Last night’s episode of “Game of Thrones“, the seventh in this fourth season, titled “Mockingbird”, was like most every episode this season. Filled with exposition, promising something major down the road and ending with a bang before giving us a teaser for next week’s episode… as if anyone watching wasn’t already going to tune in seven days later (or, in this case 14 as it won’t be on next week). And this brings me to a growing beef I have with this show.
“Game of Thrones” has already proven a weekly ritual for viewers so why does it continue to rely on “surprises” to end each episode? Oh snap, he pushed her through the Moon Door! Yeah, he did, so what? Tune in next week to find out what happens next! What happens next? What happens next is important now, to this episode, so finish it. The focus on each episode is so entirely off that while it may hold together on some thematic level (this one involving childhood traumas and a focus on events from the past), narratively it’s a mess.
Do I really need to watch Arya (Maisie Williams) and The Hound (Rory McCann) chat with some dying old man? What follows this scene is important to the characters of Arya and The Hound, especially as The Hound’s brother has just been chosen as Cerci’s “champion” for the fight to decide Tyrion’s fate, but within the confines of the episode it all seems rather insignificant. As the credits roll your only thoughts are on what just happened and what is going to happen next, there is zero reflection on anything else that has taken place.
I know last week I wrote about how each season plays like one, ten hour movie, but the way they’ve been structuring each episode that’s not entirely true. The defense would be to say each episode needs a beginning, middle and end, but that’s not what we’re getting. What we’re getting is an episode that begins with the ending of the last episode and ends right in the middle of the current one.
Why couldn’t Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) have pushed Lysa (Kate Dickie) in the middle of the episode? We already knew Lysa was jealous of Sansa (Sophie Turner), what came next was inevitable, but the push is not the end, it’s only the beginning. If this show and story is as politically intriguing and sophisticated as people like to say it is, then why are the political machinations always relegated to the talky interiors of each episode, left to be played back-to-back-to-back before something of consequence happens? Not to mention, this “something of consequence” so often has very little to do with what has been talked about the entire episode.
In the episode prior to last night’s, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) was approached and learns her liberation of each kingdom she’s come upon may not have been as black-and-white as she’d thought. It added a layer to her character and gave us something to look forward to the show exploring further. This episode only adds a tiny piece to that plot, showing Daenerys seems to be acting now more on whim than anything else, allowing her decisions to be guided by horny and blood-thirsty men breaking into her chambers.
Otherwise, Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) is, again, disrespected and humiliated as the story there is quite obvious and can we please give Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) something to do beyond visiting Tyrion behind bars for little chats. That is, unless we want to make the entire show about Tyrion and his fate, because I’d have no problem with that.
I do wonder how each season would be edited if it were to be edited into one ten-hour movie or if this decision to have directors handling two episodes back-to-back led to two hour episodes instead. Certainly the pacing would need to change as they couldn’t continue to have 50 minute lulls before they decided to show their hand. I also realize my criticisms of this series are focusing on aspects of what is most difficult about bringing such a sprawling, epic story to life. It’s no easy task with so many characters and storylines up in the air. However, I think this is a show well above relying on cliffhangers and last second dirty deeds to make each episode worthwhile. They are sacrificing story and intrigue for shock and awe.
Last week I praised the epic speech Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) gave. It was the strongest moment of the season yet, but it isn’t how that episode should have ended. That episode should have ended with the scene between Tyrion and Jaimie in this episode. It should have ended with Tyrion saying, “Don’t give up on me just yet,” a quote that felt like it was just as much for Jaime as it was a plee to the viewing audience. I haven’t given up on this show, not by a long shot, but I do hope it improves in some areas.
