I watched these last two episodes back to back tonight and they were a serious emotional one-two. You are spot on with the Joel-Julia storyline - I was sad about it earlier but a bit annoyed by the contrivance, but these two episodes brought it into such sharp emotional relief, my heart was breaking scene by scene. I…

KATHERINE AND CAROLINE 5EVER. Who needs boys? Boys are dumb. Scheming ladies are the best. SPINOFF!

Like hollye says, there's no reason for weight gain to be included in a prioritized list of big concerns for newly human Katerina. Injury and aging: absolutely. Minor changes to her physique: nope. Note how in her stress and fear she has forgotten how to use a hairbrush and isn't exactly worried about what her hair…

"THAT is her ultimate nightmare." Oh please, do enlighten us. What is your canonical evidence suggesting this is an actual detail of Katherine's character? The fact she is female does not count.

I really enjoyed the premiere - more than I expected to, honestly! Last season left me a bit cold but if we keep up with this trend - Elena a bit distant from the Salvatore brothers, living her own life with the most awesome Caroline by her side - I will love it. Of course, no state of affairs lasts on this show, but…

YES THIS! Her adorable little face! I actually rewound so I could watch again and giggle in delight. How fascinating that she's gotten to play Elena as human -> vampire and now Katherine as vampire -> human, and they still could not be any more different. Damn girl.

Topher is one of my favorite Whedon characters of ALL TIME (he was amoral and fairly static first season, yes, but I know Joss and I said "this dude is important" and then he turned out to be the most important dude in the world and siiiigh I love him) so I hope I will love the scientist duo as much. As a biochemist…

Yes yes yes, this! She was actually one of my favorite parts of the last two books - I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but she impressed me so much. Go Sansa! I think Sophie will nail it, she's doing a great job of making Sansa's naïveté sympathetic rather than pitiful (to me, at least).

Wait, I'm confused. Reek is Theon, no? So what does that persona have to do with how they portray Ramsay?

I'm 5'1.25". Yes, the quarter inch matters down here. Short people fistbump?

Another fascinating comment! I want to pull up a stool at your feet, put my chin in my hands and just listen. Is that creepy? It's probably creepy. Sorry.

What a great comment. Jaime's psyche and development as a character is my favorite part of the whole series, and I find this element of it fascinating. Thanks!

I agree that the show has finally leveled up this season. I love the books and I enjoyed the first two seasons, though some characters more than others (I am convinced that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is Jaime Lannister reincarnated), but it was never categorized as GREAT TV in my mind. This season, they've done some very…

Oh snap! That should be a reality show. "Who will be America's Cattiest Old Lady?"

Wasn't he part of Renly's kingsguard? (Aside: I'm SO glad they didn't actually wear ~rainbow cloaks~. What was GRRM on when he came up with that??) Obviously that oath is moot at this point though.

After reading downthread, I see that others don't agree with my assessment that Jaime is whipsmart…. I'll say that that might be somewhat hyperbolic, but I do think he's a lot smarter than Cersei. He just doesn't particularly want to be in charge of anything, so he doesn't TRY to play the game of thrones. Which is…

Tywin's selective blindness is interesting though. He does see Cersei for what she is - angry, petty, bitter, and really not all that good at the game of thrones, even though she thinks she's the Very Best. Cersei's descent into paranoid madness over the next while is partly due to how she's treated, but it's also an…

Re: the guy who "helped" Theon, because he's a stone cold sadist. Did you see his gleeful smiles at the end? That's the real guy. Creepy as hell…

Lots and lots of issues with this episode, addressed well in the review and the comments. I have a couple MORE nitpicks that I haven't seen mentioned yet.

I think perhaps the concern about Jeremy is muted because he hasn't died nearly as much as Alaric. Alaric was dying practically every other episode this season, and now we see why - they were ratcheting up his going-crazy mojo. Jeremy's died…… once, right? I don't think they're worried that he's gotten accidentally…