I Just Really Want To Know What The Fuck Was Going Through These Writers’ Heads, Because The Entire

I just really want to know what the fuck was going through these writers’ heads, because the entire Robby/Zara situation is just bizarre. They make a point of re-establishing Robby does not drink, and then they show him having multiple, strong alcoholic drinks he would have zero tolerance for. They show him being so drunk he is unable to talk and barely able to stand. They show him sit back down and continue drinking. They show Zara eyeing this entire situation, and approaching him. Then they flash forward to the next morning, and Robby stumbles out of Zara’s hotel room. He says he can’t remember what happened. Zara kisses him and he stands there unmoving and unresponsive. He stumbles away confused and dazed and sad.

Like. There is not any ambiguity in what happened here. There is no world in which any of what they depicted qualifies as a consensual interaction, and they went out of their way to show that it wasn’t. But then they just…turn around and blame Robby for it and call it cheating. So why did they even bother? If they wanted Robby to cheat on Tory, they could have had him unambiguously cheat on her. They could have had him sober and knowingly go home with Zara. They could have shown them being both tipsy but not wasted going back to the hotel together. They could have had Zara just kiss him at the bar where Tory could see it. They had so many other avenues if they really wanted to have Tory/Robby “cheating” drama, so why did they do this? The only explanation I can think of is that they didn’t want to completely vilify Robby, so as an out they had Zara take advantage of him. But then that means they know unequivocally it was sexual assault and still knowingly chose to a) include it and b) frame it as anything but. Which is maybe even worse.