The first thought isn’t “why did they cut at least 3 times to [rando’s] face in these scenes?” It’s not an audience stand-in in a comedic sense since the timing is not in the right “place.” And his reactions are not really symmetrical to what the audience should feel.

At least to me, that hinted that [rando] may be pivotal somewhere. And since everything is almost over, hmmm. Oh, look. That’s an interesting character name that shows up at the very end that stands out wildly and is likely [rando]. And, if true, a deep cut.