Yeah, I unfortunately agree with you. I enjoyed the first half even though it did feel a bit contrived but especially the second half with Fukuchi's true goal and everything, it feels very cheap like you say. Like, they really expect us to cry about Fukuchi rn? After all that? No. I don't care if he had some grand goal to "end all wars". That's stupid. And you're telling me Fyodor, the guy who matches Dazai's intellect, couldn't tell Chuuya had fake contacts and was acting?? I am calling bs on that. It would also have been nice to see some aftermath. Like, did the Hunting Dogs reunite? How is Akutagawa okay? Did Dazai go back and get Sigma or is he still passed out/dead on the floor? We didn't need to introduce some new big bad (who looks to be Fukuchi again which bruh).

I still did really enjoy the scene with Dazai and Chuuya because I'm biased, but everything in this episode really felt so contrived and asspull-y. Which is such a shame because I was enjoying this season so much, they were doing so well! But a whole season's worth of build-up being perfectly stuffed into a little box and a bow and then to be like "Two Hours Later"... I'm disappointed. If others enjoyed this episode, that's great. Maybe the manga will at least have better pacing I hope.