I DO think The Magnus Archives fucked up by presenting Jonmartin as a healthy couple, not simply because I don’t believe they were very functional at all, but also because having them remain the pillar of hope throughout the season sabotaged the supposed horror tragedy. If your audience is describing the final act of your horror tragedy as a honeymoon road trip, perhaps it’s time to ask yourself what went wrong.
I belive Martin could have been a great character, especially in Season 5. We know Martin is an avatar, and we learn that he has his own domain, combine it with the fact that he's an airhead who thinks every single avatar is a monster, and it's the perfect setting to explore him in depth, but nope, let's focus on the romance, that'll do better. We do get a little bit of Martin's self reflection on it but it's so few times that it was (at least for me) irrelevant and insignificant.
So true. Suddenly the last season of a horror fiction podcast decided to become a romantic tragedy. Everything was focused on a relationship that didn’t even have a chance to properly develop. The writing just smooshed their faces together like two puppets and declared them deeply in love
The stab wound that Martin gave Jon in the last episode was deeper than his love for the man could ever be