and with that comes a lot of different opinions! for the most part, i don't really have any of my own, but there is one thing i've noticed that's been bothering me a bit. i've seen a few people suggest the second season, counter/weight,1 as either a starting point for entirely new listeners or a good place to jump in for those who are only a little familiar. this makes sense! counter/weight is a season with a lot of good stuff in it, and it's very dear to a lot of people's hearts. however, it's from the show's early days, and with that comes... problems. most notably two things:
the first is that there are characters that use gender neutral pronouns that are... very rarely respected. i am not exaggerating when i say that "he" is used where "they" should be the majority of the time. it's easy enough to get used to for some, and it's certainly not as grating when you know that it's not an issue at all in later seasons, but it's absolutely worth mentioning to any new listener.2
the second is that counterweight has... a significant amount of ableism in it. while it's certainly far from omnipresent, and it's not nearly as bad as most other cyberpunk, it's still there, and, in my case, had a serious emotional impact. to be vague, for those who haven't listened: there are a few characters with prosthetics, and they're treated... well, about how you'd expect in cyberpunk. the type of ableism varies from "wow cool robot arm" to shame and disgust from a character towards their own prosthetic to (only once) "this character looks worse because of their prosthetic."3 it's not in most episodes, but it happened often enough that, for me, it was reflective of the whole season.
all of this is not to say that you shouldn't listen to counterweight, or even that you shouldn't start with it! it's got a lot to offer--there's a reason so many people love it as much as they do. i only make this post to ask people recommending counterweight4 to provide a content warning, so that people don't go in unaware of its flaws, as well as to warn people of those parts myself.
happy listening!
1 gratuitous stylization omitted, for my own sake.2 this is something they've apologized for *frequently*-- and, given half the cast now uses they/them in some capacity, i'm personally inclined to forgive them. :p
3 while i think friends at the table as a show still has work to do re: disability, it's come a long way, and i think that's really respectable! they have come a long way since counter/weight and nothing anywhere near this level happens again in subsequent seasons.
4 i should clarify again that this was multiple people--this post isn't vaguing anyone in particular, i promise!