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Independent George

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  1. So thought this was probably the show's best season overall (at the very least, it's neck-and-neck with S3), the finale felt a little disjointed to me; Barry's off-hand reveal as Woodhouse's killer just felt a little... meh. That said, there were a lot of gently moving scenes in it - Archer at Woodhouse's grave, and Poovey weeping at the kitchen table, even Lana's death (despite all the slapstick about the trigger). I think the reason Barry's reveal felt so wrong was that in every other aspect, the season was totally committed to the Dreamland world. This reveal did nothing (and still left hanging the question of who ransacked the office that very night). My favorite this season was Cecil - I know he was only in a few episodes, but I think I laughed at every single one of his lines. Actually, both of the Vandertunts just rocked it this season - it's too bad they didn't have any interaction, but maybe that would have caused the universe to explode due to awesomeness overload. Browning invented both (though the Hi-Power wasn't completed until after his death). And a crap ton of other guns, too. Also, the Hi-Power had a double-stack magazine, so Archer wouldn't have had to reload (assuming Poovey didn't empty another six rounds into Lana). (I'm a bit of a gun nerd).
  2. Yup - it's a Colt 1911. It entered into service as a US Military sidearm starting in... 1911.
  3. All Archer wanted to do was play lacrosse at Johns Hopkins. Instead, he (according to another near-death dream sequence) gets shot in a stomach by a crazed groupie, then ends up working for Mallory and seeing and doing a bunch of stuff he'd rather forget. Like constantly crossing paths with a killer cyborg.
  4. Whoah, I missed that there were only 8 episodes this season. I think it works, though - even at its peak in S2-S3, there were always what felt like 'filler' episodes; by the time we got to 'Vice', it just dragged on too long. This season has been very tightly scripted, and just flows beautifully; doing less (and doing it better) has worked out really well for them.
  5. I love this season - it feels so natural that I have to consciously remind myself that it's a dream sequence. And yeah, Cheryl/Carol/Charlotte is positively terrifying. I think Pam is man because Archer thinks of her as one of the boys. Which, when you consider the other cast members, kind of makes sense. Regardless, she's established as his best friend, so Poovy as his grudging noir ally just works beautifully. Pam: best character on the show, or best character ever?
  6. Holy crap this season is brilliant so far. Unlike the previous reinventions, they've fully immersed themselves into the noir setting, and it totally works. I know we're barely a fifth of the way through, but this season just feels more committed to the concept than their earlier attempts.
  7. I really wish I had participated here from the beginning, because a lot of the things I want to talk about now are things you've all discussed to death ages ago. So please forgive me my ramblings, I've got a lot to get off my chest (partly because I can no longer access the Westeros.org forums on my mobile, so this is my last outlet). Anyway, first of all, the thing that really struck me most about the bookwalker invasions is just how incompetent they were. Maybe it's just because Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is one of my favorite books ever (a significant portion of the story is about an Allied counter-intelligence operation in WW2), but it really shouldn't have been that hard to fool an Unsullied. The most basic precaution should have been to only mention stuff that was actually on the show. How hard is it to keep the dang show on your DVR and verify that what you want to discuss was actually included on the show? If I wanted to pass as an Unsullied, my first order of business would have been to establish credibility by purposely advocating a completely incorrect speculation early in the game which I was certain had to be revealed soon enough (for example: "I think Drogo is going to kill Jorah", or "I think Littlefinger is going to kill Varys and help Ned escape"). I'd consistently and repeatedly (but politely) argue that point, just to establish it in your memory. Finally, at some point, I'd voluntarily drop out of the discussion on occasion with a declaration of, "I'm sorry, guys, but I think I just got spoiled on something while in the office; I overheard something that I can't unhear, and I don't want to accidentally do the same to you. I'm going to have to lie low for a while until it happens, or proves incorrect". I'd have stayed away for two weeks, then come back after Ned's death with a "I can't believe those jerks spoiled me on that. When Ned confessed, I was sure they were wrong, but then it happened, and my reaction was ruined because I was angrier at the people who spoiled it than I was at Joffrey." This would have served quadruple-duty by: (1) establishing that I was spoiled on such a large point, thereby implying that I am unspoiled on everything else, (2) establishing that I was trustworthy and honorable enough to come clean about being spoiled, and voluntarily quitting the discussion to protect you, (3) gaining your sympathy over being spoiled about such a large plot point, thereby ingratiating myself inside your circle of trust, and (4) protecting myself in the future in case I messed up and introduced something not on the show. I guess this goes to the motivations of the bookwalkers. By and large, they seemed to fall into two camps: (1) people who wanted to seem really smart and perceptive by proving to you how much they could predict, and (2) people who wanted to shape you into having the same opinions they did about the characters/story. The first just seems really sad; I can't ever see myself trying something like that. I have to admit the second would have been rather tempting; fandom is all about being passionate about a particular work, and I completely get the impulse to try and bring people around to your point of view. As a Stannis fan, it was particularly frustrating to see your reactions to the obviously evil show version, but I completely understood it. I think what stopped me was the fact that I was as much a fan of the Unsullied thread as I was of the books; it would have meant destroying something I had grown to love.
  8. One hundred and twelve pages. I just finished reading every single post in One Hundred And Twelve fookin' pages, and loved every minute of it! Hi, some of you bookwalkers might remember me from the Unsullied-watcher threads on Westeros, or the bookwalker threads here and from TWOP. (I also was a semi-regular on the BSG discussions there, but I doubt I left much impression). This is the first time I've looked up the show discussions in over a year, and was shocked and thrilled to discover Shimpy's watch had ended. I stopped participating for largely the same reasons she gave up on the show - S5 was such a trainwreck and I soon realized I was only watching out of obligation rather than enjoyment. I remember having such high hopes that S5 would actually improve on the books by supplying the much-needed editing job for FFC/DWD; instead, they managed to make it even worse. That was... demoralizing, to say the least. It's weird clicking on my profile and looking up my old comments; I wonder what it means that my very last GOT post was an Arrested Development joke. Anyway, I've been a huge fan of the Unsullied thread since S2, and loved hearing your unfiltered opinions. I loved your fan nicknames (I still chortle at "Zombonies on Zomponies" and "Milk of the Puppy"), and your analysis was always spot on even when it veered off into crazy tangents. I absolutely loved reading your comments as you made your way through the books. Anyway, I'll have more to add to the discussion in a bit, but I'm actually quite exhausted from spending the last five days reading through this entire thread. I just wanted to say "Thank You" to Shimpy taking the time to write all these years. You were always entertaining and informative, and I'm glad I can finally talk with you freely. Actually, since I never read the Dunk & Egg stories, you're now better informed than I am. Cheers!
  9. The voicemail-that-wasn't was friggin' awesome. That was just perfectly timed.
  10. Aerys clearly failed Rhaegar by not hiring J. Walter Weatherman to teach him to Always Leave A Note.
  11. For me, it's because we saw in the books a wide range of reactions and counterarguments from different people, including Ellaria's wholesale rejection of vengeance and Doran's admonition that she understood Oberyn better than anyone. I understand Ellaria being a composite of multiple sand snakes, but the fact that the only opposing view we've seen expressed comes from Doran's thirty-second scene, plus Oberyn's own words in S4, makes her a lot less nuanced and sympathetic.
  12. Because Stannis does not cry, so I cry for him.
  13. I mentioned this on the show thread, but I really want the HBO store to start selling a plush stuffed Stannis doll that I can hug and squeeze and carry around with me. Maybe they can even make it talk, so that when you hug it, it blurts out an awkward, "Well, uh, ok, umm.... As you were."
  14. I want a plush Stannis doll that I can hug and squeeze and pet and carry around with me. HBO store, get on that, chop chop! It'll be a bestseller!
  15. Agreed. I understand (and agree with) the need to trim down the loads and loads of characters, but the end result is hurting the character development in this case. We know nothing of the Sand Snakes, and we know Oberyn himself was against harming Myrcella. So by making Elaria into a composite of the book version of the Sand Snakes, while cutting out Arianne's perspective entirely, they seem like straight monsters instead of people we might otherwise sympathize with. This could pose an interesting dramatic situation for her - they're working hard right now to establish Stannis as the best hope for toppling the Boltons, and uniting the North to defend the Wall. Brienne has a personal grudge against Stannis, so is she willing to put that aside for the good of the realm?
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