Our new writer, Liam delivers a quick review with his thoughts on the Game of Thrones premiere.
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| I hope you have no trouble with villainous gingers. |
After a
year’s worth of frenzied speculation about the fate of characters, rumors, casting,
alleged set pictures, and leaks, Game of
Thrones has finally returned. The
battle for the Iron Throne continues as the creators continue their battle find
a way to tell a story that has managed to move ahead of its source material. Game of Thrones follows the tremendous and shocking
finale of last season with an episode that manages to address the questions
that were set up and leaves the viewer with just as many going forward.
“The Red Woman” had a lot of fan and critical
expectations to deal with, as most shows would following an episode like
“Mother’s Mercy”. I don’t envy their
position. The creators of this show were
in a delicate place. This episode has a lot to answer and set up, even without
having to juggle the dozens of characters who are on this show and where they
are in an hour of television. The last season of this show was not as great as
it could have been and led to a lot of people wondering whether they should
keep going. Done wrong, this episode could have been a total cluster fuck that
angers both viewers and critics, the moment where Game of Thrones jumped the
shark.
Thankfully,
the naysayers were wrong. Creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have managed to
do a solid job of addressing the questions posed by last season’s finale and of
setting up the rest of the season. The direction and visual effects of the
episode are great and manages to maintain the visual world that has been
established by the show. The
performances and characters are just as engaging as ever, especially Peter
Dinklage and Carice Van Houten. What is clear from this episode is that the
creators are now emboldened by the freedom of not having fans know what is
coming next. Like most great season premieres, I
finished the episode hungry to know what happens next.
Share this review, dragon master.
Score
-Liam S. O'Connor