Game of Thrones Season 4 Ep 7 "Mockingbird": The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing

[RossaLincoln]

Game of Thrones Season 4 Ep 7 "Mockingbird": The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing

Who cares who the king is, when the most likely outcome for you is to die, alone and in incredible agony, simply because you were in someone's way?

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[owbu]

Something went wrong in this "review" ^^
You are supposed to voice your opinion on artistic choices, directing, actors and so on.
This is just a giant "this is what happened, and btw I have read the book!"
Really. Less foreshadowing. More opinion. If we want to know what happens next, we can read the books ourselfs or read the wiki.

 

[Sgt Blackout]

Something went wrong in this "review" ^^
You are supposed to voice your opinion on artistic choices, directing, actors and so on.
This is just a giant "this is what happened, and btw I have read the book!"
Really. Less foreshadowing. More opinion. If we want to know what happens next, we can read the books ourselfs or read the wiki.

At least he's not Greg "I'm gonna keep mentioning that rape scene until you all agree" Tito

 

[Greg Tito]

Something went wrong in this "review" ^^
You are supposed to voice your opinion on artistic choices, directing, actors and so on.
This is just a giant "this is what happened, and btw I have read the book!"
Really. Less foreshadowing. More opinion. If we want to know what happens next, we can read the books ourselfs or read the wiki.

At least he's not Greg "I'm gonna keep mentioning that rape scene until you all agree" Tito

Did you guys see that rape scene! Why don't you agree with me?!

And Sgt. Blackout, I think you are being a little unfair to Ross's review. He does an excellent job discussing the writing and themes of the episode, criticizes the casting choice of the Mountain pretty roundly, and mentions the motives of creepy Littlefinger and the growth of Sansa's character, among many other opinions. I'm not really sure what more you wanted.

 

[ReverendBob]

I won't pretend to speak for others in this thread, but I think Ross's heavy handed references to what "might" be important or what "might" happen next are a poor choice for this sort of article. Book readers (of which I am) are already aware of what import a scene might hold and of what is coming next. Non-book readers presumably would like to keep some of the surprise alive.

It is a tricky thing to criticize a review because even calling out a spoiler as such is, in and of itself, a spoiler. I would just ask that the author keep the "speculation" on the future to a minimum.

 

[Remus]

It was a great episode, with some good setup going into the next. It's just too bad we have to wait 2 weeks for the next, on account of holidays. Next weekend is "Get drunk, fall off your boat fishing" day. Please make note of current gas prices, as the gouging is truly about to commence. Oh an please, as is customary, no hints of spoilers for the fight between Oberyn and the Mountain. We, watchers of the show, not readers of the books, knew the fight was coming eventually, and Tyrion's trial opened that door wide, but not who the winner is. So I implore, I realize people are probably itching to get that out, but it's better after the fight airs, not before.

And was anyone else thinking of the song "Lie Lie Lie" when Littlefinger dropped Lysa out the moon door? Cuz I was.

 

[balladbird]

At least he's not Greg "I'm gonna keep mentioning that rape scene until you all agree" Tito

To be fair to Greg, that particular infamous sex scene kinda overpowered the rest of the episode. Whether you agree with the rape controversy or not, the fandom reaction to the scene and what it means for the characters cast quite a large shadow over the other events of that episode.


I enjoyed reading this recap. *shrug* I'm always down for more opinions and discussions when it comes to GoT.

 

[Sgt Blackout]

Did you guys see that rape scene! Why don't you agree with me?!

And Sgt. Blackout, I think you are being a little unfair to Ross's review. He does an excellent job discussing the writing and themes of the episode, criticizes the casting choice of the Mountain pretty roundly, and mentions the motives of creepy Littlefinger and the growth of Sansa's character, among many other opinions. I'm not really sure what more you wanted.

Try reading it again; I have no problem with this article.

To be fair to Greg, that particular infamous sex scene kinda overpowered the rest of the episode.

Yeah, but the subsequent episodes as well? Hardly.

 

[TripleDaddy]

I was afraid that padding out the Arya/Hound storyline would weaken it (she should've used the coin three episodes ago), but credit to the writers for using the opportunity for some character growth. The problem is that how Arya leaves in the book I think would be completely out of character now.

 

[J Tyran]

I was afraid that padding out the Arya/Hound storyline would weaken it (she should've used the coin three episodes ago), but credit to the writers for using the opportunity for some character growth. The problem is that how Arya leaves in the book I think would be completely out of character now.

Well it is paralleling the book version now, the "thats where the heart is" and "I wish that was wine, so do I" and the bite which is going to have some fairly inevitable and obvious consequences, in the original story Arya and the Hound spent several weeks helping rebuild a village before moving on. Having the pair of them roaming around getting into situations is more interesting than a month or more of Sandor doing some building and Arya doing petty chores.

She still hates him though, his name is on the list. She is just using that same pragmatism the Hound has, he is her best shot at getting to safety because she knows what travelling alone would be like so it isn't that far out of the new character development for them.

 

[Greg Tito]

Try reading it again; I have no problem with this article.

To be fair to Greg, that particular infamous sex scene kinda overpowered the rest of the episode.

Yeah, but the subsequent episodes as well? Hardly.

Sorry. Mistake there.

I personally felt the rape scene impacted Jaime's arc more than you, but the point is well-taken. On the other hand, I think taking a stand on the scene would have been lessened if I didn't continue to discuss its impact. That's part of why I disliked the scene, actually, in that it was never mentioned or referenced again, as if it were meaningless.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

Try reading it again; I have no problem with this article.

To be fair to Greg, that particular infamous sex scene kinda overpowered the rest of the episode.

Yeah, but the subsequent episodes as well? Hardly.

Sorry. Mistake there.

I personally felt the rape scene impacted Jaime's arc more than you, but the point is well-taken. On the other hand, I think taking a stand on the scene would have been lessened if I didn't continue to discuss its impact. That's part of why I disliked the scene, actually, in that it was never mentioned or referenced again, as if it were meaningless.

Really I think the biggest problem with the scene was that it was just horrifically mis-directed. I mean I got the distinct vibe that neither of the actors were really 100% on board with what they were doing and both seemed more than a little uncertain on how they should be playing things. And to be fair, I'm not sure there's anyway they could have made that scene come across right given how different the set-up from the book is. Really they should have just skipped the whole scene altogether.

I do have one question for you though - why is it that everyone seems to be so horrified by the misplaying of that particular scene, and yet at the same time seems to have absolutely no problem with the amount of "It starts out rapey, but then she likes it" sex scenes that Martin seems to have in the novels? I can think of one with Asha Greyjoy in particular that really bugged me, not mention Dany, and Jamie & Cersi, it seems to be the expect form of courtship among the wildings ... I mean at least having it actually be framed as rape seems a little more honest from a certain perspective, and in the case of the Jamie/Cersi thing it does kind of show just how toxic their relationship is to one another, though I will cede that it doesn't fit the rest of Jamie's arc.

 

[Lyvric]

When they episode is laid out it feels messy and unplanned but when watching it it's actually well played.

It felt like an intriguing collage or quilt. It filled up some of the general plot and help portrayed individual relationships one after another. It'll make larger scenes more powerful. I like how it ended: wrapping up the back-scheming, Joffery plot with a powerful twist in the book using Littlefinger.

 

[Thyunda]

Wow there is always some drama to bum off in the comments. [footnote]Rape is bad. mmmkay[/footnote]

My feeling was that having to cobble together and being able to pick and choose so much actually left them have an overarching theme to the episode that felt quite strong. I think Daenerys summed it up best with "The flesh wants what the flesh wants" . This Episode felt all about visceral desire to me. The desire to kill for vengeance (in lots of cases), the desire that the Red Woman evokes and manipulates, Little Finger's desire for Sansa.

It really felt like a trip into what everyone wants and how that desire is really the driver of all of these horrific events. I think it lays out the motives of the the most interesting story lines within the series and you are right in that it shouldn't work but it ended up probably one of my favorite episodes of the series so far, it really let the characters bed in. There were also a lot of well-framed talking scenes (and well-framed tits) on offer here, that's what most of the Episode was and it worked really well.

And ending it on some Petyr O'Baelish always lightens the mood.

 

[katsabas]

Awesome, filler-ish episode that moves the plot forward, gotta love these. I also gotta love that pie, how cute was that ?! Most people are right on the money saying that this episode shouldn't be this good but it all wove together nicely. Well, except that Dragonstone scene. That amounted to nothing, didn't see a reason this couldn't be part of a bigger scene in one of the last 3 episodes.

We keep, however, coming back to that scene in the 3rd episode. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but it sort of flew by me like nothing happened. Mostly because it involved Cersei, a woman whose redeeming qualities are dwindling with every season. But when it comes to Jaime, she was supposed to show a softer side. The man got his hand chopped off, fought a bear and slept in his own shit while trying to get back to her and all she has to say about this is that he took too long ? I am not a supporter of incest by any means but this is an extremely inconsiderate thing to say to someone you love. Using Jaime's words, this was now a rather vicious woman. After that, I didn't know how to feel about the scene. I still don't know how I feel about it. I remember her during the first season, acting much the same way she did now every time Jaime approached her so I am sort of confused.

 

[Zombie Badger]

The people directing this show are officially just fucking with the half of the audience who aren't into women right now. They get to the point in the Daenerys/Daario scene at which they would have cut to s full-frontal shot had he been a woman but nope, they smash cut to a randomly naked woman just to say 'Fuck you, buddy!'

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Really I think the biggest problem with the scene was that it was just horrifically mis-directed. I mean I got the distinct vibe that neither of the actors were really 100% on board with what they were doing and both seemed more than a little uncertain on how they should be playing things. And to be fair, I'm not sure there's anyway they could have made that scene come across right given how different the set-up from the book is. Really they should have just skipped the whole scene altogether.

I do have one question for you though - why is it that everyone seems to be so horrified by the misplaying of that particular scene, and yet at the same time seems to have absolutely no problem with the amount of "It starts out rapey, but then she likes it" sex scenes that Martin seems to have in the novels? I can think of one with Asha Greyjoy in particular that really bugged me, not mention Dany, and Jamie & Cersi, it seems to be the expect form of courtship among the wildings ... I mean at least having it actually be framed as rape seems a little more honest from a certain perspective, and in the case of the Jamie/Cersi thing it does kind of show just how toxic their relationship is to one another, though I will cede that it doesn't fit the rest of Jamie's arc.

If I may field this one, I know people who have problems with the sex and rape in the books, but the way the show Jaime and Cersei in that scene was different. Dany was raped by Khal Drogo, but it seems like their relationship changed after that (and it was totally in character for him to do so). With Jaime and Cersei, their relationship was toxic, true, but I never got the sense that he would rape her over the corpse of their son; in the book, it was much clearer that they knew it was a bad idea, but were both looking for comfort.

Also, there's the fact that it hasn't come up again, despite how blatant it is. Jaime held her down while she sobbed and said no, and there's been no repercussions or acknowledgement of that fact. Compare that with the fact that she murdered Robert (the last guy to rape her) and any children they would have had together. It just feels wrong to have something like that happen, then immediately fade away. And as you pointed out, the direction of the scene was awful, and the actors weren't into it, so it took (IMO) a misguided understanding of the characters and made it cinematically unappealing as well.

Spoiler: About Asha

I don't remember any rape scene with her; IIRC, there's some kind of rough love that happens between her and her lover, but that's just their style of lovemaking. Can you please explain what you were referring to?

 

[Qvar]

The people directing this show are officially just fucking with the half of the audience who aren't into women right now. They get to the point in the Daenerys/Daario scene at which they would have cut to s full-frontal shot had he been a woman but nope, they smash cut to a randomly naked woman just to say 'Fuck you, buddy!'

To be fair you got that blonde guy the previous episode.

And the series tends to show a lot of tits, but no vaginas (except that distant shot of Ros the first or second episode fro mthe first season), which would be the equivalent of penises. You can't say that there aren't manly bodies all around too.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

Something went wrong in this "review" ^^
You are supposed to voice your opinion on artistic choices, directing, actors and so on.
This is just a giant "this is what happened, and btw I have read the book!"
Really. Less foreshadowing. More opinion. If we want to know what happens next, we can read the books ourselfs or read the wiki.

I do have to agree with owbu, but just a bit. There's no reason a single episode review needs to be 6 pages long, at least when only cumulatively 1 of them actually discusses themes - the rest are a literal rehash of the ep.

He does an excellent job discussing the writing and themes of the episode, criticizes the casting choice of the Mountain pretty roundly, and mentions the motives of creepy Littlefinger and the growth of Sansa's character, among many other opinions. I'm not really sure what more you wanted.

There are certainly themes discussed, but normally this is where the reviewer also takes fun stabs in the dark about what turns the story can or will take in upcoming episodes. However, Ross can't do that here because there's nothing to predict: everything that has been done and will be done for the next 3 seasons has already been written down on paper years ago and can be purchased at any local bookstore. There is nothing to discuss because almost any thoughts or ponderings past plot synopsis would go immediately into spoiler territory. (unlike MovieBob's SHIELD reviews where, while including a synopsis, is largely predictions of new characters, existing Marvel themes that can be incorporated, and where the show will go)

I'm sure that this complaint will be lodged against EVERY GoT review, as it already has with all the previous. If this weekly format is to continue I don't think it can even be 'fixed' due to the nature of the source material. Since the reviews are pretty much written exclusively for show watchers, why not remove the wasted 5 pages of synopsis so the actual review doesn't get covered up by filler text? (Intended as a non-aggressive honest suggestion. I think it would help.)