lawless

Wanted to add that the words that come to mind when thinking of Gareth are not merely hipster cannibal cult-leader, he's also an officious little prick. For all of these reasons, he needs to die, a lot, soon. I too loved the moment when Daryl just leaned his head into Carol, and it's interesting, because there's so much going on there. Relief that she is alive, relief that she is back with them, relief that she saved them from an incredible horror, and also relief that because she saved them from the incredible horror there probably doesn't need to be any painful discussion about should she be banished or not for the Karen and David thing. Win on all accounts. She's one of the few people he probably would even consider seeking comfort from, and given the horror show he, Rick, Bob, and Glen just witnessed, he needs it. Hearing about it is one thing, being kept in the box car is another, but seeing what those four guys saw and almost experiencing it would give a person PTSD for, like ever. Fortunately Carol showed up in just the right circumstances that enabled Daryl to lean in for the hug he undoubtedly badly needed for reasons other than just being glad to see her. I hope Sasha hugs Bob, and I imagine Rick will definitely need hugs from Carl and Judith, and Glen from Maggie. I need a hug after that, jeebus!

Shane was a complicated guy, and often, not such a great guy, but I always felt like we got a skewed view of him, because he was secretly constantly panicked, and didn't live long enough to get past it. It's hard to remember now, but everyone was so, so terrified by the Walkers in the beginning -- quite understandably. It was a major sea change when, at the beginning of Season 3, Rick and the gang acted like a well oiled machine and took out small groups of walkers and ignored solo ones if they were far enough away. Not so when Shane was alive -- a single Walker was cause for terror and cowering from most of the group, and most of the women and children were completely helpless. I think Shane was secretly terrified all the time, and he latched onto Lori and Carl with a death grip to cope. They gave him purpose, Shane had a genuine love for them both, and they were a connection to the safe, civilized past. So long as they needed him and were a little family unit, Shane had hope, he felt strong by comparison, he had a place in the world and a reason for going on -- to keep them all safe and together. Maybe it also felt like being Rick, who was probably always the more stable of them, and that made Shane feel like he could handle this new world too. And then the real Rick came back from the dead, unknowingly shattered the shield Shane had erected to keep the terror and despair at bay, and Shane began to unravel. He fixated on Lori, and irrationally contemplated shooting Rick early on to put things back the way they had been -- I think that impulse took Shane by surprise as much as us. In somewhat saner moments, he planned to go off on his own to prevent a terrible conflict with Rick and Lori, but then circumstances stopped that. I think he was riddled by guilt and self-loathing by the situation with Otis, and was torn between trying to harden himself further because he felt he had to in order to survive in the new world, but also driven by despair and guilt into provoking a conflict with Rick to commit suicide by Rick. If he had been able to keep it together long enough for the initial internal panic to subside, and for the evolution the group took by the beginning of Season 3, I'm not sure what he would have been like. However, I think he always had bullying propensities, and was hotheaded and shortsighted. He differed from Rick very much in that way. On the Talking Dead people compare Shane to where Rick is now, but I think that to the extent that someone has inherited Shane's pragmatism and willingness to kill in order to live, I think it's Carol. Though she's much colder compared to the hotheaded Shane, I can see both Shane and Carol coming to many of the same conclusions about how to handle "problems" that Carol comes to now.

I loved having a middle-aged woman be their savior, and love that she managed it by being smart, calm under pressure, resourceful, and damn fucking brave. I appreciate that they have had past success with covering themselves with zombie guts, but I think it's got to be very unnerving to walk amongst a herd like that hoping that none of them notice you, because as soon as one zeros in on you and another notices, the jog is up. That alone was brave. And the whole infiltrate and assault the Termites to save her friends was amazing. Blowing the propane tank with a firecracker? I love her! And I didn't used to, I used to hate her. But she is consistently full of surprises -- please show, do not kill her off, her intelligence, coldness, and drive in a crisis are things of beauty to watch.

I thought this too -- and I remembered it last night and got all the more furious at the Termites. Because the Termites all knew, they had to know, that they were deliberately luring hopeful, desperate people into their horrific trap and it's simply an unspeakable obscenity. And their pitch had to be especially alluring to people with kids who would be especially in need of a safe haven. The teddy bears and toys were almost too much to take. Frankly, I'm with Rick -- the Termites all need to die! I appreciate that they were traumatized, but there is no possible understandable explanation for what they did, and there's no coming back from it. Once you murder people -- completely innocent and vulnerable people like children no less -- and fucking butcher and eat them, you've crossed a line and there's no coming back. And the scale of the murder -- that room was full of stuff! Fucking Martin was talking about wanting the "kid's" hat once they "bleed him out" -- it's freakin' inhuman! They were going to kill eight more people just that day, and blithely discussed putting on their "public face" in case more unsuspecting refugees showed up. Jeebus! Die you motherf(%$#@s, die! As for drawing parallels to Rick and the gang -- Rick and the gang have never done anything like this, nor do I think they are remotely close to it, nor do I think most people would ever be, even in the ZA. It's not a slippery slope, because what the Termites did was off the charts evil and monstrous. Even Merle and the Governor would have been like, damn, that's disgusting! I was glad that Glen wanted to open the train car and free the captives, because I think he assumed they were probably innocent people like his group, who would surely die if they were not freed. I have no idea why that freak who was apparently one of the original attackers was in the train car, I would have thought he'd have been killed long ago, but whatever. Anyway, given what they knew of the place, I think Glen's assumption that any people in the car would be decent person who needed help was reasonable, and the right call. On other hand, regarding Rick's desire to kill the Termites and Glen's opposition to the same, while I understand the urge to simply flee, I do agree with Rick that any surviving Termites should have been killed, for the same reason Carol killed Lizzie -- they can't be around other people and are a mortal threat to anyone they encounter. Plus, killing them is justice for the scale of gratuitous mass murder they committed. You really just don't get to do that to your fellow human beings and get to run away. Rick is a lawman, or was, and I understand the compulsion he felt. Die Gareth, die! And how much did I love Carol last night? More than I can possibly say. And I am someone who has always had problems with her, and has at times despised her. I am still not sure if I like her now, she's very cold. But I sure do respect her. I find her character fascinating -- she has overcorrected for her past timidity and helplessness, as someone above noted. But she's been surprisingly, consistently smart, resourceful, tenacious, and brave. After last night, I have to forgive her even if I think she acted too fast in killing Karen and David. She risked everything for her friends and in a spectacular fashion, and saved them all. Including baby Judith. What can I say, I don't always agree with her decisions, but I have to respect her. Carol, I salute you!

All of these reasons make sense -- and yet, I can't help but feel like Claire is exceptionally fortunate to have the "terrible misfortune" to have to marry the big, strong, sweet, handsome Jamie. Particularly since the other Highlanders we've met aren't nearly so attractive and winsome. Dougal could have married her to Rupert and handled Jamie's potential claim on the Lairdship some other way. He came up with the "marry Jamie" plan pretty fast. Anyway, the show is well cast in that the actors are all doing a good job, but it might have come across as a little less contrived if the show had camouflaged Jamie by at least including some other handsome Scotts. Or by trying to make the show just a little bit more of an ensemble overall. However, screw it, I'll allow it, because Jamie is that adorable and fine-looking, and I want to see him nekkid(ish) and hot and bothered, rather than being flogged within an inch of his life. He walks the line of looking almost made-to-order to be attractive to women -- like he was cooked up in a lab somewhere -- but somehow, he comes across as just genuine and natural enough to compensate for all the contrivance. I guess more like he was grown in an organic greenhouse rather than a lab, but still actively designed to be attractive to women. So. Fine. Poor Claire, she'll just have to marry Jamie. Oh, the humanity!

Dougal was totally great in this episode, and I loved that a middle-aged bald man in a skirt managed to intimidate several British red coats just by talking to them. He was awesome, and he did seem to genuinely worry about Claire -- with good reason, as Dougal bore witness to what Black Jack Randall did to Jamie, and the look on his face while he did it. However, it later occurred to me that Dougal was also probably rightfully terrified of what Claire might say to Randall about their activities while collecting the rent -- I think Dougal had decided she wasn't going to willingly betray them, but he knows how Randall behaves, and was probably super-stressed that he would torture her into implicating them in treason against the crown, damning them all. That may have had something to do with how quickly he managed to get into the room to her rescue -- he was probably listening for sounds of distress and got right on it when he heard them. For himself, his men, and his cause, as well as for Claire. He's still awesome though. Regarding Claire's pro-Scott comments -- I was cringing, because though she is right about what she said, it was clearly going to turn the tide against her, and probably to no avail, because history is already written. I would also be terrified to change it, especially just coming out of the Second World War in which there were times that it looked like Britain might succumb. I would be afraid to change anything that might weaken Britain, or well, I would be afraid to change anything. It doesn't seem like Claire has given that much thought. But at any rate, I understand her perspective, but it was killing me because she was damning herself and her chances of making it back to the standing stones, and probably for nothing, because either she can't change history or she shouldn't due to the possible terrible consequences. Oh Claire. However, the scenes with Black Jack Randall were great, so ok. And yes, it provided the barely believable excuse for her to have sexy-times with Jamie -- but I guess I'll allow it on grounds of his adorable hotness and the rest of the story getting pretty interesting.

I have been both attracted and put off by this show, because it felt like Romance-novel melodrama, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it just isn't my particular thing. For example, Jamie came across as Mr. Perfect, a cross-between a Golden Retriever in human form and Rob Roy, stood out amongst the other Scots like crazy as the obvious romantic interest in Claire from the moment she fixed his shoulder. Yet Claire, unrealistically, behaved as though she was more or less oblivious to his incredible hotness, even though, through the narration, we hear her inner thoughts. I figured it would only be a matter of time before there was some plot contrivance that "forced" them to be together, so should could have sex with him with plausible deniability about being attracted to him and tempted to stray from her husband. And sure enough, it seems to be happening. However, after this episode, I'll tolerate the hokiness and dishonesty of such a contrivance, because the show is actually getting good. Jamie is genuinely winning and unique enough in his hotness to look past the contrivance, and Tobias Menzies was fantastically horrifying. Dougal is also great. The characters are interesting enough and complex enough to flesh out the world, and there seems to finally be something at stake other than Claire's attempts to get back to Frank. I appreciate that dilemma for the character, but I guess stories where something larger is at stake are more engaging, especially when so much of the story comes from one person's perspective. Black Jack Randall and the Scottish struggle against the English is interesting. Like some of you above, I loathed some of the Brits, but also kind of like the gallant soldier who seemed to be trying to help Claire in the event she was a prisoner of the Scots. Knowing nothing about her actual situation, he really thought he was helping her, and it helps the show to round out and balance the sides. Randall is terrifying, and his sadistic love affair with flogging poor Jamie's formally beautiful back adds a needed menace to the show. It was incredibly difficult to watch, but great performances all around.

I don't think the clothes disappeared, because of what you said regarding the baby and the man with the shopping cart -- no clothes left behind. My best guess is that the GR used the pictures they stole in part to get the dolls, and in part of obtain clothing that would make the dolls look even more realistic, to completely freak out the families of the departed. If so, that is incredibly cruel and vicious. Given what Patti said, they are probably intending to try to provoke a bloodbath. Assholes. If they want to kill themselves, fine, do it. But they aren't content with that, they want to bring death and despair to as many people around them as they can. It's so selfish and malicious. They're horrible. Again, fuck you Laurie. And Meg. Oh, your mom died, and no one paid your personal grief much attention because of the worldwide disappearances? Boo fucking hoo. What do they think living through World War I or World War II was like for people in Europe and Asia? The concentration camps of Nazi Germany, or the death squads of Pol Pot? Or even just the American Civil War? Or the Black Death? Having legitimate reasons to feel grief and sorrow does not mean you have legitimate reason to join the GR murder-suicide cult. Can't say it enough, I hate them.

Hee! Well put. After this episode, the major difference for me is that the GR seem to truly want people to die -- they want them to die in spirit by becoming hollowed out husks with no connections to other humans, and no cares about death, either their own or their companions, and, apparently, some of them are now seeking bodily death, according to Patti. Matt just wanted people to understand that the disappearances couldn't be the Rapture as predicted by the Christian Bible. But he is not trying to get people to die, either spiritually or physically, and that's an enormous difference. I have long suspected the GR was like a Pitcher Plant, luring angry, frightened, despairing, vulnerable people to their deaths, and this episode confirmed it, in my eyes. Patti and Meg were the embodiment of the heart of the GR in this episode -- illogical, hypocritical, misdirected rage, and murderous/suicidal intent. I so wished that when Patti told Kevin that the GR wanted to make sure no one forgot 10/14, and that no one thought about anything else, that he had simply asked her, "to what end?" Because there is no end, no purpose, other than the annihilation of themselves and others. Matt is absolutely right to try to combat them, even if he has done his own wrongs. For all his flaws, he is not their equivalent, to me. Wait a sec -- I thought he just badly beat up the guy who tried to rob him, I did not think that he necessarily died, and since his girlfriend found him, I assumed they got him medical help. I could have missed something, and this show is far from clear sometimes, but that was my impression. As for being a gossip, that was very hurtful to a lot of people, and I think he was wrong to do that. But it ain't the same as arranging to have a "co-worker" stoned to death. That leaves a one-parent baptizer, which I didn't think was so terrible since it wasn't that the wife was of a different faith, but just that she'd lost faith since the Disappearance. It's not great, but I'd definitely prefer it to having those weirdo freaks standing outside my house all day, smoking and silently harassing me by recording all of my comings and goings, and I much, much prefer it to having them sneak into my home at night and steal family pictures, or whatever else they have planned. As for the money -- didn't the Reverand replace the seed money he took from the mason jar after he won at the casino, or did I misinterpret what I saw?

Maybe if you know to say "Valar Morgulis," you get a discount. If you're a Westerosi who worships the Seven -- huge markup.

Me too. I haven't read the book, so I don't know what they are planning to do, but I think their real purpose isn't "merely" to make sure everyone remembers 10/14 all the time, I think they're a murder-suicide cult, at least of the spirit, and now increasingly of the body. They attract people who are angry, upset, and in despair, and manipulate them by pretending to give them a purpose. But their purpose is to eschew life and embrace nihilism. They are wannabe Rust Cohles who are not content to let anyone else see things differently, think differently, or, increasingly, live differently. I don't know where Dean fits in, but clearly Patti wanted Kevin to murder her and completely come apart at the seams mentally. When he wouldn't, she slashed her own throat out, I think as much to screw him over as out of a genuine suicidal impulse. Meg's out of control rage fits in perfectly with what I think is the real "soul" of Patti and the GR. In the end, they are full of vicious, aggressive rage. I think it's really interesting that Pattie was the leader of the GR in Mapleton, and that she was seeing a therapist (Laurie) before the Disappearance. Now, lots of perfectly nice, sane, rationale people see therapists of course. But some people see therapists because there's really something wrong with them. I think Patti was someone like that. And a manipulative person who managed to rise to the top of a dangerous cult. Fabulous. If Kevin weren't screwed by her death, I wouldn't feel any regret about it. She was a monster inside. I do see the parallels to Matt in a way, in that he's taking plays right out of the GRs's playbook, and he was doing some pretty mean, self-centered stuff before, like outing all the dirty laundry of the disappeared. But I think he's far less malevolent than the GR. He's not leading people to murder-suicide, for one, he's trying to help people connect to a faith that values the life we live, family connections, and basic decency. (It's not my personal faith, and it comes with it's drawbacks undoubtedly, ;), but he's not casually sending his followers out to be stoned to death to make some sort of horrible, nihilistic point.) With the exception of the GR, he doesn't seem to be behaving overly stalkerish to get people to join him, and he correctly perceives the blackness and malice that's really at the heart of the GR. So, he's got his issues with needing to have things his way, and did some pretty selfish hurtful things to others in his despair, but it's not on the same level as the GR, at least in my mind. Jill also annoys me, but I feel bad for her. She obviously felt extremely threatened by the fact that her dad has moved on enough to start dating, and probably would have given anyone a hard time. Nora just presented extra fuel for the fire. She clearly is deeply hurt by her mother's abandonment, and why shouldn't she be. I think her purpose in "joining" the GR, if that's what it is, was a desperate attempt to try to connect with her mom. Jill's feeling despair, but maybe she's always held onto hope that as long as her dad didn't really give up on his marriage to Laurie, there was still hope her mom might "get better." Now that he's dating, Jill's terrified, and tried to reach out to her mom in the only way her mom might allow. She's also just a kid, and she's gotta be exhausted by her crazy parents and grandfather. In a lot of ways, the appeal of the GR is also that it lets you just give up. That may be another reason Jill is there. For all of this, I hate Laurie. She can just fuck right on off. She had a purpose, her two children. The real reason she's with the GR is because she's cowardly and weak. I get that everyone was freaked the hell out by the disappearance, but you know what? In the history of mankind, there must have been countless events and occurrences that people couldn't explain that utterly shook them up, but that didn't mean the answer was to abandon their families, take to wearing all white, refuse to speak, and eschew life itself. Get some perspective people, and grow the fuck up. What twenty-first century wimps, geez.

I'm curious -- any theories as to what role Euron will play? He seems to be very bad, has the blue lips of Pyat Pree and the Undying, and a dangerous horn. Will he be Dany's primary opponent, if she comes to Westeros, because he knows something about controlling dragons? Is he a red herring? Moqorro seems to think he's a threat, but I don't know what Mogorro's end game is, though I have to assume follows of R'hllor would be entranced by fire breathing dragons. Maybe Arya will be the one to kill him.

This would be great, because I am so afraid he's going to die in Slaver's Bay, and I have become attached. More to Show Jorah, but still. Plus he so badly wanted to go home. Hecate7, those stories are crazy, but it's true that it's hard to recognize people without context sometimes. I still think Arya would figure out it's Sansa with a little time, if she got a good look at her, but that's partly because of her supersecret ninja assassin training. However, I have no yearn for this at this place in the story, unless Sansa recognizes Arya, they both decide Cersei has to go, and Sansa sends Arya off to assassinate her. That would be fine. She could take Tyrion's shape, and strangle her, and then reunite with Nymeria, or something. I'm on the team of Sansa Stark, Queen in the North! But I also very much want Jaime to make it. And get some sexy times, on the Show. I also favor Tommen and his kittens, but I fear they are doomed.

This is my secret hope for the guy! He's been maimed, and even though he practices all the time with Illyn Payne, Martin makes clear that he's only getting marginally better. I don't have the sense he will ever return to anything like his old skill, which limits heroic death in battle options. Also, suggestive of a different path, while out in the Riverlands, he's forced to use his head more and be a leader, for perhaps the first time, and there was a sequence in which he thought about how much he liked it. He was comfortable with the men, gave the younger ones advice, some of them spontaneously offered him part of a hare, and so on. The men like him, and he likes leading them. He gave advice to the Freys about how to handle the small folk to get them to go against the Dondarion gang -- he counseled that instead of a forceful crackdown, to follow Arthur Dayne's example and treat them well enough and respectfully to make them love you. Much more the Ned Stark approach than the Tywin Lannister approach. I would love it if he were part of the larger story of the fight against the White Walkers, but not necessarily as a warrior as I expect Jon Snow will be and as I kind of hope Jorah Mormont will be (not likely, that). It would be strangely fitting to do something major to protect the people of Westeros, particularly without their knowledge or awareness. I hope he has some such role to play, but like you, I hope he manages against all odds to end up alive and the Lord of Casterly Rock -- not because he wants the power, like Tywin and even Tyrion, but because he finally accepts responsibilities that he always ran from before. Also, I hope the poor guy has sex with someone other than his crazy, vicious sister at least once in his life. Jeez. Maybe on the Show, the ladies of Dorne will get him a little drunk and seduce him or something. Not realistic while he's still all wrapped up with Cersei I guess, but couldn't the audience get a little bit of an actually hot sex scene with Jaime, instead of all the awful Bran-throwing, Sept-raping stuff? Anyway, regarding Sansa and Arya, I think they would not recognize each other immediately necessarily, but that Arya would recognize Sansa pretty quickly if she got a good look at her. However, I have little desire to see such a reunion. Don't know why, but it just doesn't seem like it would move the story forward much, given where they are now.

I loved this, especially the delivery -- they sounded completely relaxed and comfortable with each other, even as Arya, a young girl, talked about how unsatisfied she felt about the death of a teenaged boy (who happened to be a murderous monster) with a giant, boorish, brutal man who had a strange, grudging respect for her, all because she didn't have a personal hand in the death herself. What a pair. I will miss their roadtrip adventures and dialogues, even disturbing as they could be.

Heh, just re-read parts of Feast for Crows, and there was a reference to Jaime hearing the willows whispering to each other in the sequence when he figures out how to get Riverrun to surrender. Wasn't Jaime captured in the first place in the Whispering Woods? Maybe not, and maybe it's all just ambiance that will come to nothing, but so long as he's alive, I am trying to hope Jaime is actually important to the story outside of KIng's Landing. I will be really disappointed if Lady Stoneheart has him killed right off (by anyone), and I will also be very disappointed if all that's left of his story is mopping up the war in the Riverlands and returning to King's Landing to strangle Cersei as the Valonquar. I hope that isn't about him at all, contrary to the strong suggestion that it's him, and that his story involves Jon Snow and the Wall, or even an angry, dragon-riding Dany to whom he has to come clean about Mad King Aerys. ETA Jaime's last POV in Feast for Crows involved the noisy trees. His last POV in Dance with Dragons is resolving the dispute among Lords in Raventree, one of whose House sigil is a White Tree with ravens flying off it. He then goes to Pennytree, named for a oak tree, ancient with roots deep in the ground, to which a hundred or so copper pennies are nailed. All these trees have to mean something , don 't they?!

Just wanted to add that I thought that Nora was paying prostitutes to shoot her, because she's playing with the idea of suicide -- seeing a way she might do it, and seeing if she still wants to keep on keeping on after all. Also, I think the Guilty Remnant people are kind of a murder-suicide cult. Like the Pastor said, they are already dead inside. Indeed, their philosophy seems to be that since the Disappearance, life it meaningless, family is meaningless, everything is meaningless, and people should just quit. But they're not content to just withdraw from life themselves, they actively try to get other people to join them -- but to know end. They don't seem to believe in any type of salvation, they don't seem to have any explanation for what happened, they don't seem interested in seeking an explanation or a connection to anything spiritual or a higher truth -- they just to believe solely in the pointlessness and hopelessness of life, and want everyone else to do likewise. I really hate them, and I think they are working up to violence. The mock grenade was scary, the creeping through people's houses to steal their photos was scary, and Laurie's angry whistling at the Preacher was scary.

I am very, very sad at the thought of Jaime dying, but I also can't argue with the notion that it seems unlikely that he'd make it out of this story alive -- though it would be nice if he had a lot of adventure and heroic deeds in fighting the White Walkers before the end, and I am hoping against hope that Martin surprises us by NOT killing him. At any rate, regarding his future storyline, I agree that his story seems to have come to a dead end, in that he seems to have internally decided to break up with Cersei, by not responding to her Raven plea for help, and given his internal thoughts about her in the latter books. However, I am hoping that he's just been in a holding pattern while other parts of the story moved forward, kind of like Dany in Mereen. What gives me hope? I think Jaime may be connected to the larger White Walker storyline, and perhaps to Jon Snow and the real flaming sword. Why do I think this? There are several mentions in the books of Jaime and Weirwoods which we know are now connected to Bran, and which Bran has used to influence/communicate with other people, like Theon. I mean, if Bran can't do anything but watch from the Weirwoods, then his whole story is fairly pointless, so I assume he can and will do more in the future. Anyway, Jaime went to rescue Brienne from the bear after his dream, which took place after he went to sleep with his head on a Weirwood stump. As we know, in the Books, after he leaves Kings Landing, he tries to get better with his left hand by fighting Illyn Payne, to whom he delivers a number of confession-like monologues. At least one of these sessions is described as taking place in the local Godswood. Presumably, Bran heard everything he said and Jaime -- a person of significance to Bran albeit in a negative way -- has come to Bran's attention. In another scene shortly before the cliffhanger where he goes off with Brienne, he realizes winter has arrived, and Jaime hears the trees rasping and making noise. So, I think at least three separate times there are subtle connections between Jaime and the Weirwood/Bran storyline. Then, there is his sword, Oathkeeper, currently in Brienne's possession -- it was re-forged from the Stark family sword Ice, and the smith said that the Valyrian steel weirdly worked black and red coloring into itself while he was making it -- the red suits the Lannisters of course, so Tywin was pleased, but black and red are actually the colors of House Targaryen, of which Jon Snow may be a member. I think that these are hints that Oathkeeper may end up being the real flaming sword that Stannis and Melisandre are pretending that Stannis has, and that it may end up with Jon Snow before it's over. (Though of course he has the Valyerian steel sword Longclaw already in his possession from Joer Mormont, but I hope against hope that Longclaw somehow makes it way back to Jorah Mormont or other Mormonts, who valiantly fight White Walkers with it along side Jon Snow.) Anyway, I hope that the small connections between Jaime and Weirwoods are background for involving Jaime in the stuff going on in the North. I think his storyline with Cersei is probably not complete, but I feel like Jaime's character has only turned to the path of possible redemption and heroism, but he hasn't actually realized it. Merely breaking up with Cersei and trying to serve the Lannister's goals without actually taking up arms against House Stark or House Tully is a paltry end for his character arc. Jaime himself admits that his finest act in life was killing Aerys and the pyromancer to save the people of Kings Landing from a horrific death, though it cost him his honor and made him an oathbreaker (the cost to his honor was also his foolish pride in refusing to tell anyone why he did what he did though). Since then his life has been pretty meaningless and comprised of a lot of wasted potential, and entirely based upon his secret love affair with Cersei. Ending that relationship and seeing her for what she is is an important and necessary step toward doing something meaningful and heroic in his life, but in and of itself, it's not enough to provide a satisfying end to his storyline, for me at least. So I hope the things I mentioned above are hints about his connection to the larger storyline outside of King's Landing. Also, I really want to see him interact with other characters, like Jon Snow and maybe even Dany and/or Barristan Selmy and Jorah Mormont, because of his history. I know it's unlikely, but I WANT TO BELIEVE, you guys, I WANT TO BELIEVE! ;)

I was thinking that if the Show is going to introduce Euron, and I'm getting the sense that he is necessary to the big picture, maybe it makes sense to have Balon die next season, and then immediately do some Greyjoy- succession focused stuff and the Kingsmoot, then the reaving, and so on, all in one season. If Balon had died already but the Show didn't do anything about his succession this season or last, that whole plotline would be a lot choppier and wouldn't make a lot of sense. If they are going to do it, it makes sense to start it with Balon's death, then the Kingsmoot and succession, Yara flees, Victarion et al. get to reaving, the Tyrell's freak and demand help from Cersei, Cersei semi-secretly delights in the Tyrell's problems with the Iron Islanders, which plays into the larger feud between Margaery and Cersei, and then we're set up with Euron as a new menace, and Victarion heading for Dany. Spreading this stuff out over several seasons wouldn't have worked very coherently. It wasn't my favorite stuff in the Books, but that was mostly because I was impatient to read about the characters I already knew and was invested in. However, it may be easier to follow on the Show, and, with the passage of time, I have become more tolerant of the Greyjoy stuff, especially since there now seems to be some relationship to the larger story. If they tighten it up, cast charismatic actors, and finally make the Iron Islanders a real force to be reckoned with rather than easily defeated by Ramsey the sadistic Hobbit, it could be good on the screen. Or it could be boring and confusing as hell, but I'm hoping good casting and writing will make it work. The Show made me get behind Allister Thorne at the Wall, so I'm trying to be hopeful that it can be done right.

Well, I sure didn't think I'd care when this character was first introduced, but now I really want to know too. I guess I wouldn't say Pottinger "won me over" this episode, in that he's still a selfish, ruthless, sanctity-of-one's-own-mind-violating climber, but when he was hallucinating Connor, I don't know, it's like we had a moment with him. The actor is a lot better and more nuanced than I had suspected. I think it was in that moment when he asked Connor if he laughed at him Pottinger's face, argh, he got to me. He's still not a very good guy, and probably in many respects a bad guy, who manipulates Amanda with drugs and now dangerous memory-stealing equipment, which was a violation of the dignity and privacy of her very thoughts. But . . . it doesn't just seem to be because he's a perv who is crushing on her. Seeing his thoughts, which included doubt, vulnerability, and self-loathing, was very interesting, and made him somewhat sympathetic, at least briefly. We now know that he had a thing for Connor, and that unconsciously he's dubious about the reports as to how Connor died. Those suspicions now seem to have made it to the forefront of his mind. I wonder if he's not merely enthralled by Amanda, but if he maybe, kinda, suspects her possibly of having something to do with Connor's death, and is searching her memories for that reason. Probably not, more likely he knows there's something important in the town and is just mining her memories for information about it, but the storyline is more intricate now, at least enough to wonder. I was painfully embarrassed for Pottinger about his young schoolboy crush on Connor, Pottinger remembering Connor holding him (I guess during that siege in the Church), but also seeming to understand that Connor apparently barely knew him and that he had probably made a fool of himself over Connor. It was so sadly human and young. I wasn't sure though if Pottinger gave Connor the watch before the episode in the Church, making it an embarrassingly inappropriate gift given Pottinger's apparent one-sided affection for Connor, or after the siege in the Church (after the "holding" thing), which would make the gift somewhat less inappropriate, but still inappropriate given that the holding thing apparently meant a lot more to Pottinger than to Connor. Sigh. Pottinger's feelings were so painfully human, and he was so uncharacteristically earnest about them, instead of his usual manipulative self. So, there was a window where I cared about him. But then the reveal about implanting the Ego thing into Amanda, and he was back to the creep I dislike. However . . . at least now I wonder if his motives in spying on Amanda will mitigate the wrongness of what he is doing -- not make it acceptable! Just mitigate. I guess we'll see, and now I'll enjoy watching him more because I'm looking for clues. Another little bit that I loved was Tommy arguing with Irissa about Nolan, making a valid complaint about Nolan's behavior, and telling her "but you just keep defending him," to which she immediately and vehemently responded with "to the death!" Hee! It epitomized a dynamic in their relationship that I think is one of their significant problems, but also one of the charms. Tommy will have what he thinks is a "normal" disagreement with Irissa in which there are unspoken limits and understandings as to the stakes of what he is discussing, which are consistent with our understanding of the limits and stakes of such a conversation, because he is a decent, civilized person. And then Irissa will respond by taking things quickly and unequivocally to matters of life and death. But not because she's being dramatic or self-important -- it's because that's what her life experiences have done to her perception of normal. It's both comical and a little sad. I also like that it's always been this way, and it troubles Tommy, but he was willing to hang in there with her and try to bring her solace and safety, until she left him. ETA: Given what Amanda revealed about her rape, and given that Kenya just disappeared, does anyone think she's been driven to drug use because lack of control is a trigger for emotional trauma for her? It's not just the cumulative stress of everything these people have had to deal with or simple grief about her sister, but also the rape she coped with entirely by herself in secret, and now the disappearance of her sister -- a shocking situation she doesn't have enough information to understand and which she cannot control -- that drove her to Adreno?

This Show -- if it weren't summer, there is no way I would be watching this. Each week I give it a chance, but it is such B-rated fare. Ok, I guess the issue for them was that they needed to find an uninhabited island for fresh water because they were afraid inhabited places would be contaminated. I guess. But I was also thinking that yeah, if they have the cookware to feed the crew, and their can jerryrig sails out of parachutes, they should be able to figure out a way to boil seawater and collect the evaporated steam, which, if I understood this correctly in seventh grade science, would condense into distilled, fresh, drinkable water. Am I wrong? It seemed like they were engaging in such a process with the beer -- is there a reason they could not have done the same with seawater? The smaltzy dialogue -- sigh. The Show never elicits real feelings from me for the characters. Battlestar Galactica often did. That Show wasn't perfect, and it had its clunker episodes and plotlines, but it was infinitely better than this one. Sorry, but it's true. All of the emotional moments for the characters feel contrived and hollow. I keep hoping it will get better, but the writing is pretty weak. Eric Dane is handsome, and I've come this far and want to see the Show's resolution, but overall, pretty disappointing.

The scene in the casino was very tense. Given how grim the show can be, I really didn't know if he would win the money he needed, or lose it at the last minute. I saw the robbery coming, but not most of the rest of it. I am intrigued enough by the mystery and interested enough in Kevin Garvey to keep watching, but I often finish the Show unsatisfied. It's a strange feeling. To be honest, I am watching more for the supernatural angle than just to watch people struggle. Maybe that's because the possibility of answers to why the departure happened, or indications that there's still something happening are one of the few ways that the characters' emotional distress can be resolved, and their distress is oppressive. I wouldn't hit them, but I hate the Guilty Remnant too. Just bunch of nihilists, it seems, to no purpose. I mean, I get that their take on the Departure is that this life is meaningless and you might as well quit (I think, but who knows since they don't talk or do anything), but you know what, fuck that. All things have an explanation, even if we don't know what it is, even if we never find out in our lifetimes, so I do not relate to their attitude or reaction and find them incredibly irritating. Especially Kevin's wife who abandoned their kids, and joined a cult in their own town -- where they can see her on the reg. Does she really want her kids to join too? If not, it was bullshit to treat her family the way she did. Find some stones, cope, and get your shit together lady. Arggh. The show is intriguing, but frustrating. I hope this is going somewhere. I hope Kevin's wife leaves the stupid cult. I frickin' hate cults, they are the worst.

Done and done, Kikismom, done and done!

He did not, that's true. I suspect that I his mind he was remaining true of heart of Lyanna all his life by not allowing himself to love anyone else. I think he was already prone to carousing and whoring, but it also served his purposes if he was avoiding finding love with someone else. This is the thing though. With time, Robert might have gotten through his grief enough to consider the person he was married to and try to make some sort of go at it. But to get to know Cersei is to despise her. She's vain, arrogant, spectacularly self-involved in her thoughts, and more than callous toward others -- she's outright vindictive and vengeful. Having servants beaten, doing nothing while Joffrey had Sansa brutalized by the Kings Guard for Joffrey's amusement, planning to have Ilyn Payne behead Sansa if the Lannisters lost the battle for Blackwater, her delight in Joffrey's puppet show, her immediate hatred of Margaery, . . . the list goes on. Just so I don't give the wrong impression, I know it's not ok to hit people in anger, and it's not ok for men to strike their wives. But in Robert's defense, when he struck Cersei on the Show, she was actively trying to escalate a conflict with Ned Stark that was heading toward an all out war between the two families. Many members of Ned's household in King's Landing had just been killed, and he had just been severely injured by Jaime, as a result of that brewing conflict. Robert was doing what he could to stop the situation from escalating further, but Cersei kept trying to make the situation worse. While it generally it's not acceptable to hit a person, particularly a more vulnerable person, in anger or to control them -- I would say it's maybe a little different when the person in question is doing things that are very likely to get other people hurt or killed, and that's what Cersei was up to. Because she was complicit in awful things and was trying to hide it, and because to her, other people are "so small she can't even see them." She's really awful. I don't care nearly so much about who or how many people she sleeps with, it's about how she treats them, and others. The answer is, not well, not well at all.

My husband is a Swede, and I just came from a "screening" party thrown by his Swedish friend and business partner. The Swedes loved it, the Americans at the party thought it was cute. I think a lot may be lost on American audiences who aren't familiar with Swedish customs, home furnishings, summer cottages on the lakes, food, and so on. I will say, the show perfectly portrayed the Swedish cottage on the water, and indeed, in the summer, it is very bright because it's so far north the sun barely sets -- maybe that accounts for some of the brightness. Totally different picture in winter of course, which Lillyhammer depicts, so it's literally and metaphorically a darker comedy. Anyway, I didn't find it hilarious, but did think it was cute. I think the Swedish audience enjoys it a lot because they catch the more subtle details and do not have to read the subtitles, as most adult Swedes speak English fluently as well as their native tongue. I could take it or leave it, but will probably watch at least one more episode.