Agree on it needing breathing room, but I’ve also reluctantly accepted that’s just what we get nowadays with everything becoming so hyper-serialized and each season being a 10 hour movie. I don’t mind that trend too much when the story is good, but it does make me miss the longer seasons that could give you a few lighter / “filler” episodes to catch your breath. That critique is not just for Trek but a lot of other shows developed for streaming as well.
That said, I really do enjoy SNW being more episodic.