Game of Thrones Season 8 (2019) (1 Viewer)

[Hollywoodaholic]

It's fun to finally really have an EVENT series moment again, and I don't know how they'll measure viewership, but I expect the live viewing to be the highest for a series in ages. My son even came home from college just to watch with me on the big screen at home.

 

[TonyD]

I watched the previous season finale last night so now I’m all caught up and will be watching live for the first time tonight.

 

[Carabimero]

I watched the previous season finale last night so now I’m all caught up and will be watching live for the first time tonight.

Same for me. First time I ever subscribed to HBO in my life. Live for the first time tonight.

 

[Tino]

Great episode. Lots of seeds being planted for upcoming events.

Best shot
The Dragon/Jon Snow stare-down!

 

[TonyD]

They upped the game on those opening credits.

 

[JimmyO]

I hope that new opening sequence grows on me. I didn't like it much. Not that it matters, because it sure doesn't.

edit: literally typing about the same thing as you just now Tony.

 

[Michael Fennessy]

No spoilers other than sloooooooow episode. With only 6 this season I'm surprised they wasted this episode. Felt like the last breath before the plunge without the fear/excitement which I began the episode with. I'll let others discuss the content. I am just baffled by the overall feel of an epuepis so close to the finale

 

[Wayne_j]

I think they just needed a bunch of exposition to take place to set up the events of the rest of the season so they dumped it all into this episode.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Great episode. Lots of seeds being planted for upcoming events.

HBO really upped the budget for this season, and every dollar is on screen.

This episode was essentially a table-setting episode: Last season ended with lot of pieces moving around the board, and this episode captured where they all landed. Lots of really important reunions after long separations, and lots of really important introductions between characters that we've been following for seasons who'd never met before. After the hyper-accelerated pacing of last season, this episode felt like a return to the more deliberate pacing of the earlier seasons -- even though a whole lot happened.

But even though there were no major action sequences, the sophistication of the production continues to grow. If the earlier seasons felt more like a motion picture than a television series, this feels more like a tentpole blockbuster than a regular motion picture. Winterfell feels like a complete world.

And even though the white walkers didn't even appear in this episode, they've never felt more threatening.

They upped the game on those opening credits.

Yes they did. It feels like they upped their game on everything. Given that this episode only took place in two locales, and given that's likely to be true for the next couple episodes, it made sense to explore those locales in more detail.

 

[Greg.K]

Great episode. Lots of seeds being planted for upcoming events.

Best shot
The Dragon/Jon Snow stare-down!

Jon, you’re kissing your aunt, and I think the dragon knows it. Haha.

How about Jaime seeing Bran for the first time since pushing him out the window.

 

[Sam Posten]

Party: A+

Episode, b-

 

[BobO'Link]

Quick observations:

I do not like the new open.

The episode had too much filler... OK... *way* too much filler for such a short season. The open sequence (getting everyone to Winterfell and the introductions) went on far too long. Like Bran said: "We don't have time for this..."

Some really good scenes and nice little one-liner throw away type lines.

I agree with Sam's grading of the episode (and would almost want to give it a C+ were it not for certain events). Maybe I expected too much (OK... not really as I've not been impressed with the showrunners abilities to somewhat independently write the story since they ran out of book - still a very good show, just not as good as those first 4 seasons). I wanted better with a very short final season.

 

[Wayne_j]

I somehow missed that

Spoiler

it was Jaime who arrived at the end of the episode because I didn't recognize him with that beard. Then I watched some youtube post shows and people were talking about it.

 

[TonyD]

How do you miss that though?

 

[Wayne_j]

I honestly don't know. I was like why are Bran and that guy looking at each other?

 

[JimmyO]

He obviously hasn't watched the series since David Benioff and Dan Weiss ran out of books from which to draw plotting, pacing, and dialog. IMHO, they don't have the chops to sustain it that long without Martin's prose guiding the way. So... it's all Martin's fault for not getting off his duff and writing those final books. It's not like he didn't have warning they were catching up to what he'd written.

Yup. He's been teasing all these great plans he has for all these characters, but if you're going to allow several years to pass before continuing the actual work, I'm not sure how he expected the series to keep going.

The minute that the show caught up to the books, he wasn't really needed any more. The man deserves his accolades, but he also seems to love the spotlight that his past work has put on him, and spends a ton of time traveling, doing interviews, attending conventions, and just talking about what he will do one day.

If they are doing spinoffs and he's been hired to consult/produce or whatever, that is the nail in the coffin for expecting these stories to get finished. If they do get finished, it won't be by him.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I honestly don't know. I was like why are Bran and that guy looking at each other?

Jamie crippled Bran all the way back in episode 1.

 

[Wayne_j]

I know that, I just didn't recognize him.

 

[Josh Dial]

HBO really upped the budget for this season, and every dollar is on screen.

I thought this episode looked relatively cheap (when compared with previous episodes). The dragon riding green screen was noticeably bad.

The writing continues to be pedestrian since they ran out of Martin's words. "Come warm your queen"? That is network TV level. The directing was average, too (David Nutter has never once impressed me with a single shot).

The opening credits, however, were stellar.

 

[JimmyO]

I almost expected Arya and Hound to share a little hug in their reunion, and I have no idea why because it would make no sense at all.