SeanC

The camera certainly loves Priyanka Chopra in that swimsuit (with good reason). This week in the FBI's counterproductive training program, apparently you can get reprimanded for following the instructions. That's totally not a terrible message for a school to send when many of its exercises involve risks to the students. Though at the same time, you would think more of them would have realized by now that all of these big tests seem to involve some sort of mind-game with the recruits.

"This campaign, like 3 out of 5 Backstreet Boys, is inconsequential." So will we be seeing more of Mary-Lynn Rajskub?

I wasn't sure about seeing this at first, because, despite the good reviews, I thought the trailers didn't look all that good. But I guess I owe Johnny Depp an apology, because I thought his performance looked very gimmicky from the trailer, but he was actually quite good.

The episode was pleasant enough, with the exception of Ross. Between her and Katrina, this show's otherwise good casting department really doesn't seem able to find a compelling white woman to save its life (and I've liked Nikki Reed in other roles, but nothing about this performance is working; granted, the writing for her isn't great either, but some natural charisma would go a long way).

Per Lysa herself, he was perfectly "dutiful". Catelyn wondered whether her not being a virgin was an issue, but I'd think that, as much as anything, it's that he was a very old man who had a busy job. Arryn appears to have been voluntarily single (perhaps for a good while) before he married Lysa, so it doesn't look like he was interested in having another wife; he married her because Hoster Tully insisted if he was to join the rebellion. Littlefinger didn't send an assassin after Bran.

The show's take on Mace just bugs me. He's not funny, and he's so cartoonish that he undermines the whole Tyrell faction.

That's definitely one of the purposes, along with forming part of the basis for the especially close relationship between Jon and Arya.

That was a great Matthew McConaughey impression, I will say. Watching Glee for most of its run has caused me to have an allergic reaction any time a Ryan Murphy show tries to talk about feminism, given the sexism that permeated almost every facet of that show's writing for most of its run.

Yeah, I've never understood how readers can do that. We have Catelyn's POV; she unequivocally refers to all of her children as Ned's.

Wrong. There are lots of Arryns left; Robert/Robin and Harry are merely the last descendant of Jasper Arryn. And even more female-line claimants who may be more immediate. There is no reason that a maternal cousin of the last lord with no notable Arryn ancestry or connection to the Vale would ever be considered.

Theon was perfectly within his rights to go against the Starks; he didn't owe them anything. Theon's crimes are those things that would be crimes even if he'd never met them, e.g., killing civilians, sexual violence in wartime, etc. And Sansa never left her "original captors"; Tyrion merely joined up, and while he was kinder than the others (which is to say, not deliberately sadistic), their interests were never remotely aligned. Tyrion wanted the Lannisters to win; had he learned at any point that Sansa was trying to escape, he would have stopped it.

Theon was forbidden to leave Robb's camp until Robb let him go. He remained a hostage, albeit one whose status was more complicated.

I cannot recall ever seeing a bigger disparity in screen charisma between two series leads than the gap between Alexander and Stapleton in this show. The latter is just an utter bore. Somebody should do a running Blindspot vs. Quantico feature to decide which depicts the FBI as more incompetent in a given week. Blindspot makes a strong case this week, as the team just drags Jane, who is a key asset and known to be under threat from mysterious forces, around on a hunt for dangerous people, but they refuse to arm her or even given her mobile communications equipment (even when they're leaving her completely alone in the field).

Sansa is ahead of the Blackfish. I'm sure they will, both because of the filming info we have about them both filming at the Winterfell set, and because interacting with Littlefinger is most probably the crux of Sansa's book arc, which the writers will probably try to pivot back to after the Jeyne Poole diversion. How Littlefinger and the Valemen fit into all the other stuff happening in the North, I honestly have no idea.

Baelish is an exception? Whut? And on what basis do you think Robb would have raped his bride?

Yes, she is, on the point that she was abducted and married at swordpoint. Yes, he is. He is part of the regime. He's one of her nicer jailers, but he's still one of them. No, that was not his motivation. Never once does he think that. Um, Sansa was most definitely under guard. She just found a way out regardless. Theon Greyjoy was a hostage to Robb Stark.

Nope. Lysa made him Lord Protector while she was alive. Nope to both of those. Sansa is not in the line of succession to the Vale at all (well, maybe very, very distantly via her descent from Lorra Royce), and Baelish being her uncle-by-marriage gives him absolutely zero claim to anything she is in line for.

Yeah, that's how I always read LF in the book. He understands the limits on what he can do publicly as a result of his station, and uses highborn assets to do what he cannot. He clearly wants an audience for his genius, but he's got Sansa for that.

True enough.

It's very different. I don't see how you can possibly read the books and think GRRM means for you to think that Sansa's marriage is no different from any other. Sansa is like Lady Hornwood. Oh please. Tyrion is a willing member of the Lannister regime, and in marrying Sansa he is carrying out the wishes of the regime. If he doesn't want to be associated with their crimes against Sansa, he needs to stop associating with them. Sansa is a hostage. Nobody calls Romeo a rapist because Juliet wanted to marry him. Ages are different in Westeros (though it's noted that Sansa is unusually young even by those standards). The far more relevant factor is that Sansa is a hostage. She cannot consent to marry Tyrion for that reason. Of course, part of her enthusiasm for the Tyrell marriage is the prospect of escaping KL, so in a sense there's also pressure there, but the fact remains that she wants that marriage, and doesn't want Tyrion (or any Lannister). Again, who is saying this? Um, seriously? Baelish is roundly and rightly condemned for his behaviour toward Sansa. Yes, for the same reason as Tyrion: Baelish is holding her hostage.

Honestly, I would think the risk of detection by any means other than somebody barging into their room is pretty low, seeing as I doubt it would ever occur to most people that the cadet is actually twins pretending to be the same person. It's too out-there. More likely she'd just be written off as mercurial.

No, they're not. There is a damn huge difference between ordinary arranged marriages where the bride may not be in love with the new hubby and a marriage where the husband's family murdered the bride's father, took her hostage, beat and abused her, and then threatened her with more physical abuse unless she went through with the ceremony. There is no sense in which you could say Ned Stark would be considered a rapist. Drogo and Robert are, because they forced themselves on their wives. Why do you think that? I imagine most Westerosi grooms and brides are businesslike about the whole matter (though nervous, particularly in the bride's case). Sansa didn't consent.

So Booth has to lie and say Alex did it so that...she can continue investigating the terrorist attack whilst on the run from the FBI who are distracted from the real threat because they're chasing her? The FBI's finest, ladies and gentlemen. Edit: I actually do enjoy the show so far, but the main plot is very silly and straining to justify its "lone agent on the run" scenario.

In the show. Not the books. Nobody was arguing he loved Catelyn in anything resembling a healthy manner; he was obsessed with her, and is obsessed with Sansa. And it certainly doesn't mean Sansa's safe from harm around him (consider all that she's already suffered as a result of his desire for her); but it does mean he's not just going to cavalierly get rid of her. She's the fulfillment of a personal desire. No, it didn't. You seem to be conflating the show and the books, and the show Littlefinger (who didn't even say "Only Cat") definitely did not have any sort of plan when he kissed Sansa and killed Lysa -- hence, why he needed to be saved by Sansa. The writers confirmed outright he had no plan and no idea that Sansa would help him out. Er, no, that's not how that works. Generally the regent for a child heir is the mother. There's no such thing as an automatic lord protector role for the regent's uncle-by-marriage.

You're kind of meant to question the whole ethos of the war on drugs, and certainly not meant to regard del Toro and Brolin as "alpha male heroes". As for her being a sexist stereotype, Villeneuve actually had to fight to cast a woman in the lead role. The studio wanted to cast a man.