These guys are not great writers. Without the source material to lean on, that becomes apparent. To be fair, I thought books 4 and 5 were bloated with too much filler, so I feel like they had no choice other than to deviate.

I think it was kind of appropriate though. We were all ready for a big battle and then when you got the aerial view of the troops it made it clear that this was just a squash match. It shows how pathetic and whittled down Stannis has become. He was such a non threat that the Boltons didn't even bother to use the…

Wildlings killed Olly's family though. Him turning is kind of like the ultimate nut punch way of showing how truly alone Jon has become at The Wall.

Imagine the joy you will feel when Jon Snow rises as Jon Targaryen, Warrior of Light and Azhor Ahai reborn, carving through swaths of enemies with Lightbringer in his hand and Ghost at his side.

This is all in preparation for the upcoming Balon Greyjoy romantic comedy spinoff sitcom. Basically a modern retelling of Threes Company.

Cersei Baratheon. Protector of the Realm. Queen of the Andals and the First Men. Empress of Jiggle.

We don't know he's dead yet. Haven't seen the body. If that's how he went out, lame though.

Blackwater? Come on, man. That was war. He had a fair beef against the Lannisters. The Renly thing is more damning, but Renly was also in the wrong in that situation and Stannis gave him fair warning. He came north to save the Night's Watch when no one else in Westeros bothered. I'd argue that up until tonight there…

Major heel turn for Stannis. Predictable, but disappointing. He was one of my favorite characters and they've made him into an irredeemable monster now. Noooo. Oh well. At least they kept my man Davos clean. He will probably latch onto the Jon Snow/Brienne/Sansa/Reek team somehow.

I have to think they've got plans for the Dorne storyline to pay off in the future because it added very little value to this season and was one of the worst plot threads in the show's history.

Yea, I don't think we really disagree. I guess what I'm saying is that the show teased the notion of Don having some fundamental break with his "old ways" and completely abandoning the ad man persona in favor of some sort of new age enlightenment. They've been teasing that angle for years with all of the California…

This episode was typical Girls. Some good. Some bad. Not much evidence of a coherent plan. Not all of the parts moving in sync at the same time. I like this show enough to have watched every episode, so don't take that as a scathing criticism. I think it's B grade stuff most of the time though.

This man (or woman) speaks the truth. The Emperor has no clothes.

I think he's been declining since Rushmore and Tenenbaums. He's become like a parody of himself. I think his dirty little secret is that he's not a great screenwriter in terms of constructing 90-120 minute plots, so he hides behind the sheen of quirkiness that gives him an easy out. If you're ostensibly not trying to…

The fact that many people might have expected a dark ending doesn't ultimately factor into the discussion unless you think the writers deliberately tried to evoke that feeling and then used the happy ending as a reversal of expectations.

Yea, I don't disagree with any of that. I was more just commenting on one of the problems with mysteries. Mysteries are really compelling and they keep people interested in the action, but at some point (unless you're George R.R. Martin) you have to reveal the truth about the mystery. And it seems to me that often…

Interesting ending. For a show that seemed like it was going to push the boundaries, I thought the conclusion ended up being pretty procedural, paint-by-numbers stuff. I don't really mean that in a condescending hipster way. It's more of an observation than a damning criticism, as I don't think creating quality media…

Hey, I sold some Hot Wheels to Ken Cosgrove a couple weeks ago. It DOES happen.

Yea, I think that's pretty accurate. It's basically, "I know that I like this show so let me come up with some random explanation to justify that opinion." It has always struck me as kind of funny that critics will praise an arthouse work for its "daring refusal to adhere to conventions" while at the same time bashing…