Full Reviews

Brace yourselves, Game of Thrones S04E01 was… okay I guess.

So as many of you know, Game of Thrones returned to our homes Sunday past. To get straight to the point, I’m getting real sick of your shit, Game of Thrones.

Brace Yourselves Game of Thrones
No irony here, I promise you won’t be disappointed by this post. Maybe offended, but not disappointed.

More action was promised in the Game of Thrones Foreshadowing of season 4, and when David Benioff and D.B Weiss say things like this, you expect a first episode so explosion-filled you’d swear it was directed by Michael Bay.

It’s safe to say I have a Love/ Hate relationship with Game of Thrones.

But I was gravely disappointed with the drama-heavy first episode, especially since the third season was drama-heavy and therefore (in my mind) a build-up to what I expected to be the more practical season 4. It’s early days, so I’m not going to judge too heavily.

I don’t only have shit to say though. I thoroughly enjoyed the last sequence with Arya and The Hound, not only because there was some epic fighting, but because this scene best tapped the manifestation of the character development in these particular characters.

Arya and The Hound
“What the fuck is a Lommy?”

The Hound has clearly developed some kind of weird attachment to Arya that (although he won’t admit it, is about more than what he can get for her by handing her over to her family- or any other takers for that matter). Meanwhile Arya’s character is so dark and jaded, you can’t help but voyeuristically peer through her manic eyes and feel yourself speaking in her sarcastic tone as she slides blades sadistically slow into her victims. Revenge is sweet!

But back to the shit: Between Tywin bitching to Jaime to go back to Casterly Rock, Cersei bitching to Jaime about taking too long, and Brienne also bitching to Jaime about returning Sansa home- mixed with a bit of Oberyn awesomeness and Danni and Dario flirting aimlessly; and the wildlings and the Night’s Watch planning  to battle (they’re always fucking planning) there just wasn’t anything I’d remember for a long time in this episode.

So it’s safe to say a hell of a lot happened in the episode, but (in my opinion) not a hell of a lot of meaningful stuff happened. I mean the season 4 trailer told me Oberyn was a loose cannon and hated Lannisters, I didn’t need a whole episode to have that explained to me theatrically. I just feel like the show runners are perpetuating a season 3 characteristic of dragging every damn aspect of it out. And while GRRM is known for sketching scenes extensively, using your own imagination to do it while reading is a lot more satisfying than watching the story unfold on screen at this pace.

I’m guessing this is probably because they are scared George R.R. Martin won’t finish the books in time, or that he may die before finishing, and therefore have to milk as many seasons out of it before it ends, but for goodness sake, give us some SUBSTANCE! The way season 1 and 2 had substance. With at least one cliff-hanger, point of conflict or change per episode or 2.

Rant over. What do you think? Comments below, but play nice okay? 😛

Cineman

Editor-in-Chief at BTG Lifestyle. For cinema.

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