I'm usually on board with a lot of changes they make, especially those about eliminating book characters to streamline the story. I'm not even mad at the lack of Willas, it makes sense. Same here, it's not the sex or even the concept of "using known network of whore-spies" for Littlefinger.... I think the problem is the tone of the scene. Loras seems too carefree and too similar to how he was with Renly. And last season he had a couple of really nice lines of grief "What do you want most in the world?" "Revenge". Clearly TV!Loras was affected by Renly's death. I'm not saying someone can't drown his grief in sex or try for a little human companionship. But there is just no sense of that grief here and unfortunately... Well despite the relationship not being explicit in the books,GRRM does manage to score a really good point for homosexuality. There's a big stereotype saying gay men are fickle and promiscuous and that somehow homosexual love is just about gratification and not about something like deep "heterosexual" love. Book!Loras was a huge mark against that stereotype of popular culture. Book!Loras mourned, in a very young way, he acted exactly like a teen in love would act, straight or gay. And this grief and devotion, that even Jaime Lannister saw, just seems completely absent from TV!Loras. I would have been totally into that scene if we could see the grief. Maybe a Loras who is all bitterly complaining about the marriage, looking for a sympathetic ear, or a Loras who is all like, shut up, you're not here to talk, or a Loras who is trying desperately to act carefree but on whom you can see the despair leeking through. I was on board with how unaffected Loras seemed during all his other scenes, because that was his public persona. Evidently the Tyrell siblings know how to pull off successful public personas. But this was a private moment, exactly the perfect moment to show grief.
