HBO: Game of Thrones

[EricMontreal22]

You were biased from the moment the earlier guy came on screen But a 16 year old queen? Wouldn't she, even in Westboros prefer a smarmy looking boyband guy than someone who looks like he's from Mumford and Sons?

I just find the casting weird. Apparently it was NOT due to people disliking the previous guy--but he got the lead in Transporter 4 or whatever number they're at, so asked to be let go. So I would have thought they could find someone with the right look than budget Eric Bana. With all of the characters on this show and the fact that minor characters, like Daario have minutes on screen and confusing names that sound like other names, distinctive looks are important. I don't see it myself, but apparently many people actually thought the new Daario looked like a slightly younger variation of Bronn.

[DRW50]

How many Dothraki are left? I remember many being killed in season 2 but there were still a number of them on the boat at the start of season 3. Are they still all around?

[DRW50]

Speaking of Bronn - I know this isn't a big secret and I'm sure the jokes were already all told 4 years ago, but it cracks me up to realize Jerome Flynn was one of those early Simon Cowell pop acts, with Robson Green (whom I last saw taking off his clothes on fishing shows).

1:47 is the...best...part.

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Edited April 26, 2014 by DRW50

[EricMontreal22]

And Robson and Jerome are THE THE worse. I mean I liked the Stock/Aitken acts (which was when they left Waterman and their music became even more cheezy--Niki French who was actually a hit here, Scooch, etc) but Robson and Jerome were horrible covers for middle aged moms. The show they were pulled from, Soldier Soldier was a hit here in Canada, so I was mildly aware of them, though their songs weren't played here. AND he was blond--it is funny given the role he plays on the show.

Some random, but less surprising UK actors popped up and it took me a while to recognize them, like the girl from Downton Abbey and the girl from Skins. (Well, and the guy from Skins, but I recognized him straight away.)
A
s for the Dothraki--didn't they just mention them? I'm always hopeless at keeping track with all of that...

[DRW50]

They probably did. I didn't really pay attention to a lot of the episode. I was mostly wondering as I was trying to remember what role they have for her now, as surely they can't really be with the Unsullied or whatever other armies she has.

That's Cowell's niche in general but they do seem to be one of the more embarrassing.

I mostly do a double take when Hollyoaks and Emmerdale actors appear. Sometimes people I didn't think I'd see on anything else.

[rhinohide]

Guilty. I knew something was off, but I really didn't remember the original so it flew right by me. And i actually didnt recognize him as the guy from Orphan Black either. Honestly, as someone pointed out already, I do sometimes have a hard time keeping up with so many characters with similar names and so many ties to different families/stories and there are so many dirty guys with facial hair they aren't very distinctive. Edited April 26, 2014 by rhinohide

[DRW50]

Making my way through early season 3 (up to episode 4 now)...

All the squabbling and impatience between Robb's men - it's a shame, because Robb is in many ways smart, with great instincts, but he is just too young to handle this type of war, especially with Catelyn completely sidelined and with no older adviser.

I know the symbolism was a little overdone, but that one idiot (the one who led the pointless siege against The Mountain) being unable to start the pyre for poor Catelyn's father still got to me. Michelle Fairley was so incredible in the scene where she spoke to (was that her brother?) about her father and how she'd waited for him to return from battle, and had Bran and Rickson waited for her to return. Michelle should have been in the 30's and 40's, the era of such charismatic and emotional actresses cast in major film roles. She would have been perfect for the "women's picture" circuit. No one makes me want to cry on this show the way she does. And Catelyn is the most complex character on the show. I don't want her to go I'm going to miss this whole group. Even those throwaway scenes like Talisa treating the Lannister cousins.

Watching the scenes with Ayra/Gendry/Hot Pie reminded me that these three have been together for over a season and yet they barely have a personality between them. Considering that Gendry is Robert's only living heir, he really should be more than the guy who looks good in leather. I'm glad they didn't kill Hot Pie in some reminder of brutality, and instead gave him a happy ending. Not everyone has to suffer and die, and kudos to GRRM for remembering that. Maisie Williams was starting to get to that place again where I couldn't understand her dialogue (I'm not being mean - I couldn't understand her), so I was proud of her for the nuanced performance she gave when she said goodbye to Hot Pie. She made me care when the writing never had.

The Hound - ugh. As self-righteous and judgmental as ever. Still, at least they are addressing this about him and he has more to do for a while than glowering. The whole Brotherhood thing being led by a religious fanatic was something I wasn't expecting - I'd totally forgotten that Balric guy was even in the first season. I'm glad that we're seeing the strays of the first season like him and like Ser Barristan being weaved back into the story, to remind us that even the most minor actions (a random character thrown into battle, an old soldier who'd gotten a little too comfortable being sent packing) have consequences and ripple effects.

I liked that they had Dany come up with and execute that balls-to-the-wall plan on her own. That was [!@#$%^&*] nuts, and seeing it play out after seeing the whole buildup, instead of just clips on Youtube, made me appreciate it all the more. And the scene of Dany walking out of the ruins of Astapor with her army, with those gorgeous dragons flying overhead against the setting sun - beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. One of the first times I ever really felt that war and power aspect of the show, as generally I don't watch the show for that.

I remember when Nathalie Emmanuel was on Hollyoaks, and there were constant calls from some fans to fire her, as she was seen as wooden and dull, etc. And I have to admit I was never bowled over her by as an actress either, but I do think one thing she had was a stillness and quiet force about her, when they wrote it. I remember how well she played some of the heroin addiction story she had. I'm glad that they cast her as Missandei, because she brings much of that quiet strength to this role too.

That Margaery/Joffrey scene where she had to delicately dance around Renly and lured Joffrey further into her web was one of my favorite scenes of the series thus far. It was brilliantly put together. I have to give a lot of credit to Jack Gleeson because he played Joffrey as an awkward, fumbling boy who was falling in love for the first time. Is Joffrey still a [!@#$%^&*]? Yes. Do I still hate him? Yes. But I need moments like that to remind me of the nuances of the characters.

The whole scene with Margaery opening the crypt up so that Joffrey could meet "the people" fascinated me, because, while Cersei was already on high alert, I felt like Olenna, in that wonderful scene about husbands and men in society, was starting to bring her over to their side. Then Margaery overplayed her hand. Don't get me wrong, I know that Cersei would have hated Margaery no matter what, because Margaery is her worst nightmare (young, beautiful, strong, innocent but with something of a steel core - an even more hellish version of Sansa in her eyes), but I do think that particular moment was Cersei's worst fear come to her life, her absolute worst, with no going back.

The whole scene with the council and the chairs was very clever. Tyrion/Shae, Tyrion - eh. Shae's jealousy of Sansa already starting up doesn't bode well. I prefer her as Sansa's trusted protector. I do like that they're putting Tyrion in the money manager role and this means less time for "no one understands Tyrion's pain...again," which was making me roll my eyes a little in the season opener when he asked Tywin for Casterly Rock. The Podrick stuff felt like one joke being told fifty times, but it was a better use of the brothel than usual (I was confused about why Varys and Ros were discussing it, though...). At first I thought Varys was lying to Tyrion about why he was a eunuch, until he lifted the lid and showed the cowering old man. Damn, that's hardcore.

Loved everything with Olenna/Varys - you could tell Diana Rigg was relishing every scrap of those scenes, especially her berating her servants over "Growing Strong." I loved the line about having a golden rose on her chamberpot and it doesn't make it smell any better. I loved the scene with Margaery and Sansa too. Even though Sansa was being manipulated (gently), it still felt so free and happy. And Sansa always wanted a sister like Margaery - Sansa always felt so alone with the Starks, even when she was safe and loved.

Was the scene with Cersei and her father made up for the show or was it in the books? That scene pulled me in several different directions, because Cersei was so right (she is the only one who tries to live by Tywin's edicts), yet Tywin was also right - she is a huge mess.

All the Jaime/Brienne material now makes no sense to me after the most recent episode, so I'm not sure what to feel about it, or if I was supposed to care at all. Oh well.

I skipped most of the Theon torture scenes, but I did watch his "escape," and I'm glad I did, as I wouldn't have wanted to miss the scene where he talked to Ramsay about how deeply he regretted betraying the Starks. Alfie Allen was wonderful and that whole scene is something I needed for closure purposes.

Bran - wow he looks so much like Julian Lennon now. The kids, Jojen and Meera (?), reminded me of the kids from Lion/Witch/Wardrobe for some reason. Meera has very '40s makeup and hair. Great casting for both of them - on paper I should be a little WTF at Bran being sought out by some type of psychic boy who exposits dialogue to him about his mission and purpose, but it really does work. I especially liked the scene where Jojen won Summer's affection, and then the later one with Rickon running around. I like that Rickon still gets to be a kid sometimes.

Melisandre and Stannis - I get the idea to write Stannis' impotence in battle as being the same as sexual impotence, but I think it kind of cheapens the characters...? And we need to have him perv on Melisandre because...? Anyway, I did love how Melisandre kept him in check and calmly informed her of her new mission, without telling him enough to let him ruin it. Melisandre is at her most frightening when she is calm and in control. And Carice Van Houten looked great in the muted colors and headwrap. Quite a contrast to her scenes in the previous episode where she baited Davos into attacking her. I haven't seen van Houten before this show but I certainly will look for more of her work, as she is a tricky actress who brings so many layers to what some would have interpreted as some sort of generic maniacal kook.

If I didn't know what was going to happen to Ros I'd be somewhat surprised, although not too surprised, as she's becoming so brazen in her double playing and is forgetting the egos around her. It's too bad - I like Esme Blanco and I hate to see her go.

Edited April 27, 2014 by DRW50

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

The Cersei/Tywin scene was made up (the one about the family and living up to his edicts). However the scene with Cersei/Tyrion/Lord Tywin later on is for the most part authentic from the books.

[Vee]

IIRC, Brynden the Blackfish is Cat's uncle. I was amused to spot another Rome alumni as Cat's brother Edmure - Tobias Menzies, who played the tortured Brutus on that show, son to Lindsay Duncan's Servilia. Rome wasn't quite as good as GOT, but it was definitely the prototype for HBO.

I don't think the Hound is self-righteous - I think he is the opposite, almost nihilistic. He knows what he is, he condemns himself and everything around him. But he holds onto some small shred of decency, in his own savage, backwards way. I like Gendry - he's just there to be a nice, sweet boy at this stage, really, whatever his future may be. And I always found Joe Dempsie to be a good actor.

I never saw Sansa as isolated from her family, not in any real way, anyway. They clearly loved her and considered her one of them in every way. When we met her she was just the typical tweenage girl who wanted to be out of the North and turned up her nose to everything - it was just typical growing pains, including her sibling rivalry with Arya.

I loved that scene with Cersei and the Tyrells, Joffrey, etc. in the sept because it was clear Olenna could and would sympathize with Cersei (up to a point, anyway), could turn her - and Cersei clearly yearned for that identification and understanding, but in the end she defaulted to what she always defaults to, which is either callous bitchery and tyranny over the vulnerable, in the case of that conversation with Olenna, simply ceding to the conventional wisdom of her father and that power system. And seeing someone who could do something she can't, that she has no capacity for doing - Margaery doing her continuing Princess Diana bit with the people - reminds her of what she could be and won't.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Vee

[DRW50]

I don't think she was terribly isolated from her family, but she was very different from most of them (which ironically might be her salvation in the long run), so I think, even as she mourns for her family, Margaery talking about being sisters is something she always wanted. A girlhood fantasy, perhaps.

I forgot to mention everything with the Night's Watch. The Night's Watch stuff tends to just be there for me (although I like Jon), so I hadn't spoiled myself, and I'm actually glad of that, as the carnage at Craster's Keep came as a huge surprise. Looking back I can see it building up, especially with that character Rast, who was always the sour apple (belittling Sam for his weight, wanting to leave him for dead). And then there's the moment where Ghost refused to go into Craster's Keep again, which I assumed was because it's the home of a disgusting man who rapes his daughters and granddaughters and murders his sons. Now I realize he likely sensed what was becoming of the Watch - that they were far more likely to murder him than Craster was by that time (given their hunger and general sense of helpless rage). So there are things there which make sense when you go and look back.

I thought Craster was going to be one of those recurring villains who would pop up every so often to bring hurt to other characters, so I definitely wasn't expecting him to be killed off, especially so easily (I guess he had, in his mind, become a god, so he didn't bother to properly protect himself). And then Jorah's father being murdered, with everything truly descending into chaos.

That's when I remembered, for the first time in ages, that the Night Watch isn't full of men like Jon and Sam - it's full of murderers and rapists. When you put them under those conditions, they ultimately revert to who they are. So the show took a situation where there were, on paper, "good" people (the Watch) and "bad" people (Craster) and ultimately presented them as surrendering to madness. Whether the madness behind the Wall, or just of their own making, I don't know. It's very bleak, although I guess Sam (who was the most innocent of the group) surviving was a ray of hope.

That whole episode (And Now His Watch Is Ended) was one of the more volatile episodes and the first that really stayed with me for several hours after watching. I guess it's a credit to the show that one of the story threads I'm least emotionally connected to is the one that got to me the most in the end.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Ha its not that I was "biased" per se its just that I had a very strong reaction when I first saw him on screen and then was told who he was supposed to be! Its just kinda jarring to me that of all the actors in the world to play the role they choose that one....

The guy who's looking after Littlefingers establishment is quite the stud though. Don't blame Oberyn for one second for wanting that lol. Still though the Red Viper is wasted in all these whoring scenes. I much prefer when he's verbally sparring with the Lannisters.

[DRW50]

I totally forgot until listening to the commentary that Burn Gorman played the main guy who antagonized Craster. I'm not sure why I didn't recognize him. Perhaps it was his hair, or that he looked more handsome. Gorman was so good on Torchwood that I'm always happy to see him elsewhere. This show's cast is really something.

Nathalie Emmanuel interview. She talks about whether Missandei will have a romance with anyone, talks about working with Paul Walker, and answers questions about Dany's white savior role. There are some small spoilers, possibly more book than show.

http://www.salon.com/2014/04/14/nathalie_emmanuel_opens_up_sex_slavery_and_game_of_thrones_secrets/

NCW's movie looks like it might be #1 at the box office this weekend, so good for him.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Glad they didn't go "there" with that Margaery/Tommen scene...but that being said it was AMAZING and well thought out and executed. Def got across the point the books have made re the Cersei vs Margaery battle for Tommen....

OMG....just when I start to have a little faith in the show they give us that idiotic Bran scene which is totally false and completely ridiculous. It makes NO SENSE at all. Jon Snow doesn't even KNOW Bran is alive in the books. Nor does Bran ever get captured like this and he would never reveal his true identity.

Edited April 28, 2014 by ThePrinceOfSunspear

[Juliajms]

This is the first time I really agree with you that the show dropped the ball. All I can say on that front is alternate reality. I have no real choice except to go with it.

I thought it was interesting that they revealed the killer so soon. I didn't think they would. I wonder what safe place Brienne would take Sansa if she ever found her. As far as I can see that place doesn't exist.

[DRW50]

I have a feeling they may have been doing that with Bran because of criticism that Bran's story is boring and nothing happens. It's a shame, as I have liked Bran's story. I hope they didn't change it because of people bitching.