So…the kid. I’m disappointed. The Althea we’ve seen has been remarkably open with her emotions, not someone who’s hidden her feelings at all, so it’s unbelievable to me that she would have a missing son and be so lackadaisical about him. A dog with the same name? Is not a hint at all. “Too subtle” means something the audience didn’t pick up on at all, before OR after, and that implies either poor writing, directing, or acting. And since there’s been no hint in the narrative, no mention of him at some very appropriate times with Althea’s father or her conversations with Batchi, I’m going to lay the blame here at writing. It’s clear that this was something intentionally withheld for maximum shock reveal impact.

I’m certainly not going to openly recommend this anymore, not without an incredibly strong disclaimer. To add to the one about the treatment of the suicide attempt, actually, since that was very poor as well, with it treated only as a plot device and not a significant event on its own. That should probably have been the first sign, I guess, but the ep 16 fluff swept it all away. But my options here are obviously to either accept it or to drop the show. And…I’m too invested and still too in love with the ship to move on. So I will simply have to go back to earlier scenes and retcon them as Althea worrying about her kid, even if we don’t have any actual indication of it. I didn’t think I would have to put that much effort into headcanoning the characters into consistency for this show, but there it is, nothing I can do about it now.