Final time jump is coming. Lot of ways it could have been handled. It could have been like Godfather II where you you have flashbacks sprinkled throughout. Or they could have simply started with everyone grown and ready to go, without any flashbacks. Ultimately I think it was the right decision to start from the beginning because it's important to establish that Rhae and Alicent were once best friends and as close as sisters. It was also important to establish various other things (the up/down history of Daemon, Corlys' early ambitions, Otto's influence, etc).
My issue is that I simply think they failed to establish a lot of the side characters at various moments. Like tonight with Laenor...he didn't have a single dialogue scene with his sister, as an adult or child. That's just weird to me. Similar to the way Harwin Strong barely had any scenes with Rhae before the wedding feast.
BTW now that's it's happened...remember Helaena Targaryen's comments on Aemond when he told their mom about the flying pig? "He'll have to close an eye...." Listen carefully to what she says in episodes.