All this weird shit about “is Bridgerton normalizing mixed-weight relationships” is kind of ignoring that most TV romances are between two hot people and Nicola Coughlan is really hot
I think it kind of works to convey what a dirtbag Al is that he’s married to someone out of his league in every way and is still sort of “awww the ol ball and chain” about her
I think that's pretty much how they decided to run with it by the end. They had to acknowledge that Peg was a smoke show, so they had to address how and why Al didn't find her attractive, and that's the only excuse that made sense.