Myriad

I liked the ending scene with Arya on the boat. It was beautifully shot, and looking at this while listening to the music helped with digesting all that went on during the episode. It was an intense finale, lots of stuff going on, lots of little tears running down my cheeks. There will be a rewatch where details stand out more, but for now I'm not ready to think that Tyrion killed Shae in self-defense. While she did try to attack first, the violence on Tyrion's part looked to me like sheer desperation, humiliation, an bold emotional move. Shae, who he had tried to protect from death, was by now at her second treason. The way he said "I'm sorry" twice after the fact sold it for me, show-wise, that he fully intended to kill her no matter whether she grabbed the knife or not. Not consequent to that but related, a TV show with so many villains/gray characters needs to have good people to keep the audience. Their good person was beheaded in S1, and there hasn't been any since. My thinking is that seeing how Dinklage became wildly popular, he was then their chosen anchor for this goal. They kind of did the same with Sansa, too, although Dinklage's charisma is by far the strongest one.

Emerson is an acting god, and I derive tremendous pleasure seeing him behind Finch's vests and ties. I have a personal irony story behind this character, that other viewers may share. Back in the days when he was the lovingly terrible Benjamin Linus, Emerson gave an interview in which he disclosed his sheer ignorance of all things having to do with... oh, god... computers. An endearing doofus just about able to send emails and read the news. I've been laughing my ass off since 2011 seeing him in this role. And he sells Finch so well.

Don't know yet, I've only watched the first two episodes so far. Seeing as I procrastinated on watching the second, it's hard to say that the pilot was a success here. I was dragged in only because of "Desmond" - shared with a curiosity of what Paige Turco could do besides being Zoe in Person of Interest. She did not disappoint me at all, very powerful and eclectic actress. Ian Cusick, on the other hand, I'm beginning to wonder if Desmond wasn't the role of his life and the best he could do. I keep rooting for him but he keeps disappointing, yet I don't know if it's the actor or the material that is a problem. Maybe he has this niche where he's naturally good at playing long-haired, rugged loner who goes sympathetically unhinged at times. I give new shows five episodes before giving up, unless the pilot is so appalling that you'd rather walk with your grandma's prom dress in a bar rather than watching again.

I used to hate her too, right when she was introduced last season in that episode where our regular characters acted as guest stars. Has it changed? Only slightly. As in very very very slightly. There have been a couple of scenes where, strangely enough, she didn't send me running away from my screen, arms in the air, screaming, or just stay there and seethe in a basin of hot, boiling frustration. It's like they should rewind and try again, because they did it all wrong. Starting from the actress, who for some weird reason opted to be a feminine clone of Reese adorned with some Stanton colours. Although, maybe the actress shouldn't take 100% of the blame, as it may have been a writers/director decision. Either way, it's still a failure in my eyes. The plot serves her, she doesn't serve the plot. I understand that you also hate Root, but the reason I can enjoy Root is that she does take the plot forward, she does play a valid role, and we can say that without Root, a whole part of the story could not be told. Shaw? Remove her and the only thing that it changes is that we would get more Reese, which, you know, hello, writers? Was part of the leads from the start. I can only grudgingly admit that she wasn't as bad in the last episode, even slightly more relevant. Then I discovered two things. First, I'm playing hard to get with her. I don't want to like her at all because somewhere my 5-year-old self wants to hold grudges and pout. Second, although the banter between Reese and her worked well in that scenario, I'm afraid that the writers will super dooper overuse that kind of relationship and force Shaw on us even further. I don't like that she diminishes people on a continual basis, it's not something fun to watch. And morally, I don't agree that she'd be the one to consistently bash Reese, when he's so far ahead of her psychologically and emotionally, with at least as much, if not more, damaging experiences behind him. She's not an organic addition to this show, and they might get their footing right in the long run, but I doubt I'll ever become a supporter of this... this... frustrating new character prompted by a wife's protests to get more attractive ladies amongst the regulars. Gah!

CBC has listed their 7 anticipated match-ups and reunions for the upcoming season. http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/arts/the-buzz/2014/04/game-of-thrones-7-anticipated-match-ups-and-reunions-in-season-4.html Watching the two-scene video with Arya and The Hound makes one feel as if there never had been this loooong year of nothing since the last finale. They are so entertaining together -- oh, right, and so are Jaime and Brienne, on a completely different level.