Lisa Hayes -- Thawing the Ice Woman or Not?

[Possibly a misleading title]

I don't talk about it, well, ever, but I really, really, like Lisa Hayes. She's awesome, though something prevents me from putting her on the list of my favourite characters in the series, and I've got no idea what, since all the pieces are there.

But here's the thing: I watch and I watch the series, and its original, uncut counterpart, and I can't understand where fans get the idea that early in the series she seems cold, standoffish, bitchy, or unreasonable, only to have Rick "discover" that she's really a nice woman all along, and for her contact with him to help her mellow.

I don't get it: any time she gives Rick heck, it's well-deserved, and otherwise she seems likable right from the get-go, though happily not superhuman.

The conflict and tension seems to arise more from the love triangle and the fact that Rick and Lisa just plain don't like each other at first, not that Lisa "isn't a woman".

If I'm left to my own devices, I never feel that it is a narrative about Lisa learning to "let her hair down" (and may I say, I hate stories like that with a burning fiery passion, as they assume there's only one personality type with which a person can enjoy the fruits of life), but clearly the majority opinion differs.

Or DOES it? (scare chord) What do the rest of you think?

No, I pretty much agree entirely with your interpretation of the character.

Her lambasting of Rick is always, as you point out, entirely reasonable. We see her out with Vanessa, Sammy and Kim so we know she's sociable. The only thing that ever suggests the general fan interpretation is Roy's gentle ribbing of her, which I always just figured was him being playful and teasing her.