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Is it just me or has the dialogue lost something?


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In season 3, the dialogue was so sharp it could cut through glass, especially in the big episodes (9 and 4). Season 4 is just not on the same level so far. The purple wedding was not nearly as intense as it was supposed to be. Just compare it to the mutiny at Craster's, you could literary feel the tension in that scene. When you consider that S4E2 had far better source material than S3E4, you have to ask yourself if the show lost some of it's magic.



Thoughts? Am I the only one who feels this way?


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I feel the dialogue this season has gotten a tad more bitchy, with more burns, zings and one-liners. This episode I felt some of the convos a bit direct and lacking subtlety and veiled threats (namely Cersei and Brienne, and Oberyn/Ellaria vs the Lannisters), but other than that I don't feel anything jarring about it.


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Yep, season 4 has definitely lost some subtlety and wit and power when it comes to dialogue. I thought I was the only one that noticed it. I really liked Jon's trial and Sandor in the inn though in the first episode. The dialogue was quite good there. Not season 1 level, of course, but better than the rest of season 4.

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I thought Kit Harington in his one little scene did much better than in previous seasons. I take my own criticism of the show and its dialogue with buckets of salt because of my tendency to compare it across mediums and finding the show to be much inferior. Of course a lot of the subtlety from book to show is going to be lost but sometimes I do fill in a lot of the gaps in the show with what I know from the books. Makes it seem much richer that way even though in reality it might not be to someone who hasn't read them.



I don't fucking know haha


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I thought there was something lacking when Joffrey and Tyrion interacted during the wedding. For some reason it just didn't feel as tense as their previous spats, which is disappointing considering this is the point where they're really supposed to push each other.



I'm not sure whether it was something wrong with the actors' performances, the writing/directing, or simply a case of viewers seeing the two clash so many times that it's lost its impact.


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Everyone's gotten smacked by the Sass Fairy. For me, the threats and jabs that come across less veiled reflect the tension of the characters. It should be a moment of Lannister triumph but Cersei's a dethroned broodmare, Loras is engaged to Cersei, Jaime's crippled and realizes how much the city's changed without him...the gloves are off and the punches are aimed at the windpipes. Then you have Oberyn who LOLs at subtlety because that's his brother's gig and he'd rather start a barfight.


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I thought there was something lacking when Joffrey and Tyrion interacted during the wedding. For some reason it just didn't feel as tense as their previous spats, which is disappointing considering this is the point where they're really supposed to push each other.

I'm not sure whether it was something wrong with the actors' performances, the writing/directing, or simply a case of viewers seeing the two clash so many times that it's lost its impact.

Maybe it was the lack of drunk Tyrion? I was happy with the scenes overall, but maybe Dinklage was playing it a little more mopey and despondent as opposed to really bumping heads with Joff.

Personally I think the dialogue so far this season has been really impressive.

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I'd have to agree with Selig that there has always been a fair share of cringy dialogue in the show. As usual it's of higher quality when they stick to the books. Of course D+D manage to give us a few gems, a lot from Bronn and the story carries the show regardless. But yeah the dialogue has never been stellar.


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I thought most of Dave and Dan's dialog was good in episode 1 this season.

That is only episode 1.

Now episode 1 had the Arya and Hound tavern fight and dialog and that matched the best I have seen across four seasons.

Sandor's increasing irritation with Polliver was just a gem.

The 'chicken' thing became a sensation on the net and elsewhere.

Composition and dialog for that sequence was just perfect.

Well George did write episode 2, except for Tyrion's chiding Joffrey , which was spot on (is that from the book?), the wedding had pretty flat dialog. Well the whole sequence was mainly visual.

Other short pieces of dialog were good too.

(People complain about Kit and Emilia, but with a few exceptions, Sibel Kekilli is a wooden Indian, turning what might be good dialog into flat beer, maybe it is her problem with English?)

I don't know if Dave and Dan fiddled with it or George just zipped thru it, or Alex Graves just was too busy with the complexity of the shooting of the wedding to ask for better dialog?

One thing I don't know about the episode directors ,I recognize their names and know some of their work, they all seem very competent , but I don't know if any of them are 'actors directors' too? I mean we do have evidence that multiple takes are shot, and it's not true of a lot of feature film directors, but there are movie directors who will tweak, suggest, cajole, so on actors about delivery and projection.

Some actors don't need this ... I think of Dance and Rigg on the show, Peter and other veteran actors too....

But as has been noted, Kit and Emilia seem to be just giving just a competent reading of the script at times.

Kit seems to be a John Wayne type, Kit playing Kit, but that's ok with me I liked John Wayne.

Emilia drives me a little crazy, she nailed Dracarys!, S3E4, but has seemed off her mark this season, as she has been before, except season 1.

Everybody seems to have a tough time , with exceptions, writing dialog for the 'Across the Narrow Sea' sequences.

But then Benioff & Weiss wrote "And Now His Watch Is Ended" and "The Rains of Castamere" (the RW excited them) , when there are scenes that get their juices going they are sharp with the dialog.

By the by, Carice van Houten finally nailed "The Night is ....." this episode, I always remember Season 2 when she gave it an almost falling inflection which went down with a thud. I don't know if that was Alan Taylor's fault or hers. But she sure hit the mark this time and Taylor was directing again. Seems van Houten has gotten more enthusiastic about the role than she was in season 2.

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Not for me. The dialogue (and interactions generally) is one of the things that critics point to in the show that is a strong point. The first two episodes have been great. And it's probably one of the most quotable shows ever made - the threads here for memorable quotes on each episode are long and varied.

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The dialogue is passable most of the time, and merely 'good' at best. It's pales in comparison to the dialogue of such shows like Deadwood and The Wire, with equally funny and poetic dialogue being said just about all the time.

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I think the dialogue is fine.

I admit I did think Tyrion talking to Joffrey at the wedding, when he declined the opportunity to fight the Dwarves, was a bit flat.

I really think people massively over react to the show and whinge endlessly on and on and on about things that just aren’t there.

I honestly think the show is getting better when it isn’t just scene for scene from the book, although I do love the scene for scene sections.

For example, I really like Jaimie and Tyrion talking to each other in 02. Completely made up for the show, but it captures the feeling of the two characters. Jaimie knocking over the cup was a nice touch.

But yeah, whinging its not the book is basically the biggest criticism I see, apart from Show Stannis being wrong, which I agree with but don’t really cry about it really.

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The dialogue is passable most of the time, and merely 'good' at best. It's pales in comparison to the dialogue of such shows like Deadwood and The Wire, with equally funny and poetic dialogue being said just about all the time.

I need an Al Swearengen fix... The semi-invented English he uses is as good as anything ever. I'd say only Firefly comes close.

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Not really, the show has always had great or poor dialogue for book viewers. I thought overall 401 was great, 402 was pretty good as well. If anything I think it's an upgrade from the dialogue in the first two episodes of Season 3. Even the way Tyrion tries to rid himself of Shae was refreshing compared to how their conversations usually go.


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I definitely did not get that impression. PW had an amazing dialogue, Cersei was on fire and the whole Ellaria introduction scene was golden.

Agreed. Interesting people are disliking it, especially given GRRM wrote the PW episode.

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Also, with Oberyn, Tywin and Cersei?

The one issue I have with that is that Oberyn was focusing his invective at Lady Cersei and almost appeared cordial to Lord Tywin until then the end. It really seemed like a scene that had a lot more written for it originally and had to be pared back by a significant amount.

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