Zach H

The super violent action was rather inadvertantly comical a bunch of times. I was reminded of Conan the Librarian from UHF where he chops a guy in half down the middle. The Bronn/Dog scene felt off even not taking into consideration the eye-rolling nudity (every time I think they phased it out of the show it comes back). Ser Ilyan...yeah, more inadvertant laughs every time they show him. Once again I lamented not seeing what was going on beyond the wall--I realize time considerations and all that but for whatever reason that storyline really carries the show for me. Pretty good other than that, though. 8/10. Close to as good as epic fantasy can probably get on TV, but still not quite speaking to me in the manner that a series like Deadwood managed. Last three mintues plus the end credits were amazing, however.

Solid 8. Jaime continues to really bring to mind the character I envisioned even with stuff not from the novels. Wonder if non-book fans kind of forgot about him up until now, though, despite the various mentions throughout the season? Ygriite actress nails the character as well, although the constant sex talk while wandering the wasteland kind of distracted in an "It's HBO!" manner. Maybe the book was like that as well, been so long since I read it I can't remember. I dug the Cersei/Tyrion scene. Nice to see the two characters letting their guards down a bit and just talking. Establishing shot of the wrecked castle with Arya and company was amazing.

Proabaly a 3 or 4 or so. Another fade to black battle was disappointing (budget constraints, yeah, but at least show Robb in action, we haven't seen that yet from what I recall), Mandatory HBO Nudity reaches a new low, Melisandre sounds like something from a movie adaptation of generic fantasy videogame. Brienne was pretty much the only good thing. Mostly this episode made me realize that Jon in the North is main reason the show works.