BloatedGuppy said:
The casting wasn't good. She's not a particularly strong actress, and I find her a bit too old/poised for the part regardless. Bit late to close that particular barn door, though.
I still think at the end of the day they felt Book Shae's eventual betrayal would've been way too telegraphed. And perhaps they're right. But their efforts to work around it came off as incredibly clumsy and ill conceived.
And I think that they could have worked some tragedy from a telegraphed betrayl. Tyrion can be oblivious to Shae's true nature, and love her, and she betrays him, bam, pathos, suffering, Peter Dinklage gives an incredible performance, things get dark, murders, exile. I was actually looking forward to seeing that, since Dinklage really can do a great performance, and it'd be such a change of tone for him. Which was really the theme throughout his trial, a complete and utter reversal of fortunes, and a dramatic failure cascade.
Not to mention, what commoner talks to a Lord they've never met that way in Westeros? What if that was Tywin Lannister? Or Roose Bolton? Or a Frey? Or a Clegane? Or any of a number of prickly Lords with more pride than compassion? Her forthright attitude and DIY personality were just wildly out of place. I get that they wanted a "strong female character" there, but it makes the struggles Brienne and Cersei and Arya and other female characters endure for daring to step outside the boundaries set for their gender seem pointless. She's just sassy and outspoken and independent no one seems to bat an eye or notice anything is amiss.
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Exactly. And characters like Brienne or Arya wouldn't do that because it would get them stabbed, and they're actually strong female characters because they're intelligent, and have interests. Not because they can summarise a hippy version of feminism in the 20th century badly.
Some book reader described the storyline at Craster's Keep as "empty calories"...a way to keep certain characters employed while keeping the tires spinning on their story so they're not out of time line too much. Asha's (fuck this Yara nonsense) fruitless rescue attempt strikes me as more empty calories. I was so worried she'd get captured and turned into the new Jeyne Poole (Asha is my GF's favorite character, she'd have flipped the TV over), so I was too relieved she didn't to hate the scene as much as it deserved. It was really poorly choreographed. He's not even wearing a shirt! Just hit him!
I think Ramsay is going...okay. I'm not in love with Rheon's portrayal of him, but the general concept of Theon's dehumanization is coming across.
Exactly!
Theon's transformation into Reek is working... sort of, the actor is killing it, even when given droll like "I was so scared!" (God, that line sucked), and I did think the torture really worked. It was legitimately difficult for me to watch, which is all in it's favour. It's just a shame we don't get the same inner dialogue, because Martin really gives the impression of a real identity crisis. Credit where it's due, Reek's passages in ADWD are great. I think Theon (Can't remember the actor's name, and Jack Gleason's Joffrey are too often overlooked for the work they put into their characters simply because their characters are unlikeable. My favourite episode is still the Blackwater, and one of the dozens of favourite moments in that is when Joffrey is called back to the tower, and Tyrion tries to convince him to stay. The expressions he goes through brought home that, yeah, he's an asshole kid. Who's being asked to fight and maybe die, something he's never had to do, but he wants to be king, and he might even want to be a hero. But he's scared, and he's still loyal to his mother). And Rheon had it working for a while, it's just that he's too smart, too handsome, and too likeable. I'm not opposed to that depiction of a serial killer type, it's just it's not really Ramsay. He's meant to be a brute, he's certainly not meant to be pretty, he'll lock an old lady in a tower until she eats her fingers to gain her lands, I don't recall any indication that he's some sort of a martial badass (Though a good hunter, and an excellent torturer, thanks to his extracurricular activities), but he shouldn't be wading in as some Zack Snyder Spartan glorying in bloodlust. And the Ironborn are meant to be hardcore. I just don't see them being taken down by an equivalent number of random Bolton men and captain abdomen.
This empty calories definition is a good one. Asha's rescue definitely fits. It's just that for the empty calories it is, it's going to cause some real havoc if they're not careful.
Martin is a pervy old coot, but he's also an award winning/bestselling author for a reason.
The bits of dialogue taken verbatim from the books are easily the best in the show. Characters like Vargo Hoat were highly memorable...characters like "Locke" were forgettable and ultimately pointless. If you're going to deviate from strong source material, have a PLAN.
Definitely, he's a great author when he wants to be, but he doesn't always seem interested in putting in the effort, paticularly when he's got a stalk on.
He can write, particularly dialogue, and the intrigue. The events of his stay in Kings Landing detailed in Tyrion's chapters are still my favourite part of the books. I was disappointed at how they condensed it in the show, removing his tribesmen, his micromanagement of the watch, the Chain. But the show has the advantage of the rich texture in the sets and costumes, and some great performances. The show for the most part, at least until the end of the second season, managed to present sort of a best of the things I'd liked (With a few glaring omissions). Then they did... things.
It's really a running theme, the deviations don't have any real thought behind them. The Brave Companions wouldn't have taken any extra effort to put in, and I don't see why a more colorful band wouldn't make for a better story. I guess they don't want them being confused for the sellsword groups, but they'd hardly need to mention them. Just dress them up right, call their boss Vargo and have someone say in the background something about the brave companions and bam, Brave Companions, and fan service nods. It wouldn't have been hard.
And yes, I agree with the rest of this. The fight choreography has been generally poor throughout the series, making me worry about episode 8, and the abundance of off-book rapes have been...concerning.
I can usually stand the choreography when they at least try. It's obvious that a lot of the actors really haven't had the hours to give it the best go, but I can deal with that. It's when they can't even be bothered laying out the fight, when they deliberately set up a cartoon character. And Burn Gorman is much too good an actor to be wasted on that. So he looks like a sneering ape much of the time. That doesn't mean we get to make him an actual demon. What a waste.
I still expect Jorah banished, btw.
I definitely expect him banished. That's a fixed point for me. Now I'm not sure how it's going to happen. Knowing these writers, he's going to try and rape her, she'll banish him, and then he'll try to redeem himself to her, leading to the awkward moment when we're once more asked to enjoy the heroic redemption of a rapist. I guess it'd be dark, but it'd be about as narratively sound as how Jaime's continuing redemption arc's going to be.
And I also like NuDaario. But then, I always liked Daario in the books, and what his presence said about Dany's character.
Eh, I liked Daario when he first appeared, and I think I see where you're coming from with respect to Dany's character, I thought that he indicated an immaturity(Particularly when he's throwing heads around thrown rooms and she's thinking about how his lack of manners is so dreamy. And the ridiculous sexual fantasies she has about him. His "sexiness" seems forced on Martin's part. I guess we know how Martin dressed when he was younger), but I also thought her romantic story with him was kind of corny in that his appearance in book is ridiculous (One change I am eternally grateful they made), and that her marriage to Hinjganjg (Whatever his name was, he was so boring, it seems they want to give him some depth in the show, but they've done that by making Dany a petulant despot, while everyone has been going on about how queenly she is), was silly, as it seemed that she could solve the problem herself if she really wanted.
Yes, to win Mereen long term she needs to marry one of them, but does she need to win Mereen long term? It's not her city, and while her conflict is can she just leave it like Astapor or Yunkai, this seems like a lot of effort to place on this one city off her path, that's going to hurt her when she reaches Westoros. And if she wants the murders to stop, she really can just kill all the nobles she dislikes, and crack down on the streets. Eventually, her free men will assert themselves and they'll gain control. I wouldn't mind your view on what Daario says about Dany's character in some detail.
To compare to my Mount and Blade campaigns, after finally steamrollering Mereen (And probably Slavers Bay) by bringing my Vassals and thousands of men to every Castle, I'll hold them for a while personally, but most of them are going to Vassals to reward them, ensure loyalty, and to ensure that all the taxes are collected. Every city is not my responsibility. Dany, and her advisors, ignore this. Her problem should be who she'll leave to rule Mereen considering she hates the culture of the entire region, and she needs someone of that culture to rule in her stead, and how she'll give them an army.
//Color decided to stop working for me here. Urgh bbcode
I like Davos, and I've really enjoyed Liam's performance on the show. He's one of the most spot on casting decisions they've made.
He's just brilliant. He's not what I thought he'd be, but since I saw him, that was him. Dosed my drink with retcon and this was what Davos was meant to be. I wish they'd give him a little more leash to really give it. Fair credit to one of their changes, his conversations with Gendry worked really well, but the changes to Stannis just mean that Davos spends his entire time getting overruled and threatened with death.
But yes...Tyrion has been terribly whitewashed, and it's made his character less textured and interesting. He's a borderline antihero in the books.
It'll be interesting to see whether the writers have the courage to give him the depth, and whether the audience can accept that.
