Game of Thrones

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yara is the leader of the portion of the Ironborn that supports Dany's claim. Ellaria is the leader of Dorne (which in and of itself is a whole mess of logic, but I'll just ignore that for now). So I just have to ask this, who's bright idea was it to place the leaders of two of Dany's three biggest allies on the same fucking ship? What happened at the end of this episode is pretty much the reason why anyone with a lick of common sense would never do this.

Also, did anyone watch this week's "Inside the Episode" bit? The comments that D&D made about how seeing so many women in power made the council scene more interesting really rubbed me the wrong way. It's like they are saying: "having so many females leading roles that would normally be associated with men is, like, super progressive, guys. That is such good writing and in fact, this scene would be so much worse if it wasn't specifically so centered around women in power." And all this, of course, is ignoring the whole point of feminism being about equality, not gender role-reversal. To be clear, I draw no issue with the fact in and of itself that this scene was dominated by female characters or that so many females have prominent roles in the show in general. I merely only draw issue with the writers specifically pointing it out and claiming that this very fact alone automatically makes it better writing. Personally, I just find that outright obnoxious.

As I said earlier, though, I'm trying not to be cynical here and just enjoy the fanservice since, much like the current arc of Dragon Ball Super, that's pretty much all this show is to me now. On that end, I genuinely liked the scene with Arya and Nymeria. Also, it was neat seeing her briefly reunite with Hot Pie. It felt a lot truer to her character than anything that we've seen from the show in years. Olenna playing Dany against Tyrion is also a very interesting angle that feels very true to the type of story that Game of Thrones is supposed to be. And hey, the Sand Snakes finally got killed off, so I certainly can't say that I didn't enjoy watching that.

[Foggle]

The more I hear about/see from the later seasons, the more I'm glad I never took the time to get into this show. I'd still like to read the books when the final one gets published in 2045, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

To be fair, me and Dr. Insomniac are technically in the minority. Most people (including critics) are praising the show as much as ever. Even the more casual book readers seem fine with it. If we're talking about the first four seasons, I'd still legitimately vouch for them as great television (GRRM himself even wrote episodes for those). I'd say that stuff like "Blackwater" and "The Rains of Castamere" rank among the best television episodes of all time and absolutely deserve to be viewed. And hell, Charles Dance's performance as Tywin Lannister, one of the most well-written "villains" of all time alone makes my time with the show worth it.

Also, I admittedly never would have gotten into the books without the show, so for as much as I rag on it now, I do have to stress that I don't hate it. By normal TV standards it's probably above average. By the standards of the early material, though, it's a massive drop in quality, IMO. Essentially, when the show started running out of material to adapt from the novels, the cracks really showed since there were so many unresolved plot-thread that there is just no reasonable way that a couple of writers could reasonably tie them up when the original author has spent over two full decades of his life meticulously plotting every little detail of the story and still hasn't managed to finish it himself.

But my real major issue with the show is how it essentially turned the narrative into the type of story that the books make their whole point about criticizing in the first place. I believe that this video sums it up perfectly without giving away any major spoilers: https://youtu.be/ek2O6bVAIQQ

[Dr. Insomniac]

I don't know. Most of the praise I've seen isn't so much aimed at the storytelling as it is individual moments, like people excited that Hot Pie shows up or seeing Euron kill the Sand Snakes. It reminds me of that one RLM video where Rich masturbates to The Force Awakens trailer, or when some dumbass cums themselves over the latest Twin Peaks without explaining why. Thanks to hyperbole being celebrated over anything else, obnoxious praise and vitriol alike are so over-the-top regarding any reception toward a show that it grows increasingly hard to find a general consensus.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The sad thing is that the show is still getting legitimately praised by fans and genuine professional critics on the whole. Just look at the RT reviews or the IMDB page. Yes, people are focusing on the "epicness" and style over the actual story, but it really baffles me how few people are calling out how messy and incoherent the plot has gotten, or even how phoned in some of the performances have become. I literally feel like Peter Dinklage isn't even trying anymore, which I can hardly blame him for given how little he has had to work with over the past few seasons.

[Dr. Insomniac]

At least they had enough decency that when Jim Broadbent's character mentioned writing a book about King Robert, he didn't say "I shall call it... Game of Thrones."

[Foggle]

or when some dumbass cums themselves over the latest Twin Peaks without explaining why.

Why the hostility? It's a great fucking show from a writing, directing, acting, editing, and sound design standpoint. Don't try to bring up the Log Lady's acting as bad because her actress was literally dying when she filmed those scenes and she did the best she possibly could under the circumstances. I watch every episode on the edge of my seat and can hardly wait for the next one to air. I think about the lore and individual moments while I'm at work each day. I've laughed more at single episodes (and episodes of the original series, for that matter) than I have at entire seasons of actual comedies. Some scenes are genuinely frightening, others evoke a sense of warm nostalgia. I don't necessarily like watching a band play one of their songs for five minutes every other episode but it is what it is. At this point, I can only assume you're subtweeting me here. Same with that one on the Admin board I just responded to. It's fine if you think Twin Peaks season 3 is shit or if you hate socialist ideology and/or the way people express it online - hell, it's fine if you think I'm a tasteless and self-righteous idiot, too - but I've always been overzealous in my support of things I'm passionate about. I genuinely believe the things I say and do, and if I'm objectively wrong about something, that's on me, and I'll own it. I have visceral reactions to almost everything - that's just who I am - and sniping at me on the forum I own and operate is not particularly constructive.

Anyway, maybe there just is no general consensus on Game of Thrones or Twin Peaks. Maybe some people love the shows so much that their overpraise seems accurate to them and some legitimately hate them to the point where their hyperbolic vitriol feels the same. I can easily see hardcore fans of GRRM's novels finding the recent GOT seasons preposterous to the point of developing hatred for them or the average fantasy fan being completely taken in the by the spectacle and loving every episode. Some folks adore the new direction of TP because they like seeing Lynch and Frost do whatever the hell they want while others don't take kindly to how different or esoteric it is compared to the original. Personally, I don't see a lot of people being on the fence about either work, as they're extremely divisive by nature. I also don't see the problem with someone loving the new seasons of GOT even if they're terrible compared to the books from a writing standpoint. I mean, I watched the HOLD THE DOOR scene and thought it was cringe-worthy, but I've also seen plenty of people who legit cried to it. We can laugh about it or make fun of them, but at the end of the day, if a piece of media brings someone joy, that's good enough for both them and the creators of said media.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I can only assume you're subtweeting me here.

I'm not. I've just been irritable lately. Sorry if I'm being an asshole. I haven't even watched season 3 of Twin Peaks yet, been busy watching the old episodes so I could get a handle on the new ones. I'm planning to start sometime this week.

[Foggle]

I'm not. I've just been irritable lately. Sorry if I'm being an asshole. I haven't even watched season 3 of Twin Peaks yet, been busy watching the old episodes so I could get a handle on the new ones. I'm planning to start sometime this week.

It's okay! Sorry if I came on too strong as well. I tend to take things way too personally when I'm tired, and I usually don't get home from my second shift until after 11pm, so I'm kind of exhausted when I read forum posts and tweets.

I hope you end up liking The Return! I think it's exceptional but I can see why some might find it tedious or stupid. It does a lot of stuff I normally hate with its focus on long drawn-out shots and surreal humor, but it does them so much better than anything else I've seen, including David Lynch's previous works. It's kind of like if the second season of True Detective was actually good, and was somehow combined with an actually good version of those weird [adult swim] live action shows. I feel as if I should hate it, but I love it with all my heart. Damn good TV.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Dany had every possible advantage against Cersei, and she lost them all in 2 episodes thanks to Euron's magic teleporting navy. Wow.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, I was just about to point out how there's no logical way that the Ironborn could have been there in time for the Unsullied attack after they were just on the other side of the continent.

But, you know Dr. Insomniac, the funny thing is that I also wasn't surprised by this. Do you have any idea how many times the show has ignored the geography of its own world? It's actually quit baffling how even some book readers haven't called it out for that. For another example of this, check out the location of Hardhome, and it will seem insanely laughable when you recall that Jon showed up at the gates of Castle Black....BEHIND THE FUCKING WALL!

Honestly, though, I just kind of feel bad for Tyrion. Truth be told, while he was never nearly as clever as a lot of people think he was (he's actually made a lot of dumb mistakes even early on), the writing has now made him look downright incompetent. He should have known above anyone else that there was no value in taking Casterly Rock, which is on entirely the opposite side of the continent.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Also, I didn't get why Dany demanded Jon serve her because she was a Targaryen, yet also tell him not to judge her for the Targaryen's crimes. So she wants loyalty because of familial heritage, but she also wants Jon to completely forget that the Targaryens roasted the Starks a couple decades ago? Doesn't help at all that Emilia Clarke's acting has just gotten weaker lately, so she doesn't do anything to persuade Jon (or the audience) why her cause is just. She refused to listen to Yara's perfectly valid strategy of torching all of King's Landing, in favor of spreading her troops all across Westeros and letting them get mowed down by teleporting Ironborn boats. Why would I be supposed to root for her?

Oh yeah, if the Tyrells and Martells went down this easily, this means Tywin was a complete idiot for spending several seasons trying to establish an alliance with both of them.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

This episode was basically subject to much of the same shenanigans of plot contrivances and logic missteps that I've already had to get used to since the fifth season, so I'm not really going to bother harping on it here since it's just pretty redundant at this point. I'll even give this episode some credit for being entertaining for what it was, even if the quality of the writing wasn't particularly any better than usual for the post season four stuff. I do, however, feel the need to comment on a little bit from this week's "Inside the Episode."

One of the D's (can't really be bothered to remember which): "For the first time in the show's history we have two sets of main characters fighting against each other on opposing sides of a battle."

Me: "So then what was Blackwater?"

[Dr. Insomniac]

Given their writing of Stannis in season 5, I don't think they saw him as a main character. I'm more annoyed how Bran's personality didn't deteriorate at all last season, but he's now Dr. Manhattan here. Meera even reacted as if he retroactively always acted like this after escaping the cave, so I'm not too sure what they're doing here. I'm just going to assume he'll say more awkward things about rape before finally telling everybody that Littlefinger killed Ned and Jon's a Targaryen.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, well, there is one other thing that kind of peeved me in this episode besides the usual fare: Bronn was way out of character. Firstly, telling Jaime to flee as soon as Dany's forces showed up makes sense, but he'd include himself in that proposal as well. Staying behind to fight valiantly and with honor is something that his character has specifically stated is a dumb thing to do and has always followed that logic before this point. Maybe if he had an arc leading up to his change of heart his bravery in this episode would make sense, but no such arc occurred. Putting his life in unecessary jeopardy to try and take out a dragon and even risking it again to save Jaime is not something that I could envision him doing at any earlier point in the show, and it doesn't really make any sense that he would at this point, either, especially for a guy who hasn't kept any of his promises of rewards to him so far. I honestly kind of expected him to abandon the fight as soon as he lost his gold and decided to let it go. But, I suppose that'd be giving D&D too much credit since they just love their faservice, and wanted to cater to the fans who somehow miss the whole point of Bronn's character and think of him as some kind of bad-ass hero.

Given their writing of Stannis in season 5, I don't think they saw him as a main character.

I wasn't just referring to Stannis, though. In season two they were still following the books rather accurately for the most part, and Davos was a POV character in both that and subsequent books. Also, the episode "Blackwater" was written by GRRM himself, and he clearly gave characters on both sides equal attention. Though, I probably just answered my own question. D&D not acknowledging that battle as already having done what they claimed to be a series first in this season makes more sense when you consider that they didn't actually write that previous episode in question.