Slovenly Muse

Harvey's father was a jazz musician. Those tapes contained early recordings of his music, which Harvey had been searching for. Their value was purely sentimental. Had Mike kept them and attempted to use them as leverage against Harvey, to make him back down, then their dispute would have been taken out of the professional sphere and become personal. (Well, more personal than Harvey had already made it, anyway.)

I don't think this was a particularly strong episode, but I do have to say that I'm enjoying watching Mike and Harvey square off. I completely agree that Harvey does not respect Mike as an adversary and still sees him as his associate and mentee. I get that Harvey was protecting Mike by telling Gillis about the drugs, but it seems like a very weak solution to something which, if this practice is as common and expected as it was shown to be here, is going to be a persistent problem. What will happen the next time Mike faces an opponent who tries to undermine him by digging up dirt? Will Lola's hack throw off a PI? It seems like Harvey should really be the one to find that out, rather than avoiding the issue and hoping it never comes up again. I enjoyed how, at the beginning of this show, Mike was something of the "heart" of the pair, while Harvey was the one who would make cold-blooded decisions without always considering the emotions involved. I loved the way that Harvey taught Mike how to be a lawyer, while Mike in turn surreptitiously reminded Harvey how to be a human being. So, while I hated that Mike tried to hold Harvey's father's tapes over his head (and setting aside the practicalities of how Mike was able to acquire something that Harvey couldn't), I understood he did it because Harvey had treated him in a manner so hurtful and disrespectful that he was lashing out in anger and wanting to demonstrate that he also had the ability to hit below the belt (He didn't make a move with those tapes until Harvey stepped WAY over the line). And the fact that he did give them back at the end, even though nothing was really solved between them, to me that seemed like a nod to that early dynamic, like Mike was showing Harvey how to be the better man, despite the bad blood between them. He could have kept those tapes for leverage, but he didn't, because he wouldn't. Because he's a better man than that, and because despite everything, Harvey's friendship is worth more to him than this case. Like he said to Donna, he cares about and respects Harvey, and that's why he's giving him his best. Harvey doesn't quite see that yet, but maybe the return of the tapes will help him take steps towards understanding. Louis was gold, as usual, but Malone is starting to bug me. His flirting with Jessica was fun at first, but now that she's made her decision, set clear boundaries, and expressed her (very good and valid) reasons for doing so, his advances are starting to make me uncomfortable. I hope the show is wise enough to avoid that awful trope of a man disregarding what a woman firmly says she wants in favour of what HE "knows" she wants and pursuing her anyway. Jessica made it clear that the job offer severed their romantic relationship, and if he wasn't prepared to accept that then he shouldn't have taken the job. With all that talk about how Jessica had to decide what was more important, her work or her love life, I think it's about time Malone had a good long think about that same question. I'm all for Jessica having a love interest and deciding that she does want to be with Malone, but it has to be her decision on her terms, and not because her pushy ex disrespected her boundaries until he wore her down. She deserves so much better than that.

That may be the best use for Twitter I've seen all week!

For me, I think I saw the moment Jack started to believe Will. It was when he had Dr. Chilton on his knees in the snow, simpering and begging for his life. A change came over his face as he watched Chilton, from stony angel of vengeance to... something almost like pity. I think he sensed then that Chilton wasn't his man, only a patsy. And the way the episode ended, with all the threads tying up neatly around Chilton's throat, that was when he decided to go fishing with Will for some real answers. For Bedelia, she knew she had been persuaded to do something she would not normally have done, but she did believe that it was close enough to legitimate self defence that she couldn't see the whole picture. As she processed things, my impression is that she became aware that Hannibal was dangerous and had manipulated her, and that she was in an unfortunate relationship with him that she could not get out of, but as she said, it wasn't until the business with Will that she saw his pattern (much the same way meeting Margot showed Will that same pattern) and realized just HOW dangerous he was, not just to her but to others. At which point she went to visit Will, told him she believed him, and then split town before she could end up on the chopping block. I bet that was something dear old daddy taught him during their special bonding time. After all, every well-bred young man needs to learn how to gauge the health of their stock, how to run a successful business, and how to enunciate clearly while feeding their own lips to a pack of hungry canines.

Oh, man, I shouldn't have laughed nearly as hard as I did during that really, really, horrifically gross Mason scene... but I couldn't help it! "Eat your nose" was priceless, but I think the moment that really cracked me up was Mason's jovial, faux-repentant confession that he was going to feed Will to his pigs right after Hannibal. "...I was!" And never before has a sentence uttered on "Hannibal" reflected so precisely the exact feelings of every viewer than, "I am enchanted and terrified." Also, how about a little love for, "Whoever is pursuing whom, I intend to eat them." DELIGHTED to see Bedilia again! And once again she shows up at the exact right moment to throw a floundering Will exactly as much lifeline as he needs to find himself again, and not an inch more. I love her so much. And I'm glad we finally got a clearer idea of what happened with her patient, and glad that she seems, for all her wilful ignorance over the years, to have assembled a very accurate and very helpful psychological portrait of Hannibal. Interesting that Dr. DuMaurier insists that Hannibal will persuade Will to kill someone he loves. Apart from Mason, the only person Hannibal has encouraged Will to kill has been Hannibal himself. It even oddly fits! I wonder if Bedelia's warning applies truly to Will, or if it is now more appropriate to Jack, since Will has just put him on the hook. I am finding myself very concerned about Bella's fate in the finale. In fact, my feelings about the upcoming finale can be summed up pretty damn clearly: I am enchanted and terrified.

I had such a hard time swallowing Shae's lies. I've always been sympathetic to her, and my gut tells me that she is being made to say these things and it is not her choice. But if it is not her choice, then why go into so much detail? Why bring up and twist things that have no significance to the trial and seem only intended to hurt Tyrion? I even wondered, when she repeated her words "I am yours, and you are mine" whether it was her way of reminding Tyrion that despite her lies, what they had was real and she does still feel it, and she only used the platform of the trial to state it again. But that doesn't sit right either, because it is so clear that she is hurting him as much as she possibly can, beyond what Cersei (who, knowing about Shae, may have caught her before she boarded that ship and coerced her to testify) would know and require her to say. I just don't even know how to feel about this. I'm almost tempted to ask a bookwalker how I should react, because her testimony does not make sense to me at all. As for the bank, I can see why they wouldn't want to put their money (so to speak) on Danaerys. Doesn't her family have a history of some really, really creative insanity? They don't know her. I don't think they'd have any reason to believe that putting another Targaeryen on the throne would result in a more stable/less demented monarch than before. And deranged, unpredictable queens can't be trusted to settle their debts in a timely, reasonable, immolation-free fashion. Thinking of Danaerys, her storyline this episode isn't quite sitting right with me either. Something about it is setting off that little bell of discomfort in the back of my mind that tells me the story may be wandering off into some racially icky territory. It's like... you know how if you start a brand new project that you've never tried before, sometimes you want to do a practice run beforehand to make sure you understand how it's all going to work when you do it for real? And for the practice run, you just use whatever crappy materials you've got lying around so that you don't feel like there's anything at stake if you screw it up? I kind of feel like the writers have given Danaerys these 'weird, foreign' slave cities to practice her queening on so she can screw them up with her violence and ignorance and naivete, and her mistakes won't really "matter" because it's all just build-up, just trial-and-error, leading to her becoming fit to rule her "real" kingdom full of people who DO matter, when the time comes. And it's subtle, but it bothers me. I mean, burning cities and raising armies is one thing, but there's something about this use of darker-skinned foreigners as a kind of 'dress rehearsal' that could become problematic if the writers aren't careful. Anyway, I'm interested to see how it plays out from here. And in other news, I love Tyrion, like, a lot. That was a brilliant move at the end, even if it might get him killed. Just, his outright refusal to play his father's destructive, sadistic games, and go as far off-script as he can, just to throw the old man's carefully-laid plans back in his face. I love it. Theon. Theon! That actor did a fantastic job this week of conveying Theon's absolute helpless terror of taking that bath. And as for Ramsay, seeing him come into the kennels all blood-splattered and wild-eyed, reminded me of the first (and only other) time I saw that actor. He was portraying the sweet, gentle, vulnerable stage actor Ben Theodore on the British sitcom "Grandma's House" who was so shy and sensitive that he couldn't even speak above a murmur. And he has sold both roles so completely - how's THAT for range? My heart broke a little for Yara, risking her life to save her brother, only to find his identity and humanity has been ripped away so severely that he is no longer able to be saved by her. She was right to leave him and save herself, it just sucks that it came to that. Blessedly light on rape this week. Hopefully this will continue. I need a breather!

What an interesting article! I like that take.

"Reality-adjacent" in the words of Bryan Fuller. I like to think of it as dream logic. Or nightmare logic, more appropriately. I shed actual tears when Margot was on that operating table. Trust Bryan Fuller to (thankfully) steer a vague circle around the implications of rape in the story, only to crash right into a violation even more horrifying. It's like, with the rape and pedophilia stuff being obscured, and the gut-wrenching conversation between Mason and that foster kid ending BEFORE it did in the book canon, it seems like Fuller is taking the over-the-top shock value horror of the novel "Hannibal" and paring it down to a slick network-suitable core. And then he shows you what real horror is without shedding a drop of blood. Damn, I love him. This show is so smooth and obscure... even though I was mostly convinced that Freddie was alive (though I will admit to not being 100% sure), and then vindicated when she made her appearance and was rejoicing that Will was playing Hannibal and that he really wasn't the monster that he was pretending to be, that shot of Will marching into Mason's barn at the end STILL made me gasp with a sudden fear that another reversal was upon us and that it was going to be Will rather than Hannibal to cause Mason's disfigurement. I loved the way that played out. Nothing is certain, no one really knows anyone, and people are capable of anything. "Hannibal" is a world that will never stop turning. Well, not for one more season, at least ;)

In one of his interviews, Bryan Fuller said that, apart from the feelings between Alana and Will, the idea was that Will gave into Margot's seduction even knowing that with her "proclivities" she probably didn't really desire him, because he was fantasizing about Alana, the woman HE truly desired (and for whom he is afraid). I presume this is so that it would not come across as Will taking advantage of a distraught Margot, and it'd even out the power dynamic to make it clear that they were both using each other. So... on the upside, if Bryan Fuller has gone to that much trouble to sympathetically justify Will's decision to have meaningless sex, then he must not be willing to let Will go FULL darkside! There is hope for Freddie!

He might have been talking about Randall Tier? Maybe? Oh, man, I dunno. This is beyond the normal level of f'ed up for this show. But he also said that it gets worse! Which could indicate that it's not currently as bad as we think it is? Look, unlike you realists, I am perfectly happy to spend the next week grasping at whatever flimsy straw I can see to keep myself from having to accept this! I have SIX MORE DAYS of blissful (or at least "nail-biting") ignorance before it all probably comes crashing down. So there.

I don't believe Will killed Freddie. But the fact that I'm not 100% certain that he didn't goes to show how f'ed up this show is. I love it completely and without reservation. I do agree with the posters upthread who highlighted how grounded and focused Will seems to be when he is interacting with other people, like Margot or Freddie, and seems fixed on his task of bringing down Hannibal... It gives me hope. I suppose the race will be to see if he can bring him down before he slips too far and really does become what Hannibal wants him to be. But regardless of the toll it's taking on him, Will's plan does seem to be working, to an extent. Hannibal has begun speaking much more freely around him, several times skirting closer to an admission than he ever has before. His guard seems to be dropping as he sees Will fall deeper and deeper under his power. Will is a damn good fisherman. Even if he does have to offer up his own soul as bait. Considering Will had a freezer full of the excess Randall parts from the tableau, I'm guessing he fed Hannibal his own protege. Fitting, since it was suggested when Miriam Lass's arm was found last season that Hannibal had done exactly that to Jack. The sex scene was the creepiest and I loved it. It's about time the demonic stag-man got some action! Michael Pitt made a great Mason. I only know him as Tommy Gnossis from "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," but I loved him in that as well. Good casting choice. The way he casually but sadistically made Margot watch as he trained his super-pigs to eat her alive... that was chilling. I'm normally not a fan of the "lesbian seduces man to get pregnant" trope, but if that is what Margot was doing with Will, then I admire her calculations and I totally understand why she would go to such extremes to get out of her current situation. While Hannibal wants her to kill her brother in order to realize her potential as a murderer, it is plain that something needs to be done to break up that family because her life is clearly in danger. Speaking of people whose lives I'm worried about: Alanna is finally starting to listen to the whispers in the back of her mind that tell her something is really wrong with the Hannibal/Will situation. Considering that her utter conviction that Hannibal is innocent is likely the only thing keeping her alive at this point, this could be trouble.

Finally got around to watching it today. Wow. What a mess. They packed way too much into it and it was still boring as hell. I totally agree that it is so completely separate from the SPN universe that trying to call it a spin-off is just dumb. There are enough shows out there involving vampires, werewolves, shifters and assorted elements of the supernatural world that it makes way more sense to just jump start a whole new series without using SPN as a platform, when it's so obviously unsuited. I'm not really a fan of SPN, or at least I haven't been since the end of season 5 when I think the show should have ended (although I have enjoyed some of what has happened since then), but what I appreciate about the show and what sets it apart in my mind from many other supernatural dramas is how gritty and grungy it is. These characters drive around the country, living out of cheap motel rooms on fake credit cards. They have nothing and no one but each other. They have watched the most important people in their lives die (or had to kill them themselves), and it has made them shitty human beings. Their lives could not be more miserable or less glamorous. But they go on, doing what they do best and trying to be a force for good in the world despite never getting to really be a part of it. There's something compelling about that. For me, that is the life of a hunter, and that is the soul of the SPN universe. I saw absolutely none of that in this episode. Here, the main characters are wealthy, powerful people with supernatural abilities (which they are completely in control of, apparently, and are not "monsters") who live glamorous lives in large families. And one token human. I've never seen the Vampire Diaries, or The Originals, but this reminded me of a much shinier True Blood without all the sex. About the only thing it had in common with SPN was its horrendous treatment of women. Also, any time anyone called Margo's name, I automatically replied "Polo!", which was very distracting. I think as a pilot on its own, it could have worked, if it had been, you know, good. It was poorly written, with terrible cringe-inducing dialogue, and packed with the worst, flattest, one-liners I have ever heard. The only moment that got so much as a chuckle out of me was the bag of meat labelled "Susan." (Heh. "Susan.") The exposition was clumsy, the characters one-note, the tropes were a-flowin' (fridging the fiance before the credits? Ugh.), and there was nothing charming or appealing about it to grab my interest. And Sam and Dean being a part of the story actually probably made it WORSE because they were so out of place in that universe. Plus they couldn't actually DO anything, since all the new characters had to establish themselves by taking action, leaving no room for the Winchesters in the story. Both conceptually and in the execution, I found it severely lacking. But on the other hand... "Susan." ~chortle~

HODOR!! Out of everything that disturbed the hell out of me this episode, seeing Hodor baited like a bear was probably the most upsetting. And considering the fuck-ton of rape that was going on, that is saying a lot. So glad that Jaime is on Tyrion's side; someone has to be. I absolutely loved their scene. Once again, they seem to be the only Lannister siblings that actually treat each other like siblings! And Jaime's scenes with Brienne were just perfect. I needed more Brienne on my screen and this episode delivered. I really, really hope we get to follow her adventures with Podrick. Ser Pounce made my night. And agreed that Margery's scene with Tommen came off as kind of weird and probably not as sweetly intimate as they were hoping for, but I think her visit had the intended effect on him. She speaks to him like a friend, keeps secrets with him like a grown up, tempts him with a hint of things he doesn't know how to want yet, and then kisses him like a mother. Olenna was right; she is GOOD! I love that Olenna killed Joffrey. But if she intends to let Tyrion take the fall, then she and I may have a problem. I'm not sure that she will, though. It seems that out of all the Lannisters, Tyrion would be the one she'd most want to have in a position of influence, rather than dead for treason. Olenna's playing a long game, and letting Tyrion die would keep her family safe in the short term, but clearing his name might benefit her in the long run. I can't imagine she'll leave the result of the trial to chance. I wonder if she'll quit while she's ahead and let him die, or find another scapegoat to take the fall, or... it would be brilliant if she could find a way to point it back to Littlefinger, but that would take some careful planning and probably wouldn't be worth the risk. Then again, he claims to be her "friend," and who'd want to keep a friend like him? I could think myself in circles all night with this one, so I'm cutting myself off here. I noticed this episode was directed by Michelle MacLaren, of Breaking Bad fame! Anyone know if this was her first GoT episode? She did a brilliant job.

Finally caught up on this episode! Loved the drownings on dry land, but was surprised they weren't caused by a cursed tuba from the Titanic that causes anyone to hear it to "drown in the icy waters of the North Atlantic." Or maybe I'm just getting flashbacks to The Middleman, the show that did it better. (May it also rest in peace.) Agree that a Pete/Myka romance is completely the wrong direction to take. They are so much better as friends and partners. That said, I can totally see them having a baby together in a non-romantic way. That would be perfect. JINKS is the one I'd like to see hooked up romantically before the end! Come on, writers, you've ignored this poor guy long enough!

I loved the episode, but this disappointed me too. After withstanding her hot glue gun interrogation, and fooling her completely for years, even AFTER she suspected him and was looking for suspicious behaviour, how are we to believe that he could be SO inept at making a simple report on her movements and associations? Not to mention leaving the incriminating text messages on his phone for her to find. I get that Donnie may have been assigned to Allison because he perhaps wasn't exactly top of his class... but making him this unbelievably awful at sneaking around makes Allison look dumb for not having caught him sooner. And dumb, she is not. Other than that, brilliant episode.

Thanks so much! I was just thinking it had been awhile since I'd seen any data on the ratings. Are you a mind reader, or just a genius? :)

Forget this show's breathtaking cinematography... THAT HAT is a work of art!

I'm not sure the meeting between Margot and Will was intended on Hannibal's part (maybe it's just the shock of seeing the two of them together, in full defiance of book canon, that makes me feel like this is a truly unexpected turn), but it is unlike Hannibal to be so careless as to book their appointments so close together, knowing what effect they could have on each other's "therapy" if they were to meet. Whatever the reason, I'm glad it happened. They both needed to meet the other, and maybe the perspective they've gained from talking to each other will help them to resist Hannibal's manipulations. Will, especially, is able to see the pattern now that he has encountered more of Hannibal's patients, and knows that he is not alone in teetering on a precipice into darkness, with Hannibal all too ready to tip him over the edge. Now that he sees the way Hannibal operates, sees that he is one of many, maybe this will help to keep him centred while allowing Hannibal to weave his web around the outskirts of his mind. I’m worried about Will’s mental state, of course. Seeing him control the stag, seeing them work in tandem to commit acts of violence, was extremely troubling. Still, as Will said, he is a good fisherman, and I have to believe that he will be able to focus and overcome this. Perhaps the very peculiarity that makes Will so attractive to Hannibal (his empathy disorder) will be what sets him apart from the other patients and allows him to out-maneuver the doctor. After all, Will is practiced at slipping into the emotional and psychological states of the most brutal killers, without actually becoming them. Maybe this will allow Will to immerse himself into the mind of the person Hannibal wants (or needs) him to be, to take on that identity completely the same way he does at a crime scene and present it to Hannibal to toy with, and still retain the sense of his true self at his core. I think the more perspective he gets on how Hannibal “treats” his patients, the more able he will be to do this. I can’t help remembering his comment to Hannibal near the end of season one, about how he knows his own crazy. Even spiralling out of control, he still had a solid enough grip on what was and wasn’t a product of his own mind to uncover the truth. But with Hannibal pushing him into situations where he is compelled or forced to kill, and to really live the illusion that he may be crafting… they are both playing with fire, and no one is walking away from this without major burns. The shots of Randal in his workshop were completely lovely and chilling, and the scene of his attack on Will and Will’s cold and deadly response, was such a nail-biter, and yet the most thrilling and wrenching scenes of this entire edge-of-your-seat episode were the quietly loaded conversations between Hannibal and Will. So very, very delicious.

DittyDotDot, you truly are a horse of a different colour. Way to pony up and keep the equestrian puns coming! That'll teach the neigh-sayers to try and corral this discussion back on track! ;)

ApathyMonger, thanks so much for posting that interview! Of course, it makes perfect sense, and in true Bryan Fuller style, I like it better than the original! I do remember being really pleased with Fuller's comment early on that he would never tell a rape story on Hannibal... and then mildly confused when I read that he was bringing in the Vergers this season. But look, he fixed it! That interview is very good news to me. In that vein, there is a really interesting review of the episode at tv.com. Worth a read!

Woah. That embrace at the end will be haunting my dreams for sure. I have a lot of questions after this episode, mostly about Will. I'm 100% convinced that Jack believes Will, and they are working together to lure Hannibal onto the hook. But given that Will has decided to offer himself as bait, I'm not sure what to think about a lot of his interaction with Hannibal. Now that he knows who Hannibal is and what he wants, his guard must be up in a major way, and yet his interactions with Hannibal seem to almost parody that intimacy they once had, as though he's toying with Hannibal by letting him feel he's getting close, getting back inside Will's head. But how close is he really letting Hannibal get? How much of his emotional turmoil is really too strong to cover up, and how much is exaggerated to catch and hold Hannibal's interest? How close did he really come to shooting that social worker? Would he have done it if Hannibal hadn't interfered? Or was he merely taking a page from Hannibal's book and deliberately creating a volatile situation just to see what Hannibal would do? I believe that he is in turmoil trying to sort out how he feels about Hannibal and what the good doctor has pushed him to become ("I envy you your hate" - it must be difficult to genuinely hate someone you understand so thoroughly, and are able to empathize with so strongly. It must be tearing Will apart), and that he over-identified with Peter and was not in control of his emotions because of it. But why would he explicitly say this to Hannibal, reveal that weakness, and then bring him along to the stable with him if not as a form of manipulation? Or is Will really so far gone, so shaken by what he tried to do, that he is forced to still rely on Hannibal for emotional support, since there is no one else who can understand him? Either way, this situation is building to something massive. Why did Hannibal stop Will from killing the social worker? My working theory is, as he hinted at with the cocoon analogy, is that he knew that if Will killed the man, he would truly be reborn, he would become someone new that Hannibal could no longer influence. He would lose Will and the connection they shared. It seems to me that Will is still "in the cocoon" and is still transforming into whatever this experience is causing him to be. Hannibal wants to shape Will's transformation himself, and letting him shoot that man in cold blood would change him in such a way that would ruin his careful work and damage his control over Will. Loved Zeller's apology to Will and his acknowledgement that their closed-mindedness (even if it was understandable) helped make Beverly easier prey for the real killer. I like him and Price almost as much as I liked Beverly, so it's nice to get a great character moment like that from him, instead of just exposition. Loved the introduction of Margot, though I wonder what people who hadn't read the books would have thought without the automatic gut-churning response to the phrase "you should have taken the chocolate" and the sight of the eel. Would the weight of her situation still be there? I know there's been discussion about the differences between this Margot and book Margot. Here's my thought... But even if she does deviate from book canon in a major way, I like the way she's been written so far, and have no issue with the change. This episode was so strange and just packed with layers of complexity, both story-wise and emotionally. I feel like I could pick it apart all night and probably still never figure it out! As always, it has left me super excited for next week.

You make a good point, Kathira. But of course it would not be totally unheard of for an American remake to completely miss the point of what made the original so great while trying to put their own spin on it! I do hope you're right, though. Usually where I find remakes go wrong is that Americans tend to cast actors who are "prettier" than the original cast, but less talented, causing a lot of the emotional weight to be lost. With the cast they've assembled for Gracepoint, though, I am not worried about this at all!

I think it was absolutely the right move for Mike to take the job, for so many reasons, and I would love to see the dynamic get shaken up by a change like this... that said, I'm not optimistic it will stick. I remember when Harvey wouldn't take Mike back, and so Mike was getting set to work with Louis instead, and I got really excited about that too and the possibilities that would open up, but then by the end of that same episode, Mike and Harvey were back together again and by the next episode it was like it had never happened. The writers are very leery about splitting up Mike and Harvey or messing with that dynamic in any way (understandably, since it is the central relationship of the show), so I'm trying not to get my hopes up that this will actually turn out to be a significant, lasting change. But they've definitely got me coming back for the next season! Also, I loved, LOVED Harvey taking responsibility for his actions and telling Mike to roll on him. He broke the law, and his actions show that 1) He acknowledges his own responsibility for the shady deals he's been involved in, and 2) he is not willing to see Mike suffer in order to protect himself. I also like that he told Scottie the truth, even though it will probably bite him in the ass. This was a damn good episode for Harvey. He has come a long way in the last three seasons, and it's not always easy to see, so I'm glad we got to see it now!

I said it last season and I'll say it again: It's all fun and games in Westeros until some idiot tries to get married. SUPER HAPPY that Joffrey is finally dead. But knowing how these things tend to play out on this show, getting what you want usually comes with a nasty consequence that leaves you feeling worse off than you were before. Man, I hope Tyrion is going to be ok! And if he's not, where does that leave Sansa? Thinking of Tyrion, I absolutely loved his scene with Jaime at the beginning. Tyrion has resented his "golden boy" brother for so long, and yet manages to put all of their history away to sit down with him, show him some kindness when no one else has, and give him the practical advice he needed to hear. I loved their relationship in that scene. Later, when Tyrion was being humiliated by Joffrey, we got reaction shots of everyone at the table being either amused (Damn it, Cersei!) or disgusted with Joffrey's behaviour, but we didn't get to see Jaime's reaction to having to watch his brother, the only member of his family who's shown him any decency, be disgraced like that. I was really disappointed that was omitted. I hope this relationship continues to develop throughout the season. Not enough Brienne. I need more Brienne! And she's always at her best when interacting with Jaime. More of that please! If Loras/Oberyn happens... I'll be in my bunk.

Gumby Brain Surgery has always held a special place in my heart. All the Gumby sketches, really. I even dressed as a Gumby for Halloween one year. It was super fun.