I admit I have grown extremely biased against Benioff and Weiss and their butchering of most story lines. But though I try to write a fair review, they keep feeding me reasons to shake my head in disbelief.
This episode was not bad - I could have given it a 7, but I think it's already getting unjustifiably good ratings and I won't help. Let's see: there are some good parts in it. The Greyjoys for one. We get Balon's death and the Kingsmoot. Of course one has to wonder why it took them so many years to include it. But still. Bran's part was good too. The inclusion of young Hodor was nice, though I didn't much care for the fact he could once talk. Also, the three-eyed raven is a huge and unnecessary letdown in terms of appearance at least.
Make no mistake. The faults are with the story exclusively and not how it is told. It is still a damn well made show. But without the golden egg goose. Jaime keeps taking steps back in character development. Davos hasn't even asked Melissandre about Stannis but suddenly and for no reason decides he is a huge fan of Jon Snow and asks her to resurrect him. Just like that. Which everyone knew would happen but we are still tormented with a "oh, it didn't work :( *everyone leaves the room* OH LOOK, IT WORKED AFTER ALL" scene that belongs in the trashcan of clichés.
And of course, we have Ramsay killing his father. The scenes are well played, the subsequent slaughter of the innocents is a powerful addition, but the whole thing, once again, makes no sense at all. Not in Westeros. Not anywhere but the realm of typical TV shows, and GoT used to not be one of those. Why would the Karstarks, or any house of the North, ever consider, for a split second, to aid Ramsay in killing his father. Their collective goals would remain the same, except instead of dealing with the cold, ruthless, but ultimately reliable Roose Bolton, you'd have an unpredictable psychopath presiding over you. The fact is, you wouldn't do that. Not in a song of ice and fire, where decisions make sense. And when they don't, they get punished. But not here. Not anymore. Not for Benioff and Weiss who don't really understand what they are doing and are just, in sad, sad fashion, keeping the most popular / most hated / prettiest characters at any cost of logic and story, all the while getting rid of anyone who might confuse the naive audience they think they are addressing.
This episode was not bad - I could have given it a 7, but I think it's already getting unjustifiably good ratings and I won't help. Let's see: there are some good parts in it. The Greyjoys for one. We get Balon's death and the Kingsmoot. Of course one has to wonder why it took them so many years to include it. But still. Bran's part was good too. The inclusion of young Hodor was nice, though I didn't much care for the fact he could once talk. Also, the three-eyed raven is a huge and unnecessary letdown in terms of appearance at least.
Make no mistake. The faults are with the story exclusively and not how it is told. It is still a damn well made show. But without the golden egg goose. Jaime keeps taking steps back in character development. Davos hasn't even asked Melissandre about Stannis but suddenly and for no reason decides he is a huge fan of Jon Snow and asks her to resurrect him. Just like that. Which everyone knew would happen but we are still tormented with a "oh, it didn't work :( *everyone leaves the room* OH LOOK, IT WORKED AFTER ALL" scene that belongs in the trashcan of clichés.
And of course, we have Ramsay killing his father. The scenes are well played, the subsequent slaughter of the innocents is a powerful addition, but the whole thing, once again, makes no sense at all. Not in Westeros. Not anywhere but the realm of typical TV shows, and GoT used to not be one of those. Why would the Karstarks, or any house of the North, ever consider, for a split second, to aid Ramsay in killing his father. Their collective goals would remain the same, except instead of dealing with the cold, ruthless, but ultimately reliable Roose Bolton, you'd have an unpredictable psychopath presiding over you. The fact is, you wouldn't do that. Not in a song of ice and fire, where decisions make sense. And when they don't, they get punished. But not here. Not anymore. Not for Benioff and Weiss who don't really understand what they are doing and are just, in sad, sad fashion, keeping the most popular / most hated / prettiest characters at any cost of logic and story, all the while getting rid of anyone who might confuse the naive audience they think they are addressing.