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SpongeBob SquarePants: Pizza Delivery/Home Sweet Pineapple (1999)
Pizza Delivery
I think what this episode shows the most is what's missing from the later seasons. Squidward doesn't necessarily hate SpongeBob, he just doesn't like how childish he his. All the little details from Squidward trying to guide SpongeBob to outright saving his life from the trucker, really shows that Squidward doesn't hate him, he actually likes him, and only wishes for him to grow up, something the later season writing staff just don't understand. The ending is spectacular as well. I know it may sound a bit cringe. But that scene alone is one of the reasons why the earlier seasons are so gold. Every character is dynamic, SpongeBob may be childish, but at times, he is mature, and also shows a high level of intelligence. Squidward is not a bad person, he's just miserable and hates the idea of letting go and having childish fun, and the moments he actually does indulge in the childishness are the happiest moments he has. What I'm trying to get at is Squidward and SpongeBob's dichotomy is what made the earlier seasons so great.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Boy in the Iceberg (2005)
Honestly One of The Worst Pilot's I've Seen For a Show of This Caliber
As an introduction to one of the best animated shows ever put to screen. It's boring, doesn't really explain much, and seemed like more of a blueprint, and less of the first episode to your epic narrative. They do give character motivations and show how Aang got into the iceberg, but I'm not sure if they actually thought they were going to get a full season when making this, so they can't really do much for the plot besides introduce some characters and give the smallest of backstories. The next episode is a whole lot better at explaining the plot. Overall some nice dialogue decent performances, but not too memorable, the humor is kind of dry, and to be honest I had low expectations after watching this episode the first time.
Hagane no renkinjutsushi (2009)
I've Watched It 3 Times and It's a Bit Overrated
Brotherhood is pretty damn amazing the first watch, when everything is on the table and you don't know what's gonna happen next(as is the same for most shows), but what it really lacks is on the rewatch and most of that comes down to how the show uses its time, there's many points when it will slow to an absolute crawl, and yes, the wittiness of the writing can make up for it at times, yet, I find myself struggling to see the relevance of why certain arcs needed to even be arcs. On a rewatch it can feel like you're dragging through hours of boring content to get to the actual meat of the show(kinda like Naruto but not nearly at the same level). This show lives and dies off of the mystery, and as soon as that's gone it leaves almost nothing to desire. Unlike Death Note and AOT where I can rewatch the show because every moment is genuinely interesting, I just don't see FMA hitting that sort of point most of the time. It's easily a 9 on the first watch, but struggles as you try to find the depth. All the characters are pretty great, but I find the Elrich brothers lacking depth a lot of the time, they don't really change all that much from the start, Edward is almost just as hot headed and immature at the end as in the beginning, he never grows a whole lot, and while he does gain an aura of maturity eventually it's only when the time skip happens 10 episodes away from the end, and it isn't gradual at all. I just don't see this show on the same level as the biggest greats, yet I'm met with a lot of internal conflict when making that statement because the writing can be just as good if not even better than Death Note or ATLA, and the biggest moments of the show are easily some of my favorite moments out of any anime, I actually cried a few times watching this show the first time, when the girl and dog get fused together in a horrific experiment, when the brothers fight and eventually cry in each others arms about their feelings towards Alfons body, that legendary meme when Roy says the line at the funeral, the whole genocide conflict or just how satisfying the ending is. But that all gets sucked away when I have to watch 7 episodes about the wall at the north and the 2 episodes near the start where the brothers go to that laboratory, those semi-filler episodes near the end of the show, something that absolutely kills the momentum of an otherwise perfect ending on the rewatch, there's a lot of mixed feelings and that's something that I don't get watching the other contenders for best anime, Death Note, Re: Zero, Avatar The Last Airbender, or Attack On Titan.
The Boys: The Name of the Game (2019)
Really High Expectations After This One
The Boys is a show I've been looking to dive into for a while and this is without a doubt one of the best pilot's I've seen. Everyone gets a memorable introduction, and we start learning little things about every character that will hopefully be explored more.
Super hero movies/shows are something I've never been able to get into, but this episode was so impactful and just really gory fun. They did a great job at giving us a good introduction to Starlight and Huey, you really feel for them in the darker moments. I like how the show instantly spins the idea of an all good super hero in the first 10 minutes, it reminds me of what DC did with Injustice(my favorite superhero storyline). It shot my expectations to the roof for the rest of the episode and it delivered really well. Nothing is too on the nose and we root for the 2 protagonists of the episode, my favorite scene was either the park bench scene or Butcher and Huey killing the invisible guy, both scenes are absolutely incredible. You want to root for Starlight and Huey as they realize how corrupt the hero business is.
I will definitely be watching the rest of the series. I'm expecting a lot of this show.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014)
Very Faithful Political Commentary And Dark Comedy
John Oliver is someone I found on YouTube around 2017-2018, He influenced a lot of my political opinions, even to this day, even if I find his political commentary a bit bashful and hyperbolizing at times. I quickly got addicted to his crude humor because I was like 13 or 14 at the time i started watching and even at that age I was able to understand the political topics because its approached at from such a digestible style.
You could cut this show up into 4 time periods that really show the rise fall and rise again of the show. The age before Donald Trump, the time during his presidency, the pandemic, and post pandemic. During all these points the shows writing staff would change and evolve (devolve).
The first 3 or so seasons of this show are absolute gold, the writing team knew how to write there jokes out and still tie in a good political point. John complemented this with his nerdy demeanor that heavily contrasts his absurd, straight to the point and crude on set personality. I would laugh at literally ever single joke in every single episode. The trolling that would go on behind the scenes by the staff and John is still a treasured memory in my head. The reveals about the stupid absurd thing the team had been up to in the previous weeks/months made it all so worth it, this show grew to have a wide community because of how much community interaction the show runners gave. The show runners from this point would even continue to evolve there pranks and trolling to new heights as the show got an actual budget, and it made it all the more hilarious.
A minor crack that would start to show from this point would be the constant coverage of the Trump election and eventually his presidency, at first, the jokes were all really funny, because Trump was an actual joke at the time. But after a while, and when Trump started to actually gain legitimacy as a candidate, the show runners almost gained this sort of agenda to try and do what they can to stop him from gaining more traction, the humor started turning a bit more bashful, and the writing staff started showing there more left leaning political ideology, and its not that I have anything against that sort of ideology, its that when your covering a political topic, you want to be more neutral on it, if your not you start building an agenda towards the target of your humor.
But do not get me wrong when I say that this era transformed the show into a phenomenon and the team still cranked out a ton of quality, the jokes are arguably even funnier because John actually has the full confidence and identity of his character. The props got a lot more expensive, and it made for some really good set pieces, and even musicals and segments started getting implemented. The show would only go up from here right? Nothing could possibly stop this traction.
The pandemic in many ways morphed my perception of the show, the humor became dry because, well there was no more laughter track from the audience. The way the jokes are framed are by design, made for a studio audience to get a laugh out of. I have no doubt that the laughter from the audience was completely uncut and untampered for the first couple seasons, and that's part of what made the show so hilarious, you knew that the audience was even getting a kick out of John to. What as happened was the writing team getting a big shift, and you can notice it quite heavily from where the humor in the jokes are derived from. What was, genuinely funny, well written, and well acted material became nothing more than a swath of cringe jokes and political bashing, you can even tell with John performance during this time that he really started to really not dig into the jokes being told, like you know not even he found any of them funny. John was even laugh at what he was saying in the earlier seasons, and I think that speaks volumes of the comedy when the person delivering it is having that much fun.
After the pandemic the show did improve a great deal though. The writing staff was back to writing hilariously absurd jokes, and John was somewhat back to his early season charisma. The humor was maybe not as raw and unhinged as the earlier seasons because of the huge audience and new HBO guidelines, but the newer season of this show are geniusly funny, I get a good laugh out of a lot of the comedy, and the political takes are back to there journalistic style.
Overall though, this show brings something different from every other talk show, and I don't just say that because of the somewhat unique writing style and comedy format, but its different because of the man that says it all, John has a level of confidence and charisma that's only match by Steven Colbert, and I even find john a bit funnier than him. John is a unique character and seeing his transformation from a British immigrant that seeing our politics from a lens, to actively trying to make a difference in the country he now calls home. Its a journey to be sure.
Game of Thrones: The Rains of Castamere (2013)
The Rains of Castamere
The Starks just can't seem to escape these surprise murder scenes, Ned's execution, Jon getting betrayed at the Nights Watch, Arya getting snuck up on by an old lady, and then there's the single most memorable moment in the show, The Red Wedding.
I think the Red Wedding Itself is easily one of the most impactful scenes in not only GOT but all of television. It's a crazy idea to just wipe out an entire plot line in 15 minutes of screen time, and it's even crazier when the main plot is the one that gets wiped out.
One of the underrated pieces of this episode was using Catelyn as the perspective. She's starts getting a bad vibe from Roose, and her senses start getting heightened at she feels something bad is about to happen, but she's still sure that Walder Frey wouldn't break guest rights, then The Rains of Castamere starts playing and her fears are confirmed when she looks under Roose's suspiciously puffed up coat and finds Chainmail. As everyone dies the last scenes is Cat giving up after Robb gets murdered by Roose, her throat gets slit, end credits.
The subtlety of how they lay it on through Roose Bolton is shocking, first time through you would think nothings wrong, then you notice on a second watch that the "Band" is just a bunch of sell swords, they are playing Reign of Castamere, Roose emits an aura of nervousness, nervousness that only get more pronounced as the event goes on (while also talking about his Frey wife and how Walder gifted him her weight in silver when he married her) and Walder is acting rather strangely unfazed after Robb betrayed their agreement.
I do think that the rest of the episode is really boring, the only other interesting part was the Hound and Arya riding to The Twins. Which is why I don't think is episode is particularly the best in the series. But for the moment that defined 2010's television culture, this episode is still a 9.5/10. There's no single moment in the series that Martin showed more nuts then when he ended the House Stark rebellion plot line in A Storm Of Swords back in August 2000.
Peaky Blinders: Episode #3.6 (2016)
Watch Season 4 and You Will See Why This Was The Peak Of The Show
Season 3 on a first-time watch will be your least favorite season. It's vivid, drab, complex, and very much confusing. It may take you until the 2nd or even 3rd re-watch to realize how intricate, breathtaking, and insanely well-written it truly is.
Many of the plot lines set up in this season came to fruition in season 4, both seasons play off of each other shockingly well, and to fully comprehend how incredible they are in their own rights will require at least 2 or 3 viewings and It's not like this season is akin to say season 5 of GOT or seasons 1 and 2 of breaking bad because it's even more amazing than the season it sets up.
This season features a 2 plot structure much like the runner-up for the best season, season 2. The dealings with the Russians and Churchill and the dealings with the Italians and unlike season 2 where the plots come together progressively, the plots stay rather separated.
The B plot of the season features Jon being the catalyst for much of this season and the following season's Italian plot, he cuts the man that leads to Grace's death, which leads to Angel's death, which leads to Thomas ordering Jon and Arthur to kill Changretta senior's wife and bring SR. To Thomas for torture and killing, which leads to the Vendetta that encapsulates all of season 4's plot.
The A plot is the dealings with the Russians. The Menshevik Whites fighting the Bolshevik Reds in Georgia are asking for arms from the Petrovna royal family to help fight the ongoing conflict. The family enlists the far right-leaning Economic League to help get these firearms. Section D "Economic League" confides it in the Peaky Blinders to steal the weapons from a factory to be shipped off by train to the Whites. The royal family want's to use jewels to pay for the weaponry and the Peaky Blinders would get a cut of the profit from the family themselves. We find out that this is all a rouse by Section D and their actual intention is to have the Blinders blow up the train and lay the blame on the Reds, therefore creating the conditions for the British government to cut ties with Moscow. Thomas isn't down with this plan because it would basically lead to his family being sacrificed to make the plan work and he starts working with the Russians to remove all the weaponry from the train which would remove the need for blowing it up in the first place. Section D gets information about this plan and takes Thomas's son hostage to force the blinders back onto the plan. With no other options Thomas obliges and we learn that none other than Alfie Solomon himself gave the information to Section D. Thomas ends up "killing" Solomon for this betrayal. Thomas has the plan to kill the head of Section D and get his son back, negating the need to blow up the train once again. When Michael ends up actually getting to him to kill the head, the train car gets blown up anyway. This then leads to everyone in the family getting picked up by the police and set to hang, everyone except Thomas of course who has immunity.
It's a lot. Even after re-watching it 3 times I still can't wrap my mind around the whole plot, it's a jam-packed 6 episodes. The absolutely most jam-packed 6 episodes on TV.
Father Hughes is the big bad of this season and he's arguably the most ruthless and terrifying villain in the series. He goes heavily underrated but his actor killed the role. He's every bit as menacing as he's slowly built up to be and we truly get to see how monstrous a human being can be. I'd argue he's top 3 villain's throughout the series, even including Alfie. Hughes is what gives this plot such dreadful undertones and such weight.
Alfie takes the spotlight, especially in the last episode of this season. We think Alfie is on Thomas's side for good, he helps Thomas in negotiations and gives him great advice, but he still ends up betraying him for his own greedy gains and the confrontation between Thomas and him is my single favorite scene in the show. Well crafted, emotional, well-written, and quotable. This scene is everything a betrayal scene should be. A landmark in fiction.
This is why season 3 in my opinion rises so far above the other seasons. It's very much the turning point in the series, towards a much dark and politically filled landscape. It isn't just a gang of dishonorable thieves and bookmakers trying to make it big. It's them finally being big and having to deal with the rough political climate around the mid-1920s to early 1930s. It's genius television.
Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Otto Suwen/A Reason to Believe (2021)
The Worst Speech In The Show
Re: Zero time and time again blew my mind with how encapsulating the speeches can be. Subaru and Rem, The final speech in season 1 between Emilia and Subaru. But this one left an awful taste in my mouth.
The episode starts off with the backstory of Otto, A character that I liked but not to the point where half an episode should be about him. Otto attempt to stop Garfield from interfering with Emilia and Subaru talking and it's heroic and the highlight of the episode but still not a very notable moment.
Emilia is heartbroken from Puck leaving her forever and Subaru abandoning her by the bedside when he made a promise to stay with her when she really needed him to. It's a regression in character progression that literally made zero sense to me and they explain it in the most dull way possible with an unsatisfying conclusion. I was just so baffled. Yes it makes sense in a vacuum when you realize that it was part of an entire plan, but for the plan to actually happen Subaru had to get Emilia into a situation where she's completely broken down. It's a move that instantly regressed my respect for Subaru and I have legitimately zero idea why it was written this way.
For the speech itself. It's truly a meaningless moment with a non sensical payoff. It's starts off with Subaru finding Emilia in the ice dungeon on the floor looking defeated and bawling her eyes out. He sits next to her and then makes no attempts to actually answer any of her questions and keeps repeating the line "Because I love you". He states that he can't answer why he left her, she then asks why he loves her so much and the only answer he can think of is "IDK BECAUSE I DO". He doesn't actually give good reasons. He even throws oil into the pan when he starts insulting her when she tries to reject him for good reason. This all leads to them kissing which was a sweet moment... till you realize that it makes literally no sense why she kissed him back. She has zero reasons for trusting anything he's saying. It feels like total emotional whiplash.
This moment was the scene I was waiting for the ENTIRE SERIES and it almost killed my motivation to watch the rest because it was just that terrible. Season 2 has been confusing and hard to follow but at it's heart it's even better written than the first season, with delicate, intracite plot lines that you need to be fully paying attention to for understanding. The payoffs were all worth it and came to satisfying conclusions and I actually have no idea why this particular pivotal moment in the series had to end up like this.
I love both these characters and it's sad that such an emotional scene has to be this flawed in a series that has almost flawless writing.
Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Tada Sore dake no Monogatari (2016)
An Amazing End To A Very Solid Season 1
After a pretty damn solid season as a whole, packed with some of the most witty and creative writing I've seen in an anime, its the highlight, the characters are all pretty good, if not a few of them being unremarkable. And a very solid plot that reaches the depths of despair and the very darker tunnel down madness itself. The romance is absolute gold, I don't cringe all that much at it with this show because of how damn emotional the performances are and how amazing the writing proves to be.
Subaru is an amazing protagonist that at times will make bratty mistakes or say a line that makes me go belly up in cringe. But as a whole is very smart, personable and confident guy who follows classic video game logic and tropes when he learns pretty fast it's not as NPC as he thinks. He learns throughout the series that his power is more of a curse from the witch than something he was gifted. It gets him into a lot of trouble and it's something he's fighting throughout the whole season.
Emilia is his extremely confusing love interest, that will say lines so dismissive that I wonder if she's just playing into Subaru's nonsense or she's just that clueless. She has a great personality though, she's the one that I thought wasn't actually an NPC till Rem came into the fold. She has a wonderful contrast to Subaru's completely wack non sense, they're dialogue is fruitful and emotionally driven. She also has a resemblance to a witch that was basically the big enemy back in the day. And it gives her anti-social tendency's that drives her to think that kindness is special treatment that she doesn't deserve, or she thinks she not good enough for any friends. Her spirit companion Puck serves as her guardian, both with defeating enemies or giving emotional support or guidance.
This episode is the climax to their relationship that was on the cusp of dying 10 episodes back. The whole in between was a buildup to them finally meeting again. It's the single most emotionally driven scene I've seen in anime, the colors flowing, the close ups, the view angles all perfect to heighten your sense, the dialogue between them is something I was waiting for the entire season and the buildup was killing it, this episode made up for it 10 fold, the final scene was worth it 100%.
I absolutely love this show so far and I'm starting season 2 right now.
Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Kyouki no Sotogawa (2016)
SOOOOOO Haunting
The first half of Re: Zero was pretty great but not on the level of this episode, not many times in a show will I just feel loss and hopelessness for, it's an immortals complex, dying over and over without any way out, doomed to relive lifetime after lifetime of the same nightmare.
This episode feels biblical with just how horrific it is. Starting from the end point of the horror movie level game over scene that made me go stiff, it goes to an even darker place that I honestly was shocked by. Rem going ragdoll on the floor, Subaru's face the entire episode, The feeling of absolute hopelessness. We we're all waiting for an episode like this one, but no one would have expected this much horror core shock from what was up until this point just a good anime. It's one of the best episodes of anime I've watched, even up there with That Day from AOT.
The Walking Dead: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (2016)
The Climax Of The Walking Dead
As per the title of the episode, this is where everything that was being built up for 6 seasons comes crashing down in one of the most brutal experience you will see on television.
The Day Will Come When You Won't Be calls back to the cdc special way back in season 1. Rick thanks Jenner for letting them leave after he's going to blow up the CDC, he retorted back "The day will come when you won't be". This is truly when Rick regretted not dying in the CDC.
This episode is a 1 hour torture chamber for Rick, he see's Abraham get his brains splattered on the ground after a 12 minute monologue from Negan. Daryl smacks Negan and Negan then turns to Glenn and kills him to. Seeing Maggie get emotionally destroyed is so horrific that I started crying, literally, made even worse by the fact that she was pregnant. After this Negan pulls Rick into the RV and taunts him to grab his axe and kill him, Rick tries and Negan gets the leg up with an M16. Negan belittles Rick in this entire exchange, eventually driving into a fog full of walkers, Negan commands Rick to go get "My Axe" after Negan threw in on the roof of the RV. Rick gets thrown out of the RV and we see a harrowing attempt to get the axe, Rick eventually gets to the roof and we see the flash backs of the event, and the astonishing acting of Andrew Lincoln. Rick failed Glenn, and we see the horrified look on his face as he cries his life out. Negan then drives Rick back to the site and instructs Carl to lay on the ground with his arm spread out. Negan then instructs Rick to grab the axe and cut Carl's arm off, again, another amazing acting experience from Lincoln, he's pleading with Negan to just kill him and let Carl live. Eventually Negan throws his cards out on the table and says he going to kill everyone if Rick doesn't do it, Carl gives Rick the go ahead and as Rick goes to chop it off Negan stops him mid chop. The whole reasoning for Negan doing this was to make Rick his subordinate, turn him from defiance to quivering, fearful loyalty.
The whole experience broke everyone who watched it, it was so incredible at showing the defeat of the characters that people just gravitated away from the show, maybe not good for ratings, but if you brutality episode was so brutal that it stopped people from literally watching the show with how horrific it was, you know you've made maybe one of the most terrifying experiences in TV.
Hats off to Lauren Cohan, Andrew Lincoln, and Jefferey Dean Morgan for the most essential episode of The Walking Dead.
Game of Thrones: And Now His Watch Is Ended (2013)
War's a 'comin
The start of season 3 has been kind of underwhelming, with the dialogue not very fruitful and the plot not advancing. This episode is a welcomed change of pace. This episode killed it. Great action, simple exposition that wasn't as confusing. An amazing ending that sheds even more light into Daenerys's character and is just really cool in general.
Last couple episodes have just felt like an information dump, pretty lousy and I got lost in the plot, too many characters in too many settings with too many conflicts going on to keep up, to the point where I took a week break.
I came back though and watched episode 3 (Which was the same exact thing as the last 2 episodes) and then this episode, it brought back what was so witty and decisive about the show. Being able to deliver so much in it's short run time is incredible. It's still not one of my favorite episodes, still was getting lost in the plot a bit, but MILES better than the last few.
Game of Thrones: Blackwater (2012)
A Study On How to Create Atmosphere
Stannis and his giant fleet closes in on King's Landing with one thought in his mind "This is the day, the day we take King's Landing and I take my rightful place on the throne", that one thought fills his mind as he stand stoic and ready for the bloodshed to come. Davos gives an air of fear and caution as something deep stirs inside him, the thought of failure, the doubt the people of King's Landing will see this as nothing but a hostile takeover, not liberation. Tyrion's fear takes hold as the battle he's feared for so long has come right to their shores. Delicately preparing, after boosting the ranks of the gold cloaks and tripling the cities defenders, he ponders if it's all really going to be enough. Cersei makes preparations in case the city falls, so that her and her children cannot be taken captive, overburdened by fear and regret of the road of choices that has led her to this moment. Varus and Tyrion are having one last conversation before the big battle "the bells ring for horror" is a beautifully said quote that captures the moment completely, the atmosphere really shines here. Varus assures Tyrion that he's the only one Varus believes in during this moment, the only one Varus believes could save this city. Tyrion takes this to heart and feels evermore empowered that maybe, just maybe they can do it. Davos sounds off the drums as everyone gets pumped for the ensuing carnage, the city goes into high alert and everyone is in panic. Tyrion and Bronn hammer home their friendship right before the battle, with a sort of comic relief effect to contrast what's to come they tell each other "don't die my friend". Tyrion stares into the bay as the wave of ships start coming, clearly startled by the true size of the force. Cersei calls over Sansa whose clearly fearful of her, she then see's Illian Payne ready on standby and knows Cersei is going to have him do something awful if the gates are breached. We pan back to the gates where the true battle is starting with the line "KNOCK YOUR ARROWS". Davos spots a single ship floating towards them in the bay, uneasy he tells his archers to knock, we pan over the ship and there no one on board, still waiting in caution, Davos see's the wildfire dripping out and knows they fell into a trap, Tyrion gives the signal and Bronn shoots a well aimed fire arrow to ignite the wildfire which decimates Stannis's fleet. Tyrion stares at the scene and thinks to himself "What have we just done", he see's a delighted Joffrey who clearly just enjoyed it and stares back to the bay in disgust. Cersei clearly thinks Tyrion isn't going to defend the city and confides in Sansa the same fear she's feeling, she gives Sansa advice, and it shows us that Cersei really doesn't hate Sansa. We pan back to the Gate where Stannis's forces are still well intact, Stannis's fires up his army with the same passion he feels and they make landfall to rush the gates, the archers are clearly undermanned and fail to hold back the troops from making it to the wall to siege. We pan back to Cersei giving a small backstory, "Jamie was taught to fight with sword and lance, and I was taught to smile and please", she clearly resents being a women and this moment is where we truly see her misoginistic views. Lancel comes with the news that the siege has started and it's not looking good, Cersei commands Lancel to make the moral killing decision to bring Joffrey to safety. The Hound comes back after suffering PTSD from the fire and is disheartened, Tyrion confides it in The Hound to get back out there and fight to the last man, Hound doesn't listen to this command and denounces his king, the city, and the guard and walks off. Joffrey does the obvious thing we knew he was gonna do the entire time and runs off. As King's Landing's forces wanding off with moral shot, Tyrion gives Sir Marin the order to hold the king's banner and gives a harrowing speech, the forces rally back behind him for a surprise attack. The Hound finds Sansa and tells her that he will save her, get her out of the city and make protecting her his new purpose. Sansa is clearly not believing this and tells The Hound that she will wait for Stannis to come and save her, Hound retortes "Stannis is a killer, the Lannisters are killers, your father was a killer, your children will be killers some day, the world is filled with killers, better get use to seeing them" Sansa truly understands the Hound now and trusts him to save her. Tyrion and the men jump out of the sewer and ambush Stannis's men, for a moment the battle seems won, until a unfathomably large wave of Stannis's men come charging in from the fog of war, Tyrion believes this is the end. Merin saves Tyrion from getting killed and then he himself betrays Tyrion, Pod the kills Merin to Tyrion's life. Cersei sits on the thrones with Tommen as she prepares to poison them both, Cersei's only redeemable quality has always been her love for her children (and her cheekbones), she gives a stomach churning speech of an invincible lion being hunted by "the foxes of the south, the fish of the sea, and the wolves of the north" talking about the kingdoms rising up to stop the "unstoppable Lannisters" as she says this we pan over to Tyrions forces at there end, and Tywin rides in with Sir Loras and saves the city, Tyrion has won, he bought enough time, now, he can rest. Credits.
From front to back this is the best episode of the show, the atmosphere, the conflicts in characters, and just how realistic this battle feels in general. D&D killed it with the cinematography in this episode, and the dialogue in almost every scene fits in extremely well. We get to see the true nature of almost every character during this episode. The Hound is gentle and delicate on the inside to contrast his rough and hardened exterior, Cersei has only one purpose in the world, the protect her children, and she does everything she can to prevent the worst for them. We get to see Tyrion's unwavering charisma, the strength of his mind and strategy, and his obligation to prove himself to his father and the people of King's Landing.
Game of Thrones: Baelor (2011)
The Kingslayer and The Hand
Wow of wow, this might be one of my favorite episodes of television period. The buildup to the final moments are brought together with an epic battle and character crafting on the level of tv's best to offer. Nothing short of incredible, Baelor is jammed packed with awesome moments of conflict between kingdoms, wrongfully charged plots of treason and to sum it all together a slew of intelligent dialogue and build up for characters as we learn of Tyrion's past, the reveal of another surviving Targaryen, Jon Snow's conflict on whether to abandon his post at knight's watch and join his brother Rob on his march to King's Landing to save their father Ned and sisters Arya and Sansa, and the final moments of Ned's life as he makes a last ditch effort to abandon his honor to save his Sansa as Geoffrey say's the final words "Ser Ilyn, Bring me his head!".
There's nothing this episode didn't deliver upon and it's such an emotionally tragic moment in television.
Game of Thrones: A Golden Crown (2011)
A Crown Fit For A Mad Prince
Robert goes hunting and Ned must take over as king for the time he is gone. Viserys increasingly is becoming fed up with Drogo not keeping his end of the "deal" and losing more and more control of Daenerys. A trial is held for the captive Tyrion, and the epic quote "I DEMAND A TRIAL BY COMBAT". Viserys loses his mind.
By far the most eventful episode so far. So much is packed into 1 hour that you wonder how none of the plots feel rushed. The pacing is absolutely stellar throughout the episode and leaves pretty much nothing to be desired more. It's not the most perfect episode of TV i've seen. But it stands as a thrilling ride of heart pumping action scenes, amazing dialogue, glowing set pieces and masterful directing.
Game of Thrones: Lord Snow (2011)
Conflicts To Come
Lord Snow is more of a build up to a conflict to come than an actual episode of epic plot. Intriguing set pieces, like the wall shown to give the instant fear of heights shock. Actually amazed with how well the CGI worked on the wall. Character building for Arya, Daeneyrs and Jon. I can already tell that Jon is going to be a sick character. I really like the naivety of Arya and her conflict of a girl wanting to be a warrior. Something that isn't actually seen very often, very much so in this kind of time period. The Daenerys plot is actually really sweet and charming. Her actually turning out in love with a barbarian is something unexpected and the tension her and her brother have, her actually choosing not to listen to him was really cool.
It's a pretty amazing episode for it basically being a filler episode, with a bit of plot relevance. Even with little plot relevance, it doesn't even feel like a filler episode. The way they're building the characters feels like a natural progression. I'm excited.
Game of Thrones: The Kingsroad (2011)
Poor Lady
The second episode of GOT features progress towards King's Landing with many little lines of conflict that show the conflicted relationship between the Stark's and the Lannister's. Tiny bickering and tension between children turns into frustrating heart break. The fact that a whiney child can lead to such an unfair circumstance when it comes to the actual man in power making the decision based on lies. It's flat out unfair and I love it for that, the fact that a show can inflame me so much in just it's second episode makes me love it all that much more.
My love for animals might make a bit biased but this episode turns my emotions up to 11 and it's without a doubt in my mind, better than the pilot.
Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming (2011)
Winter Is Coming
This episode is absolutely jam packed with plot and characters and it doesn't even feel bloated. Everyone has a path they seek to follow, all the characters are very well written so far. They all speak with a very eloquent English accent. You can tell the characters identity and personality almost from just the clothing they wear and their style. Seamless and genius transitions between set pieces, interesting plot on all fronts.
This is my first time watching GOT and while it's not the most incredible pilot I've seen in a show, but it's got a special touch to it that only this kind of setting can produce. I'm really liking this show so far.
The Walking Dead: Chupacabra (2011)
Something About That Barn
Starting with a flashback to when Atlanta was overrun and everyone was getting evacuated, we see a scared and frightened Lori and a comforting Shane overlooking the firebombing of Atlanta. We pan back to current time. Everyone is more or less healed up and start a large organized effort the look for Sophia. Tensions with Rick and Shane escalating. Daryl ends up falling down a canyon and getting beat up pretty bad. He starts to hallucinate Merle talking to him and we get a very interesting conversation. Hershel voices his concerns to Maggie on how well her and Glenn start getting along. Daryl ends up showing back up to camp pretty injured and Andrea, mistaking him for a walker, ends up firing. Shane and Lori's pressing relationship reaches heights and Shane's mental deterioration is starting to show. When Glenn sets up him and Maggie's next meet he ends up making a terrible discovery in the barn.
This episode could have been perfect. It could have been among the best this series has to offer. This episodes shows the real constraints the show runners had with the budget. Scene's going on for a bit to long. Like Merle in the cannion. Repeated lines. The pacing is what tears this episode down for me. It's a really good episode that unfortunately has killer flaws.
The Walking Dead: Cherokee Rose (2011)
The Search Continues
With Carl saved, the group tries to organize the search effort for Sophia. Dale and T-Dawg find a walking in the well, and the group dispatches to try and solve the issue. Rick attempts to convince Hershel to let them stay permanently on the farm. The group decides to try and get the walker out of the well with a rope in the hopes that the well water is not already contaminated. Daryl goes back into the forest alone to search for Sophia, as the rest of the group is too injured or untrained to go. Glenn and Maggie set off into town for more medical supplies and the start of their relationship. Lori has a revaluation.
Cherokee Rose is the first truly uninteresting episode of the show. Nothing monumental happens. It's a building episode that fails to keep the viewer engaged and as a stand alone episode is pretty mediocre. The writing stays sharp as usual but no level of acting or directing can help such an uninteresting plot to be interesting. This episode starts as a sting of episodes that fail the capture the action packed nature of the seasons beginnings.
The Walking Dead: Save the Last One (2011)
The Shane Revelation
Save the Last One serves as a revelation and a backstory to how Shane saved Rick, and what he did the make it out of the school. People have always been very conflicted about Shane and this episode is what created that.
Starting with Carl still being in and out, Rick and Lori have a conversation on whether Carl surviving would really be the best thing for him. Panning back to Shane and Otis still trying to make it out, their down to their last rounds and are running out of options, they decide to make a limp for it. Maggie and Glenn get some really sweet screen time together. And when it's looking like Hershal is going to need to make the emergency surgery he didn't want to do, Shane makes it back with the supplies but Otis didn't make it. With Carl saved, Patricia is left to morn the loss of her husband. We then pan over to the second scene of the episode where Shane is cutting his hair and we see a wound, almost like it was pulled out. This is when the reveal happens that Shane sacrificed Otis to make it out of there.
Save the Last One is a tear jerking episode that really questions the humanity of Shane. He's clearly slipping and it's show brilliantly with the hair cut scene of him looking into the mirror in a bloodlust gaze. All the actor's played a brilliant roll in showing the urgency of the situation. The set pieces at the farm are shown as warm and cozy, to contrast the deep isolation and dark cold atmosphere of the school where Shane and Otis are at. It's a well done episode and a solid showing of talent from everyone on the team.
The Walking Dead: Bloodletting (2011)
Parenting In The Apocalypse
Starting from the cliffhanger of the last episode, we get carried over to Hershel's Farm in the hopes he can save Carl's life. We get to see how crushing this is for Rick, This episode show's just a glimpse of how amazing of an actor Andrew Lincoln is. We feel the emotions he's feeling. Not having Lori there for Carl while he has to go through this. Maggie sets off to go find Lori while a mission is being set up for the supplies Hershel needs to save Carl. Out of danger for the moment the group tries to figure out who is going to go. Shane and Otis set off for the school where the supplies are being held. Walker's surrounding the building, they find flares to use and divert the walker's so they can get inside. After getting inside they get trapped and the episode ends off.
This episode is criminally underrated, from the acting to the character dynamics and the exploration and depth of their personalities. If I could rate it a 9.5/10 I would. I don't think it's quite as amazing as some of the best but it's definitely the 3rd or 4th best episode so far. Give it multiple watches and see what your gonna see. Might change your opinion.
The Walking Dead: What Lies Ahead (2011)
On The Road
What Lies Ahead serves as our look into the group getting out of the cities and into a more rural environment. Seeing our group going scavenging for supplies and stumbling upon a highway littered with destroyed vehicles. A herd of walker's comes walking through and in the fray Sophia starts running into the forest being chassed by 2 roamers. Rick follows her and tries to lead the walker's away while Sophia makes a break for it back to the highway. Ending up getting lost in the forest. The group must go out and look for her.
After the exhilarating introduction that was Days Gone By. What Lies Ahead contrasts this with a slower, character building episode. A slower pace and a rural landscape shows us the isolation that characters feel. Knowing nothing is out there. Just trying to get by at this point. Writing and acting is really good. This season premier is not very flashy and doesn't have many notable moments but gets it's point across Not amazing by any means and actually one of the weaker season premieres, placing it just above season 8 and 9's. It's a pretty good episode.
The Walking Dead: TS-19 (2010)
There's Nothing Left
This episode serves as a dump of information from C. D. C scientist Edward Jenner and his research team of 1. We get to the "root" of what's really the situation of the world, and it's bad. This episode is also one of the more drastic changes from the comics and as a result, can kind of serve as a identity crisis for the show. But don't let that distract you from the impeccable writing, acting, and directing. This episode is criminally underrated and goes along with the likes of No Sanctuary, Days Gone By and Too Far Gone. The Shane situation reaches another level when Shane takes it a step too far with Lori. Seeing the characters react to this information with despair and outright giving up. Jenner poses as an endpoint for anyone who wants to jump ship with him. If anything, this episode serves for an excellent stopping point for a thrilling, engaging season of non stop action, thrilling set pieces and a brilliant set up for some of the best seasons of television.
The Walking Dead: Wildfire (2010)
Desperation At It's Finest
The grieving process is such a fascination. So take it in stride, some act mournful or sorrowful, and some show blatant anger. All these feelings come from a deep place of sorrow and this episode shows us how different people grieve, while also giving us a taste on how bad the situation really is. Rick comes up with a plan to take Jim to the C. D. C, as they believe it will be a safe haven. Rick and Shane's first sign of conflict shows here. Shane filled with rage at the fact that Rick is "Stealing" his family from him. Lori sowing tensions to come. The group embarks and the reveal of how truly overun and destroyed everything is, is shown here. The area around the C. D. C is a battleground of corpses and unmanned military equipment. The group is at the last of it's ropes, out of food, out of water, out of gas. Rick pleads to whoever is on the other side to let them in. They find that 1 man is left in the C. D. C. The government has given up and either went into hiding or was completely dismantled. Either way this episode paints a bleak picture. It's highly underrated.