I did not care much for Abe/Maxine together, and we did see Maxine while John was in his coma, and even after waking up. The thing with "recurring" characters is they can be absent for quite some time, and then we see them several times, ans then absent again. Victor, Adrienne, Justin, Anne, Rory, Tad, henderson, Harold, Maxine, and all the kids, are all recurring. Jeremiah, Miguel and now Mandrake are the same. Some are around for just short story arcs, others are around a lot more.