Reviews – Page 26 – Simon’s Incoherent Blog

Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 5 – Kill the Boy

“Kill the boy – and let the man be born.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After a hectic flurry of excitement last time, this week Game of Thrones was back to plotting and intrigue in a sedate but grim episode. No surprise that it was grim, with the focus very squarely on events in the dour, chilly North; no sign of the Lannisters, Dorne or King’s Landing this week. Despite a couple of brief (but significant) interludes with Dany in Meereen, and a quick catchup with Jorah and Tyrion, Bryan Cogman’s script mainly dealt with just two of the ongoing plots – the turmoil up at Castle Black and Sansa’s unfortunate situation in Bolton-occupied Winterfell. Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 5 – Kill the Boy”

Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 12: Lost Horizon

“This business doesn’t have feelings. You get bought, you get sold, you get fired. Even if your name’s on the damn door, you should know better than to get attached to some walls.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

With just two more episodes to go after this one, this week’s Mad Men felt properly like the party was winding down. The surprise absorption of Sterling Cooper & Partners by McCann Erickson threw all our characters into a traumatic transition, and despite the feeling that things are nearly over for these guys, Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner’s script still managed to fit in that trademark mixture of portentous drama, black comedy and social commentary that’s been Mad Men’s stock-in-trade for so many years. Continue reading “Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 12: Lost Horizon”

Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 4 – The Sons of the Harpy

“Wars teach people to obey the sword, not the gods.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After some patient scene setting and a week of musing on the mystical, this week Game of Thrones seemed to really pick up the pace, with the scheming and the character depth balanced by some real (and really gory) action. Having set plotlines running in those first few weeks, they’re now starting to pay off with some interesting consequences. Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 4 – The Sons of the Harpy”

Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 11 – Time & Life

“For the first time I feel that whatever happens is supposed to happen.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

With only three more episodes to go after this one, this week’s Mad Men felt for the first time like it was entering the end game of the series. Although the show’s initial focus was on Don Draper, its roster of characters has grown since then into a well-drawn ensemble – the question I kept asking myself was, how will concluding Don’s narrative serve as a sense of closure for all these people? I’m amazed I missed the obvious answer. The end of the show can only be about the end of the agency – the final destiny of Sterling Cooper & Partners, which has been the centre of all these people’s lives since the show began. Continue reading “Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 11 – Time & Life”

Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 3 – High Sparrow

“There is but one god. A girl knows his name. And all men know his gift.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After two weeks of political wrangling and intrigue, it was a more mystical episode of Game of Thrones this week. The focus was very much on religion, and how it intersects with the machinations of power we’ve already seen. To this end, while the intrigue was still very much ongoing, we got various musings on the various religions of this fantasy world – the Seven, the Many Faced God, and the Lord of Light, not to mention glancing references to the Old Gods of the weirwood. Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 3 – High Sparrow”

Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 10 – The Forecast

“Let’s assume that it’s good and it’s going to get better. It’s supposed to get better.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It’s a frequent trait of Mad Men episodes that sometimes they’ll be structured around a Big Theme. Sometimes this is subtly done, and at others the script keeps clubbing you round the head with it shouting, “See, that’s what this one’s about!” Continue reading “Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 10 – The Forecast”

Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 2 – The House of Black and White

“The Mad King gave each of his enemies the justice he thought they deserved. And every time it made him feel powerful and right. Until the very end.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

If, after last week’s rather low-key season opener, you were hoping for a return to Game of Thrones’ usual slam bang action, sex and gore, you may have been a bit disappointed by this week’s offering. Effectively, it was more of the same – a series of brief vignettes that spent more time examining the characters through well-crafted dialogue than actually advancing the plot. Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 2 – The House of Black and White”

Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 9 – New Business

“You think you’re going to start your life over and get it right. But what if you never get past the beginning again?”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After last week’s understated study in gloom, this week Mad Men felt decidedly lighter, in one of its periodic sidetrips into farce and comedy. That’s not to say there weren’t some pretty serious themes in here; divorce, family breakups and dead children do not usually a recipe for comedy make. But Mad Men has shown before that, even in the midst of its ever-present darkness, it can make episodes through which you can’t help chuckling. Continue reading “Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 9 – New Business”

Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 1 – The Wars to Come

“Things have gotten worse, not better. Westeros needs to be saved from itself.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

And so, Game of Thrones is back for its annually much-anticipated new season, now bearing the dubious accolade of the world’s most downloaded TV show. In fact, all of the first four eps of the new season have already been leaked to the internet; but in standard definition only. Like the AV snob that I am, I’d prefer to wait to see it in shiny HD, so I’ll be posting my thoughts on here at the same intervals as usual, thanks very much. Continue reading “Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 1 – The Wars to Come”

Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 8 – Severance

“When someone dies, you just want to make sense of it. But you can’t.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Rejoice, for Mad Men is back after its year-long ‘mid-season break’! Then weep, for this is the beginning of the last seven episodes we’ll get to spend with existentially-troubled cad Don Draper and his dysfunctional colleagues at Sterling Cooper & Partners. Continue reading “Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 8 – Severance”