Among the things that bothered me from the get-go:
1] These (alleged) events were taking place well before the 2 public accusations that made international news, in 1993 and 2005. I didn't remember either of those accusers alleging anything so graphic. This didn't mean much at first -- I knew of the allegations at the time, but barely paid attention to them. A cursory search suggests that this was actually the case; neither of the original accusers claimed to experience anything like this.
So, with that timeline, Jackson was raping boys earlier on and then calmed down a bit, and settled for fondling and less intrusive acts.
It doesn't prove anything, exactly, but it doesn't make sense to me that he would de-escalate as time goes on. I'm not an expert, but my understanding that abusers escalate and become more brazen as time goes on, not less.
2] In the midst of these graphic abuse claims, it seemed odd to me that they brought up these otherwise ordinary complaints: they were upset that Jackson didn't help them more (or something?) with their careers and schooling.
The Safechucks acknowledge that they went years with little-to-no face to face contact with Jackson, and no contact at all besides occasional and infrquent letters, faxes or phone calls. (They seemed upset about this) But Safechuck blames him for his parents' decision to pull him out of advanced classes in high school, and says it was Jackson's fault that Safechuck dropped out of film school. I understand how upset he might be if Jackson told him "nah, you don't need film school; just do (whatever) and you'll break into the industry", and he followed that advice and regretted it. But as unfortunate as that is, I have a hard time seeing that as Jackson's responsibility or his fault. As for the parents pulling him out of his advanced classes in high school, again, that falls on the parents, not Jackson (assuming he actually suggested that to begin with)
The Robsons spent a fair amount of time talking about something Jackson to said to Wade on one of their earlier meetings, that Wade would be a huge director, "bigger than Spielberg". This came up at least 2, 3 times in the show. First Joy Robson (Wade's mother), and later both Wade and his wife Amanda. They actually referred to it, several times, as a "prophecy". Wade seemed legitimately angry about this "failed prophecy". He also claimed that Jackson "told him to always work hard" (might not be an exact quote, but very close) and that that is why he can't enjoy work, that Jackson instilled in him this unhealthy work ethic.
Like the Safechucks, he only had sporadic and infrequent contact with him at that point (in fact, they only had an initial long visit that spanned a few weeks, and it seemed like that was the end of it. And like Safechuck's mother, Joy Robson seemed very upset by this.) So, I don't quite buy it that Jackson had that much negative influence over his adult career. In fact, there's a video clip -- possibly in the Leaving Neverland: Echoes of a Pedophilia Apologist video, with Joy Robson bragging that she (not Jackson) relentlessly pushed her kids to perform. She says, happily, "every birthday party was backstage, every Christmas party - backstage. No regrets".
Again, the reason this seemed odd to me was because of the context: interjected into this show, filled with explicit descriptions of sexual abuse, these mundane grievances just seemed weirdly out of place.
"He staged a mock wedding... and he also gave me bad career advice!"
"He raped me... and he also promised a huge directing career that never materialized!"
And the final cherry on the cake with those segments was Robson's brother, saying that his (the brother's) wife had some "foreshadowing" of Wade's abuse: it had come to her in a dream that Wade had been abused by Jackson. When they were all together a few days later, she casually mentioned this. Robson said his usual response would have been to make a joke, but this time, it was like fate: Wade had just disclosed the abuse to a therapist, for the first time, and he couldn't joke about it. His brother noticed the change in Wade's demeanor, and he confessed to (some of) his family for the first time.
The whole thing doesn't quite add up, for me. It makes me suspect that the real reason Robson/Safechuck are at least somewhat convincing is because they DO have a lot of bitterness at Jackson for these (irrational) failed expectations. They seem to feel he owed them something career-wise, and failed to follow through.
3] The Robson's treatment of their father/husband was truly awful. He had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he desperately wanted them to stay, but Joy still packed up her two youngest (Wade and his sister Chantal) and headed to the USA, leaving her husband and oldest son in the dust. I probably need to watch the show again to refresh my memory, but I seem to recall Shane, the oldest son, visiting relatively frequently. The father, less so.
There is a chilling segment in which Wade and Chantal discuss the last few visits / the last times they saw their father. Wade admits flat out that he wanted little to do with the guy and had no patience for him. Chantal tries to make it seem normal and less terrible, but her explanation: "mom wanted us to spend time with dad, and Wade didn't see why he should have to do that" really didn't help. Their mentally ill father had little to no love or affection from his own family. By their own accounts, his mental illness was an annoyance and a burden to Wade. When the oldest son left for the US (on a "visit" of indeterminate length), the father committed suicide. Wade barely grieved.
Not included, but related to LN: Wade, in his 2016 deposition, tries to blame Jackson for his father's death, stating that his father "might have been worried that he (Wade) was being abused by Jackson. I'd say there's roughly zero chance that his suicide had anything to with Jackson, and every chance that it was because he had mental illness with a high mortality rate and a family that abandoned him.
Leaving Neverland specifically set out to show these guys in a sympathetic light, and Robson still came off as a self-absorbed monster.
There were other things, too, but these are the main points that stood out to me.
