Month: June 2016

Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 10 – The Winds of Winter

“A raven came from the Citadel. A White raven. Winter is here.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It’s been a tumultuous year in Westeros, as Benioff and Weiss, freed of the constraints of actual books to adapt, have yanked the plot bodily forwards. As if acknowledging their free hand, this season finale was named The Winds of Winter, after the next volume in the series, which, let’s face it, is unlikely to show up until after the TV version is finished. Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 10 – The Winds of Winter”

Welcome to the United Kingdom of Westeros

“One more such victory and I am ruined!” – Pyrrhus

Yes, I was going to catch up on my blogging about Preacher, now some two weeks overdue. But you’ll hopefully appreciate that these last couple of weeks have been a little tumultuous in my country, which overnight on Thursday went from being a peaceable United Kingdom to something more akin to the squabbling factions of Westeros. So I thought maybe I should write something about that. Continue reading “Welcome to the United Kingdom of Westeros”

Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 9 – Battle of the Bastards

“Let’s end this the old way. You against me.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Wow. Have you been missing those epic battle sequences Game of Thrones does so well of late? Yes, there’s been some awesome political manoeuvring, backstabbing and the general nastiness the show is so good at. But perhaps you hanker for those slightly more formulaic days of the early seasons, when episode 9 was guaranteed to centre around a stonking, rip-roaring epic battle. Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 9 – Battle of the Bastards”

Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 8 – No One

“All of us have to believe we’re decent, don’t we, to get to sleep at night? Tell me, how do you believe you’re decent, after everything you’ve done?”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Blimey, it’s fair rushed by, this season of Game of Thrones, hasn’t it? So much going on, so quickly, it’s hard to believe there’s only two more episodes left of this season. Yet again, there was loads going on this week, but what struck me most about this ep was the character work. Momentous decisions were made, dramatic plots redirected – and all because of who these people are. Benioff and Weiss, back on scripting duties this week, gave us an ep that plumbed the depths of all the characters, even those we didn’t actually see – and those characters may decide the fate not just of the Seven Kingdoms, but of all of humanity.

Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 8 – No One”

Preacher: Season 1, Episode 2 – See

“Boring ain’t the worst thing to be, Cass.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After a rather good pilot episode, this week saw the first episode in the series proper of cult comic adaption Preacher. This is often where a show can hit problems, which are usually indicated by big, noticeable changes from the pilot – once again, NBC’s Constantine is a good example of this, with the putative female lead written out in the pilot’s closing minute and the lead character’s smoking habit suddenly reinstated. Continue reading “Preacher: Season 1, Episode 2 – See”

Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 7 – The Broken Man

“The real war isn’t between squabbling Houses. It’s between the living and the dead.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

With Bryan Cogman on scripting duties again, this week’s ep of Game of Thrones had an apt but ambiguous title. Broken men of all stripes were here in spades – Theon Greyjoy, Edmure Tully, even Jaime Lannister. But to which of them was the title referring? Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 6, Episode 7 – The Broken Man”