Nimm

I liked the episode. It looked great and was a visceral thrill....despite leaving a lot of dramatic tension on the table. I liked it despite the flaws, which have been talked to death already. It is frustrating that the sympathetic characters succeed lately despite their judgment and actions, not because of them - Jon enters a fight that is a longshot at best and is well on his way to losing it before being bailed out by someone else. Arya in Braavos. Bran surviving the WW attack after opening the door for them. etc. It would be more satisfying if these characters failed despite their competence, rather than succeeding despite their bad decisions. I also like the show despite what are, imo, valid complaints about dialogue and characterization. But the show producers are in a difficult if not impossible position: they have to hit the major plot points that GRRM has outlined for them and they have to get to the end very quickly. A lot of mood-setting and atmosphere - not to mention entire subplots and storylines - simply must be omitted from the show, and the storylines that survive have to be truncated. The characters almost have to be treated as chess pieces now, and the producers need to get them all to their final positions. And that's where I have trouble faulting the choices that have been made, even when they feel clunky - like replacing Victarion with Yara/Theon, who now have extremely fast ships. I don't know what endgame the producers are bound to, so it's hard to second-guess the ways in which they've made the characters' paths to the endgame more...efficient, to put it as positively as I can. Would it be possible for the show to keep the characters, dialogue, and plot more nuanced and coherent, while getting all the chess pieces in their predetermined places? Perhaps. Probably, even. But we are on the express train to the final destination now, and even if these are the illustrated Cliff's Notes, at least they're well illustrated.

3/10 An otherwise workmanlike episode badly marred by everything to do with the North. Starting with the "who's with me slow stand," which was just agonizing, the rest of the mutineers/Castle Black segment was just IMO a string of nearly pointless shock value moments. The whole thing felt lazy and overtly manipulative - OMG! He's drinking out a skull! OMG! They have Ghost, and they're feeding him human flesh!!!! OMG! Nonstop rape everywhere! OMG! More babies to give away! OMG! A Stark in danger! OMG! Seizure! etc etc etc It could be that the whole scene would have felt tense if it didn't also feel like it was an arbitrary and ultimately pointless detour designed to inject some contrived tension into Bran's storyline, without the potential for actual consequences. Hope I'm wrong and something significant comes of it. Also: * No Stannis * Gray Worm playing footsie with Missandei. Transforming him from a merciless killing robot into Gray Worm the nonthreatening orphan buddy isn't necessary. We already liked him.