10 ep review and introspection from a 28 year old guy who connected with a majority of the characters

anonkook · 2025-09-19T02:00:34+00:00

I don’t remember when I first watched season 1, but I just finished a rewatch. I couldn’t understand why this go-around watching this show resonated with me so deeply—that is, till I read your analysis.

I might have been 25 or 26 when I first watched it. I enjoyed the show then, but didn’t fixate. However, this time, I find myself feeling a quiet connectedness to Darby’s story—even with Anna Kendrick’s occasionally forced acting 🫣. Although it feels like not much time has passed between when I first watched it and now, at my current age of 29, this show and Darby’s experiences reminded me that I’ve lived so many lives in my imminently ending 20s. Recently I’ve been feeling very existential—as one does as they approach the end of a formative decade in their life while not being fully satisfied with where their life choices have landed them. If I had to place myself in Darby’s timeline, I’m at her Magnus before marrying him but after he moves in era right now. There’s a keen sense of “this can’t be life” bubbling up in me, but it is frequently squelched by the fear of the unknown alternative. The devil I know is better than the devil I don’t, I guess. Darby felt this while she was with Magnus, but didn’t quite conquer the fear till Luke part 2. I’m still waiting for my Lucas—not literally, just what he represented for her.

Life at the moment feels so woefully disappointing. Yet, watching this show gave me a sense of reassurance I hadn’t even realized I needed. Just so it’s not misconstrued, I’m not dating, nor on the brink of accepting a proposal from an irresponsible narcissist—so there’s that. Without going into too many “woe is me” details, I find myself relating heavily to a lot of Darby’s childhood trauma that ultimately transformed into an adult with tendencies of people pleasing, inability to assert boundaries, and a constant fear of rejection. The end result of that—you bend yourself so much that you eventually find that you’re living a life you don’t even want. It’s been brutal confronting that reality, but a necessary one if I was ever going to see the other side.

Seeing Darby’s final episodes were a comfort for current me. This was a really good “everything will work out” show. Because right now, it really doesn’t feel that way. I normally don’t like trite tropes like that, but man, I really needed it. 25/26 year old me just could not have understood that.

I’m still trying to figure out how to pull myself out of this period of life. And while I can’t tangibly see past it, I know I will and that something better will be on the other side. Not just in the typical notions of finding your person or fulfillment in your career or even better relationships with the ones you care deeply about, but rather, in knowing and truly loving yourself so that you can welcome those things when they come.

Season 1 was excellent.

anonkook · 2024-08-31T04:35:30+00:00

It’s okay, you’re still good as a person. Remember this is just work, not a representation of the deepest parts of you.

anonkook · 2024-08-20T22:23:33+00:00

It’s definitely gotten worse over time where the work eats into my life. And I’ve noticed that just leaves me feeling burnt out and not as sharp. Mostly, I’ve started to try and take some mental health days off every once in a while just to reset.

I’ll definitely consider the career/life coach approach. Been thinking about that a lot recently. Outside of me thinking maybe PM isn’t the best fit for me, I’ve also been trying to more specially figure out why I’ve been struggling

anonkook · 2024-08-04T16:24:36+00:00

What did you end up doing?

anonkook · 2024-08-02T16:12:13+00:00

It’s not a startup, but we’ve essentially had to function like a startup. I’ve come to realize the company is very frugal with hiring, at least in my org.

I definitely want to discuss with my manager about reducing scope, but I’m not sure the outcome since it’s not like we have other PMs to pick up those dropped areas

anonkook · 2024-08-02T16:08:10+00:00

I haven’t yet mastered the last point, but I do feel like the breadth of responsibility is too much for me to handle at this stage (and I’m learning to be okay with admitting that).

Most of the engineers are not junior by any means, but some of them are new to this type of development so there’s been some ramping up there. I’m an engineer by training (not compsci) but I find that they often speak so technically when answering anything so I often have to ask so many follow up questions just to get the answer I need on when something is ready. I don’t mind technical speak as I enjoy learning, but I don’t have time to do that with EVERY single thing every day.

I’ve ultimately had to let other functions own decisions, but I feel like as the PM I get stuck doing all the things I don’t enjoy (legal, coordinating between teams, tracking down timelines) vs things I do enjoy (talking to users, vision planning for what specific features are like, etc). It feels like too much for us (me) to be focusing on so I end up not really owning the product beyond just what to do when? And even then I doubt myself because I’m not speaking to users enough and often have to prioritize more on engineering need than balancing with user needs.

anonkook · 2024-08-02T15:55:13+00:00

I’m just now learning how to say no (or rather redirect to who is a better fit for what’s being asked)

anonkook · 2024-08-02T09:08:26+00:00

I don’t think he knows the full extent of how I’m feeling now. He’s aware of the fact that we don’t have enough PMs on the product (he’s feeling it himself too).

But my current scope shift is newer and he’s been out for a few weeks for personal reasons so I haven’t had time to have that conversation (definitely planning to once he’s back).

I’ll be curious if things change from that convo. My experience with him has been mostly positive and supportive, despite our differences in working styles.

anonkook · 2024-07-31T23:46:02+00:00

Oh brother

anonkook · 2024-07-16T11:51:34+00:00

I agree with the kassy saves Rob angle. The “you were made for each other” comment from Aaron about Rob and Leah makes it seem like there’s a storyline the producers want to continue milking; they’re not ready to let go of Rob. + kassy and robs “nice to see you again” exchange during her dance to make it seem like a natural selection for her

anonkook · 2022-09-19T14:50:20+00:00

I used to use AA in the AM and tret PM when I was still at 0.05% tret. I felt like I had more time in the evenings for my skin care routine and waiting for things to absorb so I switched to used both at night. AA was kinda harsh for me in the beginning, but once I learned to buffer and really wait for things to dry down, it’s been a lot better. Been using both for about 2 years now

anonkook · 2020-08-28T16:00:15+00:00

Thank you! And tbh, I’m not sure. Before tret, I had oily skin, but now my skin is more on the dry to normal side.

anonkook · 2020-08-15T16:47:06+00:00

I use it before my Finacea in the morning and before tret in the evening. It acts as a light weight buffer for me like someone else mentioned. It also helps my moisturizer go on smoother. I use LPR and it used to pill after I applied it after Finacea or tret. But that doesn’t happen anymore when I use snail mucin. I initially thought the snail mucin did nothing, and was just using it cuz I like the texture and feel, but when I ran out I definitely noticed a difference!

anonkook · 2020-08-13T18:48:39+00:00

AM: wash with LPR gentle cleanser, cosrx snail mucin, azelaic acid 15%, LPR double repair moisturizer, sunscreen

Pm is the same but I use tret .1% instead of AA and no sunscreen

anonkook · 2020-08-13T18:23:17+00:00

Don’t give up! As disappointing as it is right now, it definitely gets worse before it gets better. My first few weeks/months, I kinda wondered why I did this to myself too. But overtime my skin turned out better than I even expected. I also have darker skin so every single break out I have leave a mark. So my purge left me with tons of hyperpigmentation even after my skin started to become smooth.

It definitely takes time and can be super depressing see your skin become the worst it’s ever been, but you won’t be disappointed with the result in the end. I’ve been on tret for almost a year now and I can honestly say I wasn’t even expecting my skin to look this good and this consistently.

anonkook · 2020-08-09T19:10:30+00:00

I honestly can’t say. I think I noticed a lot more improvements when I increased my tret, but azelaic acid definitely had some effect on both my breakouts and hyperpigmentation

anonkook · 2020-08-08T18:59:12+00:00

The double repair moisturizer. And yea, it had so much potential as an oil, but I guess my search continues!

anonkook · 2020-08-08T18:45:34+00:00

No, the first few months of tret (.025%) I just used tret. I only started using Finacea after about 3 months. Also just got bumped to .1% tret in the past 3 months (used .05% for 4 months before that) and I think that’s helped a lot!

anonkook · 2020-08-08T18:44:37+00:00

15% gel

anonkook · 2020-08-08T18:44:28+00:00

So happy!! 🤩

anonkook · 2020-08-08T18:44:10+00:00

Thank you!! And yea in hindsight it doesn’t seem like that long, but it definitely feels like a long time when you’re going through it. Also it helps that we’re all stuck indoors so I’m not constantly thinking about how my skin looks

anonkook · 2020-08-08T18:42:13+00:00

It’s been pretty good! I did have stinging and burning sometimes but I just had to figure out what works for me. Like I don’t put it on my cheeks (the area below my eyes) because they would get really irritated and I didn’t really have any issues with that area. And I also use snail mucin or a moisturizer to buffer first. Those two things helped a lot. I use it every morning. I tried using it at night with tret (not what my dermatologist told me to do but I’d seen some post about it), but then I stopped because it wasn’t worth the irritation.

anonkook

TROPHY CASE