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Game of Thrones 2.02 - The Night Lands
Second verse, same as the first.
- Okay, I have to comment on the way they film sex scenes in this series. It's starting to get to me. I realize they've got TV pacing issues to contend with, but if they weren't so dedicated to onscreening every instance of penetrative intercourse they have when one of their actors is willing to get naked (they're milking Alfie Allen for all he's worth) they wouldn't have to make it seem like everyone's sex lasts a total of 1.5 minutes. Theon, dude, nobody's dick gets hard in literally three seconds unless they've got some circulatory issues. Stannis, I have no idea how the mention of a baby got you from 0 to 60 in .5 seconds but Jesus, doesn't anyone blow anyone around here? Take their clothes all the way off? Use tongue? I think their commitment to showing all sex to home run (and probably Stannis's actor's reluctance to take all his clothes off) makes it look like the only person getting head in the Seven Kingdoms is Renly Baratheon.
- ... no, I'm still kind of stuck on this, my roommate and I spent like 5 minutes discussing how unlikely it was that Stannis Baratheon of all people would have sex on a table. ("They probably had sex in the dark." "With all their clothes off." "Under a sheet." "Both imagining the Lord of Light.")
- Really, Robert and Renly would be LOLLLLing their faces off
- Okay enough about that.
- Jaqen H'ghar you sexy bastard, you were hot. I like their Jaqen casting a lot, and I like how they cast half his face in shadow. Also, they're replaying the ep now and I'm looking at him. Arya's Arry costume/design is really adorable in general. Yoren's a cool fucking customer as usual.
- Gendry! I love their Gendry in general; he's a charming young actor, he looks more like a Baratheon than any of the trueborn Baratheons, and he's flirting up a storm with young Arya there, let's just wait a few years. Also, Hot Pie. Hot Pie. Hot Pie. We have a Hot Pie.
- Tyrion and everything is delightful -- he and Varys were fabulous sparring (I'm kind of surprised but amused that they generally seem to make Varys look better than Petyr, in terms of upper hand) but not as fabulous as him sending Janos Slynt to the wall with Bronn's assistance. The Tyrion/Bronn was strong in this one, I approve. (Bronn doesn't have friends.)
- You show them papers, Cersei. You tell 'em.
- I wonder what excuse they're going to make to needlessly show Jaime exists this season so people don't forget about him before S3 rolls around. Maybe the Greatjon will monologue at him about something.
- Jon was endearing this ep, I think Sam's a good foil for him. But that's true in his chapters too. (Ghost! So pretty!)
- Pyke is surprisingly picturesque in a West Country kind of way. I liked Theon's scene with Balon overall, although Balon is, uh, old, surprise surprise, and looks more like Theon's grandfather than his father, and Asha -- I'm really going to have to get used to calling her "Yara" -- Asha's a bit too young, given Alfie Allen's age, but otherwise I was fine with how they handled the Iron Islands so far. Speaking of Alfie Allen, his pecs have improved since last season.
- Davos's son is adorable and I'm glad they're at least spending a few lines developing him. Davos is about as gruff and stoic as I expected Ned to be, and I like it, as Davos and Ned are not dissimilar people anyway, albeit they attached themselves to two very different brothers. I'm enjoying Melisandre a lot, I like her cult-leader charisma and you get the impression she drinks her own Kool-Aid, which is what it would take to seduce Stannis Baratheon.
- Salladhor is still evidence that GoT plays worryingly fast and loose with Free Cities ethnicities but his plans to seduce Cersei are charming. I'm pretty sure she'd go for it if she had the chance. He's got nerve.
- I'm sort of wondering how Rakharo's horse found its way back (and why their enemies didn't follow it, but I guess they don't consider Dany to be a huge threat) but I suppose if any horses would be trained enough for that, it'd be Dothraki horses. You'd also think Dothraki horses would die defending their riders. Oh well.
- I'm not sure what I'm more unsure about: why Petyr is apparently the madam of his own brothel, why Ros is so broken up about the baby of someone she met like two months ago, or why we're using screentime on this instead of, like, on Dragonstone.
- Speaking of which, Stannis is basically awesome and I understand the decision to emphasize that he's conflicted and not-evil rather than the unforgivingness of his personality, though I think it might be giving viewers a confused impression of him. The exposition scene with him and Melisandre prior to their getting it on for sorcerous purposes gave the impression he was more interested in having an heir (not that a bastard would do much for him anyway?) than it actually was, but I understand why they did it for foreshadowing purposes.
- In general I'm seeing a lot of tension suffering from their pacing constraints -- Melisandre can't use a more deft and commanding touch to seduce Stannis, they have to fit in 2 minutes. They can't creepily imply she sleeps with him for R'hllor purposes, they can't imply stuff on TV. They can't make the Others offscreen and disturbing, they have to make them onscreen and action-gory. It fits in with the rest of HBO's oeuvre, but I do miss a lot of what they can't fit in their usual style. It's not necessarily an unwise sacrifice, but it's a sacrifice.
I'm not sure all that much happened in this episode either to advance the plot, but it felt like it went faster than the last one, I think because they didn't try to cover all the plotlines (a notable absence of Robb, for one). I liked it, but I hope this goes more places next week.
- Okay, I have to comment on the way they film sex scenes in this series. It's starting to get to me. I realize they've got TV pacing issues to contend with, but if they weren't so dedicated to onscreening every instance of penetrative intercourse they have when one of their actors is willing to get naked (they're milking Alfie Allen for all he's worth) they wouldn't have to make it seem like everyone's sex lasts a total of 1.5 minutes. Theon, dude, nobody's dick gets hard in literally three seconds unless they've got some circulatory issues. Stannis, I have no idea how the mention of a baby got you from 0 to 60 in .5 seconds but Jesus, doesn't anyone blow anyone around here? Take their clothes all the way off? Use tongue? I think their commitment to showing all sex to home run (and probably Stannis's actor's reluctance to take all his clothes off) makes it look like the only person getting head in the Seven Kingdoms is Renly Baratheon.
- ... no, I'm still kind of stuck on this, my roommate and I spent like 5 minutes discussing how unlikely it was that Stannis Baratheon of all people would have sex on a table. ("They probably had sex in the dark." "With all their clothes off." "Under a sheet." "Both imagining the Lord of Light.")
- Really, Robert and Renly would be LOLLLLing their faces off
- Okay enough about that.
- Jaqen H'ghar you sexy bastard, you were hot. I like their Jaqen casting a lot, and I like how they cast half his face in shadow. Also, they're replaying the ep now and I'm looking at him. Arya's Arry costume/design is really adorable in general. Yoren's a cool fucking customer as usual.
- Gendry! I love their Gendry in general; he's a charming young actor, he looks more like a Baratheon than any of the trueborn Baratheons, and he's flirting up a storm with young Arya there, let's just wait a few years. Also, Hot Pie. Hot Pie. Hot Pie. We have a Hot Pie.
- Tyrion and everything is delightful -- he and Varys were fabulous sparring (I'm kind of surprised but amused that they generally seem to make Varys look better than Petyr, in terms of upper hand) but not as fabulous as him sending Janos Slynt to the wall with Bronn's assistance. The Tyrion/Bronn was strong in this one, I approve. (Bronn doesn't have friends.)
- You show them papers, Cersei. You tell 'em.
- I wonder what excuse they're going to make to needlessly show Jaime exists this season so people don't forget about him before S3 rolls around. Maybe the Greatjon will monologue at him about something.
- Jon was endearing this ep, I think Sam's a good foil for him. But that's true in his chapters too. (Ghost! So pretty!)
- Pyke is surprisingly picturesque in a West Country kind of way. I liked Theon's scene with Balon overall, although Balon is, uh, old, surprise surprise, and looks more like Theon's grandfather than his father, and Asha -- I'm really going to have to get used to calling her "Yara" -- Asha's a bit too young, given Alfie Allen's age, but otherwise I was fine with how they handled the Iron Islands so far. Speaking of Alfie Allen, his pecs have improved since last season.
- Davos's son is adorable and I'm glad they're at least spending a few lines developing him. Davos is about as gruff and stoic as I expected Ned to be, and I like it, as Davos and Ned are not dissimilar people anyway, albeit they attached themselves to two very different brothers. I'm enjoying Melisandre a lot, I like her cult-leader charisma and you get the impression she drinks her own Kool-Aid, which is what it would take to seduce Stannis Baratheon.
- Salladhor is still evidence that GoT plays worryingly fast and loose with Free Cities ethnicities but his plans to seduce Cersei are charming. I'm pretty sure she'd go for it if she had the chance. He's got nerve.
- I'm sort of wondering how Rakharo's horse found its way back (and why their enemies didn't follow it, but I guess they don't consider Dany to be a huge threat) but I suppose if any horses would be trained enough for that, it'd be Dothraki horses. You'd also think Dothraki horses would die defending their riders. Oh well.
- I'm not sure what I'm more unsure about: why Petyr is apparently the madam of his own brothel, why Ros is so broken up about the baby of someone she met like two months ago, or why we're using screentime on this instead of, like, on Dragonstone.
- Speaking of which, Stannis is basically awesome and I understand the decision to emphasize that he's conflicted and not-evil rather than the unforgivingness of his personality, though I think it might be giving viewers a confused impression of him. The exposition scene with him and Melisandre prior to their getting it on for sorcerous purposes gave the impression he was more interested in having an heir (not that a bastard would do much for him anyway?) than it actually was, but I understand why they did it for foreshadowing purposes.
- In general I'm seeing a lot of tension suffering from their pacing constraints -- Melisandre can't use a more deft and commanding touch to seduce Stannis, they have to fit in 2 minutes. They can't creepily imply she sleeps with him for R'hllor purposes, they can't imply stuff on TV. They can't make the Others offscreen and disturbing, they have to make them onscreen and action-gory. It fits in with the rest of HBO's oeuvre, but I do miss a lot of what they can't fit in their usual style. It's not necessarily an unwise sacrifice, but it's a sacrifice.
I'm not sure all that much happened in this episode either to advance the plot, but it felt like it went faster than the last one, I think because they didn't try to cover all the plotlines (a notable absence of Robb, for one). I liked it, but I hope this goes more places next week.
no subject
But anyway, I don't really have a lot of thoughts about this episode beside cute Arya and Gendry moments. I've gone from 0 to 60 with this pairing XD.
I actually felt sympathy for Cersei when she was talking to Tyrion. Maybe it's because I'm so attached to my mother, but that really made me empathize with her. Also a few of her moments in the book make me like her. I don't know how to feel about her just yet.
no subject
I think the actor who plays Benjen is pretty handsome, I actually thought he'd have made a good Ned -- he has that lean Stark look to him. But Stannis also looks like a lost Stark in some ways in my head, I have a hard time picturing him with the powerful Baratheon look. I can see what you mean.
Cersei's a complicated person who reminds me of some of my own relatives, actually. I'm not sure I like her per se but I find her strangely understandable and I can see myself in her headspace more easily than I'd like. She's less cruel to Tyrion on the show so far than she is in the books, to be sure, though there's plenty of time for that to change, I suppose.