at this point in the season to me, everything feels completely intentional. Even the slower pacing of come of the episodes and certain characters being dragged out a bit, because that's the way many of the characters are actually feeling in universe.

That was clearly the intention of the first couple full sitcom-style episodes, but I feel like it's carried deeper into the season that they are playing with the audience on multiple levels throughout.

With there being so many characters which have unique perspectives on the hex and their own place in/out of it, they kinda have to have some of those characters not have much movement in some of the episodes. But I think that once it's resolved it will have all been worth it.