So I've been thinking about this for a hot minute now and... I still think Amity's insecurities around inadequacy are going to be brought up even if they didn't come up in all the other episodes featuring their relationship (besides Eclipse Lake).
Partly because Hunter is involved in this issue... but mostly it's because:
It wasn't the right time for Luz to learn her lesson from Amity. She's going to learn it in this season, as it is the third act of the story. This is the Act where the protagonist learns their "truth" and is forever changed by it. They didn't really delve into Amity's insecurities because it wasn't the right time to do so. Bringing up her insecurities will cause conflict between her and Luz - which I believe they have been saving for this season.
this scene. this fucking scene. when i watched this the first time it really struck me how much 14 has grown. 10 wouldn’t have let that argument go. they would’ve kept pushing buttons until one of them stormed off. but 14 stops, cuts himself off mid-sentence and walks away to take a breath.
“no,” he says. no we’re not doing this. no it’s not my fault. no it’s not your fault. it’s a shitty situation and they’re both stressed and afraid.
and then he apologizes even though he didn’t start the argument and he didn’t spill the coffee. and it was definitely donna’s fault but sometimes being best friends means you let things go and you lie a little because your friendship is more important than being right
AND THEN HE COMFORTS HER. without her asking and without her initiating it.
Seward's bone deep desire to run away from the asylum is not exactly surprising. There have been a lot of really good meta posts about how the return of Van Helsing into his life is the turning point where we see the caring and good side of him and how we can interpret his life as a student in Amersterdam as one of freedom and happiness. How he is part of the tragedy of manners, how strict social expectations allow Dracula to persist, and how they only exacerbate the unhappiness of the characters.
And I think the tragedy of Seward is that, really, he should not be the head of an asylum. It's a job that brings him no joy, and he's BAD at it. We can all recognize that if your first reaction to going back to work is "What if I just leave it all." That isn't a healthy work environment.
Now, in the modern day, the ability to pick and choose a work environment, even to leave one that is damaging your mental health, is a privilege. (IT SHOULDNT BE, but it is). And, although it is definitely reaching crisis levels in modern times, major changes in your career have almost always been difficult (unless you are really rich, or a particular brand of academic in the 17th-18th century, or both).
Seward can't just leave and become a surgeon. To give up the lofty position of "Head of an Asylum" would be unthinkable in the 1890s, especially for a reason like "Being here is basically turning me into the Joker." Like, how would Seward explain that in polite society? Would they accept that reasoning? Would they create salacious gossip if they didn't? Can Seward leave his position without losing a great amount of social capital?
Probably not.
His rise to head of an asylum, as many have pointed out, was meteoric, to say the least. It has afforded him status and respect and also left him deeply, deeply fucked up. And he can't leave!
I think his desperate attempts to quantify Renfield's behaviors into a new mental illness are telling in this regard. Maybe he is too used to having to meet some sort of expectation, and now he thinks this is the logical next step (It's NOT, but I digress). The feeling of having to keep performing above expectations, grasping at straws to do so, and subsequently burning oneself out (as well as others around you) and engaging in unethical practices? Idk. It sounds like something that would happen today. (tbh there are probably a ton of Sewards out there today, as there are still systemic problems within the mental health system that allow for the dehumanizing and abuse of patients).
It doesn't excuse his behavior. Nothing he does to Renfield is excusable, but I think it does explain some of the *why*. He isn't just cruel for cruelty's sake.
So, tldr I guess: I think reading Seward as someone who got stuck on a career path that he realized was unfufilling and that he ends up hating. Social conventions restrict him from just quitting without and a (socially acceptable) good reason to do so, and a lifetime of being regarded as one of the smartest people in the room means he can not allow himself to fail. Unfortunately, this also means he can not admit when his actions or his ideas are wrong when it comes to his job.
(But he can show that uncertainty FOR Lucy, and TO Arthur and Van Helsing, which speaks his trust and love for them)
when nobody understands that mike joining a dnd club at school is supposed to be a good thing for his character’s growth/development because it shows that he’s gone back to embracing who he really is and isn’t trying to be someone he’s not (like he was in s3 due to his relationship with el) and it actually has nothing to do with leaving will behind or “betraying” him in any way and will would probably be happy to hear that mike and the others joined hellfire, not angry or bitter
Bully Satosugu stopping you when you’re on your way to class every chance they get. Teasing you and groping you in the empty hallways, telling you if you were really the gooooood little nerd you pretend to be you’d do anything to get to class and they’re right, you would, you just can’t afford missing any lessons.
Satoru telling you to get on your knees and suck him off if you want them to let you go, because they’d love to do this all day, corner you into the nearest wall and have their way with you until you’re a sobbing mess. And you know with the way his eyes twinkle that he means it.
You always end up doing what you’re told, like you were made to please them, and you were, they don’t seem to toy with anyone besides you, only have eyes for you. Maybe they like you so much because you don’t have a brave bone in your sweet little body, not like that would get you anywhere. They’re so big and mean, easily tower over you, their sizable hands feeling you up in every way possible. It’s so overwhelming, you can barely think straight.
“She getting any better, Toru?” Suguru asked, looking down at you, sweet little you who had her mouth full of his friend’s big cock.
“Nah, you’re gonna wanna train her throat when you give her a go.”
You were fully crying now, looking up at them with streams of hot tears flowing out of your big round eyes onto your rosy plump cheeks and all the way down your neck, shaking and whimpering.
He meant it, you were horrible at giving blowjobs but it wasn’t your fault you’d never given one before. Besides he didn’t make you suck his dick because he thought you’d be good at it, no, of course not, you were too nerdy and innocent. He just liked seeing you on your knees, liked seeing you cry so hard from just his tip, and the way your doe eyes looked up at him made him crumble, kept him hard inside the warmth of your mouth.
You looked the prettiest all teary eyed, your lipgloss smeared all over his dick. The perfect amount of your cleavage showing from where he was standing. He could almost cum at the sight.
“Okay sweetheart that’s enough.” Satoru smiled, tucking your hair behind your ear. Suguru being the gentleman he is and helping your wobbly self back onto your feet, gently wiping the tears and drool off your adorable face and handing you the books they snatched from you earlier all the while Satoru zipped himself back up.
“Tell you what, i know you’re getting late so why don’t you finish up with your last lesson and meet us back in your dorm room.”
“There’s a lot more you need to learn my love.” Suguru whispered against the shell of your ear before placing a soft kiss upon your swollen lips, making you tremble in his gentle hold.