GoT Geekery

Game of Thrones Season Two ends tomorrow night.  I must say I shall miss it.  I'll miss the show, I'll miss the articles about the show, and I'll miss the long and involved discussions people have about the show. I love participatory fandom so much. Wait, I think that is the basic meaning of fandom . . . but anyway  . . . I've not talked much about the season, but I thought I would do a list of the things I liked best and least about it.  The last nine weeks have brought so much of both. Oh, and yes, spoilers.

GoT2: The Things I Least Enjoyed

1. The Gratuitous Nakedry.  Look, I have nothing against a well done, important sexytime scene.  If they advance the story or truly give insight into a character or their motivations, they by all means, keep them in.  However, just throwing in bouncy boobies and various sex acts for the hell of it is annoying.  Normally, I wouldn't care, because I know this is HBO and they feel kind of obligated to show stuff like this, but, dammit, we only have ten episodes.  Cut the bonking and give me more story.
2. Margaery Tyrell's Clothing. I understand the motivation to show that women from different parts of Westeros dress in different ways. I also get that Margaery is supposed to be presented as very rich. However, her clothing was so damned weird, it was distracting.  I honestly had to watch her scenes three times, because the first two times, I was so distracted by the whatthefuck she had on, I couldn't concentrate on what she was saying.
3. The Stannis Baratheon Casting.  Stephen Dillane is a fine enough actor. He did well with how he interpreted the character . . . it's just not how I interpret him. Stannis is so singularly humorless and unlikable. He's not evil, just stern and intensely uncharming.  Dillane played Stannis as proper and dutybound, but not as, well, as bitchy as Stannis can be. Stannis bitches almost constantly about everything. He takes the smallest insult as a major slight.  I never got Stannis's obsession with how cheated he is from Dillane, mostly because Dillage just naturally has more charisma than Stannis. Then again, everything does.
4. The Pacing of Theon's Story. Oddly enough, one of the best moments in the series was a Theon moment, but overall, I think they fucked a lot of it up.  They didn't make Asha as sexy and badass as she is.  I like the actress, but she needs to put more charm in the character. They left out Damphair, which was a big mistake because he is so excellently crazy and fun to watch.  They broadcast too much about the death of the boys and how it wasn't them. And finally, they left out Ramsay's first foray into headfucking Theon.  I missed that.
5. Worst of all, more than worst of all, actually, worst thing ever? THEY LET STANNIS HAVE A SEX SCENE.  I think part of my soul died when I had to see this.

GoT2: Things I liked the Best

1. The Casting of Brienne and Davos. I have to give them props for both. Brienne was a difficult cast due to her size, look, and personality. Davos was a difficult cast because he is subtly amazing . .  . actually one of my favorite characters in the books. Both choices were excellent. Brienne is played with heroic awkwardness and her scenes with Jaime at the end are the promise of perfection. Davos is just damned perfect. I loved every scene he was in. 
2. Theon's Decision. Even though I don't think the rest of the Theon plotline was as good as it could have been, the scene where he decides to betray Robb is perfection.  It shows him alone in a room, almost everything blacked out except for him burning the letter he was going to send. It is the moment of no return for him, and very well done.
3. Arya's story. In the second book, Arya's story was my favorite. They had to cut a lot of it out and changed tons of it, but I found myself enjoying the changes. Her scenes with Tywin Lannister were riveting and the way her three death wishes played out made quite a lot of sense. It seemed things together well. It helps a lot that the actress who plays her has such good chemistry with her counterparts. 
4. Tyrion. Every scene that Tyrion does with everyone is perfection. I love him with Bronn. I love him fighting with his sister. I love him matching wits with the Small Council. I love his tenderness towards Sansa, Shae, and his younger nephew and niece. Oh, and I love him slapping Joffery. I love that the most. 
5. Blackwater.  The ninth episode of the season, Blackwater, is probably the hour of television I enjoyed the most this year.  I hope it wins every award ever.  The battle scenes are great. The wildfire scene is great.  Best of all, the character development and acting are great.  Tyrion and drunk Cersei steal the show for me. And the ending is perfection. I've watched this episode like a dozen times already.  Loved it.
   

But alas, tomorrow, the season will end. Another year before we get to see a lot of people making really bad decisions that screw up a whole realm. Until then, I'll enjoy what I got to see . . . cept for that Stannis sex scene. No one enjoyed that.