In fairness spending an episode in the hospital didn't seem like "brushing it off". I think that every series can be allowed some suspension of disbelief in order to introduce some vehicles for character development. However with ep 8 that vehicle went over the rails fast & furious like Vin diesel. I agree with you how cringey Ashlyn's reaction was. It felt like a mechanicm to shoe horn nudity into the episode just because it had.
I didn't feel the gravity of the hospital scenes at all. If anything, they just delayed the work scenes which decisively take MC away from the girls. All of the major characters visited him in the hospital so it wasn't really a case of the MC being deprived of any character interaction, and they introduced yet another girl that is obviously interested in him. Moreover, the woman who was actually assaulted seemed to have ignored it altogether. If anything, she seemed more willing after to escalate things sexually with the MC, which makes it feel like they just used it as a means of plot progression (which is icky, to say the least).
I can definitely see where you're coming from that the characters seemed pretty humble and this episode didn't really jive with it. But we already knew that Ashley came from a very wealthy family before. If anything, I think this does a good job of fleshing out why Ashley would feel the need to act out/separate, which I suspect is why Az included the scenes. Her family environment is toxic as hell.
I don't have any issue with Ashley's character arc/progression. I just question why MC needed to be there. It really makes it feel like these characters don't have lives or make any growth of their own unless MC happens to be on the screen with them, which is usually a feeling you get when the writing is not quite up to a high enough standard.