Stoopid Grumkin

Just read the description of him in ASOS, and you are correct. For some reason I had the mistaken belief that he was described as tall in the books.

I also believe the Mance character was miscast. In addition to his other talents and attributes he's supposed to be physically formidable, and a badass fighter. Jon (who is fairly badass himself) actually crosses swords with him in the books (while Mance is disguised as Rattleshirt) and discovers he is no match for him. Though I don't have a problem with Hinds's acting in the role as it is written in the show.

I rate it about a 5, the overall quality of the show is trending downwards since the first couple of seasons (aside from a few great scenes here and there). Looks like season 5 is going to continue the slide.