i've seen so many reviews for this episode saying 'it's the worst of the show' and an equal amount saying 'anyone who doesn't like it has tiktok attention span'. i wasn't gna review this bc most conversation about this episode is done, but since i'm always right i thought i'd give my opinion. i think parts of the episode felt incredibly dragged out. i think most stuff could have been done a lot faster without affecting the atmosphere or impact of the episode. especially near the start, some scenes and interactions felt awkwardly long (and not in a good way). i think the slow pacing doesn't really help the episode much and at times just makes it feel tedious. i also think that a lot of the criticism for this episode wouldn't be as harsh if it wasn't the 3rd last episode of the season and if it didn't come after such a perfect episode. i DO think having a whole 37 minutes dedicated to a 'side plot' hurt the momentum of the main story that has been building up over the season. BUT i don't think it's as big of a deal as people are making it seem. i've criticised the episode a lot but i do honestly think it's very good. first, it's one of the more visually impressive episodes of the show (which is definitely saying smth bc every episode is beautiful). secondly, it adds a lot of necessary world building since up to this point we've only really seen one town, so it's very interesting to see how lumon has completely changed this other town too and pretty much sucked all the life out of it. on top of this, through harmony's backstory (most of which is implied), we get so much more information about lumon. in fact, i'd argue we learn more valuable information in this episode than we have in any other this season (apart from 2x7 maybe). also, the extra layers this gives harmony's character makes her so much more interesting and human (and changes the viewer's perspective we've had of her up to this point) and further justifies her hatred to lumon (and how i assume she'll help mark). this WAS necessary for the main plot for that reason. imma stop yapping now. basically, i understand why people found this boring or struggled to care because it's not completely related to the main plot and also we've barely seen harmony this whole season. but if you look past that, and consider the impact this episode has on the show, and also how great some of the scenes are (especially the whole last 10 minutes, and the one where harmony goes into her mum's room), i'd argue that this episode is very good and necessary. overall tho it's still a bottom 3-5 episode for me😭 low 7/10