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shapinglightWell, I finally watched it.
Spoilers behind cut.
Have to say, the final scene, though horrible, wasn't as bad as I was expecting, if only because I had the impression we would have to see a lot more than we did. It was still really nasty, but probably no different to what most Horrible Bolton brides have been through. That said, Ramsey is a genuine bona fide psychopath, and who knows what he might do next?
Well, people who've read the books know what he might do next. Do you think there's the slightest glimmer of a chance that the show will go there, given where it's already gone? God, I hope not, but you never know with this lot. They can be cluelessly ghastly (the Cersei/Jaime rape scene last season) let alone cluefully (which should be a word, if it's not).
Speaking of them being clueless, having seen the episode I'm afraid I now think it's wishful thinking to believe that Sansa is going to somehow stay strong and get herself out of this. To me it seems clear that what's happening to her is not about her but about redemption for Theon. The only good thing I can see in it is that Brienne is somewhere nearby and there's just the slightest, tiniest possibility that, even if it is mostly Theon who saves Sansa, Brienne will have a part in it.
If this were any other show, I'd be hoping that by the end of the season Brienne would have sliced off Ramsey's dangly bits and thrown them to his dogs, then thrown him, his awful dad and that horrid girl Miranda to the dogs too, if Melisandre hadn't arrived yet to set them all on fire. But I just don't think the show is going to diverge so far from the books where the Boltons are concerned.
The showrunners are in love with them and their horribleness.
Meh!
Otherwise, the episode was mostly okay, except for the Sand Snakes, who were just plain ridiculous. None of them look like they could punch their way out of a paper bag, to be honest, let alone fight someone like Bronn. Silly, silly, silly!
Speaking of silly, I am so waiting for Cersei to be hoist with her own petard. Stupid woman. I can just imagine what her father would have to say to her.
The Cersei/Granny Tyrell face-off was a thing of beauty. The Arya stuff was weird and unsettling, and weirdest of all was that the funniest scene in the episode was the one where Tyrion and Jorah were captured by the slavers, who seemed a jolly bunch.
Always nice to meet people who enjoy their work.
Spoilers behind cut.
Have to say, the final scene, though horrible, wasn't as bad as I was expecting, if only because I had the impression we would have to see a lot more than we did. It was still really nasty, but probably no different to what most Horrible Bolton brides have been through. That said, Ramsey is a genuine bona fide psychopath, and who knows what he might do next?
Well, people who've read the books know what he might do next. Do you think there's the slightest glimmer of a chance that the show will go there, given where it's already gone? God, I hope not, but you never know with this lot. They can be cluelessly ghastly (the Cersei/Jaime rape scene last season) let alone cluefully (which should be a word, if it's not).
Speaking of them being clueless, having seen the episode I'm afraid I now think it's wishful thinking to believe that Sansa is going to somehow stay strong and get herself out of this. To me it seems clear that what's happening to her is not about her but about redemption for Theon. The only good thing I can see in it is that Brienne is somewhere nearby and there's just the slightest, tiniest possibility that, even if it is mostly Theon who saves Sansa, Brienne will have a part in it.
If this were any other show, I'd be hoping that by the end of the season Brienne would have sliced off Ramsey's dangly bits and thrown them to his dogs, then thrown him, his awful dad and that horrid girl Miranda to the dogs too, if Melisandre hadn't arrived yet to set them all on fire. But I just don't think the show is going to diverge so far from the books where the Boltons are concerned.
The showrunners are in love with them and their horribleness.
Meh!
Otherwise, the episode was mostly okay, except for the Sand Snakes, who were just plain ridiculous. None of them look like they could punch their way out of a paper bag, to be honest, let alone fight someone like Bronn. Silly, silly, silly!
Speaking of silly, I am so waiting for Cersei to be hoist with her own petard. Stupid woman. I can just imagine what her father would have to say to her.
The Cersei/Granny Tyrell face-off was a thing of beauty. The Arya stuff was weird and unsettling, and weirdest of all was that the funniest scene in the episode was the one where Tyrion and Jorah were captured by the slavers, who seemed a jolly bunch.
Always nice to meet people who enjoy their work.
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no subject
Date: 2015-05-22 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 07:50 am (UTC)fanboysother viewers out there who do- whereas the less I have to see of them the better I like it. :(I did see the preview, in fact. I'm afraid my only thought was, oh dear, how long till Ramsey cottons on to this and makes them both suffer for it?
no subject
Date: 2015-05-22 10:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 07:52 am (UTC)It looked to me like the actresses were doing their own stunts, which was a mistake, because their movements were so clumsy. They just didn't look like they had a clue how to actually fight.
And if it wasn't them but their stuntpeople, the show should hire better ones.
:grouse, grouse:
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 07:09 am (UTC)The Bolton stuff on the other hand...if I chose to enlarge a storyline from the books, it ceritainly would not be this one. I will wait and see, if Sansa gets some agency in this, but if her plot is sacrificed to motivate stupid Theon, then I'll be really pissed.
I want her at least to open the secret tunnels to Stannis army or something like that.
And yeah, Dorne is immensely silly, which is such a pity. This could be such a cool place but they choose to let it fall flat and to rush it. To think that the time detailing the horrid Boltons could have gone into fleshing out Dorne is really sad.
I keep irrationally hoping that the crown princess of Dorne will still show up at some point, but the hopes are slim.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 07:57 am (UTC)Yeah, I don't see that happening, I'm afraid. I'm pretty sure the showrunners have decided they don't need a prince and a princess. It would just be confusing to viewers, since in show terms, all the Dorne characters are pretty minor.
To think that the time detailing the horrid Boltons could have gone into fleshing out Dorne is really sad.
I hear you. I hate every single second wasted on those horrible, horrible characters.
I have a nasty feeling the storyline won't be resolved this season too. It'll probably drag on into the next. They've dropped so many anvils, after all - like Horrible Bolton Snr telling Ramsey that Lady Bolton is pregnant. What was the point of that if Ramsey isn't going to do something horrible to her and the baby down the line?
God, I loathe them.
I know you're supposed to, but they actually bore me as well. You know you're not going to get anything on screen except gratuitous nastiness when they're around.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 10:53 am (UTC)They are just psycho and somewhat boring.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 11:27 am (UTC)And it's not like the showrunners have invented stuff that they did. From what I understand it's all there in the books, even if it is mostly just hinted at.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 11:35 am (UTC)Why the show is so fixated on them is a bit of a mystery to me.
And then there is the protagonist thing. Of course it is no less horrible if Ramsey rapes a minor character, but this character and her suffering are there to propell Theon into action. To have a secondary character suffer to motivate the protagonist is not exactly original but it works. To push another protagonist in that role, though, really stinks.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 08:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 08:37 am (UTC)You're quite right. GRRM deals in what he perceives as 'reality' (but you know, with dragons and face-changing assassins in it). Goodness is not rewarded, the strong always win, and righteousness is bugger all use to anyone. Also, be careful what you wish for. Most people hated Theon in seasons 1&2 and hoped something horrible would happen to him, but when it did, it was so horrible the show seemed to be saying that only a viewer as psychopathic as Ramsey Bolton would have enjoyed it.
Probably, at the end of the series, the Boltons will be the last ones left standing. I know both father and son are still alive where GRRM has got to in the books, so I'm not much hopeful that Stannis's army will defeat them, or that Brienne will get to chop off Ramsey's dangly bits, or any other bit of him.
Which may be more 'realistic', but IMO, makes for not such great TV. At some point, it becomes masochistic to keep watching. Haven't got there yet, but at this rate I may soon.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 03:59 pm (UTC)The strong do always win, but strength is a complex concept.
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no subject
Date: 2015-05-26 08:19 am (UTC)So yes, you could see them eventually being overthrown simply because they're so appalling and the people can't take it any more, but it could take all the time that the show has left (which, I hope, is only two more seasons - so 24 episodes).