The original post: /r/television by /u/Wheres_MyMoney on 2026-05-20 18:42:20+00:00.
This may get kind of rambling so I apologize in advance. But the main premise is that these big shows are just completely okay lying to your face and expecting that you either won’t notice or won’t care. It is particularly evident between seasons, which I believe is bolstered by the fact that it takes years for each to come out. A couple of recent examples (spoilers):
The Boys: Completely retconned multiple character backstories including Marie’s power (which also makes Gen V as a whole “so what”) level and Soldier Boy’s entire history.
Gen V: End of Season 1 with them captured in the super prison with no hope. Season 2 opens with “well actually, one of them escaped”.
Stranger Things: multiple changes regarding the lore of the Upside Down, powers, etc. Still never solved how Eleven literally resurrected Max but also kind of sort of. Season 4 ends with hell literally unleashing on Earth. Season 5 starts with “well actually, just kidding”.
Euphoria: This one is a little more subtle, but things just happen. For example, Rue was buried up to her neck, almost on the verge of being murdered by her drug boss for being a rat. Two scenes later, she has enough freedom to meet up with her FBI handlers. And don’t even get me started on the non-Rue main characters.
Dutton Ranch: Yellowstone was an entire series full of Boomer Porn where Beth and Rip, among other characters, fought against outsiders intruding on their ranch and way of life. Now, in Dutton Ranch, Beth and Rip are outsiders intruding on a ranch and way of life…oh but now they’re the good guys.
House of the Dragon: This one is a little bit different. But Season 1 in particular (which I liked quite a bit) had this weird habit of ending the episode with “oh shit, how are they going to get out of this?” and then starting the next episode with “a few years later”. I get it, but it’s still annoying. And then season 1 and season 2 ending on “almost the brink of war” has been talked to to death but that, too.
This might be kind of dramatic, but I feel like it’s an indication of attention span and media literacy devolving. They aren’t just “not expecting you to remember everything” they are actively expecting you to forget it.