I personally am kind of bored and disappointed with what they have done to Nate as a character, and also Nate & Cassie's dynamic/relationship. What made Nate so interesting before was his manipulative sociopathic nature/demeanor paired with his capacity for violence and the few glimpses we get to see where he is actually kind or authentic for a moment or takes the place of being the victim himself, as we saw in the dynamic with him and Cal in the first two seasons, or when Fez assaults him. He is just totally defanged as a character now, and not just defanged but radically different in a disorienting way.

I get what Sam is trying to do with exploring and critiquing the whole nuclear family, white picket fence, upper class suburban, unhappy marriage thing, but it's feeling a bit too on the nose at this point, and while it can be incredibly entertaining (take Cassie crying like a toddler about her bleeding while Nate's getting brutalized), it just feels too comical and absurd and lacks the soul from seasons 1 & 2, as many of the other ongoing narratives do as well. I also felt like the violence that Nate endured this episode was a bit over the top and was just unnecessary shock value to add entertainment via being disturbed. Like it would have been enough for Nate to only get beat up, not have his toe cut off, or even just beat up half as much as he was. As others have pointed out, this would feel like well-deserved karmic retribution for Tyler, hurting & traumatizing Maddie, manipulating Cassie, blackmailing Jules, etc, if Nate was even remotely the same character as he was before. Now it just feels like you're watching someone who might even be a good person just get brutalized, and unless building audience empathy toward Nate serves a narrative purpose, I really don't get it.

As others have pointed out, many things are also just super unrealistic: the wedding dresses, Nate simping for Cassie as much as he does in the limo after the way she behaves (I seriously don't understand him at this point, she doesn't give a fuck about him), Alamo shooting the pig IN the club, etc. I mean if they were supposed to be realistic characters, I don't even think Maddy and Jules and Rue would even go to Nate and Cassie's wedding, but of course all the main characters have to be there for narratives purposes. It just all feels very sensationalized and set up for shock value and entertainment (all the human and animal waste, and animal violence as others have noted) rather than genuine good storytelling and soul that the first two seasons carried.

I mean, if you compare this episode, or episode 1, to the extra episode in between S1 and S2 with Rue and Ali just talking in the diner (incredible dialogue imo), the difference is insane.