honestly, I’m convinced that at least half the upset about the whole [redacted] situation (other than the reactionary tension of living through a world that is the way it is, but that’s the internet in general) is anger at max for forcing a shorter season that is instead misplaced towards the creatives for trying to execute their full vision under the threat of cancellation. the pacing issues are totally valid, and I get feeling that there was no breathing room for the emotions to sit, and that those factors may have led to the feeling that it was poorly done. just…please don’t harass the writers about that 🙏🏽

if you think they should’ve handled it differently knowing the budget was cut I totally get that, but genuinely—if you had a three act story fully outlined and then were told after act i aired that you only had maybe 70% of your anticipated screentime and resources to execute it, would you rewrite the entirety of your story to adjust to the constraints, or try your best to fit everything in anyway? not saying either option is superior, but I think picking the latter is a reasonable creative choice under those circumstances that anyone would at least consider. and whether or not it worked with the pacing it had is a fair critique, but that’s still not a reason to harass or guilt-trip people. let’s try not to dunk on the person who got a plastic straw while ignoring the billionaires setting the world on fire (and yes that metaphor is extreme but I’ve seen too much homophobia/racism/etc. come out of this echo-chamber to ignore the real-world implications)