They pretty much crammed through a season’s worth of revelations in 44 minutes of content. The pacing was terrible. They actually had a scene where a guy stood around for a couple of minutes and just told us stuff.
More talented writers would have set up clues and given rewarding payoffs as the 13 episode season progressed.
Therefore, my primary concern for pacing was that it get the material out there.
And you are certainly correct that a good writer could have lingered and tempted viewer with hints and clues by revealing the story as part of the action. Having a character simply tell so much of the story in what was basically nothing more than a monologue was pure literary heresy.
That said, my excitement here is that the pacing is quick enough to hold most TV viewers attention (read attention span of a gnat) and the story, politically dangerous as it is, is revealed before the administration brings pressure to kill it.