Game of Thrones: Second Sons

GAME OF THRONES: 3.08 “Second Sons”

Game of Thrones this week was a tightly focused episode. Aside from the opening scene with Arya and the Hound, and the exciting and heroic closing scene with Sam and Gilly, all the action took place in three locations; Dragonstone, King’s Landing, and outside of the walls of Yunkai. Don’t get me wrong, I love this show and episodes that are packed full of more scenes and characters are often very good, but I think this show particularly excels when it has a chance to slow down and focus on only a handful of storylines at once (see last year’s Blackwater, still possibly the best episode of the series so far.) So the added focus helped here, particularly since the acting in the three stories they focused on was so strong.

First, to Dragonstone, where Gendry is inspected by Stannis, before being carried away to a well appointed room full of fine clothes and food. Melisandre explains that she must keep  the boy calm before his “sacrifice,” but something about this plan bothers Stannis enough to drive him down into the dungeon to attempt to justify his decision to Davos, his living yet imprisoned conscience. It’s a great scene, with Stannis wavering back and forth between what he knows is right and his desire for the power and influence that Melisandre continues to promise him. Davos respectfully but forcefully exposes Stannis’s feeble justifications and forces the King to view Gendry as a boy, as his nephew, rather than a strategic piece of equipment that can be sacrificed for some indeterminate advantage in war. It appears that Davos partially wins out, saving Gendry from a sacrificial death, at least for now, though Melisandre insists that she draw some of the boy’s “royal” blood for a demonstration of the Red God’s power. Since there don’t seem to be any syringes in Westeros, she uses leeches, placing one of them in a particularly sensitive spot. After the bugs have drank their fill, Stannis casts them into an open fire, intoning the name of each usurper king (Joffrey, Robb, and Balon Greyjoy) as the blood-engorged leeches pop and sizzle.

Meanwhile, in King’s Landing, we’re invited to one of the most awkward weddings ever. Neither the bride, Sansa, nor the groom, Tyrion, want to marry each other, and the paltry number of guests gathered to witness the ceremony don’t appear too excited to be there either. Joffrey continues to display his cruelty and sadism, first by humiliating Tyrion by taking away his stepstool and thereby making it impossible to complete the wedding ritual of laying his cloak over his wife’s shoulders. The poor man is forced to ask Sansa to kneel instead. Later, Joffrey promises to rape Sansa later in the evening. When he tries to draw the rest of the wedding guests into what would have been a very humiliating bedding ceremony, a drunken Tyrion threatens to cut off his royal member. Joffrey sputters in comical rage, though Tywin diffuses the situation by explaining that Tyrion was drunk and only joking. Forced to play along to save face, Tyrion keeps swilling wine, while telling guests the story of that one time he threw up on a prostitute in the middle of the act. Later, when Tyrion and Sansa are alone in their chambers, he drunkenly explains that despite the fact that his father ordered him to impregnate her as soon as possible, he won’t sleep with his new wife until she wants him to. “What if I never want you to?” she asks. “Then my watch begins,” says Tyrion, echoing the oath of the Night’s Watch before passing out on the nearest couch. It’s a great extended scene, managing to show Tyrion’s hurt and pain through his drunken haze, as well as Sansa’s tense, unwelcome sense of duty followed by her relief at escaping that duty.

Further east, with her army camped outside of Yunkai, Dany meets with the three sellsword captains, whose mercenary companies were recently hired by the city and could prove decisive in the final battle. They’re unmoved by her offer of more gold to switch sides, but as they leave her tent, she shares a long, knowing look with the youngest (and best looking) of the three. He returns that evening, delivering Dany the heads of his former partners, and pledging his soldiers to the beautiful young Queen’s cause. Dany keeps up her display of regal power while in his presence (especially impressive given her lack of clothes as she rises from her bathtub in the beginning of the scene) you can tell that she’s intrigued by the attention this cocky, good looking soldier has given her. Drogo’s been gone for a long time, so maybe it’s time for Dany to find a new companion. Romance may have to wait, though; she still has a city to conquer.

Game of Thrones: The Bear and the Maiden Fair

GAME OF THRONES 3.07: The Bear and the Maiden Fair

This week, I’ll start at the end because the final sequence of The Bear and the Maiden Fair was fantastic. It’s really amazing how the creators and writers of this show have managed to transform Jaime from a despicable, oathbreaking, incestuous monster who throws a little boy out of a window, to an honorable man who selflessly risks his life in order to save a friend. He lost a hand but apparently gained a conscience in the process. The look of culpability on his face when Qyburn told him that the Bolton’s rejected Brienne’s ransom offer because they were holding out for sapphires was priceless. He realizes that the good intentioned lie he told to save her from being raped has backfired and Brienne will suffer the brutal consequences. The scene with Jaime and Brienne trying to climb out of the bear pit was just as thrilling as the dangerous Wall climbing sequence from the previous episode. In fact, it may have been more thrilling because WOW, that bear looked real, angry, and scary. I’m sure they used a real animal instead of some CGI creation, because it really showed. Its roars and angry paw stomping really carried a sense brute animal power; I’m not sure how the actors managed to even finish the scene, because I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near that thing. It was terrifying! But Jaime, Brienne and the bear wind up alive at the end (though the bear did get a crossbow bolt in the back), and now Westeros’ odd couple will continue on towards King’s Landing.

Speaking of King’s Landing, everything about the scene between Tywin and Joffrey was fantastic, from the initial distance between the two in the cold empty throne room, to Joffrey’s early attempt to establish his kingly dominance over his grandfather, to Tywin’s slow, deliberate march across the throne room that brought him towering over his seated grandson, to Tywin’s cold, disdainful “we could arrange to have you carried” comment. It was all just great, and it illustrates that the power in Westeros is still held by the Hand of the King rather than the King himself. Though, perhaps that won’t last for long? This was Joffrey’s first attempt to assert himself in front of his formidable grandfather and it failed, but he tried, and that suggests he may try again, perhaps with greater success in the future. If there’s one thing that Joffrey can’t stand, it’s not getting what he wants.

We saw another impressive display of power in Dany’s army camp a continent away. The sight of her eight thousand, identically outfitted warriors, standing motionless along the roadside is really impressive, and I’m sure it was arranged to inspire a sense of awe and terror in Yunkai’s ambassador. Dany swatted the ambassador’s bribes and threats away with equal disdain, all while reclining on her royal chair and looking impressive, regal, and powerful; like a true Queen, or dare I say Empress. Her transformation from a weak-willed, bullied young girl to a powerful, (compassionate when necessary), fearless ice queen has been fun to watch and just as impressive as Jaime’s evolution.

Elsewhere in Westeros, we have a lot of “pieces” moving into position. Before traveling to his uncle’s wedding at the Twins, Robb learns that his foreign queen is pregnant. Jon and the other wildings continue moving through the north, hoping to capture Castle Black from behind and by surprise. Along the way, Ygritte gapes at a crumbled old windmill as if it were a castle, suggesting that perhaps these uncultured folks from beyond the wall don’t quite understand what they’ll be up against when the battle begins, regardless of how short-handed the Night’s Watch might be. In a visually stunning scene, showing off shipwrecks that were the aftermath of last season’s Battle of Blackwater, Melisandre sails Gendry towards Stannins, while revealing the identity of his true father along the way. Bran and his ragged party continue heading towards the Wall, while somewhere else (who knows where?), in the only storyline that I really wish the writers would just forget and resolve off-screen, Theon continues to be brutally tortured. With three episodes left in the season, I’d expect to see some of these different stories begin colliding very soon.

 

HIMYM: Something New

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: 8.24 “Something New”

If you haven’t yet watched this week’s episode of HIMYM, perhaps you should stop now. Stop reading. Stop tweeting. Stop searching the web. Because if anything, you’ll learn one main spoiler, or as the promos called it, THE MOTHER OF ALL SECRETS.

A Chat with Bethany Joy Lenz

Ok, One Tree Hill fans. I know you’ve been wondering when you’d see your favorite Tree Hill faces again. Well, tonight’s the night. Bethany Joy Lenz is returning to TV tonight, but this time, she’ll look a little different. She’s donning a comedic cap and joining a rambunctious cast of characters for one episode of Men at Work, tonight at 10:00 pm EST on TBS.

In the episode, Bethany plays Meg, Tyler’s new girl — the first girl he’s dated who is a mom. Adding to that complexity is Bryan, played by one of Raked’s favorite dramatic actors, Ben McKenzie.

I was able to participate in a conference call with Bethany, where she discusses her return to TV, her interest in comedy, and even her upcoming role in Dexter. Check out the highlights below.

Why Men at Work? After Bethany took some time away from acting, she wanted to get back in the biz. But she didn’t want to jump back into a dramatic role similar to what she had before. She wanted something that was “strategically designed to move my career in a direction that was not in the same way as One Tree Hill.” Enter: comedy!

Bethany had done some comedy when she was younger, but stopped once she got a dramatic role. But now she really wanted to, as she put it, “jump into sitcom work again.”

“Lucky me, I won the job!” she said. “It’s a great set. It’s a great show.” For her, it’s the perfect place to try out her comedy experiment and see how it goes. And she had a great time.

Any challenges? Bethany confessed that the first few days were tough for her. She hadn’t done comedy — especially sitcoms — in a very long time, probably 10 or 11 years. She was also walking onto a new set that “didn’t feel like home.” It took some time to navigate everyone’s energy, their vibe, and how they work in the new set.

That being said, she had no hesitation talking about the fun she had. The guys of Men at Work had their routine with each other and the audience, and she said the funniest moments were when they were filming live.

What about the live, interactive audience? Bethany confessed that one of her weakest points as an artist is comedy improv. She feels that she’s funny when she’s out with her friends, but as for performing, that’s one reason she wanted to do the show: “There’s only one way to get better at something and that’s just to do it.”

Fortunately, with the live audience, she had a little a little help. When she’d get that immediate laugh from the audience, that payoff gave her some relief.

Game of Thrones: The Climb

GAME OF THRONES: 3.06 “The Climb”

In the most obvious sense, the title of last night’s Game of Thrones episode refers to John, Ygritte, and the other wildings icy ascent up the sheer face of the Wall. Split up over a couple of scenes, the climb was a thrilling bit of TV, especially when a crack sheared off a piece of the wall and sent many of the other climbers falling to their deaths. Right after the disaster, with Ygritte dangling precariously from her tethering rope, one of the other wildings (the one who controls the eagle, Orell I think) tries to cut Jon and Ygritte loose, lest they both drag him down off the wall as well. After a lot of swinging and grasping, Jon manages to save the day and anchor himself and Ygritte to another part of the wall right as Orell cuts their rope loose. They arrive at the top of the wall, exhausted, gasping, yet stunned by the beauty of the frozen north on one side, and the green bounty of the south on the other. In a rare, uplifting moment for the series, they share a kiss, framed by a beautiful, sunny Westeros spread out beneath them.

Of course, Westeros may look great and beautiful from so high above, but down below in the muck of King’s Landing, things are different. Here, the climb is less of a physical action than a state of mind; Littlefinger explains that chaos is a ladder, and the cunning person uses it to climb to power at the very top. Some people get stepped on during that climb, like Ros for example, who was brutally butchered by the sociopathic Joffrey and his crossbow best friend. Sansa gets stepped on too, as she watches Littlefinger sail away out of the bay without her, realizing that her dream of marrying Loras has vanished as well; she’ll be stuck with Tyrion. Even Tyrion and Cersei are stepped on, to some degree, shackled into political marriages that they want nothing to do with because of the jockeying for position of those a few rungs up the ladder (namely, Tywin and Lady Olenna, who had a fantastic and hilarious scene together this week. Watching those two canny operators probe each other for weakness was wonderful). Even King Robb is subject to the whims of others; he has to agree to the Frey’s terms, issue a humiliating apology in person, and force his uncle into a marriage he doesn’t want, all to pay for his dishonesty.

A few brief points:

• We didn’t get to see too much of Jaime and Brienne in this episode, but their awkward dinner around the table with Roose Bolton was fun to watch. Between Brienne stuffed into a frilly pink dress that she clearly hated and Jaime struggling to cut his dinner with one hand (only to be helped by Brienne more out of frustration than sympathy, I think), the scene was full of unintentional comedy.In a very interesting twist, the Brotherhood sells off Gendry to Melisandre because she needs his royal blood. I guess the Brotherhood can talk all they want about being a group of men united to protect the commoners, but when they needed gold, they were able to sell out one of their own without too much regret. They have to climb that ladder too, and gold helps you move past each rung a little faster.
• I also liked that this episode touched on the religious aspects of Westeros a bit more. Sam sings some kind of religious themed lullaby to Gilly’s son, while we get to see two very different approaches to the same god (Thoros and Melisandre). I liked how Melisandre seemed shocked both by Thoros’s power of resurrection, and Beric’s declaration that there is no next world. In the past, she’s been presented as some kind of all knowing oracle, but here we get a glimpse that she might not be privileged to as much information as we think.
  
• In a structural sense, the title of this episode could also refer to the arc of the season. Like the first two, it seems like we’re gearing up towards a wild ride in the last few episodes. In this one, we’ve climbed up to the top and are about to drop down the other side as everything probably goes to hell all at once.

Hannibal: Entrée

HANNIBAL: 1.06 “Entreé”

This week’s Hannibal is appropriately titled, isn’t it? The “serial killer of the week” side-dishes we’ve been getting over the last few episodes have been delicious, for sure, but they’ve lacked a certain heft. Before tonight, you could almost be excused if you briefly forgot how dangerous and sociopathic the good doctor truly is. This episode, in contrast, is weighty main course. In flashbacks, we actually see Hannibal attack Jack’s protegee (who bears a remarkable resemblance to a young Clarice Starling; could that be what draws Jack to her in the future?) and later we hear her terrified voice on a recording and see a dismembered piece of her body as a reminder of her eventual grisly fate. The episode begins a mental hospital, where a patient (and former doctor) fakes an ailment, and then swiftly butchers a helpless nurse in the style of the famous, and still at large, serial killer The Chesapeake Ripper. After being recaptured, the inmate that he’s the Ripper, but Jack and Will know better. They plant a fake story in Freddie’s online tabloid that suggests the Ripper is indeed in custody. They don’t believe the story, of course, but they think that this provocation will force the real Ripper to come out of wherever he’s hiding and show himself.

As soon as we see the look on Hannibal’s face as he reads the story on his tablet, we instantly know that Hannibal is the Chesapeake Ripper. In that scene, for just a moment, his face breaks from its calm mask of serenity, and you can his violent rage bubble to the surface. It’s gone very quickly, but I think it’s the first time in the series so far that we’ve seen a true glimpse at the kind of monster that Hannibal really is. Hannibal’s secretive torture of Jack, through the recorded pleas of his former student and the eventual discovery of her severed arm, is Hannibal’s warning shot. Don’t toy with me. I’m smarter than you. I know your weakness.

Overall, a very good episode that advanced the overall plot, and showed us a chilling glimpse of the real Dr. Lechter.

Hannibal: 1.05 “Coquilles”

HANNIBAL: 1.05 “Coquilles”

As you may know, NBC pulled episode 4 of Hannibal in light of the tragic Boston marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt for the suspects (an event that I found a bit too geographically close from comfort, though that’s another story). I can only assume, based on brief plot summaries of that episode (children killing children, or something), that it may have wrapped up the storyline with Hobbes’ daughter. I’ll have to catch up on it sometime soon, but thankfully watching that episode wasn’t necessary to enjoy this one.

We get another serial killer this week, which is starting to worry me a bit. How many crazy, brutal serial killers are there, really? If there were three or four major killers caught by the FBI within a couple of months of each other, the nation would be in a panic. It’s getting a little hard for me to suspend my disbelief; I’d really like to start seeing the show carry the same case or two over more than just one week. That said, this week’s killer and his “design,” as Will would put it, is very gruesome, as he peels back the skin on the back of his victims to form wings. He’s motivated by a sense of religious fervor, plus a terminal brain tumor that causes hallucinations. Aside from the way in which the killer executed his victims, he wasn’t a particularly interesting villain, and mainly just served as a way to amplify both Jack and Will’s personal crises.

Jack’s problem begins with his wife, who we learn has terminal cancer and is afraid to tell her husband. He eventually finds out the truth, and Laurence Fishburne does a great job of showing Jack’s quiet devastation, feeble attempts at putting up a strong exterior, and quiet melancholy.

Will, in the meantime, is breaking down under the strain of all he’s been asked to do lately. He’s not sleeping, and when he is, he sleepwalks and wakes up in strange places. Finally, his hallucinations are intensifying, from the dark deer that he’s been stalking for a few episodes, to a vision of this week’s dead serial killer. Crawling into the minds of these men is seriously destabilizing him and by the end of the episode, it seems like he may be close to giving it up and heading back to teaching.

Finally, the more I watch this show, the more I am enjoying its depiction of Hannibal himself. His odd shaped, heavy lidded face, his indistinct European accent, and the elegance and refinement in which he cloaks himself (from his shirt-vests or perfect Windsor-knotted tie to his decanter of fine wine and the classical music softly piped into his dining room) makes him fascinatingly, attractively interesting and yet utterly sinister at the same time.