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shapinglightFinally, finally, got around to watching this last night and - because I am still so far behind on LJ and can't catch up until I've done this- am sneakily writing a review at work. Bad me.
Spoilers behind the annoying little scissors.
Hmm. I think this was the first episode where it's struck me just how difficult this series has been to bring to the TV screen (well, obviously, I get the enormous logistical/technical difficulties, goes without saying). One of the chief difficulties, is, of course, that long-running TV series on the whole rely on continuity of characters. Yes, new characters will be introduced to keep things fresh, but usually the characters who started off as most important stay that way.
With GoT, it doesn't work in quite the same way. Most of the characters we were introduced to in season 1 are still around, but they're having to compete for space with the new characters. Some characters who weren't that important in season 1 - Theon Greyjoy, for instance - are clearly going to have more of a role in this season, while others (such as Robb Stark) are going to be considerably less in evidence.
In other words, it's a very tricky balancing act, between keeping the audience happy by giving them scenes with characters they're already invested in, and introducing new ones. So far, season 2 has managed this, but episode three gave me a hint - just a tiny hint - of how this could go wrong if the writers etc, are not careful.
On that note, in this particular episode, we have to say thank goodness for Tyrion Lannister and Arya Stark. They provide the required 'through put' from season one, while all around them things are changing and new characters are arriving thick and fast. Tyrion's scenes were wonderful in this ep (I enjoyed Bronn's one-liner too), and his way of working out who he could (provisionally) trust was highly amusing. He even managed to make the inclusion of one of Littlefinger's whores in a scene not gratuitous. Loved that Tyrion went back and gave her a second coin for putting up with Pycelle, who I won't miss at all.
Poor Tyrion! What a difficult business it is, trying to be a reasonable human being in that nest of vipers. He must know that, despite neither of them revealing his plans to Cersei, he can't trust Littlefinger or Varys, and Varys knows about Shae. That's bound to come out eventually in the worst way possible. It was kind of Tyrion to insinuate Shae into the royal household as Sansa's maid (the poor girl desperately needs someone to talk to), but it may come back to bite him in the end.
Meanwhile, Arya is in real trouble too. Her protector is dead (very heroic death for Yoren, btw, very 'northern'), and it's always possible that someone heard the conversation between the two of them, which struck me as very foolhardy on Yoren's part (otherwise known as giving the character his 'moment' before writing him out), not to mention that the fat boy at least knows that the boy the horrid Lannister soldier killed wasn't Gendry. Then there's those scary men in the cage, who may not feel too kindly towards Arya, even though she saved their lives.
Anyway, I love any scene featuring Tyrion or Arya so this episode had a lot to offer. Otherwise, apart from a lovely Sam Tarley scene beyond the Wall and a brief interlude with Bran and Maester Luwin (who I really like - please don't let him be evil) it was more about the new characters. Renly and Loras we've met before, or course, but Margery's new. Did enjoy her pragmatism about Renly needing to get her pregnant and if that required Loras's assistance, fair enough. Poor Renly looked quite shocked. Most of all with the Renly scenes, though, I liked Brienne.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shipperx told me I would like the character, and I do. I really do. I am worried about Renly and his whole enterprise, however. He's just too 'nice' to win, I'm afraid, which I think his little scene with Catelyn and the man with the poorly foot was supposed to point out.
Finally (because no Robb, no Jaime, no Dany and Jorah, no Stannis), there's Theon. I'm not entirely sure what, beyond jealousy of his sister and outrage at their father preferring her to him, made him decide to burn his bridges with Robb, but any sympathy I felt for him in the previous episode pretty much disappeared in this one. I understand that he feels abandoned by his father, but Robb is his friend and Ned Stark has probably treated him way better than his father would have.
ETA: having readqueenofthorns's awesome recap, I've re thought my position on Theon in this ep a bit. As she says, you can't help feeling a bit sorry for him when he rounds on his father and reminds him that he never wanted to go to Winterfell. His father gave him away. I still think he's making a mistake, though, in turning his back on his friendship with Robb.
Anyway, as of the end of this ep, we've met all the new characters (I think - or all the most important ones, or most of the important ones, whichever it is) and the clash of kings - Joffrey vs Stannis vs Renly vs Balon Greyjoy vs Robb Stark - is all set up. Roll on next week.
Trivial stuff:
Still can't get over how nice and normal Tommen and Myrcella are.
Cersei is an utter bitch to Sansa. Maybe that'll please the people who think she's being written too sympathetically.
Brienne is really tall, isn't she? Really tall.
Am a teensy bit worried that Renly is being written as so weak, given that he's the only gay character.
No Dany and Jorah! Meh!
Also, no one hit Joffrey, so I'm going to pretend Bronn did it offscreen.
Spoilers behind the annoying little scissors.
Hmm. I think this was the first episode where it's struck me just how difficult this series has been to bring to the TV screen (well, obviously, I get the enormous logistical/technical difficulties, goes without saying). One of the chief difficulties, is, of course, that long-running TV series on the whole rely on continuity of characters. Yes, new characters will be introduced to keep things fresh, but usually the characters who started off as most important stay that way.
With GoT, it doesn't work in quite the same way. Most of the characters we were introduced to in season 1 are still around, but they're having to compete for space with the new characters. Some characters who weren't that important in season 1 - Theon Greyjoy, for instance - are clearly going to have more of a role in this season, while others (such as Robb Stark) are going to be considerably less in evidence.
In other words, it's a very tricky balancing act, between keeping the audience happy by giving them scenes with characters they're already invested in, and introducing new ones. So far, season 2 has managed this, but episode three gave me a hint - just a tiny hint - of how this could go wrong if the writers etc, are not careful.
On that note, in this particular episode, we have to say thank goodness for Tyrion Lannister and Arya Stark. They provide the required 'through put' from season one, while all around them things are changing and new characters are arriving thick and fast. Tyrion's scenes were wonderful in this ep (I enjoyed Bronn's one-liner too), and his way of working out who he could (provisionally) trust was highly amusing. He even managed to make the inclusion of one of Littlefinger's whores in a scene not gratuitous. Loved that Tyrion went back and gave her a second coin for putting up with Pycelle, who I won't miss at all.
Poor Tyrion! What a difficult business it is, trying to be a reasonable human being in that nest of vipers. He must know that, despite neither of them revealing his plans to Cersei, he can't trust Littlefinger or Varys, and Varys knows about Shae. That's bound to come out eventually in the worst way possible. It was kind of Tyrion to insinuate Shae into the royal household as Sansa's maid (the poor girl desperately needs someone to talk to), but it may come back to bite him in the end.
Meanwhile, Arya is in real trouble too. Her protector is dead (very heroic death for Yoren, btw, very 'northern'), and it's always possible that someone heard the conversation between the two of them, which struck me as very foolhardy on Yoren's part (otherwise known as giving the character his 'moment' before writing him out), not to mention that the fat boy at least knows that the boy the horrid Lannister soldier killed wasn't Gendry. Then there's those scary men in the cage, who may not feel too kindly towards Arya, even though she saved their lives.
Anyway, I love any scene featuring Tyrion or Arya so this episode had a lot to offer. Otherwise, apart from a lovely Sam Tarley scene beyond the Wall and a brief interlude with Bran and Maester Luwin (who I really like - please don't let him be evil) it was more about the new characters. Renly and Loras we've met before, or course, but Margery's new. Did enjoy her pragmatism about Renly needing to get her pregnant and if that required Loras's assistance, fair enough. Poor Renly looked quite shocked. Most of all with the Renly scenes, though, I liked Brienne.
shipperx told me I would like the character, and I do. I really do. I am worried about Renly and his whole enterprise, however. He's just too 'nice' to win, I'm afraid, which I think his little scene with Catelyn and the man with the poorly foot was supposed to point out. Finally (because no Robb, no Jaime, no Dany and Jorah, no Stannis), there's Theon. I'm not entirely sure what, beyond jealousy of his sister and outrage at their father preferring her to him, made him decide to burn his bridges with Robb, but any sympathy I felt for him in the previous episode pretty much disappeared in this one. I understand that he feels abandoned by his father, but Robb is his friend and Ned Stark has probably treated him way better than his father would have.
ETA: having read
queenofthorns's awesome recap, I've re thought my position on Theon in this ep a bit. As she says, you can't help feeling a bit sorry for him when he rounds on his father and reminds him that he never wanted to go to Winterfell. His father gave him away. I still think he's making a mistake, though, in turning his back on his friendship with Robb. Anyway, as of the end of this ep, we've met all the new characters (I think - or all the most important ones, or most of the important ones, whichever it is) and the clash of kings - Joffrey vs Stannis vs Renly vs Balon Greyjoy vs Robb Stark - is all set up. Roll on next week.
Trivial stuff:
Still can't get over how nice and normal Tommen and Myrcella are.
Cersei is an utter bitch to Sansa. Maybe that'll please the people who think she's being written too sympathetically.
Brienne is really tall, isn't she? Really tall.
Am a teensy bit worried that Renly is being written as so weak, given that he's the only gay character.
No Dany and Jorah! Meh!
Also, no one hit Joffrey, so I'm going to pretend Bronn did it offscreen.