I mean, you'd be shocked how desperation can regress a person's growth, but even so I feel like we needed to see a bit...more...of that? A bit more introspection, perhaps, from the lad?
I'm actually really torn about it? On the one hand, I can sort of pick up the cues dotted about the issues: the fear in #1, his temper in #2, his melancholy irritation in #3 which just exploded #4-5, but the pacing of everything else around it just made it lose its' impact somehow? Maybe it's because the events between the panels don't feel like they have a chance to breathe and, well, everyone's being yanked from hither to thither and back again?