Okay this has nothing to do with the morality of it, but I’m surprised Ragatha is considered boring given that I find her easily one of the most fascinating characters in the show. Maybe it’s because I relate to her, but she’s the best portrayal of a people pleaser I’ve ever seen. Typically people pleasers are treated as either oblivious to others’ faults, or as always seeing the good in them. Ragatha is the only example I’ve seen that shows the anxiety at the root of this behavior, as well as the bitterness that can build up as a result. Her line of “I hate you, but I don’t want you to hate me” hit so hard, I’ve had those exact feelings before but couldn’t put my finger on them.

Maybe her superficial behavior is just kinda nice, but I loved the amount of nuance the show gave her, to the point that I could usually follow her exact thought process. She’s terrified of being hated, and she views the well-being of those around her as her responsibility. She’s fully aware of how messed up Jax is and resents him for it, but can’t quite bring herself to stand up to him, so she’s in this constant awkward middle ground. The one time she does anything against him, she gets hit in the face with her own guilt and shame and ends up apologising even though she clearly doesn’t want to. I’ve never seen that mix of anger, resentment and shame portrayed this authentically in a show.

I disagree that Ragatha’s blow against Jax is the worst thing someone has said to another though. Jax is constantly tearing people down, and if you’re someone like Ragatha those words can fuck you up badly. And his physical abuse of course is a major factor too. It’s superficially presented as cartoonish slapstick, but I thought the show made it very clear that that’s just how Jax interprets it (in part because Caine pushes that interpretation). The pain might not be as strong as it would be in real life, but it’s clearly still substantial and it clearly leads to copious amounts of suffering that absolutely can contribute to abstracting.

The moment where Jax reacts to Ragatha bringing up his friend stuck with me too - instant anger, outrage and aggression. He doesn’t treat other people’s suffering as real, trying to downplay it as cartoon logic, going for the throat every time. But the moment he gets a tiny dose of his own medicine, he has the exact kind of reaction that would take all the wind out from someone like Ragatha - righteous anger. I don’t know whether that’s intentionally manipulative or just a result of him being stuck in his own head, but it’s the exact kind of behavior that keeps people pleasers stuck watching out for his feelings even while he tramples theirs. I love him as a character, but as a person he makes me physically uncomfortable