Now you are truly lost.
May. 7th, 2012 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
GAME OF THRONES. OMG. How great was last night's episode?! Vanessa Taylor, you are my new Jane Espen!
- Best episode yet. SO much stuff that happened, and nearly all of it extremely entertaining. I don't know if Vanessa Taylor just lucked out because this episode is when everything was coming together, but I'm giving her credit anyway.
- The taking of Winterfell was just as wrenching on the show as it is in the books. :( Ugh, Theon. It's actually easier to feel sympathy for him on the show though, because you can see how much he actually didn't want to have to kill Rodrik Cassel. But of course, he wouldn't be the Theon we love to hate if he didn't ultimately cave to pressure and do it anyway. I'm glad that the death was just as horrible as it was in the books -- I was afraid they were going to spare us by having him cleave Cassel's head off cleanly. Instead, he has to hack away at it, with even a shot of Cassel still alive after the first chop. *shudder* But that's important because it really drives home how horrible this all is, and how very different Theon is from Ned. He's no Lord of Winterfell.
- Despite myself I was still touched when Theon went to Bran's room, blustering and strutting, yet still sat on Bran's bed and tried to reason with him, still that comfortable and not meaning Bran any harm. Theon is his own worst enemy, his struggle to BE SOMEONE overshadowing anything else in his life.
- I don't remember Osha sleeping with Theon in order to sneak away with Hodor and the boys. Does that happen? I'm not even sure why it had to happen on the show -- why could she have NOT slept with him, then killed the guard and sneaked out with them anyway? I mean, it wasn't really necessary for the escape, as far as I can tell. Also, HELLO THEY HAVE DIREWOLVES. The wolves could have made mincemeat of at least the guard, if not the entire skeleton crew of the invading Ironmen! Lame.
- I guess they really aren't going to have Jojen and Meera around. Lame. Without Meera, there's no one to tell the story about the Knight of the Laughing Tree! But I guess I'm not surprised. They're totally ignoring Rhaegar and the past. SIGH.
- Show!Dany is really irritating. I don't have anything against Emilia Clarke, but more and more I'm starting to think that she wasn't right for the role. Dany was always a little annoying in the books, because she's 14 and trying to be all queenly and wise, but it's even worse on the show. Whenever Dany makes threats or talks about how great she and her family are, I'm like, oh shut up. She sounds like a child throwing a tantrum or trying to wheedle a toy out of grown ups.
- WTF with the dragons being stolen??? Did that ever happen in the books? This seems like too significant a departure from the books and I don't like it. -.- I mean, where can it go from here?
- I liked Ygritte MUCH better than in the books. Possibly that's because I already liked the actress from Downton Abbey. Except I don't quite remember their acquaintence starting out like this. Doesn't Jon just let her go, in the books? Or did that come later? In any case, I liked Ygritte, I liked that she tried to escape and got pretty far, and Jon was nimble and able enough to catch her. I also liked the scene where she teases him, amusing herself and Jon being like WTF STOP WIGGLING. :))))))
- And of course, compare Jon with Theon wrt having to kill someone they don't want to kill -- Jon doesn't do it whereas Theon goes against his own conscience. Those kinds of parallels happen a lot in the books, and almost always Jon makes the better choice. The next one coming up as far as I remember is Jon and Robb and the choices they make about vows and women. YOU'LL SEE.
- Speaking of Robb and women... who the fuck IS this woman that he's interested in? Is that supposed to be Jeyne? Why are they making her a nurse and so flipping mysterious? Or did they actually come up with a NEW woman for him to love instead of Jeyne? (In which case, I'm not sure all the speculation about Jeyne's maybe-pregnancy in the books amounts to anything.)
- I have no clue what Tywin and Littlefinger were discussing (basically, Littlefinger wants Tywin to woo the Tyrells, yes?), because the whole time I was tense about Petyr discovering Arya's identity. He DID recognize her, right? Does this happen in the books? I kind of don't remember that happening. I don't think ANYONE realizes who Arya is until she reveals herself much later, to someone else, not at Harrenhal. Weird. Because Littlefinger definitely took a huge interest in her and SEEMED to recognize her; it'll be beneath him if he can't place her or something. (Edit: Apparently most reviewers agree that Littlefinger didn't actually recognize her. Think that does make the most sense storyline wise, but in that case I'd rather he have not taken any interest in her at all.)
- I don't think Arya being the cupbearer is working out believably. Tywin talks to her WAY too much (and is way more likable than in the books, btw), and she gives away too much, such as her being able to read, and telling very transparent lies about how her father is dead and died due to loyalty. I mean, as I said last week, it just makes Tywin look really stupid for not being able to put 2 and 2 together.
- I loooooooooved her getting Jaqen H'gar's help! The look on his face when he's giving his spiel about how she can't direct the timing of when a man dies, and then she's like, but he has to die NOW, he's about to tell Tywin everything! LOL. So good. Jaqen is badass. I don't remember who all she has him kill in the books (though I do remember #3), and I don't think it quite happened in the way it's happening on the show, but that's OK. The biggest problem I have is that she doesn't request Tywin's death, but that doesn't happen in the books either so that's not the show's problem. Tywin has a different future in store. /mysterious
- SANSA/HOUND!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Finally! Sansa is so not almost raped in the books, is she? Beaten and what not, yes, her life is in danger, and the Hound totally saves her, but... in any case, I was so happy he came to save his little bird. Has he called her that before now? Can't remember -- they interact so rarely. -.- Anyway, super happy that they didn't change this. And Tyrion saying 'good job' later on and the Hound being all, 'I didn't do it for you.' <3 I have to admit I was a bit afraid that they were actually going to have Sansa get raped. I'd read somewhere that they cut the Lollys Stokeworth character, and since they're munging stuff for other characters (like Bran having Jojen's prophetic dreams), I was afraid they were going to Go There. However, ultimately I didn't think they would, because part of the result of Lollys being raped is a bastard child, and they can't go down that road with Sansa, not with the other stuff that's in her future. So I'm thankful she was spared.
- It seems a waste of typing to say that Joffrey is a punk, but I guess I'll say it anyway. Loved Tyrion dressing him down and slapping him.
- I have another casting nitpick. THAT dude was Roose Bolton? He seems totally normal! He's supposed to stand out more as a cold prick! WTF. They better have cast Ramsay Snow correctly, because I seriously don't understand their choices sometimes.
- Bonus props to the fact that not one but two girls (Sansa and Ygritte) were lifted and treated like a sack of potatoes (by Sandor Clegane and Jon Snow, respectively) in this episode, each time quite funny.
Meanwhile,jade_okelani and I are nearly caught up on The Vampire Diaries. Spoilers through
- Had to start with that. It's been a long, long drought on the Damon/Elena front, but THAT was worth waiting for. I was seriously so afraid that they were going to use this road trip as a way to get Elena to realize that she wuvs Stefan and only Stefan. Blech. Very glad they didn't go there, and instead such an awesome kiss happened. Squeee!!
- I can't believe they brought Jeremy back just so he could cockblock Damon. WTF.
- If they want Alaric to be more interesting, they're just going to have to do something more interesting with him on a permanent basis, not just give him someone else's personality every season. -.-
- I'm not into Klaroline, but even I had to admit the scene between them on the bench was cute. Klaus is ONLY interesting when he's into Caroline. Otherwise, I can't stand him. I just do not find Joseph Morgan attractive at ALL.
- Sigh, they're so going to kill Tyler. I can't believe I finally ship a canon ship and they're going to screw me on it. Tyler is Stefan and Klaus is Damon -- it's obvious they really want Klaroline. That IS why Caroline kept the drawing, after all, to show that she IS intrigued by Klaus despite her protestations. Poor Tyler. I really did like Tyler/Caroline and was really happy with their reunion... until that happened and I realized that they're probably just going to get rid of Tyler because he has no use other than as a love interest for Caroline.
- The problem I'm having with the show this season is that I'm just NOT that interested in the Originals storyline. I've found much of this season extremely boring. Part of that is because I feel like they squandered their opportunity to give us some really good Damon/Elena while Stefan was off being evil. But the other part of it is that they started out too ambitiously, so now in order to produce tension they just keep having to top themselves and it's getting ridiculous. I mean, it's like -- Original vampires! Mother of Original vampires! Tree that can kill Originals! Sapling of tree! Werewolves! Hybrid werewolf vampires! Yeah. Pretty soon it's going to get Hitler introduced into the argument and then the show has to end.
- Feel pretty sorry for Rebekah. All she wants is to be loved, and no one actually loves her, they just keep using her for their own ends. Including her own mom. So is Rebekah dead now, or just suppressed?
- Jade and I probably hate Bonnie more than anyone on the show. She's so preachy and constantly on her high horse, and then shows how hypocritical she is. If she really hates them all and wants nothing to do with all this and keeps losing people, JUST LEAVE TOWN. Damon should've turned her instead of her bio mom into a vampire, then let's see where her principles are then.
- I still love Elijah the best. WHY CAN'T ANYONE SEE IT? I hope he's the one they're all descended from, but I'm sure he won't be. SIGH.
- It was nice to see Rose again, even though I didn't much like her the first time, because I now like the actress from The Walking Dead. Also, she seems to be a hardcore Damon/Elena shipper. :)))))
Had brunch this weekend with some local UCLA alumni. I only went because I felt I owed it to the organizer, H., who I met a year+ ago at a Dinner for 12 Strangers. But I ended up having fun. I always seem to dread these things, but then end up having a better time than I think I will. We ate at Emmer & Rye, which I was not impressed by at ALL. We all ended up having to season our own food with condiments, which would NEVER happen at Tilth. I'm so never going back there. The neighborhood was cute, though. Anyway, ended up talking ASoIAF with a copule of the girls and now we MAY be starting a book club. I've always wanted to be in a real book club! Though initially all we may end up doing is talking about ASoIAF, trading theories and what not. The problem with this is that I am so convinced that I am right about my own theories, I'll just be like, how can you not see how wrong you are? :))
- Best episode yet. SO much stuff that happened, and nearly all of it extremely entertaining. I don't know if Vanessa Taylor just lucked out because this episode is when everything was coming together, but I'm giving her credit anyway.
- The taking of Winterfell was just as wrenching on the show as it is in the books. :( Ugh, Theon. It's actually easier to feel sympathy for him on the show though, because you can see how much he actually didn't want to have to kill Rodrik Cassel. But of course, he wouldn't be the Theon we love to hate if he didn't ultimately cave to pressure and do it anyway. I'm glad that the death was just as horrible as it was in the books -- I was afraid they were going to spare us by having him cleave Cassel's head off cleanly. Instead, he has to hack away at it, with even a shot of Cassel still alive after the first chop. *shudder* But that's important because it really drives home how horrible this all is, and how very different Theon is from Ned. He's no Lord of Winterfell.
- Despite myself I was still touched when Theon went to Bran's room, blustering and strutting, yet still sat on Bran's bed and tried to reason with him, still that comfortable and not meaning Bran any harm. Theon is his own worst enemy, his struggle to BE SOMEONE overshadowing anything else in his life.
- I don't remember Osha sleeping with Theon in order to sneak away with Hodor and the boys. Does that happen? I'm not even sure why it had to happen on the show -- why could she have NOT slept with him, then killed the guard and sneaked out with them anyway? I mean, it wasn't really necessary for the escape, as far as I can tell. Also, HELLO THEY HAVE DIREWOLVES. The wolves could have made mincemeat of at least the guard, if not the entire skeleton crew of the invading Ironmen! Lame.
- I guess they really aren't going to have Jojen and Meera around. Lame. Without Meera, there's no one to tell the story about the Knight of the Laughing Tree! But I guess I'm not surprised. They're totally ignoring Rhaegar and the past. SIGH.
- Show!Dany is really irritating. I don't have anything against Emilia Clarke, but more and more I'm starting to think that she wasn't right for the role. Dany was always a little annoying in the books, because she's 14 and trying to be all queenly and wise, but it's even worse on the show. Whenever Dany makes threats or talks about how great she and her family are, I'm like, oh shut up. She sounds like a child throwing a tantrum or trying to wheedle a toy out of grown ups.
- WTF with the dragons being stolen??? Did that ever happen in the books? This seems like too significant a departure from the books and I don't like it. -.- I mean, where can it go from here?
- I liked Ygritte MUCH better than in the books. Possibly that's because I already liked the actress from Downton Abbey. Except I don't quite remember their acquaintence starting out like this. Doesn't Jon just let her go, in the books? Or did that come later? In any case, I liked Ygritte, I liked that she tried to escape and got pretty far, and Jon was nimble and able enough to catch her. I also liked the scene where she teases him, amusing herself and Jon being like WTF STOP WIGGLING. :))))))
- And of course, compare Jon with Theon wrt having to kill someone they don't want to kill -- Jon doesn't do it whereas Theon goes against his own conscience. Those kinds of parallels happen a lot in the books, and almost always Jon makes the better choice. The next one coming up as far as I remember is Jon and Robb and the choices they make about vows and women. YOU'LL SEE.
- Speaking of Robb and women... who the fuck IS this woman that he's interested in? Is that supposed to be Jeyne? Why are they making her a nurse and so flipping mysterious? Or did they actually come up with a NEW woman for him to love instead of Jeyne? (In which case, I'm not sure all the speculation about Jeyne's maybe-pregnancy in the books amounts to anything.)
- I have no clue what Tywin and Littlefinger were discussing (basically, Littlefinger wants Tywin to woo the Tyrells, yes?), because the whole time I was tense about Petyr discovering Arya's identity. He DID recognize her, right? Does this happen in the books? I kind of don't remember that happening. I don't think ANYONE realizes who Arya is until she reveals herself much later, to someone else, not at Harrenhal. Weird. Because Littlefinger definitely took a huge interest in her and SEEMED to recognize her; it'll be beneath him if he can't place her or something. (Edit: Apparently most reviewers agree that Littlefinger didn't actually recognize her. Think that does make the most sense storyline wise, but in that case I'd rather he have not taken any interest in her at all.)
- I don't think Arya being the cupbearer is working out believably. Tywin talks to her WAY too much (and is way more likable than in the books, btw), and she gives away too much, such as her being able to read, and telling very transparent lies about how her father is dead and died due to loyalty. I mean, as I said last week, it just makes Tywin look really stupid for not being able to put 2 and 2 together.
- I loooooooooved her getting Jaqen H'gar's help! The look on his face when he's giving his spiel about how she can't direct the timing of when a man dies, and then she's like, but he has to die NOW, he's about to tell Tywin everything! LOL. So good. Jaqen is badass. I don't remember who all she has him kill in the books (though I do remember #3), and I don't think it quite happened in the way it's happening on the show, but that's OK. The biggest problem I have is that she doesn't request Tywin's death, but that doesn't happen in the books either so that's not the show's problem. Tywin has a different future in store. /mysterious
- SANSA/HOUND!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Finally! Sansa is so not almost raped in the books, is she? Beaten and what not, yes, her life is in danger, and the Hound totally saves her, but... in any case, I was so happy he came to save his little bird. Has he called her that before now? Can't remember -- they interact so rarely. -.- Anyway, super happy that they didn't change this. And Tyrion saying 'good job' later on and the Hound being all, 'I didn't do it for you.' <3 I have to admit I was a bit afraid that they were actually going to have Sansa get raped. I'd read somewhere that they cut the Lollys Stokeworth character, and since they're munging stuff for other characters (like Bran having Jojen's prophetic dreams), I was afraid they were going to Go There. However, ultimately I didn't think they would, because part of the result of Lollys being raped is a bastard child, and they can't go down that road with Sansa, not with the other stuff that's in her future. So I'm thankful she was spared.
- It seems a waste of typing to say that Joffrey is a punk, but I guess I'll say it anyway. Loved Tyrion dressing him down and slapping him.
- I have another casting nitpick. THAT dude was Roose Bolton? He seems totally normal! He's supposed to stand out more as a cold prick! WTF. They better have cast Ramsay Snow correctly, because I seriously don't understand their choices sometimes.
- Bonus props to the fact that not one but two girls (Sansa and Ygritte) were lifted and treated like a sack of potatoes (by Sandor Clegane and Jon Snow, respectively) in this episode, each time quite funny.
Meanwhile,
jade_okelani and I are nearly caught up on The Vampire Diaries. Spoilers through - Had to start with that. It's been a long, long drought on the Damon/Elena front, but THAT was worth waiting for. I was seriously so afraid that they were going to use this road trip as a way to get Elena to realize that she wuvs Stefan and only Stefan. Blech. Very glad they didn't go there, and instead such an awesome kiss happened. Squeee!!
- I can't believe they brought Jeremy back just so he could cockblock Damon. WTF.
- If they want Alaric to be more interesting, they're just going to have to do something more interesting with him on a permanent basis, not just give him someone else's personality every season. -.-
- I'm not into Klaroline, but even I had to admit the scene between them on the bench was cute. Klaus is ONLY interesting when he's into Caroline. Otherwise, I can't stand him. I just do not find Joseph Morgan attractive at ALL.
- Sigh, they're so going to kill Tyler. I can't believe I finally ship a canon ship and they're going to screw me on it. Tyler is Stefan and Klaus is Damon -- it's obvious they really want Klaroline. That IS why Caroline kept the drawing, after all, to show that she IS intrigued by Klaus despite her protestations. Poor Tyler. I really did like Tyler/Caroline and was really happy with their reunion... until that happened and I realized that they're probably just going to get rid of Tyler because he has no use other than as a love interest for Caroline.
- The problem I'm having with the show this season is that I'm just NOT that interested in the Originals storyline. I've found much of this season extremely boring. Part of that is because I feel like they squandered their opportunity to give us some really good Damon/Elena while Stefan was off being evil. But the other part of it is that they started out too ambitiously, so now in order to produce tension they just keep having to top themselves and it's getting ridiculous. I mean, it's like -- Original vampires! Mother of Original vampires! Tree that can kill Originals! Sapling of tree! Werewolves! Hybrid werewolf vampires! Yeah. Pretty soon it's going to get Hitler introduced into the argument and then the show has to end.
- Feel pretty sorry for Rebekah. All she wants is to be loved, and no one actually loves her, they just keep using her for their own ends. Including her own mom. So is Rebekah dead now, or just suppressed?
- Jade and I probably hate Bonnie more than anyone on the show. She's so preachy and constantly on her high horse, and then shows how hypocritical she is. If she really hates them all and wants nothing to do with all this and keeps losing people, JUST LEAVE TOWN. Damon should've turned her instead of her bio mom into a vampire, then let's see where her principles are then.
- I still love Elijah the best. WHY CAN'T ANYONE SEE IT? I hope he's the one they're all descended from, but I'm sure he won't be. SIGH.
- It was nice to see Rose again, even though I didn't much like her the first time, because I now like the actress from The Walking Dead. Also, she seems to be a hardcore Damon/Elena shipper. :)))))
Had brunch this weekend with some local UCLA alumni. I only went because I felt I owed it to the organizer, H., who I met a year+ ago at a Dinner for 12 Strangers. But I ended up having fun. I always seem to dread these things, but then end up having a better time than I think I will. We ate at Emmer & Rye, which I was not impressed by at ALL. We all ended up having to season our own food with condiments, which would NEVER happen at Tilth. I'm so never going back there. The neighborhood was cute, though. Anyway, ended up talking ASoIAF with a copule of the girls and now we MAY be starting a book club. I've always wanted to be in a real book club! Though initially all we may end up doing is talking about ASoIAF, trading theories and what not. The problem with this is that I am so convinced that I am right about my own theories, I'll just be like, how can you not see how wrong you are? :))
