Heathrowe

Pretty much everyone on the show has done horrible things, yes. So using the same logic, if Sansa or Tyrion or Jon had suddenly turned murderous we could say it was there in the writing all along. That's part of my problem with the increasingly wishy-washy viewpointless writing on the show. So, I understand what you are saying but at the same time-I think Dany is getting "singled out" because her horrible act is the most recent and worth discussing. And unfortunately, with only one episode left to go, her horrible act will be decisive and important to the end of the story, and there's not a lot of time for them to build a redemption arc. I get that it's a raw deal for the character.

I think Kathryn looks great on her instagram. Not so great on the show. I wonder if the looks and make up that work well for print/photos don't work as well on TV.

In general, I'd hope for something more like Jon Snow's reaction when he watched Varys get torched. Discomfort. I think the reaction to watching anyone die in front of you is hopefully more like, "Oh, sh*t!" even if the person dying is hateful. But it's interesting that you bring up her assimilation into Dothraki culture. Would we all have been able to root for Khal Drogo if, instead of Dany, he wanted to become king? I think many on these boards would reject him as too barbaric, even though he was hot, hot, hot.

Honestly, it sounds very similar to my current boss. I am really hoping this is all false. I mean, I was hook, line, and sinker that Jaime would kill Cersei. Crossing my fingers this is a redirect.

This show is always over too quickly for me. I tried to watch RHONY afterwards, and that show just devolved into the ladies screaming at each other so quickly. Southern Charm is more entertaining! Shep is a trainwreck, but he is interesting. Austen is such a disappointment, I feel bad for his parents and hope they are not watching. I like that it feels like most of the women in the cast have it together. Kathryn is still a work in progress but all things considered I thought she handled Eliza fairly well. She could have been more tolerant but old Kathryn would have completely lost it....so...baby steps. Eliza-I can see her going either way. She came on strong this episode but mostly she came off as young, dumb, and clueless to the dynamics of the group. I'll give her a pass for now. Oh-I kind of liked Austen's girlfriend? Maybe she'll bring him up to par. She seems like a tough cookie, in a good way. Except for giving him a pass on the threesome thing, but that whole situation seems pretty weird.

That's what I think. And it's either die or be the better choice.

Don't we all think that now? If Jon's not her lover/future husband - why would Dany let someone with a strong claim to the throne linger around?

People keep posting about Sansa's ambition. I don't think her ambition is to be queen and sit on the Iron Throne. I think her ambition is to say in Winterfell and be in charge of her own destiny and never be manipulated, beaten, or sexually abused again. Her best bet for the life she wants is Jon on the throne. I'm not sure if her crazy alarm was ringing when she met Dany or if she realized that Dany was just another person who would expect to control her. Dany will probably try to have Sansa executed next episode. The writing has been awful, but Sansa was right to identify Dany as a threat to her independence/the life she wants. Having Jon on the Iron Throne is much safer for Sansa and that's why she spilled the beans to Tyrion, to present him as the better option.

Well, what is rare is the actual conqueror his or herself, personally riding the dragon/wielding the weapon that kills multitudes. I'm not sure if that's any worse than being the person who gives the order to torch a city. Usually the ugly business is carried out by those lower down in the ranks.

I've had more time to mull things over now. -I am not glad that Jaime went back to reason with Cersei, but I am glad that he didn't kill her. I get that it made narrative sense, and I did expect it to happen, but....if he had killed her Jaime really would have been monstrous. (A king and queenslayer) - so maybe his not killing is a bit of a nod to his destroyed character arc. Maybe he did become a better person-even if Cersei isn't the one we would have chosen for him to die with. -I did not catch that Davos worked with Tyrion to provide the Cersei getaway boat. I wonder if fan-favorite Davos will also be on trial next week? -I did not catch that Varys was trying to poison Dany when I watched the episode but I agree with that now. Again, the "subtle" writing on this show makes me nuts. It doesn't come across as smart, it comes across as the writers being afraid to position a storyline-with one episode to go! Someone upthread said Jon's relationship with Dany is reminding them of Sansa and Joffrey now. Great comment!

Excellent, excellent post. Thank you.

I thought that, too.

How did she save them all from the NK? Arya jumped out of a tree and killed him. They were losing before that. My big problem is I don't even know what the point was of bringing Dany and the dragons into that fight. Agree though-she should have moved on KL earlier and bypassed the North.

The Jon-Dany kiss was truly awkward and unsexy. I think Emilia Clarke was great in the early scene talking about betrayal. Jon continues to be useless. I was kind of expecting Dany to torch him in the street and blame it on friendly fire. Then she wouldn't have to worry about his claim to the throne. Curious to see if she comes after Sansa and Jon in the next episode - I don't see how she can take the throne with Jon in the background as an option. If they were to marry, that would work-but judging from the awkward kiss, he's not feeling it anymore. The episode was exciting to watch, but so many plot holes and weirdnesses. I understand that it's a tough show to wrap up, and I think the showrunners have condensed an enormous amount of raw material but....it's even more rushed than I worried it would be. I have always thought Dany could easily turn tyrant, but even being sympathetic to that viewpoint, this was really turning on a dime. Compare her actions to Stannis in earlier seasons, where there was at least an obvious progression. Have there been hints that Dany could turn monstrous or be crazy-yes. But the scripts are always so ambiguous-good writing doesn't need to be obvious but a certain point the viewer wants some damn clarity. My biggest complaint is my overall complaint for the whole season/show at this point. These characters are just running around like crazy chickens with no real point. Why was Arya just walking around Kings Landing? Why does the Hound wait until they get to the Red Keep to dissuade her from killing Cersei? Why did no one (Arya, specifically) use the cave entrance to the keep to leave? Why did Arya tell that woman and little girl they had to leave their safe place or they'd die...and then they walked outside and died one minute later??! Thanks Arya! Why did Jon go get Dany to help with killing the Night King when all they had to do was put Bran out in his chair and have Arya jump out of a tree to kill the Night King? I'm not sure having dragons or the unsullied was much help at the Battle of Winterfell. They would have lost if Arya hadn't killed the NK when she did. Why didn't Dany just sack KL last season? What was the point in waiting? What on earth was Jaime doing? He was basically sacrificed to build the plot of Tyrion betraying Dany. He stupidly gets captured on his way to Cersei. Again-the oblique writing-I am still unsure why he was going to Cersei. He seemed to want her to die. So he just wanted to die with her? He loathes himself, okay-but maybe a bit more exposition to help the viewer understand why he just gave up like that would have been good. Despite the carnage, I'm happy Drogon made it through the episode. I think the only way this season can be considered a success is that it has really confounded all of my notions of conventional storytelling and character arcs, so I'm not sure what the future holds for Dragons in Westeros.

Eh, my take is that Sansa just didn't think there was any reason to trust Dany any more than Cersei. Just because Jon Snow says so isn't really good enough as he knows nothing, historically. But the writing is so oblique and cover your bases for any ending, it's very frustrating.

Well, as far as I'm concerned,it is clear that Sansa was right to undermine Dany now that we've seen Episode 5. Will be interesting to see what Danaerys does with her in the finale. Will she go after everyone who knows about Jon's parentage? Will she go after Jon himself?

I think that hand was holding the little girls horse doll?

If you told me they were still writing the finale NOW (I know it's filmed, etc) I'd believe it. The writing is not subtle, it seems like it's purposely oblique, as if the writers didn't want to lock themselves into any decisions from episode to episode. Unfortunately, it's at the expense of the characters and a coherent story. I actually feel like Sansa's character has been hampered by this since they reworked the Ramsey Bolton storyline.

...this is like awesome fanfiction. You are taking what you saw on screen and then creating an unverified story around it. In my own fanfiction, Sansa inquired with the officers about the state of the troops and they replied "We can't move now, woman! We need rest!" so she brought that back to the council, not realizing she'd be asked for a specific amount of days. There are many ways to go with it, yours is just one of them.

Sansa and Elizabeth both had parents who were beheaded as traitors. A sad club to belong to!

Well...in your opinion! But I agree with the parallel. I think George RR Martin is inspired by bits of history and is not slavish to the facts or recreating a life scene by scene. I think the part of Sansa's story that most hews to Elizabeth is Elizabeth's story before she came queen-that she lived in disgrace, that adults made her (sometimes unwillingly or unknowingly) part of their intrigues and hurt her in the process. And that when she was able to take control, she went from being a pawn to having much more agency.

Yes-but I think it means that the focus will be on how the clothes photograph and they don't necessarily need to move or be practical. They need to make an impact in a photograph. I thought Hester won this one because her use of color was great - I was surprised that so many of the designers were so color-shy. I actually liked the kooky pink and gray stripes. I'm shocked (and heartened) that they eliminated Nadine since I'm sure she would have just gotten more frustrated and sour and miserable and brought some serious drama in the coming weeks. I don't like that part of the show, I'd rather watch them create and be cool. So I was fine with her being cut. As far as her model-she wasn't stick thin, but she seemed very proportionate, I don't see what would make her so difficult to design for?

Padma was really, disconcertingly nice this season. She was so nice to the family members who came to Macao-when she is both WARM and beautiful, it's kind of overwhelming. The shot when she walked onto the stage through the smoke was really gorgeous. Anyway, not to be a weirdo, but she's still pretty. And when she's not a sourpuss, she's even more attractive. Basically, I am just agreeing with what's been said upthread that she and Tom seemed to really like this bunch of chef's and were much less condescending this season. Eric is a super-appealing chef. I would have liked to have seen his entire menu-I think it might have been more to my taste than his last few meals on the show. His tartare did not look good to me. And neither did the spinach stew in the last episode. I know there was a discussion saying that to dumb the food down for the average palate is being colonial....but....both without being able to taste-neither dish looked visually appealing to me. I live in NJ-I'm pretty open to new flavors and foods. So I guess I wish he'd somehow taken the essence of Ghana and opened it up a bit. Michelle did tell him that her dish needed to be cut differently not to burn but he wanted the thicker slices. This is from the Washington Post and talks about what Eric would have cooked-which sounds really good! I would like to have seen all three of them cook their meals. Guests would be “starting off in one port in Africa and veering off” to other destinations of the diaspora caused by the slave trade. The menu would serve West African food, as well as South American, Latin American and American dishes influenced by West African traditions. There would be dishes like his scallop yassa, a fine-dining take on a classic Senegalese dish, with black rice, squash and a palm wine-butter sauce, plated to look like a piece of jewelry. It would be elegant but not stuffy, and educational and political without being preachy.

I was sad Eric didn't get to cook his entire meal, but this was one of my favorite finales-I thought both meals seemed great, but that Kelsey's oysters seemed like the most intriguing dish of the night. So I'm glad she won. She looked stunned after she won, like maybe they were playing a trick on her. I also thought her work ethic was interesting. She was like, "Okay, I want to win, so I just have to be perfect." I was worried she was going to crack under the pressure. I was relieved when she took her crab dish in stride. Sara really cooked some amazing looking food and again, in the smaller group, I think all of her good qualities really shone-I thought she was kind and funny and generous, and she did seem genuinely happy for Kelsey. When Justin made that crack about the waffle mix in the store, it kind of made me hope Sara would win. I wonder if he will realize how petty and not funny it came off when he sees the show.

Gosh, Eric's sister seemed beautiful inside and out. He also has a great vibe. I was not loving the description of his dish...spinach plus gritty but...then they said it was delicious. I'm in NYC area so maybe I can seek it out. I thought they guest judge was familiar with the dish and said it was spot on? Michelle-I think she needed to "roll with" her dish and somehow even with the extra hour, she couldn't make the changes that were necessary. It looked very pale and unappetizing to me. I love seafood. But it all looked kind of quivery and plain. She did not meld her food with Macao, so yes, as soon as they said that I knew she was out. I thought her quickfire food looked better than the elimination challenge food. Unfortunate. Kelsey's cooking seems very smart, am not sure, but I wonder if her cooking will be too regional to win in the end? Yes, Southern Food is your thing. But I groaned when she said she was doing a boil. I guess the broth and the spicy was the twist that made it great but.....that's always my complaint when we get to this point-I really want to see the chef's wow me with something I can't make myself! (I'm sure I couldn't make what Kelsey made, but I do make low country boil every summer and it's pretty basic-I like when the chef's whip out their training and impress me.) Sarah, maybe it's editing, or maybe it's that she is more comfortable in the small group. I wonder if in the larger group, she felt like she had to be louder to be heard, and around all of the guys her "swagger" came out a bit more. Now that it's a smaller group of lovely people, she is more relaxed and appealing. I noticed Michelle went to her to hug when she was eliminated. Her matzo ball soup sounded delish. Yes, the competition did seem to turn into Top Broth in this episode. I guess that was what they all got out of Macao. Same quibble as with Kelsey-I'd like to see something more exciting than soup at this point? But at least her soup looked and sounded delicate, delicious, and unexpected. Her mom was lovely, their relationship seemed lovely. Goals. Any of the three left can win and I'll be happy.