Ser Jimmy of House McNulty

I thought this episode was terrible. I'm not a book purist, I don't mind changes when changes are necessary. But half of this episode was made-up filler that made no sense and had me wanting to fast forward to the end to watch the duel. I'll get to the duel itself later. I don't like that D&D are diminishing Littlefinger's evil genius factor. He knows what people are going to do before they do it. To me, the LF/Sansa dynamic is like a "student surpasses the teacher" vibe, and in the show they are just throwing that out and making Sansa become a player before she learns how. The ENTIRE Meereen storyline is just hard to watch for me. Emilia Clarke has the same tone and emotion whenever she is on screen, whether it's ordering for mass crucifixion, telling Daario to fuck her, or banishing her most trusted advisor. Yuck. The scene where the Hound just announces that his "traveling companion" is Arya Stark of Winterfell and nobody seems to give two shits about this had me scratching my head. I also don't like that they seem to be forming some sort of bond, which to me will ruin their final scene together. The beetle speech. What the hell was that? I don't see the purpose of that scene. Maybe it's just me, I don't know. But I could have done without all of that. And then there was the duel. One of the most pivotal moments in the whole series. It just felt rushed. The Mountains grunts and groans where making me laugh in a moment that should be very tense and serious. Oberyn's unnecessary jump/spin/twirl moves were just not doing it for me. I felt like they should have spent a little more time on this scene emphasizing Oberyn's skill and how he was toying with the Mountain. Maybe I just can't enjoy the show because I love the books way too much. I don't know. But I feel like D&D had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, and they struck out swinging.

I give this episode a 4. Too many moments where I went ''huh?'' out loud. Why were LF and Sansa walking up to the Bloody Gate? Did their ship from KL drop them off in the middle of the Mountains of the Moon? Why would LF and Lysa talk about Sansa being Sansa in front of the Sweetrobin? He sure looks like he can keep a secret. I didn't like that Arya added Beric and Thoros to her hit list. The Jon Arryn reveal was WAY too underwhelming.