There was a curvature to the wall, and you'll see it in the pic. Whoever had been in 5D on the inbound flight had 5D reclined and never put it back up. In my experience, I've never had a FA ask for a seat to be upright during takeoff/landing if it's against a hard bulkhead. But even if they did require it, it would be hard to perceive when they do their quick walkthroughs of the cabin. I noticed Mr. 5D boarded, buckled up, and was out cold before we even started taxiing, and he stayed in that (virtually) upright position the entire flight. If there was ever a textbook example of limited recline, 5CD should be it.

I made sure to snap pics of row 5 and row 1, just so everyone could see what they look like.