Well, I think we can say with some certainty that Littlefinger and Cersei (and man, have B & W mangled those two characters - from two of the most compelling to the least interesting parts of the show) are going to die, and I imagine it will be at the end of this shortened season. Thematically, it makes most sense if…

Hah. Fine. I also want to hate-watch and see certain characters die (such as Jaime, who serves no function whatsoever at this point except to be good looking and snark with Bronn), which I suppose is a kind of investment in the show.

I mean, a lot of the issues presented here are kind of moot. Sure, in a vacuum, this is meaningless. But the point is, ratings dropped year over year for the Indy 500. Maybe Nielsen households don’t represent the average American family, truly. Maybe they don’t reflect the group viewing parties. But over time,…

Sunk cost fallacy. Plus, it’s pretty clear at this point that the things Benioff and Weiss get right are the places where they don’t have to do anything except put together a gorgeous shot. So I can tell that the high points are indicative of where the novels are going, and the shitty parts are where they’ve gone…

Euron building 1000 ships from an island with no trees was a bit jarring. The Lannisters however weren’t necessarily weak. We knew they were close to broke, but not yet broke. The point of hitting Highgarden was to fix their money problems and I had assumed most of the Highgarden forces were not there, plus the…

I don’t see the issue. NFL players get absolutely massive signing bonuses, and in return, forego the certainty of back-end dollars. Where, exactly, is the issue? That they often spend it poorly is a shame, but to sign a 5 year contract and have 40-60% of it paid up front is a huge deal; from a time value…

That sucked. But to be fair the Dorne storyline in the books is terrible too, and the Sand Snakes are pointless, one-note characters there too

David and Dan are still exceptional writers.

Are the northern forces stronger than those of the Vale? I guess they did get a new surge of wildlings.

Ummm I don’t know what show you’ve been watching?

Also as an fyi: If someone says they are from ”New York” they mean nyc. It is implied. If you live upstate or on long island they will say so. Only people that don’t live here ask that follow up question. Which is why we have to say “In the city.” Please stop arguing with me about this. You clearly don’t know what…

Yes, when people are heading into Manhattan from an outer borough they will say that they are “going into the city.” But this is no different than any person who lives outside the city center of any major metropolis. People that live in Marietta refer to downtown Atlanta as “the city” but that doesn’t mean “the city”…

Maybe. If someone says it in Trenton, where are they going? Because in my experience, people refer to Philadelphia as “Philly” and not the city. Ditto LA (in much more limited exposure). How many other large cities are there for which this could apply?

Right... so you’re agreeing with me while trying not to? People who live in New York say they’re going into the city, despite already being there. I understand Manhattan has a certain cachet.

Technically it’s in both. And if you had the reading comprehension of a six year old, you’d realize that I wouldn’t be making the damn point if I wasn’t referring to Kansas City, MO.

Well, my experience is anecdotal, but when I was living in Philadelphia, I’d go to the Main Line or into southern Jersey and when people said “the City” they meant NYC, and Philly for Philadelphia.

I will say, I think “the City” is a New York City-specific abbreviation. I know people from urban areas with big cities use it too, but I submit that in casual conversation, if someone refers to “the City” the default assumption should be New York City.

Or maybe he’s an attorney and his job is to employ defensible hyperbole in order to stir up public opinion on behalf of his client. Not everything has to be race-coded, and Occam’s Razor is probably best here. He has a job, he’s doing it.

I feel like saying it’s because of “war” is a simplification for the sake of a headline.

All of which would be perfectly in keeping with the lazy and disinterested plotting the writers have had for the last two seasons.