[S01.E12: Crazy For You]

Bingeing the season, but afraid to run into spoilers by asking the following question elsewhere:

 

Who is feeding all the supervillains they have locked up in Star Labs, bathing, providing toilet paper and supplies? I have to know!!!!

 

This has been bothering me the whole season so far.

[S05.E07: The Gift]

Tywin clearly explained to Cersei that she has to marry Loras because the Lannisters' mines were no longer producing gold so they had to strengthen their alliance with the Martells. Instead, Cersei works to weaken the Martells who are their only real allies at the moment.

The Martells are Oberyn, Doran, and Trystane over in Dorne. Lady O, Mace, Loras and Margaery are Tyrells who are from Highgarden. I used to get confused too since they're both from the South but different souths relative to KL. Highgarden is like the capital of The Reach while Sunspear is the capital of Dorne. And Dorne is south of The Reach. I don't know why the characters just keep referring to it as it's entire region as opposed to the city like we do everywhere else. Maybe it's like Africa in that world and the people unfortunately lump all of it together as if there's no real difference that matters. We see Sunspear is all gardens but Highgarden...I don't know, may or may not be garden-ous but Lady O and Margaery used to be seen all the time walking around Kings Landing gardens.

 

Jonathon Pryce (High Sparrow) played Juan Peron in Evita

Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna) played Mrs. Peel in The Avengers, 70s British Spy show

They are also both James Bond alumni. Poor Jonathon Pryce had to be a Bond villain in arguably the worst Bond film where his main goal was to sell a lot of newspapers or I guess get blog/article ad hits. Okay that is evil after all. And Diana Rigg is arguably the best Bond Girl because she's one of the few with an actual brain, could kick ass and had depth - she got James Bond to settle down and marry her in one of the best, if not the best Bond films. George Lazenby gets a bad rap only because he wasn't Sean Connery, not that he played Bond poorly; he didn't. And On Her Majesty's Secret Service along with The Spy Who Loved Me are much better than Goldfinger that for some reason always gets touted as the best. Anyways, she's awesome and it was perfect casting since she looks/acts so much like Natalie Dormer.

[S05.E07: The Gift]

So, we have an ineffectual boy king who literally no one will follow or obey now, the current queen is in a black cell, and the queen regent, who was nominally holding the kingdoms together is likewise imprisoned.  So who's going to run the show now?  I nominate Lady Olenna, with Littlefinger as her hand.

I had this theory last week, but now I'm more sure of it: The High Sparrow. He feels like a Pope Constantine analogue. Holy shit if he does and splits the Kingdom apart! Dorne/South don't really care. The North doesn't really care either. It's not like he'd be able to mount any attacks North or South. I think he'd be cool with that middle Westeros area. 

 

That would also lead me to fear for Loras, Mace and Margaery. They wouldn't have a point any more and Lady Olenna would just have to go back to Highgarden to her wheat, I guess. Unless Loras, Margaery...sigh, AND Cersei all team up to escape and get to be yet another on-the-run group on their way to Highgarden/Casterly Rock. Littlefinger wouldn't care, but if he found out Loras and Margaery survived, he might want to help them for Lady O just to not have that unknown come back and bite him in the ass one day.

 

Sam, Gilly and Ghost need to GTFO of Castle Black like yesterday. What're the rules for Maesters? I don't get that exactly. Did Maester Aemon become a maester first or NW? This feels like Sam is his legacy character and they did have that scene where Stannis told him to keep reading and if the library there was complete enough. They should head over to wherever all the maesters are and read up.

 

Jorah's fucked, but he'll probably be spared when he reveals that he's dying anyways, in return for bringing Tyrion to Dany. No idea how he's going to talk his way into her trust...maybe desperation? I'm sure he will, though, or Varys is hiding behind a curtain somewhere already waiting to help. Then again, he should be on her shit list too. I don't know.

 

If the shit going down in KL reaches Dorne, what happens to Jamie and Bronn then? Myrcella's useless politically now too. Oberyn did make it sound like they're cool with peace and love and all that, so maybe she and Tristain (sp?) will be allowed to marry anyways out of lurve. Feels like Jaime's one episode away from admitting to her that he's her dad and maybe they'll all get to just stay there and live until whatever storyline needs Jaime to go somewhere else. Bronn can have boobie Dorne babies and live his dull life.

 

Reek still has to pass on info about Bran and Rickon before he can make his redemption or sacrifice...probably sacrifice, but I have no idea what will snap him into crossing Ramsay. The only thing I can think of is a Vaderesque push out the tower window while Ramsay cackles. I do wish Sansa would get to do SOMETHING herself, though. It couldn't be her life being threatened in any way that I can think of because the Boltons need her to pop one out still. Hmm...maybe it has something to do with Rickon and Bran, I guess...like he can undo their "death" by saving them through giving Brienne, Podrick and Sansa the opportunity to look for them and not have Ramsay and the Boltons following in pursuit. They could run into Sam's group on the way for further information at least.

 

Jon needs to hurry with those Wildlings to make it in time to save Stannis' ass. The way this is going and the crap at The Wall, they're probably going to have to fight their way through again and we won't see any Winterfell battle until another season! Benjen better be there, because there's really no other point to his character. I suppose he could have something to do with the weirdy three-eyed-raven man tree person, but why? Or maybe Jon has to use the obsidian glass on zombie Benjen...shit I just realized that whole scene now means Jon has to battle through some white walkers before getting to the Wall again...he's never going to reach Stannis this year! I'm afraid this could only mean that Stannis is going to sacrifice himself for his daughter to escape with Davos and Stannis will never make it to Winterfell, which the way things are going won't even have Boltons around by then...but ooooooh Littlefinger. He's totally going to be there. Maybe Sansa doesn't run off with Podrick and Brienne after all. She'd more or less still be safe from Bolton loyalists if she lies about being pregnant and there'd be more willing Northerners watching out for her. If Roose is still around, then the trueborn fetus subplot becomes more relevant, but politically, he'd still have to keep Sansa/fake baby alive for some time and leave someone for Jon to take down whenever he finally gets there. I do think the whole sell-swords/horses dying stuff will leave Stannis' army all but done. So it's just going to be Jon and his new Free Men army coming.

[S05.E06: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken]

I really wanted Diana Rigg to show the Sand Snakes how to fight, a la Avengers.

 

[S05.E06: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken]

Ugh, the evil look that Ramsay got on his face as soon as she stepped forward and took her vows chilled me.

I'm thoroughly impressed by the actor. He DOES have evil face! I was familiar with the actor from Misfits (everyone go watch this, yes!) and it's the absolute opposite in character to Ramsay. Zero evil face. In a way, he's kind of the Sansa character on there...just needs a hug and rainbows.

 

This episode kiiiinda sucked, maybe. Arya's story - I'm totally not caring any more. She needs to get out of there. So boring. Eff the Faceless Men, they suck too.

 

Sand Snakes are all lame. Worst fight on this show. Whoever directed this one, he/she is just not very good at it. I felt the choreography of the fight could have been pretty good, but whoever was behind the camera was doing a pretty poor job of capturing it all. Maybe this was a necessary limitation due to filming at Jardines del Alcazar? I think that's where they're filming, yes? I was there forever ago, but as a cliché bad American study-abroad teenager. One of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen and I regret that at the time my biggest takeaway from it were ample opportunities to pose looking like you are peeing from the numerous fountains/statues. Anyways...I can kind of see how someone with a camera would have difficulty getting shots. Most of that place can be limited to single-file pathways. I distinctly recall my group having a hard time getting to each other even if we could see/hear each other as there were no easy ways to just cross over to each other; you had to follow the maze or if there were a grander space, it felt implied (and maybe even stated on tiny signs) not to walk in those spaces. It was still a crappy fight. I think Bronn got sliced by that spear and now I'm worried that it was poisoned.

 

If someone told me during the Battle of Blackwater that not only is the guy who Cersei nudged and fell over twice in the women-and-children hideaway going to grow some balls but that Lancel Lannister is an important character, I would have dismissively laughed. That dude is crazy scary and...capable now. I really like the Sparrow/High Septon zealot arc. How do they have the power that they have and from an essentially powerless Cersei who was able to give that to them? Aside from how they came into being, it is absolutely believable that the citizens and religion could manifest this way. I'm scared for Lady O and while I believe in her and do not in Cersei at all, I'm afraid that at least for this Tyrell squabble, Cersei may dumb luck her way into winning and undeservedly fuel her arrogance. The scene between the two of them was okay but it didn't feel right that it ended with Lady O just going along with Cersei's word that nothing bad would happen just because they're the Tyrells. I hate her and cannot wait for her downfall, but just like Joffrey the developing and waiting for it is going to be worth it. She's a survivor and scrappy even though she's not very bright. I feel like she is somehow going to survive a lot longer than the Sparrows empowerment. Death won't come easy and that she'll suffer again and again and again for everything ever. I really hope that she has a confrontation with Tyrion again; that doesn't seem finished.

 

I wonder if Jorah will be the reason for how Mr. Eko becomes Killer Croc? It will be great if Daenerys has to deal with a plague being unleashed in Meereen. Ruling's not so easy! She's not so different from Viserys and her father with her sense of entitlement.

 

Sansa disappointed this episode. I thought we were finally going to get away from damsel-in-distress Sansa, and get player Sansa. The director messed up here; I have a feeling she wasn't supposed to look as victimy, fearful and afraid. The girl who was taking a bath this episode was not the same as the girl getting married and at the end. She should be afraid and fearful, but she shouldn't let her bad poker face tip off Ramsay and Roose so easily. I have no idea what it could possibly take for Theon to finally snap out of it and redeem/sacrifice himself. I do think it will involve her candle in the tower and someone falling to their death but if this couldn't do it, I just can't imagine what will.

[Speculation and Predictions]

Hmm, the way this is going it looks like it's going to be Norma becoming more and more afraid of Norman and distancing herself from him (as much as she can, though she will still be drawn towards protecting him) while Norman sees Norma's behavior towards him as un-Motherlike and starting to believe Norma's the fraud while Mother is the genuine article. I'm sure Norma will try to figure out how to get him committed or whatever, but the costs and being afraid to lose the Motel, getting into trouble as she always does, and whatever other reason Norma gives herself will make her rationalize somehow keeping him out of any institutions.

 

If Psycho is still totally canon, then the psychiatrist's narration should still hold true mentioning how Norman killing Norma and Chet/boyfriend was the only kill Norman admitted to participate in with the strychnine. But the show's looking like end-game has a Norma vs. Mother ending. I suppose it can be argued that Norman would still be trying to protect Mother (however he/they rationalizes it being actually meaningful) by taking the blame.

 

I guess "Chet" can be Romero. It's not a dealbreaker for the showrunners to change that character's name. He's in the circle now of knowing Norman's capable of murder, though not completely in yet knowing about the insanity stuff, but I can see him finding out and inviting himself to move in with Norma to both protect her and play along with whatever ridiculous plan she has since he's forever whipped by her manipulations.

 

Also, I really hope the fallout from the Paris stuff includes Romero losing his position, doesn't matter if he's fired or not re-elected. I also can't imagine that his father won't be coming back into the narrative somehow causing trouble. That way we can get Arbogast to enter the show as the town's finally honest and clean sheriff...who can later be framed and disgraced by the corrupt town businesses so he can be a PI by the time of Psycho. No changing his name, which would be a dealbreaker.

 

ETA: Upon post fact-checking, I now realize "Chet" was never in Psycho, but was created in Psycho IV retroactively. Neither was the strychnine. I also rewatched the ending of Psycho, and it's not exactly stated that Norman admitted to killing Norma and "a man" she met. The psychiatrist did begin his "Here's what happened" with not being able to get Norman to say anything/admit anything to him, as well as saying how Norman was now fully taken over by the dominant Mother personality. So that means that according to Mother, Norma and an unnamed man who may or may not be her boyfriend/Romero/whoever were killed by Norman. Mother's inner monologue at the end mentions how horrible it is to have to lay all the blame on Norman to the cops, but that she had to. And yes, my brain hurts trying to figure out how Mother could explain to the psychiatrist her own murder without realizing that it doesn't make any sense even in her believed reality. So yeah, amazingly the doctor was able to parse through Mother's blame of Norman for all crimes that the Mother personality did all the killing while Norman did the clean-up/cover-up.

[S05.E05: Kill The Boy]

She said slavery would not return, "not while I live".

Thank you. Classic case of I heard what I wanted, I suppose.

[S05.E05: Kill The Boy]

By marrying him, the wealthy families will have an alliance with Daenerys that they would be reluctant to break. It would be against their interests to attack her and her men when their fates are so closely tied to her. It is a good idea that would work, if Daenarys was planning to stay in Meereen. However, she intends to move on conquer Westeros. Like Meister Ammon says, she is a Targaryen alone in the world. Now if she had more family to help her rule....

 

Wouldn't they already be reluctant to betray Daenerys after some of them got fried by dragons? I get why Dany needs most of them around, but I would think she probably already has their loyalty a bit more than before dragon-frying fun. Plus, as you said, it shouldn't really be a secret to anyone that Dany's stay is temporary. She said as much this episode too; no return of slavery "as long as I'm here." Now that there's a marriage coming, shouldn't HLZ be concerned about not just the wealthy people alliance, but his own position of power/life since this all means he's temporary to Dany. And all of this should be obvious to everyone in Meereen, so I guess I'm still puzzled by this strategy.

[S05.E05: Kill The Boy]

The pacing during the Winterfall stuff really dragged.

 

Damn! I hate whenever we go north of The Wall. I wanted Jon to go with Stannis immediately, not get sidetracked on another mission. I suppose now he can appear like Stannis/Tywin for a last second save with his eventual army of Wildlings/Night Watch loyalists.

 

And damn, again! Tyrion and Jorah are going to take forever getting to Mereen. So other than human deformity, is there really anything bad about greyscale? I can't remember. And does it work by Walking Dead rules? Maybe they can chop off Jorah's hand before it spreads.

 

Dany should have brought back the gladiator matches or whatever and have the former slave masters fight. I still don't get exactly why she needs to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq.

 

Sansa! I thought she was going to play this game better. Instead, she has the worst poker face and is immediately revealing herself to be a difficult bride way too soon.

[S05.E04: The Sons Of The Harpy]

Wellllll, Robert killed Elia's husband himself, and she and her kids were killed for his benefit, as part of the coup that put him on the throne. Were the Martells offered any restitution or even apology for those deaths by the new regime? I rather doubt it. Also, I'm pretty sure that the Martells were loyalists and that their people therefore fought against the rebel forces led by the Baratheons in the war. It usually takes considerably more than 18 years for that sort of historical relationship to mellow into a friendlier one.

 

BTW, Tandaemonium, did you post under a different name at TWOP, by any chance? Your writing style seems really familiar to me somehow. (I posted under the name "Avia" there.)

Ah. Thank you, that would definitely qualify as a reason to hate the Baratheons. I had no idea Robert killed Rhaegar. Makes sense.

Yes, I did post on TWoP, but my username was the same as here.

[S05.E04: The Sons Of The Harpy]

On the topic of sansa's situation

I think she is in a lot of trouble. Ramsey is cruel and sadistic. Also the chick he has been banging obviously is jealous of her and if you remember they hunted ramsey's other sidechick and had their hunting dogs kill her. I suspect because of sansa's status the sidechick is not that much of a threat to sansa., but ramsey sure is. Roose would stop ramsey from overly abusing sansa, but as his wife, they are going to be alone a lot. From previous seasons i can only imagine what sadistic shit ramsey gets his jollies from.

 

I suspect Ramsey's bastard status is the reason he is not well known outside of the north. Eg. Littlefinger's comment that it was weird that he did know of the reputation of a lord in westeros. This means that littlefinger might actually have little idea how cruel and illogical ramsey is. He knows Roose is evil and a bad guy but he also knows Roose is logical. Roose knows they need sansa. Bolton forces alone can not subdue the north if all of the other houses rally their forces against him. Ramsey thinks he can just intimidate the other houses and skin their lords in front of their heirs to make them pay taxes. Roose knows a marriage to sansa will help solidify his claim to the north. I fear ramsey is not that logical. I fear littlefinger has miscalulated.

 

I'm really hoping there's a twist here. We've all been trained and prepared to accept Ramsay as a physically more abusive monster than Joffrey (who is really the biggest coward ever, just loud and obnoxious. Tommen showed more balls even climbing up the Sparrow stairs as ill-prepared/equipped and timid as he was). We've been trained and prepared to also expect Sansa as the eternal victimized party favor. Ramsay has gotten what he always wanted...being legitimized, but he's still acting intimidated and "oh crap, did I mess up?" whenever he's himself and Roose corrects him like he's still in finishing school and just slurped soup. I feel like if Roose knows how valuable Sansa is and how important it is that she be safe and unharmed in case any of those legendary Stark loyalties notice something iffy and turn on the Boltons, then Ramsay should be on his best behavior and corrected early enough before he messes up. I'm sure he can't hide his sociopathic tendencies completely, but I get a feeling that the stuff with his Nancy Spungen gets reversed in some weird peer-pressure undercover cop challenged to shoot someone type of scenario where Sansa has to come across messed up and eagerly wanting to join Ramsay in some hunter-torture stuff against her instead. It would kind of be like how Margaery learned how to play on Joffrey's sadistic tendencies with showing interest in the cross-bow, but I think Sansa would actually have to pull the trigger literally and metaphorically (and yeah, sex stuff too). 

 

I mean I hope we're supposed to see Sansa's arc as ceasing to be everyone's pawn, and she has gotten more comfortable with it all under Littlefinger's tutelage...and with LF not being around to turn to I can see her committing to some sick stuff just to survive until help finally arrives whether it's Theon, Littlefinger, Stannis, maybe Jon, and Brienne. Littlefinger is right, she's totally fine in Winterfell. In Kings Landing, she had no one to trust or at least no one that she knew of that she could. Littlefinger might not be aware of all of these parties, but Stannis coming in combination with mutually assured safety from House Bolton with Stark loyalists surrounding the place and the political importance of her make pretty great odds for her being okay for a long-enough period of time.

 

Man, I never saw Winterfell/The Wall/stuff in the North being the most interesting place where everything is happening, and now it is! The departure of Tywin and Tyrion has reduced Kings Landing as the eh it's okay place with anywhere Dany is remains the second most boring with teases of excitement only exceeded by wherever Bran is at any moment. So far, Dorne is hovering in the newness level of interest that each Esos city we're introduced to.

[S05.E04: The Sons Of The Harpy]

The Baratheons were allied with the Lannisters and Robert took the throne on the backs of Elia and her dead children.  They have good reason to hate the Baratheons.

 

 

Barristan told Dany her father was mad and cruel, I think he can be trusted to tell the truth.

I get that the Lannisters allied with the Baratheons, hence Cersei being set up to wed Robert, but I don't see why the Martells would hate them other than by association. I mean, I understand not jumping for joy at the Baratheon house, but I don't see any direct desire or reason to actively hate them particularly. It made sense for Oberyn to finally take his small council seat once Tywin came into town, but the Martells did not feel any need prior to that when Robert was in charge nor participate in any way allying with any of the other houses in season 2.

As I said with Barristan Selmy, I believe his word can be trusted, but I'm wondering if his, Jaime's and whomever else misinterpreted what they witnessed of Aerys as madness. The more I think about it, the more the "Mad King" sounds like an idea straight out of Tywin's playbook to position his family with the Cersei/Robert pairing while planting the seeds of doubt in other houses and Westeros that Aerys was unfit to rule.

[S05.E04: The Sons Of The Harpy]

What did Littlefinger say about Jon's parentage?  I just remember him raising his eyebrows when Sansa said Lyanna had been kidnapped and raped. And what does the identify of Jon's mother have to do with anything?  I don't understand how that could affect the overall story. 

 

I don't think Littlefinger said anything about Jon's parentage. This episode does have an awful lot of mentions of Lyanna and Rhaegar, though. Littlefinger made a point of talking up how beautiful Lyanna was and Rhaegar giving her that flower instead of his wife. He even sounded wistful about the story. It was Sansa who got all huffy and calling Rhaegar a rapist and kidnapper. Then later we hear Barristan Selmy talking to Dany about Rhaegar...and this is where it got really interesting. He talked about how Rhaegar abhored violence, though he was a great fighter. He spoke about how they sang songs in the streets, gave money to the poor, this and that feel good stories. To me, Littlefinger's word should always be suspect, but I'm pretty sure Barristan Selmy's word should ring true as he would have no reason to lie and with such a random story. So rapey kidnapper biggest-war-ever-starter who is peaceful, happy and generous sounds off bells and alarms in my head that there's some intentional misinformation and mystery out there both in Westeros and the real world.

 

All I know is that we're reminded again that Lyanna was betrothed to not-yet-King Bobby B. And Rhaegar was married to Elia Martell, who I think was Oberyn's sister. So it's like we're being recapped on why the Martells don't like shit above Dorne. I remember the Mountain was who Oberyn said was who killed her and he's Tywin's main attack dog, so I think maybe Tywin was the Mad King's Hand at the time. Okay, so that's the Martells hating Targaryens and Lannisters. I can't really think of a reason they'd hate the Baratheons. They probably don't since they weren't involved at all the first few seasons. It seemed like only once Tywin and the Lannisters solidified their place in Kings Landing did the Martells care.

 

I also recall from season 1, King Robert being down in those crypts with Ned reminiscing about Lyanna. He also talked about finally uniting their families together through Sansa and Joffrey. King Robert came across more obsessed with Lyanna than tragic soulmates ripped apart from each other based on Ned's reaction of silent nodding "sure, dude, whatever you say."  This episode made me look back at these earlier episodes tonight to see if they jibed. It made me think: Wait, wait wait! What if Bobby B and Lyanna were one of the bajillion arranged marriages/engagements we see happening where one of them just isn't into the other? I mean, Barristan Selmy was all like this was a good dude, Dany. A good dude. He sang songs. Bobby B wins the war and becomes king and I can see him rewriting the history books to make Rhaegar come across as a kidnapping rapist. He had the power to do something like that, the motivation because he was denied/was really into her, and he did go after every last Targaryen. Makes me also wonder if the Mad King really was mad, after all too, or if that could be another fabrication of the truth. I mean all the wildfire and stuff and witness by Jaime and some others do sound like he was insane...but maybe that's an embellishment too that was really desperation that turned into paranoia and actual insanity. 

[S05.E03: High Sparrow]

It's fairly obvious to me that the journey of the Stark children is the story. They have lost their their three parental figures (four if you count the old Maester) and they are being groomed separately as Jedi knights, each with specific and excellent capabilities. Banded together, they will be formidable.

I hope that's not the case. I felt like Ned's death and subsequent Stark events have been hammering away the point that honor and the traditional narrative of a main character/characters eventually coming out on top was being turned on it's head. Why should any of the Starks end up the final victor other than the viewers being weened that way in other stories? It seems like only in fiction are we all hooray for the true kings/tyrany/emperors/royalty, though in reality we're pretty opposed to it even if the ruling family seemed like good people. Varys seems like the narrator character trying to teach us the author's moral of the story - Honor, bad; warm and fuzzies nothing more. Good of the realm (the people) is what always really matters. Then there's Cersei's line: "When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die." and Ramsay's "If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." Those moments feel like the authors/writers/showrunners warning us.

My personal hope is that the end game puts no Houses in power. While all the richie-riches are getting the screen time, under the surface we have these scenes of unhappy citizens who couldn't care less about all the Houses drama and growing more and more bitter at their own lives being used as pawns as seen with the Brotherhood Without Banners. We also see that all that desperation has manifested itself in religions growing more powerful and influential. The economics of everything is shown through the Bank of Bravos being the true power as well as Dany's own growing pains of altruism and idealism being thwarted. It feels like everything is headed towards this climactic end that involves dragons, white walkers, gods where everyone goes down simultaneously and with a bittersweet ending for whom seem like the main protagonists of the whole story: Jon, Dany, Tyrion, Bran giving way to a newly fully democratic society in Westeros/Esos.

I'm biased, though...I LOATHE the entire Stark family except Benjen...and probably Jon who's totally growing on me now. The rest of the lot of them...served them right all of their fates. Sansa didn't deserve anything the most, but it's her family's tradition of being dumb and sheltered that left her ill-prepared for the real world. Same thing with Arya - her problem is that she thinks she's got the whole world figured out but she's just as ill-prepared. Robb and Bran are both entitled brats with zero appreciation for consequences while Rickon is off in his own world. That's what happens when mom and dad are all judgy-judge "Rah, Rah! The North!" of everyone around them and get to label it honor because their disdain of other people whom they all clearly think are below them is conveyed passive-aggressively as opposed to the Boltons, Baratheons, Targareyns (sp?), Tyrells, Lannisters, and Martells who aren't afraid to be looked upon as assholes.

[S05.E03: High Sparrow]

Yes, that's the difference, Jon has the Mormont sword, but the Stark VS sword never got to Robb after Ned's death. Families usually only have one of them, but now the Lannisters have two because Ned's sword was humongous.

I think the Lannisters are back at one...and that knife of Tyrion's that ended up with Littlefinger (last? I think?) Jaime gave the sword his father gave him (made from Ned's) to Brienne - Oathkeeper. I don't recall them having a Valyrian sword before Ned's. I thought Tywin made a point of that when he gave Jaime the sword...that he always wanted one in their family and now they finally did.

[The Kingpin: Just A Legitimate Businessman]

That's what I mean. It doesn't matter if they're repairmen or not/finished or intentionally did not because their whole purpose is to coerce and harass- rational people won't stick around out of just stubbornness, righteousness and pride. It's just not worth the grief.

 

I guess that I just can't equate keeping people supplied in illegal narcotics, stealing people for human trafficking, braking laws and bribing law-makers in order to keep yourself in the 1% is exactly the same as trying to keep people in their homes. Just because the apartment wasn't posh doesn't mean they should just move because someone richer wants their block. Nobu wanted the block and that apartment building was part of that block.

 

Foggy was right the first time; it would have been malfeasance not to fight a known and actionable slumlord like Tully. It was Wilson who upped the stakes and was the ultimate cause of misery in Elena and her neighbor's case. He even just killed Elena as bait, not giving a tinker's damn about anyone else but himself and Matt.

 

We're just going to have to have different views on this point.

It's cool. I guess I actually can equate the two because I see both sides equally providing/enabling the free will and choices to harm and endanger their fellow man/woman. For me, the sordidness of the acts themselves doesn't diminish the culpability of inaction and/or preservation by those who would oppose them. The greed and opportunism of the rich, I just see as survival of the fittest, dog-eat-dog. I figure that's the exact motivation as to why Matt and Foggy are doing what they're doing as attorneys (and Matt as Daredevil)...to do the same giving their community a better chance of survival and competing against those with more resources. I love the idea of the show arguing "What's fair? What's the point of fairness? Should fairness be a goal? Is it just? Is it a distraction?" that is what I'm taking away from the show as its theme.

[The Kingpin: Just A Legitimate Businessman]

Whether Fisk did it for the city/people or himself doesn't matter. Sure, he probably did do it for himself. Added bonus: people who are more inclined to have a higher probability to contribute to society will benefit. Is that fair to the people who spent their lives there? No, but life's not fair. We all have people coming in and out of our lives as we also do in others lives that can range from inconvenience to peril. Do the inconvenienced deserve to not be inconvenienced? No, but they do have the right to demand to not be, as Elena and those in similar situations represent. It's still poor decision-making, stubborn and emotional. It's not unlike the justness/unjustness of the law - the facts are, there's opportunity and value in those properties. It's current residents aren't capitalizing on it, but there are outside interests that are and will who have spent their time and resources towards goals that are selfish but probably domino into benefiting others. 

 

None of this defines Fisk as a villain - intent. The outside criminal organizations and murder do, of course, but not the "Oh the big bad man is being mean to an old lady" stuff. Foggy was right - it is his fault. He should have insisted on Elena taking the offer. Same goes for Karen. In their crusade to save the people of Hell's Kitchen, which could be construed as self-serving itself in the goal to feel relevant/have a purpose, these same people suffer just to motivate their own philosophies - not unlike Fisk. Fisk and his friends introduce drugs, violence and other elements that have traditionally brought down communities of people in order to achieve their goals of actually countering those very things. The same can be said of Karen, Matt and Foggy...all they're doing is enabling the same mindset within those communities to continue doing what they have been doing by bailing them out of life-changing moments and returning them to the comfortable familiar.

 

My experience with gentrification varies. More times than not, I've benefited from it solely as a consumer. Other times, I've felt the locations chosen may have been ill-advised/lame/fad-ish. Generally, though, I don't have a problem with the concept. Displacement, emotional-ties just doesn't sway me because the individuals and families involved are compensated, sometimes fairly, sometimes not, but if the parties agree to terms, it was their choice, coercion not withstanding. Emotional ties, memories, nostalgia, roots - they're intangible mental blocks and chemical secretions to the brain triggering feelings of longing/loss/euphoria - not unlike exactly what many cults, organizations and communities focus on in order to recruit/sustain themselves. Elena's fine living in a literal hole-in-the-wall, with no utilities running, surrounded by desperation and violence to the sides, above and below, and cooking daily meals elsewhere. The state of the building got ruined from negligence for many years and not just due to the Battle of New York. It doesn't matter why repairmen did show up and did not finish - there is no rational person that would want to live in those conditions if they had the means to leave. Fair or unfair compensation - she was offered something above her current means.

 

I guess I lean towards villainous tendencies. Heh.

[S01.E10: Nelson v. Murdock]

Truthful my ass. 

Episode 9: Burns Nabu alive.

Episode 10: "I don't kill people"... 

 

Amnesiac, much? Seriously, are we just supposed to overlook that he did that? 

Don't worry. He's gotten called out on his hypocrisy already and I'm sure it will continue to be addressed in further seasons. It's part of the character and not a writing oversight.

[S01.E13: Daredevil]

I think 14 is fine for the entire show based on if your 14-year old can handle two things: knowing and understanding the potential of the harshness humanity can do to one another in reality, and that the show is fiction and not reality.

 

There's no nudity. There are shirts coming off that are all obstructed and in zero ways sexual. I didn't notice a single titillating thing which I'm sure was intentional by production because it's completely unnecessary. There are less than a handful of sex scenes - I can think of...2 total...

and they're not even sex scenes; one is just a couple in bed hours after and the other is immediately post-coitus.

There's more sex in anything on broadcast tv or an episode of Animaniacs than this.

 

As for violence...I'm pretty sure you could see the same on broadcast television today, easily - probably, less blood, but the same.

 

I believe it's TV-MA due to blood and "shit". That's all. And I'm guessing "dick" and "dicks". It's not even a gore-fest, it's just actually depicting brutality more reasonably. There's way more graphic-ness in Hannibal than this. Keep in mind that there are horrific moments but they're purposeful and not gratuitous in the story. I'd hope your kid is horrified if he/she does see those - every viewer should be.

[S01.E06: Condemned]

I think they just wanted to allude to Fisk being "The Kingpin" and went with playing cards because that's how some (a lot?) of investigations like to illustrate power hierarchies. I'm only aware of the CIA/Homeland or was it Interpol doing so with Al Queda.

 

Why the King of Diamonds being the TOP TOP...I have no idea. I would have assumed it would be King of Spades, but then Aces are always higher than kings in just about every card game. I don't really know how that all works. I guess King of Diamonds because he's rich? His dad's cufflinks have diamonds? I don't know.

[S01.E12: The Ones We Leave Behind]

No! Man...I was really hoping that getting fired was a way to get him a job at the Daily Bugle and that we could see the character crossover into some of the other properties. I'm guessing that

Beardy Editor is going to become his spiritual successor next season.

[S01.E10: Nelson v. Murdock]

Also, drunk college Matt and Foggy walking down the path with the stick MAY have been a Mighty Ducks reference. I took it as one.

[Pat Kiernan: The MCU's Anderson Cooper]

Otherwise known as NY1 Reporter/Newscaster/Anchor.

 

I think he's been in enough of these movies/shows to get a name now.

 

And I still want another season of World Series of Pop Culture.

[S01.E13: Daredevil]

I don't know about that mask.

 

And I still have no idea what the costume looks like.

 

Wish they had 1 or 2 more episodes. That finale really rushed by waaaaaay too fast and conveniently to wrap everything up. They went from here's a bunch files and a sworn testimony to FBI mass raids in like an hour.

 

Am I to believe that Daredevil trusts Sergeant Honest that much to single-handedly handle Fisk's re-arrest? How did they not suspect that Fisk might possibly have a bunch of other people on their way. I mean all they knew for sure was that dude was unconscious. So??? That dude has like half the entire city working for him...AND we know that some of them were even less than 12 minutes away...NYC 12 minutes away, so that's like Right. Over. There. Assuming the helicopter is on top of a building, 12 minutes makes up the most of the time it would take to arrive at the building and go up the elevator.

 

I like the trio, but they all dicks for not inviting Marci to their champagne celebration.

 

I hope in Season 2 or later we get more Madame Gao. At the very least we should be getting retaliation from the Russian Mob and Yakuza. No way would they just let all the things Fisk did go nor give up whatever ventures they have in the area. I'm surprised they couldn't retaliate sooner; I thought it was just the Russian Mob, Triads and Yakuza in the Hell's Kitchen area that got taken down...there should be TONS more in the city to come in instead of Owlsly and Fisk just absorbing the responsibilities.

[The Kingpin: Just A Legitimate Businessman]

I don't remember much from Vincent's past acting...just that I recognize and remember him. After seeing the supporting cast of this show and the other villains introduced and fleshed out I was starting to worry that the actor might have a difficult time making Fisk believably more threatening than the other villains. VDO has been great! I love the nuanced stutters and little moments that humanize villains - they're not just 100% evil 24/7. The show put it best (paraphrased): "There isn't good or bad, there are just different agendas."

 

I actually found myself agreeing with Fisk's ideology pretty much the entire season. Was waiting for Matt or anyone to come up with a good counterargument but nothing they gave me was convincing...especially during all that tenement housing stuff. I'm sorry, but Elena's "This is my home" argument when it's a shithole, physically dangerous, necessitating cooking all your meals at a neighbor's, dirty running water, dangerous ne'er-do-wells, being not dissimilar to a number of other shitholes out there to choose from if one so wishes, and being paid what seemed like a relatively substantial amount (and then double that) to counter rent control elsewhere...I just can't sympathize.