HazelPhoenixFire

Agree, I'm not really sure why they keep adding near misses to the show (Arya and Sansa, Jon and Bran at Craster's), the first one I understood and it was painful because neither Bran nor John could get to one another, the others have been silly. It kind of reminds me of a soap opera, and it really detracts from the story. I also agree that the pacing was way off this season, most of the scene additions were oddly chosen and the dialogue just isn't as solid as it has been. I'm not sure what happened but I really hope they can correct it for next season. :(

They deviated heavily from the source this season and it unfortunately it's not working.

Agree.

Thank you, I thought I was the only one who felt the writing was suffering this season! Some of the episodes have been great, but not their strongest collective work by far.

I respectfully disagree, but that's most likely just due to personal preference. ;) I actually enjoyed season 2, but I binge-watched three seasons and I think that makes a difference. While I have liked the cleaner transitions in this season, I feel as though they have skimped on some of the more interesting moments and focused on things that didn't necessarily lend much to the story. The scenes of Yara/Asha going to recover Theon were really peculiar and didn't have much of a payoff (although I know they needed to end what they began, it was strange to build up that "epic rescue" only to have her run away from two dogs and a shirtless Ramsay). This seemed to take the place of a Mereeneese takeover and I would have rather seen that. Arya killing the hound, Coldhands, Lady Stoneheart, Oberyn's fight and the Night's Watch battle are being pushed toward the end while Stannis goes to the bank and Melisandre stares into the fire again. To me they're just reestablishing some of the things they've already setup with previous shots. They have multitude of scenes to cherry-pick from in George's writing and it seems like sometimes they go with some really odd choices. I will say however that Tyrion's scenes and all the subsequent King's Landing intrigue have been stellar this season. The trial was outstanding and I loved the casting choice for Oberyn. I also loved Brienne/Podrick and Arya/The Hound, I can't wait for the last three episodes!

Deleted duplicate; See previous post.

Unfortunately they keep ad-libbing when the source material got it right. What is with the shortened running time? This week started late and stopped early. I'm really frustrated that they seem to be saving the battle at the Wall for the end, it would have made a more exciting season to incorporate that plotline earlier. The pacing just seems excruciatingly slow this year, and it's not as if there's not enough material to pull from the books. So far I'm really disappointed in how they chose to weave the major points. :(