Tom Petty.

Not to mention the dozens of "Game of Thrones is too rapey/violent/scattered" think pieces.

It kinda seemed to me that the AV club decided to knock GoT down a notch last year, and it seems that backlash is continuing. I can't help but think this is in large part thanks to it's massive popularity.

But there was far more treading water and shuffling in Seasons 2 and 3, especially in Season 2.

Overrated is worse

"Far too in love with it's characters"? Given the exceedingly high death rate on that show; I don't see how this is a fair criticism. I can't think of any other show except Game of Thrones that went through characters faster. I agree with your assessment of Season 5 though.

The Hound and Arya's last scene in Season 4.

Nope. It ran 3 episodes in December 2013. Which is quite substantial given there's only 11 episodes: