That's a great interpretation, i hadn't thought about that. Still, him breaking away from his independent identity is evident from whole rest of the movie, there was no need for another love interest to highlight it imo.

Generally i think the first movie goes into a few tangent plots that sometimes work, like the hollywood producer subplot, but sometimes they don't. The second film is more focused.

The Appolonia plot is mostly unnecessary and diminishes Michael's relationship with Kay. It feels like a soap opera arc.

I genuinely think 2 is perfect.