and here's the thing: izzy was a father figure - to the crew. you want a sexually charged mentor dynamic? we already had it. the dynamic of those first three episodes really is that izzy got the kids in the divorce. he bled for them, sacrificed himself for them, tried to guide them even when he was deteriorating mentally. and the crew responded by being fiercely loyal to him.
frenchie leaning on him in the cell, the image of wanting to both protect and be protected. jim, ripping into blackbeard for being so incredibly cruel to izzy. even with lucius, the not moving on is worse scene is izzy going to lucius and saying i'm older than you, i've been where you are now, and this is what you need to do in order to survive it.
the izzy of season two was free of blackbeard. the izzy of season two belonged to his crew, body and soul, and it should have been them sitting by his side, holding his hand, and crying over him. begging him not to go because they still needed him. because they did still need him.
