It really feels like the author wanted Maddie to be seen as this strong, capable leader, but never actually built her with the traits that make a leader believable. Instead of showing maturity, discipline, or the ability to make tough, rational decisions, she comes off as impulsive and emotional. She throws temper tantrums, refuses to listen, and seems more focused on not being treated like a kid than actually proving she can handle responsibility. That might be realistic for her age, but it completely undercuts the idea that she should be in charge of anything, let alone something as serious as a prison in a crisis.
Her constant refusal to follow directions doesn’t just create minor problems either. It leads to situations spiraling out of control and people getting hurt or killed. That’s where it stops being a character flaw and starts feeling like bad writing, because no one around her ever really steps in and says enough is enough. You’ve got older, more experienced people right there who would realistically take over or at least push back harder.
That’s especially obvious with Maria. She’s a trained Marine with real leadership experience, and yet she’s written as if she’s fine taking orders from a teenager who clearly isn’t equipped for it. That dynamic just doesn’t make sense. In a real-world scenario, someone like Maria would either be leading or there would be a much clearer, believable reason why she isn’t.
And then it gets even harder to buy when Maddie is suddenly ordering around FEMA leadership like she’s some established authority figure. At that point it feels completely disconnected from reality. The hierarchy and chain of command just aren’t handled in a way that makes sense, and it pulls you out of the story. The idea of a young character stepping up could have worked, but it needed to be earned, and here it just wasn’t.