here but she didn't.
- Babita telling HS that Minnie doesn't care about gifts but needs the reassurance of what place she has in people's lives - she's throwing Naeem Bi's words at him here but it's all twisted. Babita was trying to express her love for Minnie via gifts because she thought that's what made her happy but it's not true. Minnie needs her mother's love, that's it. Similarly, Minnie doesn't need gifts from HS to know that he loves her. Just a simple hug, his continual support, and his shoulder upon which she can cry on - they all had would have been enough. Instead, Babita is forcing him into a position where only materialistic objects can the sole medium of expressing love.
If her point was that he hasn't even been making the efforts to be there for Minnie emotionally, then it came out all wrong. - Minnie offering HS tissues to wipe his tears away. In the past, she used to do it herself. Another minute expression of the distances between them. However, when HS brokenly asked her if she still thought of him as her hero, she did wipe them herself.
- There was also a lot of handshaking. HS doing it while wishing Minnie a happy birthday kind of positioned them as strangers. Like, they're two individuals who are just getting to know each other. In a way, it's true because post marriage, they both don't know where they stand with each other. This undefined relationship is making things hella awkward between them. However, the handshake that we saw in the precap had more trust and faith in it. That though things are stressful right now, at least they can rely on each other.