Here are this week’s Thrones recaps and reviews:
Book Readers
James Hibberd – EW
James Poniewozik – TIME
Mo Ryan – AOL TV
Todd VanDerWerff – A.V. Club
Jace Lacob – Televisionary
Myles McNutt – Cultural Learnings
Elio & Linda – Westeros.org
New Viewers
Alan Sepinwall – HitFix
David Sims – A.V. Club
Scott Meslow – The Atlantic
Jennifer Braun – The NJ Star-Ledger
Larry Williams – OtakuASSEMBLE
Also of interest are these articles and interviews that pertain to episode eight.
Cast of Thrones interviews Miltos Yerolemou
Hibberd talks with the producers about Drogo’s fight scene
Lacob breaks down the handling of sex and violence in Thrones
And, last but not least, we have this weeks’ Inside the Episode with producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and director Dan Minahan.
Loading ...
50 Comments
James Hibberd, marry me :D
Sorry folks for the incoveniance but I had urge to write it down.
The RabbitQuote Reply
OMG Larry Williams cracks me up!
“Snow zombies!…Zombies!” XD
The Winter RoseQuote Reply
HAHA!!! I love Hibberd! My favorite line was in his P.S. …
“You’re still thinking about Hodor aren’t you? Fine. You want to hear an impression of Hodor having sex? OK, it goes like this: “Hodor! Hodor! Hodor! Hodor!…”
LMAO!!! This guy needs a raise – immediately!
Starky StarkQuote Reply
The ravens dispatching from Winterfell was one of the most epic scenes so far. When Robb says “call the banners” the viewer doesn’t really understand just how many — until you see all those birds. Then you realize this is some serious shit. You hear the dead king’s words, “there’s a war comin’.” You can feel it’s all about to come to a head. The Starks and The Lannisters. Robb and Jaime. Robb and Tywin. The Mountain. Ned and Cersei. The children stuck in the middle. The vast expanse of Westeros in the opening credits. The majestic yet solemn music. Goosebumps.
Here’s how Hibberd saw it:
I love this guy.
Mike ChairQuote Reply
zombies…….SNOW ZOMBIES!!!!
JaedenQuote Reply
Just want to add – Game of Thrones was nominated for Best Drama Series for the Critics Choice Awards!
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/06/critics-choice-television-awards/
MeteorologyQuote Reply
Hibberd’s “r-mail that can poop on you” comment was priceless. I’m usually up til 3am every Sunday night cause after I watch GoT, Treme and The Killing, I watch GoT a second time and then search twitter for Hibberd’s review. (and come here too!) He cracks me up man!
The Atlantic review/recap is excellent, btw. and Poniewozik’s I also never miss.
MetalgoddessAMBQuote Reply
Milton interview is GOLD. Loved every second of it.
SheepHappensQuote Reply
Just a heads up, but anyone who enjoys these post-episode reviews should definitely check out the scifichristian’s review channel on YouTube. You get the perspective of both a reader and a non-reader, and it’s always entertaining.
Link for first and second episode reviews:
Pastor_of_MuppetsQuote Reply
I love Hibbard, the dude’s hilarious!!! Best line ever:
“Meanwhile Bran is in his room when all of a sudden some child just wanders into our scene and started talking to him…”
EdQuote Reply
Forgot the link!
http://www.youtube.com/user/thescifichristian#p/u/11/gxMuE95aDKY
Reviews should definitely be added in among the round-up.
Pastor_of_MuppetsQuote Reply
Larry Williams, thank you for making my Mondays excellent for the past several weeks.
And I’ve been cracking up randomly all afternoon thanks to the EW reader mentioned by Hibberd that mistakenly identified Westros’ favorite painkiller as “milk of the puppy.”
Cameron RasmussonQuote Reply
Well, Mo is still firmly on board this week—-no surprise since she is a book fan of the first order—but, unlike Ned, I’m not eager to forgive her treachery in episodes one through six. Now, she’s loving everything, and everything she’s not loving, she’s rationalizing, including Dinklage’s accent. Mo, Mo, Mo….too little, too late. News just in: GOT is monumentally great. Unfortunately, this is the news from April 20, not June 6.
DH87Quote Reply
Larry Williams was awesome as usual. On top of that he might be filming himself watching episode 9, which should be especially insane given that Ned’s one of or his very favorite characters, and his death will probably hit him like a ton of bricks.
AegonerQuote Reply
Aegoner,
yes, EVERYONE PM Larry so he’ll film himself watching the next episode. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ll grab a few beers and a bucket of chickenwings and sit for an hour watching someone else watching Game of Thrones.
KnurkQuote Reply
PMing Larry is the first thing I did after watching: it would be so good. Flood his inbox, people!
EvilPicnicQuote Reply
Treachery? giving a B- to episodes 1-6 = treachery?
GOT is very good. And its been getting better the last few episodes. Why constantly rip on the woman who honestly gave her assessment , gave (what are admittedly the weaker episodes) a decent grade and explicitly stated it was a series worth watching.
I don’t get the Mo Ryan hate. There were so many lazy, poorly thought out reviews to pick on, why dwell on one of the decent ones.
IngrinQuote Reply
I hope Larry Williams decides to film himself watching the next two episodes. That should be very entertaining.
As an aside, I hope others were able to catch some of the “D-Day to Berlin” series which aired this weekend for the anniversary of D-Day. It is narrated by none other than our beloved Ned Stark, Sean Bean. His voice has the perfect gravitas for that story.
LangkardQuote Reply
Ingrin,
Because everything she hated on was clearly a book reader’s nitpickery. She found the tiniest, silliest things to go off on a tangent about, which would usually take up at least a quarter of her reviews. She holds GoT to standards set in her own head from reading the books, and it’s not fair to the show.
No reviewer who has never read the books is lamenting about how underwhelming Winterfell or King’s Landing or the throne room are, or how the private quarters in the Red Keep look like something out of a hotel room, or how Tyrion’s accent is all wrong, etc. This is silly stuff that belongs on a social site like this, not on a review about a TV show BASED on a book.
GreatjonQuote Reply
I’m a nerd but reading through the comments here since production on GoT began I can understand why people would want to beat nerds up.
For all of Larry Williams enthusiasm over the show(and probably the animes and mangas that he reviews) I like that he’s self-aware enough to realize that it’s possible to go overboard and drive people away from the shows/comics/books that you love. If I wasn’t already a fan of the books I’d probably be more turned off by fan comments here than any of Mo Ryan’s reviews.
cersei’sladypartsQuote Reply
Larry Williams is a bad ass.
I really hope they don’t rush the second season. I don’t care if it takes 2 years as long as it’s good, because it’s not like they can go back and remake it.
Same things with the books as well. GRRM Screw the complainers take your time and write good stuff.
GhostQuote Reply
I think most of Mo Ryan’s comments on the first few episodes were spot on. I love the book series, and I love the show. But it was far from perfect at the beginning and has really hit a different gear as of late. Episodes two and three, in particular, were clunky and exposition heavy. The material dictated that they be to a degree, but no, they weren’t handled as deftly as these past few.
Mo was right. It was a good series at the beginning with a potential to be great, and while I wouldn’t call it great yet (in comparison to the best drama winners year after year), I would say that it’s well on its way. And even it never becomes the best show on TV, who cares because it’s still damn fun to watch.
But I respect Mo Ryan, and the fact that she is recognizing how much better it’s getting means a lot. It’s means she had her doubts or reservations and is being won over by the adaptation. That’s good!
Brandon StarkQuote Reply
OMG!
Larry Williams: It’s a sigh of relief to see that Robb has someone who he can trust at his back. (His comment on Theon Greyjoy)
My face: D:
Can’t wait for his Season 2 reviews. It’s going to be so great!
DelQuote Reply
Del,
Del, I had the same look on my face!!
You know, I think I’d rather Larry edit his viewing the show to just the OMG moments. I’d better pm him!
Raquel DoddQuote Reply
Honestly…after seeing the first six episodes, I thought Mo Ryan was spot on about a number of things. Granted, my mark per episode would have been higher here and there, but I felt she got the general value of each episode in relation to the others exactly right (5 being the best, followed by 1, 6, 4, 3, then 2) and had some valid critiques (along with some I disagreed with, i.e. Dinklage as Tyrion). I found I ended up aligning with her views more than most other recappers for the initial batch of eps.
Just cause she wasn’t as enthused about the first six episodes as some of the other recappers have been doesn’t invalidate her opinion. I find this kind of reaction to negative but constructive feedback really detrimental to judging the show fairly on its own. Frankly, the kind of blind love for the show in your post and your refusal to accept differences in opinion is more damaging to the reputation of us book-readers than Ryan’s constructive critique is to the show.
JCQuote Reply
Larry is my family’s favourite Monday treat. :)
I think I’ve read through all of these , now..I always enjoy Myles McNutt, Hibberd and Poiewozik , and I think many of us have been a bit hard on Mo Ryan in the past; after all, she does like the show.
Scott Meslow is the only one who mentions, ” Someone kicks Ned. Why?”
purplejilly , where are you ? … I think we could answer him .. Someone kicks Ned so that Ned looks up ,then the someone (whose face we don’t see ) waves the torch past Ned’s head so he can identify him …And Meslow definitely thinks the Hodor scene was only there to fill a nudity quota . Makes you wonder what was cut out when they decided to move the Tyrion/Bronn scene and the meeting with Shagga up from Ep. 7 to Ep.8 ?
obsidianQuote Reply
Lacob’s is a wee bit spoilery – is it intended only for people who have read the books?
EleanorQuote Reply
James’ “Obi-Nun Kanobi” was my favourite of all times.
JennyQuote Reply
If I didn’t want many seasons of the show for my own selfish reasons, I would want them so that I could continue to see Larry’s reactions. There are just so many things that are coming that he’ll love/hate/jump up and down about. <3
McSherrieQuote Reply
Allright people, it’s ratingsday (my favourite, because it usually falls on the same day as tweet-day!). My prediction? I’m in a very good mood and say 2.8 or higher! I’m basing this on the steady 2.4 million of last week, despite going from 1.2 to 0.9 in the 18-49 demo (people who probably (hopefully) used HBOGO and now tuned back ing).
KnurkQuote Reply
Knurk,
I’d like it to be 2.8, but that seems optimistic.
I’ll say 2.4 initial showing (3.2 combined with encore). That seems to be the core audience. Hopefully now that the action has set in, others will start watching.
However, I don’t expect a huge bump until DVDs hit.
ingrinQuote Reply
On the subject of ratings, UK summary table updated:
Table updated to include Episode 8 overnights, and Epsiode 6 combined totals.
First column are confirmed weekly totals (bracketed = confirmed first showing figures)
[figures in these brackets are overnight figures for first airing and % of totall viewing]
Eps 1 – we 24Apr …….. 1,852,000 (1,454,000) ……. [743,000 3.2%]
Eps 2 – we 01May ……. 1,641,000 (1,158,000) ……. [531,000 2.1%]
Eps 3 – we 08May ……. 1,584,000 (1,156,000) ……. [506,000 1.9%]
Eps 4 – we 15May ……. 1,352,000 (1,116,000) ……. [628,000 2.6%]
Eps 5 – we 22May ……. 1,429,000 (1,091,000) ……. [522,000 2.2%]
Eps 6 – we 29May ……. 1,621,000 (1,182,000) ……. [626,000 2.6%]
Eps 7 – we 5 June …………………………………….. [527,000 2.0%]
Eps 8 – we 12 June …………………………………….. [523,000 2.2%]
As raised by Steelwind last week, the overnights seem to jump around a bit – although the average seems reasonably indicative in and around the 520k mark. My guess is that they are put together on the basis of a relatively small sample, and the upscaling sometimes produces those marked jumps of 100k.
It looks – fingers crossed – that the season finale may at least hit the episode 1 figures, which would actually be a pretty decent result, especially given how heavily trailed the preview was.
Not sure on how Ep7 figures will be detailed – as that week included a catch-up back-to-back screening of episodes 1-6 on Sky Atlantic. That could skew the figures somewhat for that week.
Martin EQuote Reply
I view Mo’s criticism as inordinately influential in the crucial first half of the season. Everyone who had been following the show’s production knew she was anticipating the show, was very favorably disposed toward it, knew a great deal about its run up to airing. A B- from her was far more damning than some of the clueless whining of the I Hate Fantasy crowd. I agree with Greatjon that she focused disproportionately on small niggling criticisms. It’s hard not to wonder at her coincidental jump on the bandwagon once the weekly recappers (EW.com, EOnline, Vulture, etc.) started raving about the show. The award nominations don’t hurt either. (The Critics Circle didn’t need to wait for Episodes 7 and 8 to nominate the show, did they?) Mo has two choices—acknowledge that she was off the mark for someone so knowledgeable about the show or declare that the show had suddenly improved. And remember, I predicted by episode 7 that she’d find the show “remarkably improved” for the Season 2 opening, for the same reason (media/critic/fan/audience drumbeat)—to avoid admitting she was wrong. I was just off on the timing. The show “improved” starting with Episode 7, the first one she hadn’t viewed when she gave her pre-premiere Metacritics assessment.
So welcome aboard the love train, Mo. It’s crowded now, but, hey, better late than never.
DH87Quote Reply
If I had to bet I’d say 2.5, with 3.4 combined with encore
More Rice CooksQuote Reply
Mo has been judging the show more severely than others because she had the highest expectations of it.
while others started from the position of “is this show good?”, she started more from “is this show perfect? because i believe it has the potential to be the best thing ever and that’s what i’ll be evaluating it against”.
is that a fair position to take? it’s debatable but probably not.
however, it’s HONEST.
all the ppl accusing her of being a bandwagon-jumper and of being the “late lord mo” are way off and doing themselves, and mo, a huge disservice.
while I haven’t agreed with many of her complaints(or, mostly, about how much they affect my enjoyment of the show) they have all been valid concerns and they’ve been well presented.
grandmaFunkQuote Reply
Well, if a critic isn’t fair, what makes her different from all of the great unwashed masses with an opinion? What makes Mo’s “this should be perfect and it isn’t, so B- for GOT” different from Ms. WSJournal’s roundly mocked and condemned “I hate fantasy so GOT sucks” “review”? Setting some arbitrary, undefended standard, then judging against it is what internet commenters do, not media critics . :)
DH87Quote Reply
DH87,
I think that the major difference comes from the way in which the opinion is expressed. If WSJ had just said “I hate fantasy so GoT sucks” there would have been some reaction, but it would have died quickly – much like the reaction to Mo not loving on the show all along has gotten.
Instead, WSJ decided to make it personal. She attacked not the show, but the genre and the fans. This last is what got her the incredible response – not just here, but on many social networking sites as well. If she had kept it impersonal… Much easier to shrug off and move on.
McSherrieQuote Reply
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/06/07/cable-top-25-pawn-stars-spongebob-wwe-raw-top-weekly-cable-viewing/94864/
gives a number of 2.715 million for GoT. i think that’s more than last week..
johnQuote Reply
john,
well I was close!
KnurkQuote Reply
I looked back at the other episodes ratings, and it seems like if the 2.7mill is accurate, it’s the highest ever for GoT (initial airing).
And some people were saying the show would lose viewers because of the sexposition scene…
johnQuote Reply
If it is true – it is great!!!
The RabbitQuote Reply
Knurk,
Yes, you were—good guess. Great performance (against last week’s 2.4) despite the primetime- leading NBA play off game that pulled a 13.18 in the 9 PM EDT slot on ABC.
The building drama and word of mouth, is sending things in the right direction. Care to hazard a guess for the finale? :)
Also, FWIW, that exceeds True Blood’s highest rated episode, out of 12, of its first season (ep. 11, 2008, 2.67 million). Good omen!
DH87Quote Reply
DH87,
3.2, so it’ll end up being 3.1 and almost equalling Boardwalk Empire.
KnurkQuote Reply
I think the ratings for next season will be huge. The DVDs/Blu-rays of S1 will attract a lot of viewers.
johnQuote Reply
That seems entirely possible, since the NBA play-offs, I assume, will be over by then (two weeks from now), won’t they?
One thing about TB—it never goes up against a big sporting event in the USA, as Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones have had to do. It faces no real sustained competition in its time slot in June/July/August.
DH87Quote Reply
Very late to the posting game this week, but the episode review/recap for The Two Cents is here
On a side note, I still don’t quite understand how Robb just has 700 ravens lying around (one helluva coop…)…
MegTTCQuote Reply
Robb mother-fucking Stark. Yes Larry, I concur.
Same. He’s gonna get a nasty shock. Poor guy. :L
BroQuote Reply
I loved Larry’s reaction to the Greatjon:
“1) this guy’s really crazy, 2) this guy’s a drunk, 3) I fucking love this guy!”
LexQuote Reply
Once again I must recommend Hey Don’t Judge Me’s recaps for this list, because they are funny as hell. Or Hibberd’s, even. Plus she’s a non-reader!
Maxwell JamesQuote Reply
I was unhappy with Mo Ryan’s review before I watched the first few episodes – because I wanted the show to be perfect – but found myself agreeing with her after I watched them. The second half of the season is, imo, much better (she did mention in her first review that episodes 5 and 6 (the only one of half 2 she had seen) were better than 1-4), so it’s not surprising that her reviews are more favorable.
raliaQuote Reply