The "world building" excuse is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, and I have to ask, did he actually warn you ahead of time that this show does the recap thing, or did he just let you sit there confused for four hours? Because in my experience, people who love a show with heavy filler tend to forget that first time viewers don't have the same patience for it. Also, twelve episodes in one sitting is a lot to ask of anyone, let alone on a Friday after work. Does he watch it that way himself, or was he just pushing you through it faster than he normally would? If he binges it like that on his own, then maybe that's just how the show is meant to be watched and you two just have different limits. But if he front loaded you with the worst stretch of the season as a "test," that says way more about him than about your taste.

So what kind of reviews did you read before booking? I always make myself scroll past the first page of ratings on those sites because the cheap places hide bad feedback deep down. The $8 price tag is a huge red flag to me. In my experience, anything under $15 in a big city like Athens usually means someone is cutting corners on the basics like working locks and clean bathrooms. Hostels in that range often rely on location to trick people into thinking it's a deal. Your mileage may vary but I'd rather pay a bit more for a door that actually closes all the way.