Better to just not view it.

Best thing for a copyright holder is if people pay for their stuff. Next best is if people consume it but don't pay for it, as that at least preserves their relevance. Worst is to be ignored and become irrelevant/forgotten.

I think they'd much prefer people not watch than see people enjoying the content without giving them money (often while seeding the shows to other people in the process).

If nobody watches the shows they can blame the content. If everyone clearly loves the content but refuses to give ABC/Disney/ESPN/FX their business it means the company is the problem (although that wont stop them from falling back on the lie that piracy is all about greedy people who just want everything for free)

Have you tried using a VPN? I installed the free ProtonVPN I got with protonmail and half the internet stops working. VPNs look like bots with high exit traffic so they are blocked. Plus countries are cracking down on exit nodes.

As long as there’s a tpb mirror in the working half the point stands.

The previous poster said their VPN doesn’t work. How exactly does “the point stand” with actual evidence that it doesn’t?

Because torrent sites aren’t going to be blocking vpns as much as other things probably

I actually have ProtonVPN works fine. But if that's problem for you:

1. You can use VPN only when you need to use it.

2. "split tunnening" You can configure VPN to be used only for some programs, like those you use torrenting programs.

3. You can build your own mini-PC/RasPi "TV box" with VPN, storage for programming, connected to television. I wonder if there is not already ready software package for that.

What do you use with your vpn? Every since popcorn time stopped existing, I haven’t been able to find something with good ux

Popcorn time still exists and works. Latest commit was two days ago. Torrent sites still exist too.

And VLC...