You're a good egg, Steve. Myself, I never harbored any illusions that the will ever reflect on anything other than what she needs to do next in order to secure whatever it is she wants or needs.
She's a predator, so she needs prey, she feeds on conflict and drama, so I've never doubted she'd create the kind of conflict she feels confident she can control and win.
If I had to guess, I'd guess she took on the child-killer becauze it pissed her off the child -killer had blabbed unflattering blabs about the via her murder groupie, and because the is using her advantage of greater mobility against the DR'ed child -killer.
Meh. And whatever.
Truth be told what struck me was simply the absurdity of the optics and the depth of the delusions-- two vicious murderers in whatever internal power struggle, each trying to project themselves as philanthropists to the outside world in order to secure donations to advance their own interests and to best the other.
I guess we have SM to thank for this theater of the absurd.
I admire your practical realism (and wry humor).
I had to perform mental gymnastics and attempt to turn Arias' head inside out to convince myself what was obvious to you. But then, I've always felt that for every What there's a Why and a How, and the picture will always be incomplete without all three.