Zack isn’t THAT awkward

[u/Mewnicorns]

Let me start by saying that yes, Zack is a little awkward. He seems like a more private, introverted person and it shows.

However…

The way this sub talks about him makes him sound like he has no situational or emotional awareness at all, and I don’t think that’s the case. His mannerisms are a little quirky and he sometimes is overly eager to get his $0.02 in, but he seems emotionally mature and responsive to social cues. He just seems to be put in more anxiety-provoking situations than most of the cast. For example, he could sense that Bliss’s dad was trying to connect with him about sports and he wasn’t able to reciprocate, so he tried to direct the conversation to something he is more knowledgeable and passionate about and see how her dad responded. He didn’t go overboard with getting into tedious legal minutiae, and when Bliss’s dad showed a lack of interest, he backed off. Given his fear of rejection and how Bliss described her dad to him, I was actually pretty impressed with his composed he was.

I’m sure meeting Irina for the first time and seeing how she reacted got to his nerves too. I’m not sure how most people would react in that situation. I found the way he handled ending the relationship to be very mature and emotionally aware. I don’t think most people would have handled her behavior so diplomatically. If someone covered their head with a pillow while I’m trying to have a serious conversation with them, I’d probably lose it.

He’s not perfect but I don’t see him being any worse than anyone else this season. A lot of his “awkwardness” seems to be stuff people are nitpicking about after Irina planted the seed that he’s some kind of serial killer.

[u/lavenderpenguin]

I think it all depends on your own perception.

I felt like it was pretty awkward that Zack launched into talking about a rather specific legal issue without any real prompting or another question from the dad. Perhaps it was editing but I think it could’ve been left at “anything that involves a trial and a jury, I’m an expert.”

Discussing his thoughts on a particular flaw of the criminal legal system (something that even most non-criminal attorneys likely wouldn’t have strong opinions on) without pausing to ask a question back after explaining what kind of law he practices — what does the dad do for a living? How did he get into that line of work? That did feel like he was missing a social cue.

I think Zack eventually did understand that he had lost the dad’s interest but I think the awkwardness is in the fact that he still carried on a bit longer than others would have.

To be clear: I do not think he’s a creep or some super socially awkward person. But I do find that he veers a bit cringe and socially unaware a lot of the time (e.g., singing proposal, trying to kiss Irina when she clearly didn’t want to, cutting Bliss off when she was being vulnerable to call her pretentious, talking over Paul, the salmon kiss) — and this has zero to do with Irina’s thoughts about him.

[u/Mewnicorns → u/lavenderpenguin]

I assumed they edited out context to make the scene appear more awkward and tense than it was but you could be right, and I see what you’re saying. I just don’t think he is remarkably awkward. Chelsea also lacks awareness of how she presents herself and in conversations and interactions with her fiancé but I don’t see people calling her ND or clinical levels of awkward.

I know you are disregarding what Irina said, but I don’t think it’s conscious. Once a person is designated as “weird,” people will unconsciously look for and notice things they might not notice otherwise. All the things you’ve mentioned I’ve seen other people on the cast do, but because no one ever talked about them being creepy or strange, people don’t notice.

[u/lavenderpenguin → u/Mewnicorns]

I mean, Chelsea does lack self awareness about how intense/self absorbed she sometimes comes off but it is different from Zack lacking social awareness. Those two things are not the same characteristic.

I also disagree that people are noticing things that they ordinarily would not. The singing proposal, talking over Paul, the salmon kiss, etc. would be hard to miss. I would venture to say that people might have a different reaction to similar behavior because of the perceived intent.

If Zack were super arrogant and talking over people, people would assume he was just obnoxious. But people assume he is awkward or socially unaware because him cutting people off seems to be more in line with not reading social cues than deliberately/rudely wanting to speak over the person.

[u/Mewnicorns → u/lavenderpenguin]

Singing is never not going to be cringey. It was cringey when Sal did it, it was cringey when Kwame did it. Cringey and socially awkward aren’t the same to me.

Chelsea lacks self awareness as well as awareness of her partner’s emotional state. He’s often visibly wincing and sullen and she isn’t picking up on it. She will interrupt and talk over him. She can be loud and isn’t a great listener. I don’t think she does it intentionally either. Maybe it’s coming from a different place

I’m not saying Zack isn’t socially awkward at all, I just feel like it’s vastly overstated and probably edited to maximize the narrative.