WARNING - SPOILERS GALORE FOLLOW!
If you haven't seen Game Of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5, don't read the following.
There is a problem when TV shows get a little long in the tooth. That problem? The audience. Viewer fatigue is a real thing. People who have been watching something for seven or eight or nine years have viewer fatigue and it plays out in the following ways.
#1 Everyone has raised their expectations. If pure brilliance doesn't follow, they are disappointed. After all, they've been at this, committed a chunk of their time, for nearly a decade. Even if brilliance DOES follow, they likely won't recognize it. They're just worn out from eating so much delicious TV. They're bloated.
#2 Everyone has expectations. Yes, besides raised expectations, they have plain old expectations. They have sold themselves a series of theories as to how things will turn out. They have bounced those theories off other fans and absorbed the theories of those other fans. And, when things don't play out the way they expect? You guessed it, disappointment follows.
#3 Thanks to the advent of the internet, these fans now live in an echo chamber where the slightest disappointment, "the show was too dark," multiplies geometrically and, before you know it, expands completely out of all proportion. "Too dark" becomes "impossible to see," "I couldn't see anything."
FYI, I saw "The Long Night" just like the rest of you. I saw it twice. At no time did I feel it was too dark. At no time did I miss anything important. Are your TV sets that bad? Not only could I see, but my second viewing convinced me it was one of the most gorgeously photographed, moody, beautiful, artful episodes of television that I have ever seen.
Now, on to "The Bells." For almost ten years we have been rooting for Daenerys. We love her. She was the underdog that overcame; a victim of rape and slavery that freed the victims of rape and slavery. She promised to free the world from the grip of tyrants. And, suddenly, unexpectedly (well, not completely), she has turned into a tyrant, herself. People are angry. Yes, even though the internet had theorized for weeks that Dany would turn bad, when she did, they were apoplectic.
Chief among the complaints? That her turn was so sudden. "Bad writing" moaned countless people who, themselves, can barely spell, let alone write creative fiction. Let me illuminate you. First, she's a Targaryen, an inbred family whose last patriarch, her dad, was insane. So, yeah, maybe she is, too. Mental illness is inherited. That's pretty much all you need right there. And, presumably, the mad king didn't display his madness from day one. So how hard is it to believe Dany suddenly snaps? Does everyone who shoots up a school live a life of craziness? Why do people often say of mass murderers - "he was a quiet man." But, let's continue.
Though her beginnings were difficult and we warmed to her quickly, she became a vicious mass murderer. She has killed thousands. She crucified hundreds of slave masters, burned her enemies alive, ordered the deaths of too many to count. Her only response to the murder of her brother, her only known living relative, was a disinterested "he was no dragon." She even locked two people in a safe for all eternity. Cruel and unusual punishment is okay by her. And she has been threatening to burn all those who oppose her, to conquer all with "fire and blood" for almost the entirety of the show.
So, yeah, no surprise here. But, let's up the ante even more. In the last few weeks she has lost everyone she could count on. Every one of them. Her "children" the dragons? Two of three dead. Her oldest friend, Jorah? Dead. Her closest advisor Missandei? Dead. Her hand Tyrion? Untrustworthy and duplicitous. Her advisor Varys? Tried to kill her and turn the kingdoms against her. Her love and closest ally Jon? Rejected her AND he's the rightful heir to her throne. She can trust no one. Sees her lifelong dream slipping away and she's a mass murderer descended from an insane king. Yeah, color me not shocked she went on a blood thirsty rampage.
Next. Cersei's death. Saw a "critic" (isn't everyone a freaking critic these days) complain the death was not worthy enough. Worthy? Cersei, the most evil, murderous, monster of the show was expected by all to be killed by her younger brother Tyrion, because of prophecy. Or maybe by her other barely younger brother, and love, Jaime. At the very least, she would be killed by Jon Snow or Arya Stark or Daenerys. Or Sansa, who just last week bemoaned not being able to watch Cersei get executed. Or someone, anyone. And we expected it face to face. But it wasn't and she wasn't. She was buried under a pile of rock clinging to her love Jaime.
And it made lots of sense to me. You know why it made sense? Because NO ONE predicted it. What is Game of Thrones if not unpredictable? They gave us the death no one saw coming. Good for them. Feel unfulfilled? Cersei's dead. Be grateful.
Now, those are the complaints. Pointless complaints. Whiny, nit picky, internet fueled complaints. What about all the good stuff? All the delicious morsels of TV goodness?
There's the amazing scene between the Lannister brothers. "If it wasn't for you I would have never survived my childhood. You are the only one who didn't treat me like a monster. You were all I had." If that didn't move you, nothing will. The Hound-Mountain battle we were all waiting for? We got it. The dragon as F-18 taking down the gate and those evil scorpions? Applause worthy. Arya's journey? Wow. If you say you weren't on the edge of your seat for those 20 minutes, you're lying.
If you take the time to really watch the episode carefully, you'll see just how amazing it was. First of all, no coffee cup! No darkness to complain about! But, seriously, folks, the effects? This is a freaking TV SHOW! It looks like a widescreen major motion picture. Marvel movies don't look this good. Nothing looks this good. And it's a freaking TV show!
No other episode I have seen, with the exception of The Red Wedding, was so disturbing, so unsettling, that I wondered if I can watch it again. Talk about effective. It took me four years to re-watch The Red Wedding. Sunday night I was shaken. I woke up the next morning actually depressed over it. The hero I had rooted for over almost ten years? I now want to see her tossed into the sea. I mourn the loss of my hero. The show has shaken me to my core. As I said, effective! No wonder you're all bummed. You've lost your mother of dragons and you want to moan. Stop whining. Appreciate how a TV show can turn your emotions on a dime, stomp them into jelly, create a nasty, nauseous feeling in the pit of your stomach. Bad writing? Let's see you do that.
BTW, The Red Wedding is actually called "The Rains Of Castamere." Before the Starks are butchered, the musicians play the song with that title. Last night, as Dany torched every last Lannister in sight, guess what theme played? Did you notice? Detail, folks. You're complaining about the forest and missing the trees.
Shows end. If there were 20 more episodes you'd either complain they ran out of ideas or you'd still cry that they seem rushed. Late in the run of a show, everything contracts. It has to. A show expands the universe early on and then it all comes to a point, to a resolution. Well, that is unless it's written by J.J. Abrams. And then you'd cry about the lack of resolution. Suggestion - enjoy what you've got while you've got it. Only one episode left!
The same thing happened to the other best show of all time, "The Sopranos." Everyone whined about the ending. Everyone complained the last season was no good. Here's an idea, if you truly hate it, stop watching. Or, why not go out and write a #1 TV show of your own? You all seem to think you know what good writing is. Just stop whining, already.
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