I can feel your frustration with the service but I'm unconvinced that "download the next ep" is a dark pattern and more that you're a niche that their UX currently isn't catering towards.
I do a lot of cellular/tethering and know some of the pain points but can recognize that the needs are quite different to the regular user who may consume stuff at home then want to take stuff with them on the go.
Normally I see that UX often caters to the lowest common denominator which leaves power users and niche users sidelined.
My personal bug bear on this subject is that YouTube no longer buffers entire videos and holds them there - presumably this saves them lots in traffic costs and additionally allows them to up sell YouTube premium
I do a lot of cellular/tethering and know some of the pain points but can recognize that the needs are quite different to the regular user who may consume stuff at home then want to take stuff with them on the go.
Normally I see that UX often caters to the lowest common denominator which leaves power users and niche users sidelined.
My personal bug bear on this subject is that YouTube no longer buffers entire videos and holds them there - presumably this saves them lots in traffic costs and additionally allows them to up sell YouTube premium