The rational part of my brain agrees with you, obviously. But damn, wouldn't it be great if Winds publishes next year and we get ADoS like 2 or 3 years later?

This finale had better be on the "Winds of Winter" tier after they tore apart so much of the shows fabric to get the pieces in place for it.

True, and frankly I agree. But we should also mention that the most reliable source of character development and for revealing motivation was often two-handers during prolonged travel sequences.

Well, these are part and parcel.

Alternatively, imagine you're Martin:

We do seem to be rapidly approaching escape velocity with the timeline complaints (among others) this season. There's an awful lot of good will built up, and only 7 episodes left, so I think they'll make it to the finish line before the fanbase self-immolates, but it's a close call.

It can be two things.

It seems like he's making a very broad (mis)characterization about Buffy fans, either to slight them, or to excuse his weakness for them. Both are bad.

Yes, that is a particularly disgusting turn of phrase.

No, not necessarily?

Umm, I believe the true AVC nadir was "Fun Guy From Oscars Was In Prison".

IT, your release campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?

From the Arcade Fire AMA on reddit last month:

No matter how many "bad" records they put out (I'm more meh about Everything Now, it has some great tunes and a handful of clunkers) I will always shell out to see these guys when they come to town. An incredible live band. Rebellion will always kill me.

I have tickets to see BSS open for Arcade Fire in Toronto this November which is going to be *chef kissing his fingers*.

It's certainly possible they'll do that—but while I don't want to assume Confederate will necessarily be operating with the same formula as Thrones, much of the praise for Benioff and Weiss' current smash-hit television series comes from their nuanced handling of characters who are not wholly heroes or villains.

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive, at least in this case.

So if the actors involved sound bad it's ok to judge but if the entire operating thesis sounds bad we have to reserve judgement?

Treating slavery and the racism of antebellum America as a by-gone trope that can be projected onto 2017 like a fantasy alt-history instead of understanding that it actually continues to be a reality for everyday Americans whenever they open their front door?

I don't think anybody is accusing this show of "normalizing" anything.