Not to be mean to the ppl who worked on it, but I feel like the showrunners are approaching this adaptation from a fan's perspective and not a showrunner's perspective. I think you need to be both of these to create a good adaptation. I know TLOU is in a different league (one is a book and the other is a game, diff budget, diff network etc) but it is a good example of a good adaptation, the showrunners very obviously love what they are creating but they are also looking at the show from a creator's perspective. They are approaching it as a proper TV show. My friends who have no idea about the game are completely hooked because the show is meant to be its own thing and it works as a standalone.

I understand the showrunners are fans of the books, but they also need to think more... artfully? Ppl keep saying that SAB is like an expensive fanfic, so enjoy it like that, but the thing is, it's decidedly not a fanfic. It's a full-on production that should make sense in itself. Ppl should be able to watch it and understand what is going on without feeling the need to read the books. It feels like the show is VERY aware that it's an adaptation, and they just sprinkled in some of the scenes that are most beloved to fans so that they can hold the "SOC spinoff" as hostage to get a new season. The thing is, how can fans now trust them to treat the characters with respect now? They had their character developments already, so why should we even try to get a SOC spinoff?

Does this make sense? My thoughts aren't very coherent rn but I know I'm disappointed :(

Everything you said is so correct. The writing in the books is legit good, it only needed a little push to iron out the YA-ness, and instead they swerved straight into the childish fandomization gutter. Sad