OKAY SO one thing I kind of have to get off my chest is that I just can't vibe with the accusations I've seen throughout the season that the writing team has grown to "hate" certain characters (or parts of fandom) and deliberately crafted vindictive plot lines and dialogue to "punish" them.
I think the creative team tried to make what they thought would be the best season with the resources they had. I think they made big bold choices about tone, about where to focus the emotional core of the story, etc. that they knew wouldn't please everybody. I think they wanted to give Jacob lots of meaty material to work with. I think they made some choices that I personally consider questionable, but I don't believe they made those choices with malice towards the audience or the characters (except for David Talbot, but that was hilarious).
At the end of the day I think there are issues this season worth calling out (to AMC, specifically). And if someone is like "fuck the writers" then that's how they feel. But, I'll say it and deal with the consequences: in general, in life, fuck-ups are way more common than conspiracies and malice are, and focusing your energy on the latter does more to affect your peace than it does the people you're focused on.
