At least you got a $40 lesson in why backup pens exist, right before you needed one. Sounds like the universe owed you a laugh after that show.

The 1.5x speed thing gets blamed a lot but that part is not really what did it. You can watch a good show at 1.5x and still follow it fine. What actually blew up your list was skipping the OP and treating each episode like a task to clear. Once a show becomes a checkbox, your brain stops holding onto any of it, and then you need more shows to feel like you're doing something. Going back to normal speed with the OP every time works because it forces a pause before each episode, and that pause is where you actually decide if you even like the thing. So the fix isn't the speed, it's the stopping to pay attention again. I did the same thing two winters ago and got to 18 shows before I noticed I couldn't name a single side character from any of them.