MY CRITICISM ISN’T JUST THAT IZZY DIED. This isn’t because he’s my favorite character. And nobody is wishing they were being handled with kid gloves. Every time I see that take, I want to scream. I can think of LOTS of ways that his death could’ve been handled better. I actually LOVE when my shows and books hurt me. I SEEK OUT media that kills characters I love. Honestly, this show was my break from that. But it’s only good when it makes sense. I’m sorry, but that was weird. Like, really weird. Nobody eulogized him? They didn’t bury him with his leg? He couldn’t think of any reason to go on living because he was just a part of Blackbeard? When Ed called for help, the crew had already written him off as dead despite the fact that this show exists in the universe it exists in and characters have literally been skewered in the same spot and been totally fine? Sacrifice Auntie and Zheng’s weird “soft”thing/reconciliation that felt unearned for the TWO MINUTES that could’ve been better spent paying respect to a major character. I would love more of Auntie and Zheng, but like… let’s be real. The opening with Ed and the fisherman? Cut that down just a smidge. I mean, it wouldn’t have been any more choppy than the rest of the episode turned out. It’s not like we’re just bitching to bitch. I can actively SEE some small ways that it could have been helped. Still wouldn’t have been enough given the constraints but it would’ve been a start.
I don’t know what’s going on on Twitter. I don’t doubt that there are bad actors that are harassing DJ and crew. But those of us screaming in our small corners of the internet are ALLOWED TO HAVE CRITICISMS. It’s almost like some of y’all need to be handled with kid gloves. So scared of hearing anything negative about your precious show. Well, it’s MY precious show, too. It’s okay to admit when things don’t live up to your expectations. It’s okay to move the goalpost, even, and try to be positive when that happens. But it almost feels deceptive to try to convince other people that their criticisms are without merit (especially when some of them are just objective. That shit was RUSHED. The pacing was BAD.)
