big disgrace

As Chris Sonnenburg decided, Rapunzel is the main focus in the show, and the writing choices surround her more than anyone. Personally, I and many others wish that Eugene would have been given the same prioritization that he got in the original movie, and this is where you and I may disagree. This being said, it was the decision of the writers to focus on Rapunzel and Cassandra's friendship, at whatever expense that focus may have cost the writing or the other characters. As I have already said, it is ultimately the writing that I think most of us can agree was an issue, regardless of who our favorite characters are.

And I admit that it is a bit of an oversimplification to say that it's just a matter of Cassandra overshadowing Eugene. There's more to it than that, but I do hope that what I'm referring to makes sense.

From a technical standpoint, there is nothing wrong with the writers deciding to focus on Rapunzel and whoever else they want to loop into that. For a show that cares so much about trauma, though, I think that it is owed to Eugene, as the deuteragonist of the movie and as Rapunzel's closest companion, to address his grievances, great and small, from a much more empathetic standpoint, which, in my humble opinion (that you may or may not agree with) the writers fall very short of. Like you said, Eugene has a large role and is important to the show - the plot relies on his actions. He also is an emotional support for Rapunzel, who wouldn't be who she is today without him. But his actions rely on his character, though, and his character is what suffers - at least, in my argument, concerning the respect that it is given in consideration of his opinions, traumas and motivations. To basically summarize: when I say that Eugene is "overshadowed," I'm referring less about how often he appears and what he does, and more to his allowed emotional complexity and how his decisions, good and bad, are connected to that.

Both Rapunzel and Cassandra's feelings are given a lot of validation, especially Cassandra's in her arc about feeling like she never gets a chance and how she was abandoned my her own mother (though I think Rapunzel's traumas are downplayed, but that's another can of worms that this post isn't trying to open). Cassandra is given a lot of mercy and empathy from Rapunzel, as well as the writers, who give her multiple points of dialogue and song discussing her feelings and why she went down the path that she did ("Waiting in the Wings", its reprise, "Crossing the Line", and "Nothing Left to Lose" all give her a clear voice to explain her sorrows ). This show loves talking about certain characters' traumas and making the connections between their choices and how much they have suffered, especially hers.

But I don't think that this is the case with Eugene, at least not half as much as it should be. The writers kind of forced him to accept Rapunzel and Cassandra's strained friendship which is where Cass "takes priority" over him here. I do still have an issue with "No Time Like the Past," because Eugene's life experience and trauma stemming from dealing with shady people for years should not be trumped by the oversimplified virtue lesson of "friends shouldn't leave friends behind". We've met the Stabbington brothers, the Baron and Stalyan - very tough people who have all sworn destruction on him at some point (Yes, he did them dirty too, but my argument here is that this is just how the "dog eat dog" world is - trust no one, because it will kill you.). There is also a lot of implication from his relationship with Stalyan that she was abusive towards him (I'm sure that @tangledbea can refer you to more detailed posts on that), and he witnessed Rapunzel's abuse from Mother Gothel first hand, so he has all the reason in the world to believe that people who wish harm on you shouldn't be trusted. And he was right - Cassandra was the one who chose to betray Rapunzel. She also maintained several times that she was done being Rapunzel's friend. For the writers to keep pushing them towards reconciliation without the proper handling of the dialogue, suggests three things:

That Rapunzel should continue to long for Cassandra's friendship, instead of moving on (bad for Rapunzel)

That Cassandra's boundary should be pushed (bad for Cass)

That Eugene is wrong for (correctly) identifying strained relationships as problematic (bad for everyone really, but Eugene specifically)

This is a big deal if we're talking about understanding the characters through the lens of psychology. Not to bring too much personal stuff into this, but as someone who has been in both Rapunzel's shoes (dealing with difficult people at the expense of my own well-being) and Eugene's (realizing that I really have to fend for myself in such situations), I just cannot get over the way that his feelings were brushed over here, and many other people agree with me. In the show, Eugene mostly is there to be Rapunzel's emotional support, which the show does a good job of, but outside of this role, most discussion of his own emotions and traumas are isolated (like his solo, "Everything I Ever Thought I Knew" being witnessed by nobody, and him "pouring out his heart" only to Pascal in Tangled: Before Ever after, never directly being give the chance to explain this to Rapunzel). Any time that his traumas and grievances are brought up in front of other people, he gets dismissed or laughed at. Examples are the writers using the "Horace" line to add comedic relief to him being hurt and angry at his dad for leaving him behind, and him getting angry at the Flynnposter guy for stealing his identity. When these are played as a joke, they just come across as him being insecure, arrogant, and always the one who is "in the wrong" at the end of the episode. Characters like Rapunzel and Cassandra are highly validated in their emotions, perhaps to a fault. Cassandra's faults are arguably a lot worse than Eugene's are by season 3, but because they are always directly and explicitly tied to her traumas, we are expected to feel empathy for her instead of laugh at her and hope that someone talks some sense into her. Same goes for Rapunzel's feelings, and mostly for Varian's. We excuse them because of the emotional appeal, but Eugene isn't allowed that emotional appeal because he's supposed to be the "funny" one. In contrast, it makes Eugene look like an insecure, superficial hothead, and not as someone who has deep wounds just like everyone else. The segment of the fandom on Tumblr that stans Eugene generally understands his behavior from an empathetic standpoint (naturally), but that's not as widely understood by the rest of the fandom. In turn, he's not that likeable to people who don't dissect his character as deeply as we do, which is honestly a problem that people have with Rapunzel in this show too. Varian and Cass' traumas are loud and clear. Rapunzel and Eugene's are not (I won't diverge too much farther into this, since the post here is about Eugene and Cass).

Also - although my main argument is about emotional overshadowing, here's a bit of a tangent where I think Eugene is physically overshadowed by her too. In the movie, Eugene is, of course, confident and funny, but he also has a distinct nonchalant, serious side to him as well, which the movie gives us many examples of. Cassandra is basically the epitome of those qualities, which, always having her front and center, does wash out the appearance of those qualities in Eugene. It's like when you place a muted version of a color and a brighter version of that same color side-to-side - the more saturated one just makes the other look gray. I'm not saying that Eugene's seriousness or skills are "dull" - rather, they are just one of many parts of him; but when placed next to a character who epitomizes those traits, all we see are the colors that remain. What do we have left if we wash out Eugene's seriousness, skillfulness and melancholia? Humor. Boisterousness. Chaos - all qualities that make up a part of him, but don't really allow his colors to shine....unless Cassandra is absent or in the background of the scene, and this is where I hope you can see the issue. It's a caricature of his goofy qualities, which reduces him to the "clown"/comedic relief character if we are trying to focus on Cassandra. There might be an argument along the lines of "well two serious characters can exist!" but in the writing, this ideal really doesn't hold up - in fact, there tends to be competition. Either one character will have this moment or the other. If character A gets it, then character B has to be doing something else. Take episodes like "Rapunzel and the Great Tree" and "Freebird" for example - Eugene just looks stupid in these episodes, which does not do justice to him because we all know that if he were present, he would have behaved in a way that is very reflective of his concern for Rapunzel's well being. The message this gives off, ultimately, is that Eugene really doesn't matter, and that he's a dispensable placeholder.

I could really keep going, but I think (and hope) that I've illustrated my point already. I've already said a lot, and I know I'm not the only one who has talked about this before, so I'll let this rest.

Thank you for your interest in this topic, and pardon me again if I didn't make my original point clear the first time.