Avaleigh

Milton said Chalky had been digging ditches or whatever for the pass seven years. He said it when Chalky was trying to get the safe open and he was telling Chalky to put his back into it. That's why I was wondering about how his family has fared all of this time and whether or not Narcisse has helped them out financially.

Slightly OT but does anyone have anything in particular they are hoping will be elaborated on in TWOIAF when it comes out in October? I'm hoping we get more about Asshai and the Shadowlands. Anything about old Valyria and the Doom, anything about the Others and the NK, and more background info about the main religions. For the Houses and extra info on any of the big eight plus Hightower, Velaryon, Mallister, Blackwood, and Bracken. Oh and anything about castles. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Highgarden and Casterly Rock and Casterly Rock look like. The family trees should be interesting too since the Stark one already contained a couple of surprises.

It's not so much that it's a a huge sin or that it isn't partially understandable. The thing that gets me with Tyrion is that he wants beautiful women to see past his appearance and acknowledge the qualities he has in his favor like his intelligence, but at the same time he doesn't seem like he's willing to look past the appearance of a person like Penny. What Tyrion wants people to do for him, I'm not especially convinced that he's capable of doing that himself.

Based on the first episode: 1) I think Isobel is going to end up with Lord Merton. Violet's trying too hard to thwart the union so I feel like it's going to bounce back the other way. I hope so anyway and it'd be even better if it was partially due to her efforts at sabotage that Isobel ended up becoming Lady Merton. 2) I definitely think that Tony is on the way out and that he might have even been responsible for killing his valet. Either way, I don't see the thing with Mary working out. 3) I think they brought up the farm again to remind audiences that Daisy has that as an option. I'm just unsure as to what would give her the final push to finally go for it apart from the death of Mr Mason. I was surprised she didn't jump on the idea after Alfred left. 4) The scene where Cora tries to talk to Robert about how he feels unwanted and he kind of brushes her off and walks away--I predict some difficulties in the Grantham's marriage. 5) Marigold will be in the nursery with Sybbie and George by the season finale. Hopefully.

Oh ITA I definitely think Tom was uncomfortable, I just thought it was in bad taste to be so obvious about it and came across as unusually rude for his character. His reaction was close to being the same as Robert's. Robert said "What is she doing here?" so it was almost like Tom was walking over and asking her as opposed to being curious as to why one of his friends decided to accept an invitation to hang out with him and his family at Downton. If he'd said something like "What a surprise" or "I wasn't expecting to see you" or something along those lines but "What are you doing here?" To me it's hard not to interpret that as being a little bit rude. The extra bit about Tom asking Rose if she'd cleared it with Robert--I can only imagine what the reaction would have been if Mary, Violet, or Edith had asked Rose in front of a guest if the guest really had been given permission from their host to attend the party. To be fair I think this situation was different for a few reasons. First, the Duke had been invited to Downton to stay so it's only expected in situation like that to show guests around. It's not like Mary brought the Duke back from attending some concert in the village only to then give him an upstairs tour where the bedrooms are while everyone else was out of town. Mary wasn't supposed to go snooping around the servants' rooms. That was the Duke's idea and Mary knew she wasn't supposed to be up there. When Edith decided to harp on the matter at dinner, she did so because she knew that Mary shouldn't have been up there. Plus, the Crawleys knew the Duke and Mary already had their permission to have him over to stay at the house. The Crawleys had never met the woman that Tom brought into their house while they were away and Thomas was the one who was responsible for spinning the situation and making it seem like it was something that it wasn't. I really don't think this is a case of Robert going out of his way to be unfair to Tom nor do I think Robert wouldn't have had issues with Mary being in a similar situation where she was bringing back some man from the village that they've never met in order to give said man a night time tour of the house while everyone is away. I don't think Robert or Cora would just ignore something like that if Thomas had told on Mary in this hypothetical situation as he told on Tom. As far as Robert's comment about how Tom's come so far--IMO he has and I don't think Sybil would disagree. Sybil once asked him why he had to be so angry "all the time" and I definitely don't see that side of Tom so much. He seems like he's matured, he seems more open minded, and I don't think he's so inclined to judge someone hard and fast just because they happen to come from an upperclass background. Sybil was the one who said that Tom would be going backwards if he ended up taking the job as a mechanic and working with cars as he was sort of doing before they got married. I don't feel believe saying that Tom has come far means that he wasn't a good person before or that there was something lacking in him, I just think that he's come along way because he seems to have grown emotionally and personally from how the character was in the first two seasons.

I like Tom but I have to agree that he wasn't exactly polite when Sarah came to the party. I can't stand her character and I didn't feel sorry for her at all because she's just so thoughtless and rude, but I can see how she might have been feeling defensive and out of it from the moment she stepped into the drawing room. Tom is the main person she knows and he was the main reason she decided to come. Rose told Sarah that she thought it would be a good idea if Tom had a friend at the party. So Sarah shows up and I can see how she might have felt a bit nervous in that moment, hardly knowing anyone, everyone looks over at her as her name is announced, a couple of people stared and then turned back around kind of dismissing her presence, and it seems a tiny bit awkward, so Rose immediately walks over and tries her best to be friendly. Then Tom comes over and the first thing he says to Sarah is "What are you doing here?" Tom might not have been trying to be rude but he certainly wasn't welcoming and I know I would have felt like, okay, "Hi, nice to see you too." So Sarah goes on to tell him that she was invited by Rose. That should be enough, but Tom actually takes it a step further and asks Rose right in front of Sarah if she got permission from Robert! It's like, even if she didn't get permission what's the point in asking Rose about it now in front of Sarah and the rest of the room now that she's already there? To me it was like he was doing everything but flat out telling Sarah that it might not be a good idea that she's there and that she might not really be wanted. He almost came across as uncomfortable and I can't imagine that would have felt very good to Sarah who thought she was coming there as one of Tom's friends. That being said, since Sarah was obnoxious all night long as she usually is I didn't feel all that sorry for her, but I was a little bit surprised at Tom during the beginning of the party. As far as Sarah's opinions about the memorial--I thought she went above and beyond what was necessary and didn't seem to care if she hurt the feelings of a guest who'd lost someone during the war. I also didn't really think that her request to thank the servants seemed all that genuine. She just seemed like she was being her usual pushy self and that it was more about showing the Crawleys what kind of person she is as opposed to genuinely caring about the staff and the efforts they made for the party.

I think Tyrion seems to prefer being the smartest and richest person in the room.

Even if Mr Ear in Pocket did have the night off he should have some kind of stand in since he can't be expected to be around 24/7. I could see Eddie having let her in since he knew her but this was just odd all around. Margaret will never forget about that Owen moment and she'd know better than to sneak up on Nucky in the dark in the middle of the night. His security seems to conveniently be non existent, and Nucky himself is just kind of too drunk to care that anyone can apparently come into his place if they feel like they need to get to him. In previous seasons especially the first three, I feel like Nucky would have been like 'uh, wtf are you doing here?" In the Inside the Episode, the showrunners were basically saying that Joe Kennedy was who Nucky wished he had turned out to be. Nucky looks at a man like that and it brings into sharp relief what his life could have been if only he'd made better choices. I can't believe that the only piece of jewelry that Carolyn could hold on to was a freebie that AR had picked up from that New Year's party. Even with his gambling debts you'd think he would have at least provided her with some sort of emergency pile of cash. Even Tony Soprano managed to do that for Carmela and AR seemed like a much more careful and meticulous character.

I would say that Catelyn was an intelligent woman with whom Tyrion interacted. Yes, she did some things that were stupid and reckless IMO but I've never personally questioned her level of intelligence.

Tyrion is definitely one of the more enlightened male characters when it comes to issues like sex and rape. He knew it would be wrong to rape Sansa and he understood that her being his legal wife and "a woman grown" made no difference to the fact that it would have been wrong to consummate the marriage even though she indicated that she was willing to go through with it. IMO Tyrion knew that he was wrong to treat that prostitute the way that he did and I think some part of him does actually understand that it is indeed rape and that the girl has no choice in the matter. He just doesn't care because he's still in a boozy and dangerous state but I don't think he's unaware of how disgusting his behavior is. I also don't think he would have been capable of it prior to the business with Shae and Tywin.

Yeah, I was just like, okay, so you have a plan then, dude, right? Right? Nope, no plan, Narcisse just thinks he can stand his ground and everything is going to be okay. No extra security, the employees clearly haven't been warned about a potential threat, he doesn't attempt to buy himself some time, nor did I really understand why a deal with Masseria was something he was willing to accept but he wouldn't for Luciano. What did Narcisse really think was going to happen? The implication is that Chalky has been away from his family for nearly all of the seven year gap. If that's the case, I'm even more worried about his family and how they're doing emotionally and financially. So much is going to depend on the son since I find it hard to picture Lenore actually working. I can almost see Narcisse being manipulative enough to come to their aid financially. He took over every other area of Chalky's life, it wouldn't surprise me at all if that included acquiring the loyalty of Chalky's remaining family members. The guy Milton seemed disturbed and out of it like he wasn't completely in his right mind in addition to having a massive chip on his shoulder about seemingly everything. I know he wasn't supposed to be but he almost seemed like he was in the throes of some kind of drug induced paranoia. Just the way he freaked out over the phone ringing, ignorance aside, it was a strange reaction I thought. He wanted Chalky to scare the person on the other line as if that made any sort of sense. I mean, there's ignorance and there's flat out stupidity and I was feeling a bit overloaded on both. I noticed that Milton kept coming back to the fact that Chalky has clearly led a much more privileged life than Milton, but because Milton sees Chalky first as an on-the-run black convict like himself, he's confused as hell as to how Chalky could know the things he knows or why he instantly understands stuff that Milton just doesn't get. It was like the vestiges of Chalky's former affluence were freaking him out and he didn't know how to deal. Three or four times he'd ask Chalky how he knew about something. I thought that aspect of the scenes was interesting and it was clear to me that nobody in the jail where he ended up knew what kind of man he'd been. It was very different than the period Chalky spent in jail where he first came into contact with Purnsley and everyone in the jail knew Chalky, respected him, protected him, and let him do his own thing. One thing I did like about the home invasion scenes were how the mother and daughter kept holding back information and kept trying to use any little thing to their advantage. A lot of people in that same situation would be reduced to constant pleading and rivers of tears and even though their fear was evident through out, I thought they showed remarkable courage and fortitude particularly the daughter. Joe Kennedy didn't drink much but he wasn't a complete teetotaler either. In a situation like that though having lunch or dinner in public with a man like Nucky Thompson, I can definitely see why this wouldn't have been one of the rare opportunities where he would decide to indulge a bit. I'm not sure what to make of the flashback scenes in this episode as far as the importance of the Mabel stuff. I will say though that seeing all the work Nucky did as a kid, it reminded me of how generous Nucky would be in the first two seasons when he was living in the hotel, just how generous he would be to the staff when it came to things like tipping and remembering their names. He remembers how it was to have to be in a job of service where he was constantly running his ass off to make that money (all while being sharply addressed as "boy!"), so I feel like the flashbacks are giving us some good insight into Nucky's character and why he is the way that he is, how the city of AC shaped him into the man he is today, etc. Young Nucky and those other errand boys would have bent over backwards to be of some small assistance to a man like season 1 Nucky and I think Nucky on some level, maybe not consciously, has tried to emulate the Commodore in that sense.

I enjoyed most of the episode but felt very troubled by the Chalky scenes and pretty much hate that an episode spending so much time with his character would have it be under the circumstances of him participating in a home invasion of a mother and her teenaged daughter. I didn't understand his motivation at all to risk what he'd just escaped or worse just so that he could get caught up with this guy who seemed only to have the vaguest memories of the presence of a safe with cash in it. They know there's a depression going on, it's not like they were going into some house where the people were obviously wealthy, so why risk all of that in the hope that the situation stayed exactly the same as it had years ago? Chalky's situation is so different than it was years ago that I'm surprised he didn't at least voice the possibility to the guy that maybe these people were hit hard by the Crash like most everyone else has been. I also hated that the guy Milton implied that he had rape on his mind. I was glad that Chalky was going to intervene at that point but it was still unsettling all the same. I loved seeing Margaret squirm with Carolyn Rothstein. I laughed too at her half assed attempt to act like she had no idea that she lived in one of his apartment buildings. In my mind I had Mrs. AR pegged as a totally different type so the character and actress were a welcome and pleasant surprise. Going by Margaret's reaction though I'm guessing that she and AR really did continue to have a platonic business relationship. I'm looking forward to more of this storyline and am curious to know if we'll ever see Teddy and Emily again and what their impressions are of Nucky, their mother, and that whole situation. It was fun to see Mickey Doyle again. In the first season who would have thought he'd outlive characters like Jimmy, Eddie, and AR? Regarding the scene where the prostitutes of Narcisse are murdered-- I thought it was disturbing and the scene reminded me of a scene from this past season of American Horror Story where a character goes into a black hair salon and kills all but one of the nameless women who work there in addition to killing a male security figure. I feel like I might have felt more power from the scene if we'd maybe had a set up scene that allowed us to see a moment of how life would have been in that brothel and maybe briefly see something that would do a better job of driving home the point that Luciano & co didn't just send Narcisse a message to force a deal but that they did something incredibly unnecessary, wrong and evil that will likely destroy more than the lives of the victims.

"If you can both tear yourselves away from your smutty deliberations for a moment." I totally LOL. Never change, Carson, never change. I enjoyed the episode. My only real problem was with one-note Thomas. Seriously, how many times has he had a variation of the conversation where he threatens Baxter? It has to be over a dozen easily, no joke. I can't stand the fact that Thomas still has a job at Downton. He is just the worst. Loved Violet's line about how she hopes that Isobel was referring to companionship. The facial expressions on Isobel's face during that scene were hilarious. I hope she ends up with Lord Merton only because I know it will irritate Violet. Probably my favorite bit in the episode. Hee, I so hope it sticks. I thought Mary was basically just acknowledging that society still expected ladies to not have sex out of wedlock rather than suggesting that she's not the type to ever do anything like that. The one time Mary took a guy out for a test drive she had to pay huge consequences so to Mary IMO it isn't necessarily about sex not being an option so much as it's about it being a potentially risky option because of society's expectations. Another thing was that Mary seemed surprised that a lady she knows was talking about sex frankly and openly and I don't think that's something that Mary is used to doing. I don't think something like the occasional conversation such as the one she had with Robert where they briefly talk about Thomas's sexuality really counts. Re: the boring murder mystery--Gillingham did creep me out a bit and the moment with Bates was weird. I don't really care who did it, I just know I'm not all that interested in seeing Mary with this guy. I rolled my eyes when he made the comment about a nightmarish life being one without Mary and Mary is one of my favorite characters. It still feels forced and if Gillingham is the end game I think it's troubling that he doesn't seem to be working after a full season of exploring the possibility of the pairing. The entire thing with Edith was sad and I felt bad when I considered that Marigold is losing out on the cousin bonding that Sybbie and George are getting.

Nice! Really looking forward to Skate America now. I'll admit that the bitchy part of me would have paid to see Sandra's reaction to getting this news. I'm so glad about the death spiral rule change. I don't know how I feel about a person being penalized so harshly for a pop. I can see zero points for every pop that happens after the first one though. I can just see some bad falls and/or overall sloppiness being a result of skaters forcing themselves to pull in even though they know it's not going to work right at the moment of take off. Pops are frustrating and some skaters give into the urge more than others but I don't know that being especially strict about this is necessarily going to lead to skaters giving cleaner programs. We'll see. I'm not avidly against the rule change I just wonder how necessary it is at the end of the day.

Nice, I'm really looking forward to seeing how this Margaret storyline shakes out. It's the only story where I feel like I don't have a clue and that it could go in any direction. More of Joe Kennedy sounds fun too. Am I wrong in thinking that Narcisse already had some heroin deal going on with Luciano? Wasn't that a source of contention with Luciano and AR at one point? I'm even looking forward to the flashbacks.

I have to agree with the idea that Maybelle appears to have had a better life than Gillian prior of course to Maybelle's murder. Maybelle had a family that loved her, parents who stayed together, she had education, money, stability, she was engaged to a doctor, etc. I thought Maybelle came across as being rather sheltered almost like a person who was unfamiliar with hardship whereas with women like Gillian and Margaret I feel like they already had a cynical view of the world by the time they were teenagers due to their individual experiences. I don't think that Margaret and Gillian not having to experience something as horrible and evil as racism necessarily means that Maybelle couldn't have had a couple of advantages in other areas of her life. I'm not dismissing the difficulties that Maybelle would have faced back then I just don't know that I agree that based on what we've seen on the show that we should necessarily think that Gillian has had the better life simply because she's white. Obviously, I don't think this would normally have been the case, but it seems like Gillian has had an exceptionally shitty life and I think that's what makes me sympathetic to her character. What chance did Gillian really have in life when she was repeatedly raped and placed into prostitution and motherhood at such a young age? Neurochick, for me personally it isn't about loving Gillian so much as it is about having sympathy for her character and finding her complexity fascinating to watch. As far as the question for why Gillian is in a sanitarium, it may not be fair but it's not like Gillian is the only character who has gotten off lighter than what might have normally been the case. Loaunne tried to kill the Commodore but she was allowed to completely get away with it. Daughter didn't have to pay for killing Purnsley and it seems unlikely that she would have had to pay for being an accomplice to Chalky's murder had she not decided to change her mind. As far as female characters being protected by their whiteness--that certainly wasn't the case for that horrible woman who tried to have Purnsley set up for rape. Again, these were exceptional circumstances and of course the character assumed that very thing would protect her only it didn't. Also, just to be clear, I understand that white women will *never* understand what it is like to be a person of color. I just don't know that I agree that if a person hasn't also experienced racism in addition to whatever other hardship, that this necessarily means that they've had a way better life than a person who has had to deal with racism. I would say the vast majority of the time that a woman like Gillian would have had it better but Gillian's circumstances happened to be exceptionally terrible (for a woman of any color) whereas Maybelle had many advantages that a lot of women wouldn't necessarily have had. Maybelle seems to have had a better education than Gillian, marriage wasn't out of the cards for her as she wasn't viewed as damaged goods, she had a loving family, she had money, and she had the support of her parents so that she could more or less make her own choices. Regarding the male characters seeming like they get more of a pass when it comes to murder--I definitely feel that this has been the case. Richard receives all kinds of sympathy and this is a guy who calmly suggested the murder of the mother and sisters of the D'lessio brothers just so that he might get the guys out of hiding. Not to mention stuff like murdering some guy who just wanted to give his kid a pair of rollerskates for their birthday or accidentally killing an innocent like Maybelle. Van Alden gets a lot of sympathy as well. Gillian and Margaret both seem like they are held to a higher standard than many of the male characters. Interestingly, Sigrid doesn't seem to get a lot of flack for her participation in murder and other shady stuff. Edited for clarification.

It's kind of late for a spoiler thread, I know, but I just came across the episode descriptions for October and thought they were interesting enough to warrant discussion. Season 5 Episode 5 "King of Norway" Chalky (Michael Kenneth Williams) returns to Atlantic City with vengeance on his mind. Concerned about the ongoing threat from Luciano (Vincent Piazza), Nucky (Steve Buscemi) arranges a meeting with Maranzano (Giampiero Judica) in New York. In Chicago, Eli’s (Shea Whigham) reunion with June (Nisi Sturgis) takes an unexpected turn after a dinner party hosted by Van Alden (Michael Shannon) and Sigrid (Christiane Seidel). Capone (Stephen Graham) looks to relocate his operation out of Chicago; Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) completes a deal with Carolyn Rothstein (Shae D’Lyn); Nucky gets bad news from Cuba. In 1897, young Nucky (Marc Pickering) looks to win over Mabel’s father (Burke Moses) while asking for expanded responsibilities as deputy sheriff. Written by Steve Kornacki; directed by Ed Bianchi. Season 5 Episode 6 "Devil You Know" In Harlem, Chalky encounters Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright) in hopes of setting Daughter Maitland (Margot Bingham) free. Federal agents enlist Eli and Van Alden to help take down the Capone organization. Pained by a recent loss, Nucky turns to the bottle, and the company of a pair of barflies. In 1897, young Nucky vents his frustration to Mabel (Maya Kazan) after endorsing Jim Neary (Scott Francis Moreau), and roots out a young thief with Eli’s (Ryan Dinning) help. Written by Howard Korder; directed by Jeremy Podeswa. Season 5 Episode 7 "Friendless Child" At war with Luciano, Nucky looks to hold onto his assets in Atlantic City. Willie (Ben Rosenfield) and Eli become involved in Nucky's war. Maranzano meets his fate. Nucky reads Gillian's (Gretchen Mol) letter from the hospital. In 1897, Mabel and Nucky argue about a young runaway from Trenton, while Nucky does a discreet favor for the Commodore (John Elllison Conlee). Written by Riccardo DiLoreto & Cristine Chambers and Howard Korder; directed by Allen Coulter. Season 5 Episode 8 "Eldorado" After a shakeup, Nucky looks to relocate to Manhattan from Atlantic City. Margaret impresses Nucky and a grain-company stockholder; Luciano tends to unfinished business while establishing a mob commission; Willie shares underworld details with his boss, the U.S. Attorney; Nucky visits Gillian at the hospital. In 1897, Nucky copes with a family crisis, while making a deal with the Commodore that will settle his future. Written by Howard Korder & Terence Winter; directed by Tim Van Patten. I'm curious about the loss that pains Nucky in episode 6. I'm assuming it's Sally since it appears that Eli, Willie, and Margaret are all still around as of the penultimate or finale episodes. I can't think of anyone else that he'd give a shit about unless it was another member of Eli's family that we don't know very well. I can see Nucky not being happy if something were to happen to Chalky but I can't see him turning to the bottle over it. I guess it could also be one of Margaret's kids but if that's the plan you'd think they'd already have reminded us of their presence. (Oh wow, I'm just realizing that they should both be teenagers now. Her son should be about college age IIRC like 17 or 18.) I'm still on the fence about the presence of Margaret's character this season but I'll admit that I am interested in this deal she has with AR's widow. I really hope we get some info about AR's final days, his relationship with Margaret (and Carolyn), and some indication of how he'll ultimately be remembered by his associates. Seven years later and Chalky is still thinking about Daughter Maitland and wanting to help her? Am I wrong in thinking that she ended up betraying him last season when they were at that old house? I'm kind of bummed that he isn't in the last two episode descriptions. I'm wondering how Nucky can be at war with Luciano at this point when it seems like Nucky doesn't even have any real muscle anymore. Gillian got the writing paper in the second episode and Nucky doesn't read it until the penultimate? Plus, it appears that she'll be spending all season in the hospital since she's still there as of the finale. I was hoping we wouldn't have to endure too many hospital scenes but I suppose I'd be interested in a scene where she's on the couch talking to a doctor because I'm curious to know what sort of manipulative spin she'd try to put on her past. When she was talking to her fellow patient while they were in the tub and the women were reminiscing about how they would spend summer holidays, I got the impression that Gillian had probably told this woman a pack of lies about her background. As for the stuff with the Commodore, Nucky, and Gillian, I'm very interested that this incident seems to have hurt his relationship with Mabel. I wonder if Mabel was the one to take Gillian in initially only to have it all go horribly wrong for some reason. Assuming that Gillian is the runaway that Nucky and Mabel argue about, I wonder if we're going to learn anything about what Gillian ran from and why her sad life in AC seemed preferable to returning to wherever she'd come from.

Gah, Hammaboo, I was momentarily forgetting that the flashbacks take place sometime in the 1880s, I can't remember the exact year. ETA Alynch beat me to 1931. The music was great in this episode. I liked that version of Creole Love Call and I liked hearing the elevator operator whistle Happy Days Are Here Again.

TV Diva Queen, I thought it was about the Commodore wanting Ethan Thompson's vote. All I was thinking is why wouldn't he just go after the mother's instead? I agree that he didn't seem to care at all about the actual tragedy.

So I read the synopsis for episode 7 and I was wondering if there's any information on whether or not Molly Parker did any filming for this season since her character Mabel (only ever seen in a photograph back in the first couple of seasons) seems like she will be making an appearance in the episode assuming the argument she has with Nucky is shown and not only referenced. Gillian twice spoke fondly of Mabel, I think she even called her a saint at one point so whatever the fight is over I get the feeling that Gillian had something to do with it. I was always disappointed that we never really learned much about his marriage to Mabel apart from their child's death and her eventual suicide. Nucky seemed a lot more haunted about all of that in the first couple of seasons. Now it's almost as though Billie was supposed to have been the love of his life.

I thought this episode was much stronger than the premiere. I thought it was great. Loved the elevator scene. I can watch Eli and Van Alden with each other all day long--wasn't expecting to enjoy that so much. I also lol when Van Alden told him that he reeked of urine. I was sure he was going to say booze and then wondered why those ladies and the elevator operator weren't visibly disgusted and uncomfortable taking a ride with a urine soaked passenger. I enjoyed seeing the scenes with Al now that he's officially on top. All of that over done laughter--I was again reminded of a moment in the show The Sopranos where the boss Tony's wife tells Tony that his underlings have to laugh at whatever stupid jokes he happens to make because they're scared of him and they feel like they have to kiss his ass. I strongly felt that the same sort of vibe was taking place in the hotel room scenes with Al. Then something that actually is funny (at least IMO) is met with silence like when Al is clearly too fucked up on drugs to remember why he wanted to talk to that guy Mike (?) after being all insistent moments before with his brother that he needed to talk to the guy Mike ASAP. It was nice to see Nucky forced into stating the fact that he's a bootlegger in front of men like that. Satisfying. So Gillian is just now getting writing paper after six or seven years? Yikes. I too am glad that there wasn't a sexual angle to what the warden wanted. I'm guessing she'll write to Nucky and she'll try to guilt him into helping her. I don't think she has any other options. As far as the actual scene in the mental health facility- -all I could think was how difficult it would be to keep any remaining sanity if one were forced to live in conditions such as those for years on end. Ugh, and I felt awful to see Gillian being forced into the role of playing a "good girl" again. It was definitely a shout out to the season 3 finale where Nucky and Eli find her after she's been forcibly injected with heroin and she's hallucinating that she's a child again who has just been "good" for Nucky by having endured the Commodore's rape of her. I agree about it feeling a bit unrealistic that Billie would be so well remembered or that her murder would be addressed in that way nearly a decade later. Tonino isn't very good at reading a room, is he? I actually raised my eyebrows when he decided to sit after Luciano, Lansky, and Siegel made it a point of standing at that moment. Nucky's father just might be the very worst. What an awful man. Why wouldn't the Commodore have given the money to Nucky's mother or hell even to Nucky? I also felt a callback to the first season where Nucky was all pissed when Hans Schroeder spent the money he'd given Margaret in order to help their family. It makes sense why Nucky was so angry with Hans because Hans totally reminded him of how horrible his own father would be.

Okay somehow I was under the mistaken impression that Jason Brown would be skating to Wagner's Tristan so at first I was a little disappointed when I finally saw the program but that feeling only lasted for a few moments because I really like the program and think/hope it will work well for him. I'm definitely disappointed that Gracie is doing Phantom since it's so tired. Ditto for Max with Gladiator.

I agree that the Tarlys seem like they might end up falling out with the Tyrells. I'm guessing there's a plot related reason for why Randyll Tarly is the one who has the task of returning Margaery to the Sept for trial. Mace seems like he's on the verge of telling the High Septon to fuck off but it's Randyll Tarly's word that will be broken if they fail to comply and I can't see Randyll not caring about something like that. I feel like Margaery living is the least exciting option. Apart from marrying for a fourth time I don't feel like there's all that much she can bring to the table as far as the overall plot goes.

I think Myrcella will die before Tommen and that it will be this that causes Cersei to stupidly turn Tommen into a king on the run. When the going gets tough Cersei is inclined to run (quite literally in the case of her arrest at the Great Sept) and she's already voiced her thoughts about her wish that court could be moved to the more comfortable Casterly Rock, although at least when the conversation comes up with Jaime she admits she understands it would be a bad idea . I can see Cersei trying to burn down the Red Keep before they leave. I think we're being lulled into a false sense of security wrt Margaery and her trial. I think she'll either lose the trial and be executed or that Mace, now that he no longer has Kevan to keep him in check, might refuse altogether to have Margaery present herself for trial and she'll be found guilty because of this. I'm torn about Robin Arryn too. I can see that he isn't meant to live long but they need him right now plus, what if Harry the Heir won't easily be pushed around by Littlefinger? Edmure Tully--he probably has to go if that plot is ever going to move forward. Doran makes sense too now that I think about it. He'll be gutted over news of Quentyn. I think Trystane will live and that's one of the reasons his role has been expanded on the show.

I forgot about fAegon and JonCon. I'll throw Arianne into this pool too since she's inclined to be reckless. I wonder if she'd be misguided enough to try to pair up with Euron once things go south for fAegon? I can't believe I forgot earlier about Kevan and Pycelle. I thought I was reaching a bit by including Varamyr as a main death. The show makes me think Shireen might end up being a victim of Melisandre's. Ramsay should get his but I doubt I'll be so lucky as to have this happen in the next book. I will cry if Jorah doesn't make it make it back to Westeros. I can deal with him dying in battle but not in Essos. Of course I'd prefer to have him survive and join the Night's Watch (assuming there is such a thing after the epic battle) but I'm basically okay with any fate as long as he makes it back to Westeros and fights in at least one battle.