Benioff and Weiss have delivered some good episodes this season, but The Door is one of the truly great ones. It begins, pleasantly enough, with Sansa finally getting to confront Littlefinger. It's very well written, and it shows just how strong Sansa truly is; she accurately says that Littlefinger 'saved' her from one monster who killed her family only to deliver her to another monster who killed her family. Littlefinger apologizes, and offers to do anything to make it up to her, but it's still Littlefinger. However, I'm not quite sure Sansa really believes him, until he mentions casually that Brynden Tully AKA The Black Fish has gotten an army back together and retaken Riverrun. That's information Sansa can use in her own quest. After all, Littlefinger can't be trusted; he's like a sleazier Varys, but without the honesty about his true intentions. Littlefinger is out for Littlefinger. At least the others, like Daenerys Targaryen's various advisers, have a purpose other than their own self-interest (thought it's probably a good idea to be friends with the only person in the world to have both dragons and a Dothraki horde at her disposal). That spirit of self-interest seems to have a home within the minds of the Ironborn, too, as Euron and Yara Greyjoy both have the same idea: build a massive fleet and prove to the lords of Westeros that the Iron Islands are a force to be reckoned with. Of course, while the lords of Westeros squabble amongst themselves, they continue to ignore the real threat against them lurking north of the Wall. Bran is intimately aware of the threat, and while he trains with the Three-Eyed Raven, that might not be enough to keep the world of men from being overrun, no matter how many Red Priestesses anoint saviors. The whole of the Bran scenes, from his unauthorized warging into the middle of a field of wights to his being touched by the Winter King, is just incredible stuff. The zombie makeup is as good as The Walking Dead, albeit with more emphasis on desiccated rather than splatter. When the horde finally attacks, director Jack Bender is able to turn them from a creepy horde to a serious threat, mauling down Bran's direwolf, killing the Children of the Forest, and then taking off after our remaining heroes in a scene as pulse-pounding as anything ever in a horror movie. The fact that the zombies come from all sides, streaming in from above and continuing the attack by coming at the fleeing humans from all sides-including scuttling across the vines at the top of the tunnel-makes it even more terrifying. These are zombies with a little bit more brain than the standard, albeit not much more. Dragonglass or no, these guys are a legitimate threat, and this might be the first time since Hardhome that we see just how the numbers favor the dead. All in all, it was a brilliant episode, and one of the best of the entire series, let alone this season. All of the elements seemed to pull together: Tormund and Brienne are great comedy, Sansa and Littlefinger is an effective dramatic scene, and Bran's whole segment makes all the time spent in the tree worthwhile. For all the changes, it still feels like things are only building up to a fever pitch, rather than burning off steam early. Whatever's next, it's going to be pretty spectacular from the looks of what we've seen so far.
Review of Kill the Boy
