Let me just start this thoughts blog by saying what the hell? Really? The Hound is alive?
Stop it.
You know that the writers felt it was necessary to have that exposition by Ian McShane going into detail about how The Hound was nearly dead three or four times over because we would all be collectively rolling our eyes when they showed him alive. This constant bringing people back to life thing is getting super old.
On a side note, I love (!) The Hound so much. I'm happy that he is back but the show certainly loses a lot when they kill off a character, and it is as powerful as the scene when Arya leaves The Hound for dead, to only bring him back. It's why we all are less than impressed by Arya's stab wounds. I mean, seriously, that girl should be way dead, but ... she won't be. More on that in a bit.
The Hound is a great character. However, this broken season spent 30 minutes with the impeccable Ian McShane and a bunch of folsky-folks just to immediately kill them off. Why? So that we can see how The Hound grapples with his past killings, hopes to not do it anymore, but then as he already knows will happen sooner or later, he will have a literal ax to grind.
That did not need to take that long. Also, what a waste of Ian McShane. The actor is amazing and you kill him off in one episode. Shame on you.
I did love how The Hound had no qualms about stating that a woman was the one who bested him. I liked that. I like The Hound.
Stop it.
You know that the writers felt it was necessary to have that exposition by Ian McShane going into detail about how The Hound was nearly dead three or four times over because we would all be collectively rolling our eyes when they showed him alive. This constant bringing people back to life thing is getting super old.
On a side note, I love (!) The Hound so much. I'm happy that he is back but the show certainly loses a lot when they kill off a character, and it is as powerful as the scene when Arya leaves The Hound for dead, to only bring him back. It's why we all are less than impressed by Arya's stab wounds. I mean, seriously, that girl should be way dead, but ... she won't be. More on that in a bit.
The Hound is a great character. However, this broken season spent 30 minutes with the impeccable Ian McShane and a bunch of folsky-folks just to immediately kill them off. Why? So that we can see how The Hound grapples with his past killings, hopes to not do it anymore, but then as he already knows will happen sooner or later, he will have a literal ax to grind.
That did not need to take that long. Also, what a waste of Ian McShane. The actor is amazing and you kill him off in one episode. Shame on you.
I did love how The Hound had no qualms about stating that a woman was the one who bested him. I liked that. I like The Hound.
Oh, Arya. What the shit? It's been like 24 hours since you failed to kill that actress and you are prancing about the city without a care in the world? You are smarter than that. Writers ... she is smarter than that.
The Waif totally stabbed her, multiple times in the gut -- deep, unforgiving, mortal wounds. You don't survive that. You don't wander around town stumbling to find help. Arya would be dead. Yet, it's Game of Thrones and now no one dies on this show. Well, except for Dire wolves.
On a side note, didn't the many-faced dude tell The Waif not to let Arya suffer? That bitch ain't listening.
The Waif totally stabbed her, multiple times in the gut -- deep, unforgiving, mortal wounds. You don't survive that. You don't wander around town stumbling to find help. Arya would be dead. Yet, it's Game of Thrones and now no one dies on this show. Well, except for Dire wolves.
On a side note, didn't the many-faced dude tell The Waif not to let Arya suffer? That bitch ain't listening.
Jaime and Bronn. Love them. However, here is a perfect example of why this season is broken and boring. We keep watching pieces on a chess board move about hoping that during the next episode something of consequence will happen. It just doesn't.
Last week we were told by Cersei and Tommen that Jaime would go to Riverrun. Now we see him arrive at Riverrun. That's pretty much it. Jaime left King's Landing and arrived at Riverrun. Everyone just changed location - a set change really. Sure, Jaime asked for Blackfish to surrender, then Blackfish says no. The problem is, I've seen a more exciting exchange between my niece and nephew over who could use the red crayon. Now, that was filled with anger, tears, sadness, betrayal, and a call for an alliance (for mom). When Blackfish says Jaime is disappointing, I think he really was more echoing what viewers thought about the scene.
It was the same with The Hound. We spend most of an episode watching him chop wood and talk with a character introduced and killed in 30 minutes.
Then there's Arya. While yes, she finally got stabbed by The Waif like the show has been threatening all season, it didn't feel satisfying because we've been watching her wander for an entire season now and we know she's not dead from the wounds. We still don't know what's going on with this story line. At all. I mean, doesn't it seem like a bunch of this could have been condensed? The storyline isn't served by the long duration, it's losing viewers attention.
SNL eluded to this with the Jon Snow resurrection. They spoofed that everybody felt his resurrection took forever. That we all knew it was going to happen. That's this season. One long, drawn out nothing. Moving chess pieces is fine, but at some point, take at least a pawn, a rook ... something. Instead we get the same speech from Danny. We get Cersei brooding. We get Arya roaming around. We get a play about the show. We get Jon Snow acting meek after he is resurrected. Bran keeps seeing stuff but nothing happens. Yes -- I know, Hodor died. Even that, though, he died to save Bran 15 minutes. As for storyline, we still know nothing because nothing has happened. Enough already. As SNL said, we only get 10 of these episodes a year. For Pete's Sake. We are finished with episode 7 already.
At least no Bran this week.
Rant over.
Last week we were told by Cersei and Tommen that Jaime would go to Riverrun. Now we see him arrive at Riverrun. That's pretty much it. Jaime left King's Landing and arrived at Riverrun. Everyone just changed location - a set change really. Sure, Jaime asked for Blackfish to surrender, then Blackfish says no. The problem is, I've seen a more exciting exchange between my niece and nephew over who could use the red crayon. Now, that was filled with anger, tears, sadness, betrayal, and a call for an alliance (for mom). When Blackfish says Jaime is disappointing, I think he really was more echoing what viewers thought about the scene.
It was the same with The Hound. We spend most of an episode watching him chop wood and talk with a character introduced and killed in 30 minutes.
Then there's Arya. While yes, she finally got stabbed by The Waif like the show has been threatening all season, it didn't feel satisfying because we've been watching her wander for an entire season now and we know she's not dead from the wounds. We still don't know what's going on with this story line. At all. I mean, doesn't it seem like a bunch of this could have been condensed? The storyline isn't served by the long duration, it's losing viewers attention.
SNL eluded to this with the Jon Snow resurrection. They spoofed that everybody felt his resurrection took forever. That we all knew it was going to happen. That's this season. One long, drawn out nothing. Moving chess pieces is fine, but at some point, take at least a pawn, a rook ... something. Instead we get the same speech from Danny. We get Cersei brooding. We get Arya roaming around. We get a play about the show. We get Jon Snow acting meek after he is resurrected. Bran keeps seeing stuff but nothing happens. Yes -- I know, Hodor died. Even that, though, he died to save Bran 15 minutes. As for storyline, we still know nothing because nothing has happened. Enough already. As SNL said, we only get 10 of these episodes a year. For Pete's Sake. We are finished with episode 7 already.
At least no Bran this week.
Rant over.
On a positive note, I think everyone on the internet, your neighbor, your boss, your best friend, your boyfriend, literally everyone in the world can all agree, this young lady was out-fucking-standing -- actor and character.
She literally gives people the hand, stares them down, is composed, loyal, understands alliances, is forthright, has a wicked tongue, and is a badass.
And proud. How awesome was it when she didn't even blink when she said she had 67 men. She is a proud leader and she shows up with her men.
Fierce.
She literally gives people the hand, stares them down, is composed, loyal, understands alliances, is forthright, has a wicked tongue, and is a badass.
And proud. How awesome was it when she didn't even blink when she said she had 67 men. She is a proud leader and she shows up with her men.
Fierce.
I was a little disappointed this week with Sansa Strong. I thought she would be a bit more decisive with her recruitment efforts. I mean, the girl still had more balls than Jon Snow, but that's not saying much. They have written him as so weak lately. I get it, his men killed him, but it wasn't all of his men. Not everyone is going to like you, Jon Snow. In some regards, take it as a compliment. He didn't even like the dude who orchestrated his stabbing. Stop sulking! He needs Yara to come over and give him some tough love. I'd agree with that. Not so much with Theon. Seriously, he's been through it. I'd let him sulk a little while longer. He stood up for you, Yara, in the Vikings meeting, he's not going to overcome what Ramsey did to him overnight. What About Bob (baby steps) Theon's recovery, Yara!
Back to Sansa Strong. Who the hell knows who she wrote to in her raven letter. It could be Brienne. It could be Littlefinger. It could be Tyrion. I mean, Tyrion is not looking like such a bad guy after what you went through with Ramsey. Tyrion stood up for Sad Sansa, he didn't force himself on her, he treated her with respect. Stranger alliances have happened.
And that's the point. Sansa Strong is new at the game of thrones, Littlefinger is not. Alliances need to be made regardless of bad blood. Sansa Strong may not like Littlefinger, she might not fully trust him, but an alliance needs to be made so she can recover her Winterfell. Littlefinger, who is skilled at the game of thrones, knew this all along.
Back to Sansa Strong. Who the hell knows who she wrote to in her raven letter. It could be Brienne. It could be Littlefinger. It could be Tyrion. I mean, Tyrion is not looking like such a bad guy after what you went through with Ramsey. Tyrion stood up for Sad Sansa, he didn't force himself on her, he treated her with respect. Stranger alliances have happened.
And that's the point. Sansa Strong is new at the game of thrones, Littlefinger is not. Alliances need to be made regardless of bad blood. Sansa Strong may not like Littlefinger, she might not fully trust him, but an alliance needs to be made so she can recover her Winterfell. Littlefinger, who is skilled at the game of thrones, knew this all along.
Until next time.
** If you would like to read my other blogs, please find them at:
http://www.madelinefresco.com
http://www.ihatemyback.com.
**** Madeline Fresco is a novelist who lives in San Diego. She is the author of CROSSED THE LINE, available for Kindle at Amazon.com, for Nook at Barnes & Noble, and as an ePub at other eBook retailers. You can also listen to her novel as a free, serialized audiobook at http://www.madelinefresco.com. Her second book THE CHOICE, is available on Kindle at Amazon. Her third book ANGUISH, is available for Kindle at Amazon.com
** If you would like to read my other blogs, please find them at:
http://www.madelinefresco.com
http://www.ihatemyback.com.
**** Madeline Fresco is a novelist who lives in San Diego. She is the author of CROSSED THE LINE, available for Kindle at Amazon.com, for Nook at Barnes & Noble, and as an ePub at other eBook retailers. You can also listen to her novel as a free, serialized audiobook at http://www.madelinefresco.com. Her second book THE CHOICE, is available on Kindle at Amazon. Her third book ANGUISH, is available for Kindle at Amazon.com