Will&Chrismom

I must have missed the episodes when Jaime pushed Bran out of a window and crippled him; attacked Ned's men and killed them b/c he felt like it; and murdered Karstark's son and his own cousin in his attempt to escape. Plus, the incest. I'm a Jaime fan but the show is hardly whitewashing the guy; for two seasons he was a complete asshole.

I'm an outlier but I don't mind the "whitewashing" of Tyrion at all; it's all about misdirection and shock value. Who among the non-book reading audience is ever going to expect him to murder Shae, pretty much in cold blood? Who is going to expect him, now so cowed by Tywin, to turn around and shoot him in the balls with a crossbow? It's also a piece of symmetry, really: Tyrion experiences his downfall as Jaime is pulling himself out of a hole.

At this point I wish I could just fast forward the Theon scenes. The first few were fine--remind the viewers who Theon is, set up the sick game Ramsay is playing. But starting last week, the scenes feel gratuitous, and they are killing the momentum of all the other plot strands. I don't see the payoff for the viewers at this point (and honestly, the torture stuff worked so much better in the book--one of the rare instances where "show, don't tell" didn't apply at all). I have greatly enjoyed this season, in spite of the fact that it is arguably the most exposition-heavy season at this point. I liked most of last night's ep; I didn't even really begrudge Robb and Talisa their scene, if only b/c I think it's a nice set-up for the Red Wedding, to lull the viewers into thinking things are finally starting to turn around for Robb. I loved the scene with Sansa and Margaery--Margaery is so manipulative and it's clear she's amused by Sansa's naivete, but her amusement isn't really mean-spirited, so much as, "boy, does this girl have a lot to learn." I loved having Bronn back, and his scene with Tyrion was very funny; the Shae/Tyrion scene was a nice way to help set up the fact that Shae betrays Tyrion later. The best scenes, though, were of Tywin and Joffrey. Charles Dance does more acting in the way he walks than most actors can do with pages of monologue, and Jack Gleeson's reaction to his grandpa towering over him was pitch perfect. He has totally captured this character's petulant, man-child behavior, and Tywin is masterful at the smack down. And of course, Jaime and Brienne--these two are, in my view, carrying the season. I eagerly anticipate every scene they're in, and I'll be bummed if we don't get any J/B next week (which is what the previews seem to be suggesting). The show handled the lack of Jaime's dream just fine; in fact, it was very good--using Jaime's own attempt to rescue Brienne from rape and turning it back on him. The bear pit scene was marred only by the fact that it was too short, but I'm kind of glad the bear didn't die, and I loved Jaime's closing line to Locke. J/B is my favorite pairing on the show, and NCW and GC are killing it in their roles.