Now that the episode is out, can I just say something that's been bothering me about this season? I think the writers are too terminally online, or at least someone in the staff is, because some of the things this season feel like replies to the fandom and the discourse.
The best the writers can do is ignore social media and just do their thing. Just focus on their vision. Acknowledging this or that fandom discourse is pointless because those people won't change their mind and the majority of their audience doesn't know about what iwtvtwt or tumblr is whining about this week and doesn't care.
... not an ounce of self-awareness in some of you.
I don't mean that in any ill way to you particularly, but please, for the love of god, think about all the commentary this show has done before, about how they comment on REAL LIFE ISSUES and then think about what has been said about the writers, the cast and the crew, and that WE KNOW THAT THEY KNOW and how it affected Sam, who has spoken about it, and how the writers abandoned their Twitter account, how they had extra security at SDCC because of the shit some pulled and how allllll that fandom SHIT SHOW IMPACTED THEM IN REAL LIFE.
This season deals with someone being used and abused constantly, and people only see him as an object, not as a someone to see beyond the cardboard villain or sex object to use or insult as they see fit.