And then you have Gilly literally running right past the camp, in full silhouette.

As the show has, well, shown, they aren't anchored to the books.

I loved the technical aspects of this episode enough that I really liked the episode as a whole. Jon's smile when he saw Ygritte and their little moment worked well for me. I know the buildup to it was almost exclusively in season 3, but I just binge-watched that season so it still felt close for me.

Great point - Blackwater was heavily connected to the other episodes of Season 2 whereas The Wall is far more connected to Season 3 rather than 4.

I had a very strong feeling that this episode wouldn't end with Stannis coming to save the day - it just feels like they need more material for Season 5 and it makes sense to draw out the siege a bit. Hell, I honestly thought, for quite a while, that this episode wouldn't be 100% wall and that we'd just get the south…

The next episode needs to come quickly because I still can't shake the pit in my stomach. Hell, I even knew what was coming and it still got to me.

It's a show that I really enjoyed at the time, and actually enjoy even more in hindsight. I know it pissed a lot of people off, but it never stooped to dumbing-down the material and most of what people thought was gimmicky, I thought was clever due to how layered it was - especially when looking back.

Honestly, I thought your review was more than fair and an enjoyable read! I was speaking purely in generalities with respect to the negative air that 'table setting' episodes seem to get from fans and reviewers. It's almost taken on a negative meaning these days and I get the sense from reading today's comments that…

While this is probably true, I'm hoping it's drawn out a bit.

I'm with you - I hate quantitative grading for stuff like this. My personal 'grading system' has always been: 1) Loved it and will actively promote and talk about it to friends, family, and strangers; 2) Loved it and will promote it if asked about it; 3) Liked it but not strongly enough to really talk about it beyond…

It could be. I definitely remember a teaser showing a giant in the tunnel, so I'm sure Ep 9 does deal with a lot of wall-related material (you know, in case the title isn't enough of a hint). I think it's just a question of how far do they carry that storyline this season and do they hold something back to give…

It could be, but holy cow is that a lot to cover in three eps. Attack south of the wall w/ Ygritte's death, siege at the wall with giants, the turtle, etc, battle north of the wall with Stannis, build-up to the election, and the actual election. Plus, you know, all of the other storylines going on with the show.

Totally agree, there. Although I thought it was better than the Theon rescue scene from episode 6. Ugh…

I'm starting to imagine that the final scene of the final episode will be Mance Rayder's arrival north of the wall (picture the slow pan from a few dozen guys on top of the wall to this giant, sprawling army with giants and siege engines).

I think my assumptions are far more conservative (timing-wise) than the idea of the siege being in the final episode!

I'm really going to miss him, too. They really hit a HR casting Pedro Pascal for that role.

I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around them cutting up the Brienne storyline so much due to how it plays into other storylines, but I also can't see them stretching it out too far, either.

While I personally couldn't care less about the letter grades an episode gets (it certainly doesn't impact my enjoyment of the show), I do agree with your sentiment - an episode shouldn't be considered inferior just because it focuses on character development, world development, thematic exploration, or story-arc…

Yeah, that whole sequence seemed rather disjointed and unnecessary. I get that it's probably in there to explain why Theon is considered all but dead to the Ironborn going forward, but… dammit, there are so many better ways to pull it off. It was chalk-full of crappy cliches and poor editing.

I'm right with you - the 'in between the pages' story of Littlefinger vs Varys is one of my favorite plot lines of the books and it is getting fantastic visibility on the show.