Danny Franks

Some shows really just get the way music can enhance the story being told. Chuck, for example, used music to great effect throughout its run. Lots of 80s stuff, and 90s as well. Take Chuck vs. The Cougars as an example. Sarah's high school reunion, and so they use music from the mid-to-late-90s to evoke that feeling of nostalgia for stuff you honestly might not have liked back then. I mean, "Mmmbop" and "I Don't Want To Wait" are songs that perfectly capture that period, and probably capture the emotional state that many people were in at 17 and 18. And when they did use contemporary music, it was stuff like Band of Horses and The National. They also used Britney Spears' Toxic in a way that was absolutely brilliant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph8Jbrl31qs And then there were the Jeffster! covers, some of which were pretty damned good. Loved "Fortunate Son", "Take On Me" and "Push It". Another show that used music really well is Covert Affairs. It's pretty rubbish now, but it used to be good, and it did introduce me to a lot of good music. The Gaslight Anthem's "We Did It When We Were Young" and The Lumineers' "Stubborn Love" were used really well. But the best use has to be when they used Gimme Shelter in 2x10. It was used to score a scene where Annie has to escort a Chinese defector out of an official function, under the eyes of the Chinese authorities. There's no action, just two people walking through a crowded hotel function suite, but little shocks like someone dropping a plate and the music itself, just ratchet the tension up, more and more. It's really well done, and I remember thinking, 'they finally get it. They don't need to offer a badly done fight scene every episode, they don't need some big dramatic chase scene. This is how to do drama and tension without breaking the bank.' Sadly, they didn't get it, and it was soon back to the ropey action that the show usually resorted to. Scrubs did great stuff with music as well. Lots of really well chosen songs. Like "Tell Her Not to Go" by Del Amitri when Elliot ended her and JD's sexbuddies relationship, just as JD was about to ask her for a real relationship, or "New Slang" by The Shins over one of JD's summing up montages. But they really did a great job with "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin" in My Philosophy. Cheesy? Sure. But the show did cheesy well, and always managed to be sincere at the right times:

The way he was written in the books suggested to me that his actions will have an escalation to them. He'll try to sleep with her at some point, I'm almost sure of that. To me he has all the hallmarks of an obsessed nutcase, where Sansa is concerned, and will turn nasty with her when she inevitably rejects him.

Yeah, I guess. But it wouldn't surprise me if there's a contingent over at the ASOIAF boards that likes him even more for this. Because only evil assholes are cool. If they were supposed to show Cersei actually enjoying it in the end, then they cut away about four seconds too soon. Stupid. Hopefully there's some dialogue that can undo this damage in the next episode, but I'm struggling to figure out what.

Not at all. This show is just about the best thing going, right now. Everything is so sharp and works so well. The jokes are almost constant, but so rapid fire and often spoken on top of one another, so you need repeat viewings just to get them all. I love the little tangents characters go off on, while other stuff is going on. Like with Dan muttering that perhaps Selina could talk about the military and hospitals simultaneously, and Ben said she could be like "those Tibetan throat singers". It just makes everything seen that much more real. I thought I'd get annoyed at the 'let's look at our characters through the eyes of an outsider' trope, because I usually do when shows do that. But I thought it worked really well, because Alicia got just a glimpse at the chaos and how heinous these people are, and she never got to see that they're good inside, but nor did she tell them all off for being assholes. The Veeple stayed in control throughout. At least, in control as much as they ever are. I also now have a bit of a crush on Catherine, thanks to the sassiness she showed her mother. More Sarah Sutherland, please. And Dan and Amy have matching exasperated rhyming, defecation-related cursing. "shit on my tits" and "crap in my lap". How romantic.

I always forget about the gap, because I never thought it made sense as a narrative device. What, they all get to where they are and then do... nothing... for five years? Just learn and become what they need to be? Yeah, it was a bad idea, and I think GRRM even admitted as much, didn't he? Dany's entire Meereen storyline should have been aborted, in my view. By that time, GRRM knew he wasn't doing the five year gap, so should have had her make an abrupt turn for Westeros, and put her in the role that Aegon takes in ADWD. You know, actually coming to claim the throne she says is hers. Imagine how much tighter this story would be if we had Dany in Dorne/the Stormlands right now, with Tyrion as her adviser, and everything else stayed the same? You'd have a confrontation between the Lannister-Tyrell alliance and the Martell-Targaryen force, and then you'd have the Boltons vs Stannis and The Wall. So much neater. Forget the Mummer's Dragon prophecy completely, or just fudge it with some fraud that pops up and is despatched almost instantly.

I feel that he set out to write a more traditional story, but took so long to get there, and bought into his own publicity as 'different from your usual fantasy author' that he drew this precursor garbage out for too long. And now he's stuck with this unwieldy, sprawling story that I think he genuinely doesn't know what to do with. I also think he got carried away with all the political machinations and rivalries, and completely lost touch with the idea that there is this supernatural threat that needs to be dealt with, Life imitating art, I guess, because he seems to have been writing all that Kings Landing stuff as a way of showing how these people are too caught up in their petty conspiracies and plots to see the bigger picture. He's got two books to gather Dany, Meereen, Tyrion, the Ironborn, the Dornish, Aegon, Kings Landing, Littlefinger, Sansa, Jon, the Nights Watch, Bran, Stannis, Bolton, Jaime, Brienne, Lady Stoneheart, Arya etc into a coherent and satisfying conclusion. My guess? No chance.

"Fucking comedians" indeed. Loved the jokes about Amy being crap with children. "Do you like Power Rangers?" "Peeing is fun!" The fact that Anna Chlumsky was pregnant with her first child while filming those scenes is such a great little in-joke, even though it was previously established that Amy and kids don't really mix. I did enjoy Dan moderating his language, even briefly. "cock.... tail napkin. Yeah, you heard me." And poor Dan, right again but no one was listening. So he spends the whole episode trying to browbeat SNL into submission, only for Selina to do what he suggested in the first place and not remember that he suggested it. Loved him labouring the point of Selina's impossible desire to mention hospitals, but not after the war, but the military had to be mentioned at the start of the speech. Jonad as the "dick that keeps giving" is a good fit for his character. But I still think he worked better as an actual West Wing staffer. Because how long will he last as a journalist if he never manages to get any stories? "Would you mind smashing his head off with a fire extinguisher?" "I wouldn't mind." First time I've liked Leon West. Catherine was amazing in this episode. Love her laying down the law to Selina, and getting a bit crazy with it. Such a great mother/daughter moment, at least through the rather skewed lens of this show. "It's okay, I fixed her." as the departing line was delivered with killer precision. Sarah Sutherland is good. And yet again Selina Myer proves to be one of the great comic creations. Utterly venal and selfish and callous, but somehow sympathetic and loveable. Seeing her get one over on Doyle at the end, while still being completely fake and disingenuous? Julia Louis-Dreyfus already deserves another Emmy.

Given all that the show has already shown; murder, torture, mutilation, violence against children and animals, much of it brutally depicted, the fact that some people seem to be saying, 'oh now, this is too much' is kind of ridiculous to me. The scene was not well done, and I don't really know why they chose to write it in that fashion, but honestly, trying to say the show is misogynistic and the books aren't is unfair. GRRM is the one who wrote more than one sex scene of the, 'woman says no but really means yes' variety. Depicting scenes as, 'woman says no and actually means it' seems less troublesome to me. But that's probably a very long, very circular debate.

I really don't think Penny is important at all. What purpose does she serve, other than to drum up reader sympathy for her and get Tyrion to look at the world in a slightly different way? I don't think it's necessary, and I would hope that the writers of the show come up with something drastically different for Tyrion's Essos storyline. You know, maybe they could make it actually worth watching. Miracles can happen. I think some of it seemed overly staged and clunky, but I think they were trying to encapsulate the claustrophobic feel of constant politicking and conniving and conspiring that Kings Landing has become synonymous with. In this setting, with everyone there, there's nowhere to hide and everyone can see who you talk to and wonder what you're talking about. I'm not sure it quite worked, but I think that's what they were going for. What I think worked amazingly well was the bit with Joffrey's play. Seeing the sham war fought between dwarfs, humiliating the other participants (in finest WWE style), and seeing the embarrassment, anger and shame of people like Varys, Olenna, Margaery and Oberyn, and the cold fury of Tyrion and Sansa. I think it's actually a brilliantly executed example of how tension can be ratcheted up and up, without anyone really doing anything.

How on earth did Aidan Gillen get the job as Littlefinger? He's terrible. I feel like I'm watching some community theatre performer's attempt at Iago, whenever he's on screen. Actually no, that's a huge disservice to community theatre actors. He's an embarrassment to this show. I really enjoyed the scenes at The Wall. They did a good job of illustrating just what impossible odds the Nights Watch is facing, but also the ridiculous nobility of this bunch of thieves, murderers and bastards, who didn't flinch over the fact that they are all that stands between the Seven Kingdoms and the Wildlings. And Jon Snow is definitely maturing into a leader of men. His bearing is different, his voice has a gravitas it didn't have before, the men all look to him (literally), and even Alliser Thorne seemed to unconsciously defer. Speaking of Thorne, I'm glad that they're showing that, even though he's a bully, he takes his oath seriously and he is committed to the Nights Watch. The brief shot of Janos Slynt again looking baffled and out of his depth was amusing. Oh, and it was good to see Grenn and Edd make it back to Castle Black. They live to fight (or die, with the way D&D operate) another day. I would probably have enjoyed Dany's storyline in the episode, if I cared at all about any characters in it other than Barristan. I really like Emilia Clarke, but cannot abide her character, or her new boy toy to be, Blaahrio (this actor or the other one). She just comes across as more and more the dangerously unhinged Targaryen, lusting for power and personal glory, even if the glory she sees is in the adulation of freed slaves. Seeing wouldbe boyfriend after wouldbe boyfriend begging to be allowed to kill someone for her just made me roll my eyes. I don't like using the term Mary Sue, but show Dany seems to hit so many of the markers. Smart, beautiful, sassy, doubted only by those who are in the wrong, adored by all others, rarely suffers any form of setback. Yawn.

"No, no, no. Yes." from Dany's wedding night was hardly great writing either. On that occasion, the rape element made sense because Drogo didn't see Dany as a person in her own right, and Dany spent the next however many weeks or months effectively being raped by him, before she figured out how to take back a semblance of power. On this occasion, I'd say that Jaime raping Cersei was the result of D&D's obsession with having everyone be grey, because 'GRRM's characters are never black and white', and they feared that Jaime was becoming too sympathetic for their tastes (as messed up as I think those tastes sometimes are). I would say that, if not for the director apparently thinking that Cersei 'wanted it really'. That is messed up. But I struggle to believe that no one, from writer to director to editor to actors, ever stopped and said, 'this is rape, yeah?', so I have to conclude that is what they were going for. What is annoying now is that the increased estrangement between them will be seen as Jaime's fault, rather than Cersei just being repulsed by him. Great.

It's kind of hard to say, with this show. Because there's not that much that happens that will have a lasting effect. But I'd like to see Taco come down off his high again. I enjoy these guys being assholes to one another, but something about the way they forced Taco to get high again because he was a threat to their little comfort zone? Really grossed me out. And I liked sober Taco too. Can I say more of Jenny in her bikini? And more of Sofia in general, because I feel like she's underused, and I like the fact she does actually seem to love Ruxin.

I think they'd definitely be better off just having Shae packed off to Essos, and Tyrion being told she's gone "wherever whores go". And they could have Cersei's new informant girl be the one who damns Tyrion at the trial. It wouldn't mean as much, because I don't think Tyrion has ever met her (and this is where they would have been better off not killing Ros, because she could have fitted into this role quite nicely), but I think it would still work. She can then be the one in Tywin's bed, and the one Tyrion kills. Who cares about Tysha? No one that I know of, including Tyrion. Does anyone even remember Tysha, in terms of the show? Shae is the relationship people have invested in, I think, and giving Tyrion some purpose to go east other than just having to leave Kings Landing would probably give fans a reason to root for him in season 5. But of course, I'm approaching this from the selfish direction of hoping that they do something similar with Ygritte, and just have her fill Val's role, and not die in the battle at The Wall. I expect I'll be disappointed on both counts, because I can't imagine D&D passing up the opportunity to kill more characters that people like.

I was misremembering it a little, as the pregnancy bit is just a joke to end the scene. But it's really just River trying to reconcile the idea of loving someone like she does Simon, and the idea of loving someone and marrying them. It's actually a pretty cute scene. Especially Simon saying to Book, "she's really crazy!" and River kicking him in the shin for it. Also, it highlights why River was absent for most of the episode, because she immediately says "you're a thief" to Saffron. Hard to pull the wool over the eyes of someone who can read your mind.

Oh boy, do I love me some Yo-Saff-Bridge. What a great introduction for someone who would surely have proved to be a fan favourite villain, if the show had lived for as long as it should have. The sweet, innocent naif who dreamed of nothing more than being married to a man who wouldn't be horrible to her. And she read Mal like a book, instantly knowing that he'd fall for it, hook, line and sinker. I do think that there was some real potential there for Mal/Yo-Saff-Bridge to be antagonists/reluctant allies/reluctantly hot for one another through the rest of the show (again, if it had live that long), because there was some nice chemistry between Nathan Fillion and Christina Hendricks. I could have been onboard with that, let me tell you. Not to mention that Christina Hendricks was sexy as hell, once she dropped the act and donned that leather outfit. Yowza. Someone who absolutely wasn't onboard with it, of course, was Inara. And I always felt they had her react a little too strongly to the idea that Mal was married. Yes, she was crushing on him something fierce (to borrow show parlance), but was she daydreaming of being married to him and having his children? Was she that much of a gushy romantic at heart? I'm not so sure. At least, not considering where he feelings for Mal currently stood. Jayne was perfect, as he always was. Sniffing Saffron's hair, offering to exchange her for Vera, griping about his rainstick. Adam Baldwin has so much comic ability, and always employs it perfectly, while still retaining Jayne's aura of danger. The scene where the rest of the crew meets Saffron was pure gold, because it showed the camaraderie and love they had for each other, and for their captain, so clearly. Zoe laughing her ass off at Mal's predicament, Wash joining in, Kaylee going from gleeful to poking Mal with jokes about him being "a monster", even Simon getting a dig or two in. And the Big Damn Hero captain whining and being completely confused at the disaster of his own life. The one sour note for me was Book. He was a bit too smug and condescending and judgy with Mal, for no reason other than that's the way Book liked to be. And the fact that the 'River wants to be pregnant with Simon's baby' scene was cut. Because that was so hilariously wrong.

I would argue that the show never let us know whether Tim was an alcoholic or not. He drank, and he drank a lot, but I don't think they ever told us he had to drink. And there was Homecoming in season 1, where he quit drinking and didn't show any adverse effects that I can recall. Yes, he started drinking again in the next episode but not because being sober was so hard, but because Jason learned about him and Lyla. I also don't recall him visibly significant amounts in season 3, when he was with Lyla. Yes, we saw him drink but it seemed very much like social drinking. Which is obviously an issue for a 17 year old, or whatever Tim's age was supposed to be, but I wouldn't actually call it alcoholism until they showed that he couldn't stop. However, if his plans consist of nothing more than sitting on his land and drinking for the rest of his days, then I'm sure alcoholism will kick in at some point.

I feel like there must be, but I guess producers never reveal their reasoning so baldly. Mandy was pretty unpopular in the West Wing, and just disappeared somewhere between the finale of season 1 and the opener of season 2. Which would be fine, except they followed on directly from one another. What about Riley in Buffy? I felt he was deeply unpopular, and he really didn't get a very respectful send off. But both of those two happened in the nascent days of the internet, really. Not so much fan activism. Perhaps Shaw in Chuck, but it wasn't so much his character as everything that his character forced the show to be, and he was always going to be a temporary presence anyway. I think fan reaction pushed them to get rid of him sooner than they planned. Laurel? Well it's not even really dislike for me any more. I think dislike would suggest some sort of reaction to her, but I just feel utter, utter disinterest. Like Coulson in Agents of SHIELD, she is just an anti-presence on my screen. Her mere appearance just kills my interest and makes me think about doing things other than watching the show. So I guess that's frustrating in itself, because I like most of the other stuff on this show.

This is really one of my main bugbears about the Isabel character. Instead of being the strong, independent, resourceful woman she was first presented as, she was the bitter harpy who wanted revenge on the men who had wronged her. And worse, she needed another man, Slade, to help her do it. This is what I've been saying about the character, they just kept choosing the least interesting option, every time. Isabel as a genuine corporate threat, one not interested in the private lives of the Queens or the villainous shenanigans of Slade or Blood, could actually have been really interesting. But it would have taken more effort to write than, 'your dad broke my heart, and so now you have to pay'. I guess this is the price logic must pay if you're constantly retrofitting to jam new ideas you've come up with into existing narrative strands. Oliver being ashamed that he could have cured Slade but didn't simply doesn't wash as a reason for never mentioning that they could cure Roy. It makes no sense to me whatsoever, and while this might be my own personal slant on it, I felt like Stephen Amell was almost cringing when he delivered that line, because he knew it was pathetic. 'Hey, there's actually a cure.' 'What? Why didn't you ever mention this when we dealt with the first guy who had this stuff in him? Or the second? Or the third? When you were acting as though Mirakuru is a death sentence to both those injected with it and those who face them? And when one of those guys so important to your sister?' 'Because reasons.'

Not so much Aeryn, but more just Claudia Black having the time of her life, but Won't Get Fooled Again and John Quixote were wonderful episodes for her. Apart from those, I have to say that I think Aeryn Sun has one of the most complete and satisfying character arcs that I can ever remember on television (alongside John himself, of course). She goes from an emotionally stunted warrior who "hates" compassion to the most human of aliens, finding a new family that she never wanted, and just becoming an entirely new person. It was wonderful to watch, even if I did get tired of the John/Aeryn roller-coaster. I think my favourite moments would be those early exhibitions of vulnerability, because they were so surprising. The scenes in the motel room in A Human Reaction, her weakness in Nerve. And when I think of her moments of vulnerability, I tend to go right to that moment at the end of Look at the Princess, Part 3, where John turns around and she's holding the vial of... stuff, determined to see if they're compatible, but still unable to actual voice her feelings. Great non-verbal acting from Claudia, in that scene. And then the kicker when we see them both react to the result of the test.

I definitely admired Ellaria Sand's dress at the wedding. That should be required attire for all women of Westeros. And I'm sure if Margaery sees it, she'll want a similar dress made. It seems to fit her tastes. For the most part, the costuming on this show is incredible. It all feels completely authentic (except maybe that aforementioned dress) and appropriate to the world they live in. And the care taken to distinguish each culture and region by its styles of clothing is wonderful attention to detail. And I really like the look they've created for the Dornish this season. But I do wish the Kingsguard wore more white. I find the gold armour to be a little too drab, and to blend too easily into the background. I had such a strong image of those white knights (literally) when reading the books, and they stood out a mile in the Dunk & Egg graphic novels.

I agree that Robert's steel had softened significantly (and that's an insult Cersei might have used on him, from time to time) by the time we saw him in A Game Of Thrones. He'd been worn down by years of carousing and drinking and gluttony, not unlike King Edward IV, who I feel GRRM definitely drew his inspiration for Robert. A great man gone to seed. Perhaps you could characterise Stannis' conversion to Rh'llor as bending, but I'm not sure. It seemed to me that he just dropped one unbending philosophy to pick up another one. And he had little choice but to change tactics after the Battle of Blackwater. Still, it's definitely an argument to be had. But the problem with him isn't so much in his choice of tactics, but in his inability to deal with people in a way that allows for compromise or understanding. He's occasionally forced into compromise, because it's either that or defeat, but he never attempted to see things from any point of view but his own. His belief that he should be king because he's the rightful king is something that has always struck me as dubious. He's only 'rightful king' because Robert usurped the last rightful king. In Westeros, the rightful king is the man sitting on the Iron Throne, no matter what pedigree he has. As for Ned being iron, I agree that he was. But he also had a warmth to him that inspired loyalty and affection from his followers. Two of the most poignant bits of ADWD for me were when Wylla Manderly espoused the loyalty and love the North still felt for the Starks, and when the men of the Northern hill tribes said it was worth fighting Bolton to save "Ned's girl".

I wouldn't say that he's using a recognisable British accent, really. It's a very precise, pompous manner of speaking, but still with slight twinges of Jack Gleeson's Irish accent. I could fanwank that Joffrey has cultivated this accent and manner of speaking, through trying to emulate his mother and maybe Uncle Jaime as well. The Tyrells, Tullys, Lannisters and other Southrons all seem to be using some variation of what I'd call a Home Counties accent. The Northerners are all definitely using various accents from the north of England. Davos, despite being from Kings Landing, sounds like a Geordie, so I guess that city is more of a melting pot than a distinct cultural entity. Hmm. Perhaps a thread on accents might be an idea.... Anyway, Joffrey. I agree with everyone that Jack Gleeson was tremendous in this role, and I really can't think of another TV character who has almost transcended his own show, and become an object of pop culture hatred like Joffrey. He was an odious little turd in the books, but because he was a few years younger, his behaviour was a little less extreme, and you got an impression of the monster he would become. In the show, we saw that monster in full flight.

I disagree. For me, Donal Noye had the right assessment of the Baratheon brothers, when he compared them to metals. Stannis showed himself, time and again, as too insecure and too thin-skinned when it came to what he perceived as slights. He might have been a capable warrior and solid administrator, but I think he would end up alienating everyone around him, in the end. It's telling that the only man who seems to have a personal relationship with him is one who values loyalty and honour just as much as Stannis. How would Stannis do in dealing with Lannisters, Tyrells or Martells? Not well, I don't think. He'd either completely fall victim to their conniving, or he'd end up making enemies of them through punishment of supposed misdeeds. I feel that the books always made it clear that Robert won the throne because he had the charisma to make people follow him. He was a large, gregarious personality capable of inspiring loyalty and affection. And even though he wasn't a very good king, he still had that strength of personality to keep the Seven Kingdoms united. Without Robert, things fell apart in the space of about a chapter. I don't see Stannis as a man capable of reuniting anyone.

I am an absolute sucker for Mal/River moments (not romantic, but the quasi-parental connection that seemed to form), and so I really enjoy this episode for that, before even looking at anything else. Mal being surprisingly agreeable to River's weirdness, as long as it's not going to endanger his plans was nice to see, and him actually listening to her talk about how the cows were remembering what they are. Then Simon overreacts to Mal gently (for him) trying to get River out of the way before the buyers arrived. I always felt the two of them had a strong connection, that would have been fun to explore over multiple seasons. So I really loved it when the Big Damn Heroes turned up to rescue Simon and River, because they clearly had no ulterior motives for doing it. For Mal, it was just the right thing to do, so he did it. One of the things I always loved about his character. And the fact that Jayne, despite not wanting the Tams back on board, was content to go along with the others, was one of the things I liked most about him. This ship and this crew were important to Jayne, no matter how reluctant he was to admit it. Summer Glau has always played vulnerable so well, but I feel like she really hit it out of the park with this episode. Not only physically vulnerable, but emotionally and mentally as well, as she's unable to understand what she should and shouldn't say, unable to understand the danger of Simon's kidnappers or the village elder until it's too late. There's something so touching about the way she played River, that always engendered a strong protective instinct in me. Little did we know, back then, that she really didn't need anyone's protection.

Given that Melissa Fumero did look tremendous in that dress, I can fully believe that Jake wanted to tell her so. But yeah, his boyish awkwardness kicked in and he ended up pitching a little wide. I loved the way she played Amy's reaction to the line. Or rather, the lack of reaction, because her face just froze in that open, curious expression. I guess she was trying to figure out if it was a compliment or insult, and what it possibly could have to do with what they were doing. And anyway, we all know that mermaids are supposed to be pretty, right? I can fully believe that Jake had thought that she looked like a mermaid in the dress, even if that's not what he wanted to say.