2019 EMMYS: My Predictions In The Major Categories

Here is my predictions post for the 2019 Primetime Emmy awards for excellence in television. Last year, I predicted incorrectly that The Americans would win Best Drama Series over Game of Thrones and that Veep would win Best Comedy series (again). I was wrong about both, but I did get Claire Foy's Lead Actress in a Drama win for The Crown correct. As usual I am following the lead of  Issa Rae and will be "rooting for everybody Black!" Below the SHOULD WIN is who I would vote for her, while the WILL WIN is who I think the Academy will pick.

Outstanding Drama Series

• Better Call Saul
• Bodyguard
• Game of Thrones
• Killing Eve
• Ozark
• Pose
• Succession
• This Is Us

I think Game of Thrones is the clearly best thing on television and even though there were complaints that the 8th and final season was only 6 episodes, they were all amazing. The shows in bold are ones that I was every episode of and the ones not in italics I have seen multiple episodes of, but maybe not the season under consideration. I think the only show which has a chance of dethroning Game of Thrones would be This is Us (which I would be fine with winning). Bodyguard is great, but it is really a Limited Series (from the BBC); it's only 7 episodes long and it was unclear to me that the show was going to do another season. Killing Eve Season 1 was great, but Season 2 should be happy that it got nominated, I have heard great things about Ozark and Succession but I just don't need to watch another show of (predominately) Rich White People Behaving Badly. Pose winning would be absolutely revolutionary.

WILL WIN: Game of Thrones.
SHOULD WIN: Game of Thrones.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

• Jason Bateman (Ozark)
• Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us)
• Kit Harington (Game of Thrones)
• Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
• Billy Porter (Pose)
• Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us)

Sterling Brown won this category in his first year on the NBC powerhouse This Is Us but this season the story has revolved more around Milo Ventmiglia's character, even though he's dead! I would really like him to win, but I suspect that people will want to take advantage of this being the last year Harington is available for the award and give it to him. It would be incredible if Billy Porter won but I just don't see that happening, although I wish it would.

WILL WIN: Kit Harington, Game of Thrones.
SHOULD WIN: Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us or Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

• Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones)
• Jodie Comer (Killing Eve)
• Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder)
• Laura Linney (Ozark)
• Mandy Moore (This Is Us)
• Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)
• Robin Wright (House of Cards)

This is an absolutely brutal category. Interestingly, the only repeat nominee from last year is Sandra Oh, who would make history as the first Asian-American actress to win the prize. She does do amazing work on Killing Eve, but so does her co-star Jodie Comer (who is also 20 years younger). Kudos to Mandy Moore getting recognized. I would love for her to win. It's the last chance for Emilia Clarke and Robin Wright for two seminal, powerhouse roles. Viola Davis has won before and was not nominated last year, so she could sneak in.

WILL WIN: Sandra Oh, Killing Eve or Mandy Moore, This Is Us
SHOULD WIN: Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Barry
• Fleabag
• The Good Place
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Russian Doll
• Schitt’s Creek
• Veep

I was shocked last year when The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel won all the major comedy prizes. I have watched a few episodes since and I am still shocked about the result. The husband and I binge watched the entire first two seasons of Fleabag on Amazon Prime and enjoyed it tremendously but to me the clear winner here is The Good Place. Veep is in its last year but it wasn't clear to me that it was critically acclaimed this year. Then again the show has won the Best Comedy the last three years it was eligible so it is very dangerous in its final season. Can it beat the Maisel and Fleabag buzz? Probably.

WILL WIN: Veep.
SHOULD WIN: The Good Place.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

• Christina Applegate (Dead to Me)
• Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
• Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll)
• Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek)
• Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 7 times and with a win tonight sh will have the record. Hollywood loves being historic and she is incredibly popular in Hollywood. I don't see how she loses to anyone else in the list, although I would vote for Fleabag's Waller-Bridge. All hail the new hyphenate!

WILL WIN: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
SHOULD WIN: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

• Anthony Anderson (black-ish)
• Don Cheadle (Black Monday)
• Ted Danson (The Good Place)
• Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method)
• Bill Hader (Barry)
• Eugene Levy (Schitt’s Creek)

 Bill Hader won this category last year, when it was arguably stronger, beating out his rivals Danson and Anderson. Barry still gets  alot of 

WILL WIN: Bill Hader, Barry

SHOULD WIN: Ted Danson, The Good Place

GAME OF THRONES (S8E05) : "The Bells"

Summary
The episode contains the final resolution of the fight between Daenerys and Cersei for control of the Iron Throne and the leadership of the Seven Kingdoms. "The Bells" is the penultimate episode of the series and so a number of important characters meet their ends. The ones that come to mind are: Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Euron Greyjoy, Sandor Clegane, Gregor Clegane, Maester Qyburn, and Lord Varys.

The most prominent deaths of the episode are of the Lannister twins, Cersei and Jaime. Many, many viewers were very disappointed that the most villainous character in the story (Cersei) was killed not by another character, but by falling rocks. It was an interesting detail that Cersei's death did follow the prophecy that "the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you." The valonqar is the younger sibling, which everyone (including Cersei) took to mean Tyrion, but in the end it was Jaime who had his hands around Cersei's throat as they were both crushed to death. Of course, ultimately it was Dany who killed them, by raking the Red Keep with so much fire that it collapsed, but it was a hollow death, since we didn't get to see any direct or indirect interaction between the two central characters.

The Lannisters' death came after Jaime had killed Euron Greyjoy, whose Iron Fleet had been completely destroyed by Drogon's fire. (Some people who watched the show were very annoyed that one episode after Rhaegal was killed by Qyburn's ballistas that suddenly the flying spears were completely unable to prevent Dany and her remaining dragon from dominating the airspace of King's Landing.) Regardless, the hand-to-hand combat between Euron and Jaime and the fact that they both were able to land fatal blows on each other was an important scene.

Meanwhile Dany was incredibly effective on Drogon, as she basically destroyed both the Iron Fleet and the Golden Company by herself, breaching the walls of King's Landing to allow her remaining troops (Dothraki and Unsullied led by Grey Worm and assembled forces of the North led by Jon Snow) to enter the city.

It's the scenes inside the city which make the episode so harrowing. Once they get inside and the defending Lannister forces realize that Dany can basically kill anyone from the sky they reluctantly surrender their weapons, but once the bells start to ring out and Dany continues her devastating fiery pillage of the city that animates Grey Worm who throws his spear directly at an unarmed Lannister killing him, that sets off the sack of King's Landing and the murder and rape of thousands of innocents. Jon slowly realizes that his attacking forces are committing horrible acts against the defensive forces and tries (unsuccessfully) to prevent the worst of the war crimes, going as far to kill a soldier from the North as he is attempting to rape a woman.

For much of the episode we (the audience) is following Arya, who tries to escape King's Landing while the two armies are battling each other and Dany is dropping dragon fire from the sky indiscriminately. Arya experiences the destruction of King's Landing from the perspective of the women and children of the city and it is terrifying, confusing and amazing. After all the important deaths (mentioned earlier) in the final scene of the episode we see Arya covered in grey ash with multiple injuries and improbably she finds a white horse nearby ready to be soothed and she uses it to ride out of the city to safety. How will she use the fact that she is alive and everyone on her kill list is dead? Only one episode left to find out!

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The best line of the episode is Lord Varys' heartfelt "I hope I deserved it. Truly, I do. I hope I'm wrong. " This is what he says right before he is executed by Drogon on Daenerys' command after Tyrion confesses to her that Varys doubts that she is the best person to sit on the Iron Throne.
• Another important quote in the episode was also done by Varys: "They say that every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin and the world holds its breath." The implication is that 50% of Targaryen's may be insane, which is problematic when Targaryens have been in the ruling class of the Seven Kingdoms.
• The direction by Miguel Sapochnik (who also directed the more controversial "The Long Night") was absolutely stunning.
• The aerial shots of King's Landing as the town was being devastated by Dany and her dragon were incredible. It's even more amazing that instead of filing in Dubrovnik as usual, the producers created a brand new set in Dublin just so they could destroy it!
• Cleganebowl!

Lowlights
The only lowlight of the episode was that we didn't get to see the face of Daenerys as she decimated King's Landing, thus we were provided any insight into her thought processes for killing so many people and destroying so much property after the bells rang out and (presumably) the city had surrendered. This result shocked a lot of people (not me) so hopefully we do get some kind of explanation in the series finale.

Grade: 10/10

GAME OF THRONES (S8E04) : "The Last of the Starks"

Summary
This episode begins with a funeral for all the dead who fell in the previous epic episode "The Long Night." We see all the survivors, looking sombre, about to set alight the pyres of their friends, lovers, brothers, sons, fathers, etc. However, afterwards, we see a huge feast occurring in the great hall of Winterfell, with everyone  (except Arya, who is called "the hero of Winterfell" in her absense) drinking and eating and making merry. Everyone in attendance is happy except for Dany, who notices how people seem to gravitate around her nephew/lover Jon Snow, even though an objective analysis would show that he did not acquit himself with much impact in last night's battle between the living and the dead. You can see the realization on her face that she could very well lose her claim to the Iron Throne to this guy. So she calls out Gendry Rivers, gets him to confirm in front of everyone that he is indeed Robert Barratheon's "bastard son" and declares that he is now Gendry Barratheon, Lord of Storm's End (the Barratheon homestead). It's a nice moment and everyone in the hall applauds the new Lord's good fortune. Lord Gendry, continues his search for Arya, who he finds alone, practicing her archery marksmanship. Being the silly dude he is, Gendry gets on one knee and asks Lady Arya Stark to marry him. She lets him down easy. "You will make a great Lord and you deserve to have the love of a great Lady. But I am not a lady. I never was, and I don't intend to be." Although we see the end of one couple in this episode we also see the consummation of the relationship between Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth, two episodes after he knighted her in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."

The title of this week's episode is "The Last of the Starks," presumably because of the scene with Jon, Sansa, Arya and Bran (the four surviving Stark children) meeting in the Weirwood, where Jon defies Dany (as everyone knew he would) and reveals the secret that only 4 people in the world know: his real name is Aegon Targaryen, so in fact he is not their adopted brother, he is their cousin (the son of their father's sister Lyanna Stark). Before he tells them he makes them swear not to reveal what he is about to say and then he tells Bran "tell them everything." Curiously, the reveal happens off-screen, as does the second reveal when Sansa tells Tyrion, who has come to try and convince the Lady of Winterfell to trust in his judgment that the Dragon Queen will be a just ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. "What if there were someone else?" Sansa asks him.

This cuts to the first of two pivotal scenes where Tyrion and Varys debate who should be the ruler of Seven Kingdoms that would benefit the most number of people. Tyrion, as one would expect from the Hand of the Queen, makes his case for Daenerys, while Varys, who having reached the inner corridors of power without ceding his connection to the common folk, wonders aloud if it wouldn't be better to have someone sit on the Iron Throne who has to be convinced to do it, instead of someone who believes it is their (her!) birthright. It's an interesting philosophical question which has echoes of modern day politics.

However this is a brief respite from the mayhem of the rapidly approaching battle for the Iron Throne. Many of our heroes set off by ship and Dany and her dragons are flying above them. Suddenly they are ambushed by Euron's fleet of ships and we see huge flying spears whizzing through the air, barely missing Dany on Drogon and connecting with Rhaegal in the wing. Two more spears come by and they catch the dragon in the throat, and he falls into the ocean, suddenly dead. Could Drogon and Dany be next? Happily they survive but it means that Dany is now down to one dragon. The new weapons by Qyburn not only can take dragons out of the sky, they can blast ships from several hundred feet away as well. Tyrion and Grey Worm barely survive and it turns out that Missandei is captured by Euron's company.

The inevitable showdown between Dany, Varys, Grey Worm, Tyrion outside of the walls of King's Landing as they watch Cersei, Qyburn, Euron, and a captured Missandei occurs at the very end of the episode. Even though it was very clear there was no way she would survive the situation, it was still shocking to see Mountain chop her head off as her lover watched. The look on Dany's face as she stormed away from the scene where one of her closest confidants was murdered as she mourns the death of one of her children was enough for us to know that the penultimate episode of the season (and show) next week will be the epic battle for the Iron Throne we have been waiting for since the show debuted in 2011.

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The best line of the episode (and maybe the season so far!) is Tyrion's response to Varys as they debate who they think really would be the best ruler of the Seven Kingdoms: "I don't think a cock is a true qualification." 
• The second best line is probably Jaime's "I've never slept with a Knight before." Of course Brienne's response is "I've never slept with anyone before."
• Most valuable player of the episode is Tyrion, who risks his life by trying to speak directly with his sister, Queen Cersei, to attempt to reach some human compassion at her core in order to try and avoid the bloodshed and horror he knows will result if the two Queens of the Realm battle for supremacy. He fails (of course), but the attempt was valiant. I was quite surprised he survived the effort. A close second would probably be Qyburn, who of course designed the new weapons which were used to devastating effect by Euron's navy to not only kill half of Dany's surviving dragons, but also obliterated a significant fraction of her existing naval power as well.
• The love scene between Jaime and Brienne was great, because it was a payoff for a relationship that has been in existence for several seasons. However the sight of Brienne in tears, dressed only in a nightgown, begging Jaime not to give in to his "bad" side and return to his evil sister/lover was heartbreaking. 

Lowlights
The primary lowlight was the fact that Rhaegal was taken out of the game so abruptly and brutally. There's no question that 6 episodes is simply not enough time to wrap up a story as complex and complicated  as George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

Grade: 9/10.

GAME OF THRONES (S8E03): "The Long Night"

Summary
The third episode of Game of Thrones is called "The Long Night" and features the final battle between the Army of the Dead raised by the Night King and the assembled forces of humanity who have gathered around Winterfell. Speculation and anticipation before this episode was at a fever pitch and it did not disappoint in the level of drama and excitement.

Synopsis
The direction of this episode was very well done. The Army of the living seems huge: there's the Dothraki hordes, rows and rows of Unsullied, the assembled forces of the North, and Dany and Jon with their dragons watching from on high. We get a signal that things are not going to go well for the living when even though the Dothraki all have flaming curved swords (thanks to an assist by Melisandre!) they are routed by an enemy we can't even see.

When we finally do see the army of the dead they have overwhelming numbers and relatively quickly are able to use those numbers to breach the defenses of Winterfell, despite the clever use of fire by the good guys, both as deployed by Dany's dragons from the air and by Melisandre at important points in the battle.

Arya's fighting prowess is showed multiple times, but even she is almost killed due to the large numbers of undead wights that stream into Winterfell. Interestingly, after what seemed like the better part of an hour, one of the best sequences in "The Long Night" was when Arya was tiptoeing around a library infested with several undead creatures who suddenly appear to have superhuman sensitivity to sounds.

A quick word about Jon and Dany, who do not acquit themselves well. Dany abandons the plan of waiting for the Night King to appear and try to kill Bran once she sees the Dothraki massacred. This results in a thrilling (but also confusing) aerial dragon fight between Dany (and Jon) on Drogon and Rhaegar and the Night King on undead Viserion. She ends up putting herself (and Drogon) into mortal danger when she is stuck in the middle of the battleground after Drogon's fire appears to have no effect on the Night King despite sustained, direct application. Eventually Ser Jorah Mormont has to put forward a heroic performance to protect Dany from a multitude of wights, dying in the process.
Jon doesn't fare much better. He gets thrown from Rhaegal after a bout with the Night King atop Viserion and despite seeing two of his friends (Samwell Tarly in particular) in mortal danger, he continues forward into Winterfell to try to protect Bran and (presumably) kill the Night King. But Jon is thwarted repeatedly by the undead dragon Viserion, who is inside of Winterfell's main yard.

Of course the most important scene of the episode was the amazing (and surprising) death of the Night King at Arya's hand, who appeared to come out of nowhere, just as he was about to kill the Three-Eyed Raven (Bran) after dispatching Theon, by thrusting an obsidian dagger into him which effectively destroyed the entire army of the dead, including Viserion. Victory!

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The most memorable line of this episode was this exchange between Melisandre and Arya: "What do we say to the God of Death?" "Not today!"
• The second best line of the episode is also Melisandre's. As she approaches Winterfell, she says: "There's no need to execute me, Ser Davos, I'll be dead before the dawn." 
• Another memorable line is Bran's "Theon, you're a good man, thank you." This was said to Theon right before he redeems himself by charging the Night King and dying a noble death.
• Most valuable player of the episode is of course, Arya for killing the Night King and causing the concomitant destruction of the Army of the Dead. When it happened I stared at the screen with my mouth agape and then cheered. At that point, it didn't appear that the living were going to prevail and it really seemed like everyone we know and care about on the show (Jon, Tyrion, Dany, Sansa, Brienne, Grey Worm, etc) could possibly be dead soon.
• Another notable highlight of the episode was the way that Lady Lyanna Mormont died. Amazingly, as one of the smallest characters on the show, she was able to take out and destroy one of the biggest, an undead Giant, who she stabbed through the eye with dragonglass and then crushed her to death as it collapsed. 

Lowlights
The lowlights of the episode were

•  Although I didn't have a problem with the lighting of the episode I did have difficulty at times discerning what was happening at times during the more frenetic sections of the battle scenes. I saw the episode in HBO NOW using Spectrum wifi on a Roku-connected 55" plasma TV in a darkened room.
• What the heck was Bran (The Three-Eyed Raven) doing during the Battle for Winterfell? Warging into a raven? To what end?
• A slight lowlight is the fact that although there were deaths, none of them were of "top line" characters. The most significant is probably Theon's, since he was an adopted member of the Stark family, but the show has made him a bigger character than he is in the books. The other characters who died are: Lyanna Mormont, Jorah Mormont, Dolorous Edd, Melisandre, Beric Donddarion and The Night King.

Grade: 10/10.

GAME OF THRONES (S8E02): "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"

Summary
The second episode of the final season of  Game of Thrones is "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." This is either a reference to Jaime Lannister or Brienne of Tarth. This is a "quiet before the storm" episode where the "storm" is the Army of the Dead led by the Night King and the White Walkers. The Seven Kingdoms are the North (home to Winterfell), the Vale (home to The Eyrie), Dorne (home to Highgarden), the Stormlands, the Reach, the Westerlands, and the Iron Islands.

In this episode we see how people will deal with the end of the world as they know it. They know the Night King is on his way to Winterfell kill everyone in the North and the writers use this episode to show us almost every imaginable pairing of characters. A brief list is: Sansa and Theon, Grey Worm and Missandei, Jaime and Brienne, Arya and Gendry, The Hound and Arya, Podrick and Brienne, Sansa and Daenerys, Sam and Gilly, Tyrion and Jaime, Tormund and Brienne, Bran and Jaime, etc.

The information that Jon received in the previous episode that he is Aegon Targaryen VI, the heir to the Iron Throne was relayed to Daenerys in this episode, but not at a moment where there's enough time for them to have  a meaningful conversation about it. The horn blows, indicating that the Army of the Dead is approaching Winterfell and we immediately cut to an exterior shot with White Walkers (although no appearance by the Night King himself) looking at Winterfell in the distance.

The most surprising (and controversial) scene . Only 4 episodes left!

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The best line of the episode is probably Bran's "The things we do for love" which he said when Jaime was being interrogated by Dany, Sansa and Jon for his crimes, to let the Kingslayer know that he was the kid who he had pushed out the window in S01E01 so many years before.
• The second best line of course belonged to Tormund Giantsbane when he said "Why the f*** not?" to the notion that a woman can't become a Knight.
• The best scene was almost certainly the meeting between Dany and Sansa, as Dany tries to convince Sansa to not be her enemy as she points out that they have a lot in common (primarily that they both love Jon Snow). Interestingly, there is some progress made, but still tension, as Sansa wants to know how the independence/autonomy of the North will be maintained in any new Targaryen administration.
• Second best scene was when Brienne became Ser Brienne, at the hands of Ser Jaime Lannister. The two have had a tumultuous relationship, but Brienne had stuck her neck out to save Jaime from Dany's wrath and revenge by convincing Sansa that Jaime is "honorable" and it was interesting to see how Jaime was able to "pay his debt" later in the same episode.
• Most valuable player of the episode is Podrick, who (again!) surprises us with his hidden talents. his time whipping out a surprisingly supple... voice as he sang the new song "Jenny of Oldstones." The look on his face when Brienne says "Oh I don't really want to be  a Knight."
• All the pairing (or couplings) were great but my two favorite were Grey Worm-Missandei and Arya-Gendry. However, as George R.R. Martin says, "If you think this story has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention."

An amazing highlight was the original song called "Jenny of Oldstone" which was sung by Podrick in the show a cappella but the version in the credit was done  by the amazing Florence and the Machine. Listen to it below:

Lowlights
The only lowlight of the episode was the languid pacing and the lack of action, but I have no doubt that episode 3 will make up for that, with epic battle between the living and the dead.

Grade: 8/10.

GAME OF THRONES (S8E01): "Winterfell"

After a nearly two year hiatus, HBO's Game of Thrones returned with the first episode of the eighth season on Sunday April 14th. This is the final season and will consist of only six episodes. As expected after such a long gap between episodes, ratings were extremely high. The episode (S8E01) is titled "Winterfell" and like a lot of first episodes in previous seasons, it includes a lot of place-setting and character check-ins. However, this first episode of the last season was notable for its mirroring of the first episode of the first season in various aspects.

Here, for completeness are the first episodes of the seven previous seasons of the show

• Season 1: "Winter is Coming" (Characters are introduced; Jaime Lannister pushes Bran Stark out a tower window)
• Season 2: "The North Remembers" (Stannis Barratheon is introduced as another claimant to the Iron Throne while Robb Stark vows revenge for his father's murder by Joffrey)
• Season 3: "Valar Dohaeris" (The title means "all men must serve" and comes after the Season 2 finale of Valar Morghulis which means "all men must die.")
• Season 4: "Two Swords" (Tywin Lannister melts down a Valyrian steel sword to make two swords, 1 for Jaime and 1 for Joffrey)
• Season 5: "The Wars to Come" (Jon Snow, Lord Commander of the Night'sWatch, kills Mance Ryder of the Wildings)
• Season 6: "The Red Woman" (Melissandre is revealed to be more than just a priestess of R'hllor)
• Season 7: "Dragonstone" (Daenerys finally makes it to Westeros, arriving at Dragonstone the ancestral home of House Targaryen kings)

Summary
The episode finds a way to check-in on almost every important surviving character in the series, with almost everyone either located at Winterfell or King's Landing.  In the North we see an insanely long line of soldiers walking past a crowd of skeptical northerners (and a bemused Arya) that includes Grey Worm and  Missandei, Jon and Dany and many, many Unsullied warriors. This, of course, mirrors one of the very first scenes in Episode 1, Season 1 when a young Bran and Arya Stark witnessed the procession of King Robert Barratheon and the Kingsguard on the way into Winterfell to try and convince their father to serve as Hand of the King. We see Gendry and The Hound in the procession as well.

When we get to the interior of Winterfell we see Bran, Sansa, Davos, Varys, Tyrion among other familiars. The first meeting between Sansa and Dany is tense, although the Lady of Winterfell does her duty by saying "Winterfell is yours, your Grace" but she doesn't look like she means it or enjoys it. Another tense meeting between siblings that occurs is between Yara and Theon, who after Euron goes to King's Landing to (successfully) woo Queen Cersei Lannister leaves his ship unprotected and vulnerable to a sneak attack by Theon to rescue his sister, who promptly heads him in the nose and knocks him to the ground when she sees him. (Presumably for running away and leaving her with their psychopathic uncle after he attacked their ship last time we saw them.) There's no physical violence when Sansa and Jon (or when Sansa and Tyrion) meet in the episode, but Sansa has developed the skill of using her words as dangerous weapons and does so to memorable effect in both meetings.

Later, we see the reunion we have been waiting for a long time, Arya and Jon (in the Weirwood, no less) and he realizes that she still has the sword he gave her so many years ago (Needle). "Have you used it much?" he asks, revealing how little he knows about the deadly assassin his sibling has become since he last saw her. We also see a reunion between Arya and Gendry (who is busy working the forges of Winterfell to create deadly weapons out of dragonglass that Dany brought with her from Dragonstone).

Probably the most important scene of the episode was between Sam and Jon (occurring in the crypts of Winterfell). After Sam has discovered that Dany (and her dragons) were responsible for the death of his hated father (and his dickish brother) he asks Jon if he knew that Dany had killed them and would he have done the same thing. (Interestingly, Jon doesn't really answer either question clearly, although his body language seems to indciate that he might have known about the incident). It's in this context that Sam reveals to Jon that the truth that fans have been waiting decades for. Jon Snow isnot a bastard, he is the true heir to the Iron Throne, since he is the son of Lyanna Stark and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen (who were married at the time). Jon's real name is Aegon Targaryen VI and as the eldest son of the eldest son of King Aegon Targaryen (the Mad King) he has a better claim to the throne than Daenerys as the youngest (female) child of the King. This also means that Dany is also Jon's aunt, which should make their next intimate conversation very interesting!

In the final scene of the episode we see a stranger disembark from a horse in Winterfell and take off his head covering to reveal Jaime Lannister, and then pan out to see Bran Stark sitting in his wheelchair looking straight at him was a great surprise. And then when we see Jaime realize who it is he is looking at (the kid he cruelly threw out of a tower window after discovering he had seem he and his sister together) is a great way to end episode 1. Only 5 episodes left!

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The best line of the episode is probably Dany's slightly annoyed response to Sansa's question "What do dragons eat?" which was "Anything they want." 
• The second best line is probably Dany's "We're here to discuss your surrender, not ours."
• Most valuable player of the episode is Drogon, the largest of Dany's dragons. The look he gives Jon when Dany is trying to encourage him to "keep [her] warm" is a definite highlight of the episode. I also liked the Dany and Jon ride dragons interlude, although I can also see how some fans of the show might have gotten impatient.
• Reunions between Arya and Jon, Arya and Gendry, Jon and Sam, Tyrion and Sansa and Theon and Yara. 

Lowlights
The only lowlight of the episode was that we didn't actually see any white walkers or the zombie dragon Viserion.

Grade: 8/10.

GOT Season 7: Watch 2nd Trailer For Game of Thrones #WinterIsHere

The second trailer for Season 7 of HBO's Game of Thrones dropped this week. New episodes will be available for illegal downloading viewing starting July 16, 2017.

GAME OF THRONES: Official #GOTS7 Trailer Released, Immediately Goes Viral

The first official full trailer for the upcoming penultimate season of Game of Thrones has been released and immediately set records for viewership of a tailer for a television show, garnering well over 60 million views in 24 hours.. (Previously a teaser trailer had been released.)

Season 7 of the hit show will premiere on July 16th and there will only be 7 episodes, instead of the usual 10 and Season 8, the final season, will consist of only 6 episodes.

GAME OF THRONES: Season 7 Full Trailer Released #GOTS7

The trailer for Season 7 of HBO's Game of Thrones has been released; new shows begin airing on July 16. It has already been announced that the final two seasons will have fewer than the 10 episodes the first six had, with Season 7 coming in at seven episodes and Season 8 will have just 6 episodes.

And Now His Watch Is Rewarded! Game of Thrones Gets 23 Emmy Noms!

Woo hoo! It seems like just yesterday that Game of Thrones finished what was probably it's best season yet on Sunday June 26th with the blockbuster (most watched episode of the show) Season 6 finale "The Winds of Winter." Today comes word that last year's winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Drama series (and the most nominated show of 2015) is again the most nominated show this year, with 23 nominations.

Interestingly, the actors playing Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), and Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) were all nominated. So was Max von Sydow (for playing the Three Eye Raven).

Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series

• “The Door” (Jack Bender)
• “Battle of the Bastards” (Miguel Sapochnik)

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series

• Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister)
• Kit Harington (Jon Snow)

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

• Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen)
• Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister)
• Maisie Williams (Arya Stark)

Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series

• “Battle of the Bastards” (D.B. Weiss and David Benioff)

Outstanding Drama Series

• Game of Thrones

These nine just represent the Emmy nominations presented at the Primetime Emmy Award ceremony on September 18th on ABC. The show also got another 14 Creative Arts Emmy Nominations. See the full list at Winter Is Coming.

GAME OF THRONES: (S6E10) "The Winds of Winter"

Episode 10 of Season 6 (S6E10) of HBO's Game Of Thrones is titled "The Winds of Winter." This is also the title of the sixth (still unreleased) book in George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy opus A Song Of Ice and Fire on which the entire television series is based.  However, based upon what we know about how the producers have adapted the story that has appeared in the first five books, not everything we see on screen is necessarily what happens in the books. The season 6 finale

Summary
How to summarize what happens in this episode? Mass murder! Basically, Cersei demonstrates that she will do anything to win the game of thrones, and as you see from the picture at the top of this post, she ends up sitting on the Iron Throne, crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Cersei of House Lannister, First of Her Name. One can't help notice the contrast between Cersei's storyline in the Season 6 finale from what it was in the Season 5 finale (S5E10: "Mother's Mercy"), where she was publicly humiliated by being forced to walk naked from the Sept of Baelor to the Red Keep as part of her atonement for her "sins" in order to regain her release from captivity under the High Septon's control and torture by Septa Unella. Cersei's revenge and rage is blazingly hot, incredibly destructive and very, very deadly.

Here is the list of important characters Cersei kills by using wildfire to blow up the Great Sept of Baelor:

• Ser Kevan Lannister (her uncle, the Hand of the King)
• Lord Mace Tyrell (Master of Coin)
• Ser Loras Tyrell (her fiance)
• Queen Margaery Barratheon (Loras Tyrell's sister)
• The High Sparrow (leader of the Faith of the Seven, a.k.a. The High Septon)
• Lancel Lannister (her cousin and former lover)
• countless other nameless nobles and prominent citizens of King's Landing, who thought they would be attending the trial of the former Regent, Queen Mother and wife of King Robert Barratheon

And just for good measure, she also has Grand Maester Pycelle killed (by the "little spiders" i.e. orphan children who run amok in King's Landing). However, the implications of these murderous actions cause her sole remaining child, King Tommen Barratheon, to commit suicide by diving off a ledge high up in the Red Keep!

So, while Cersei gets her revenge on all her enemies (by incinerating them) and gaining her greatest prize (the Iron Throne), she also suffers her greatest loss (the death of Tommen).

But, wait there's more!

We get important forward movement in multiple story lines in this season finale:

• Sam and Gilly (finally) make it to the Citadel, and we get to see Westeros' largest library (which is awesome!)
• Arya reveals her presence in Westeros and her ability to use the magic of the Nameless Assassins to get close to and murder the odious Walder Frey, finally consummating the revenge of the Stark clan for the Red Wedding of (S3E09) "The Rains of Castermere."
• The Red Witch, Lady Melissandre, is banished from the North for her role in the horrific murder of Shireen Barratheon (by burning her alive) in S5E09 "The Dance of Dragons."
• Tyrion Lannister is named the Hand of the Queen right before Danerys Stormborn sets off for Westeros with her armies consisting of the Unsullied and Dothraki hordes, supplemented by ships from the Tyrells and the Martells
• We see Lord Varys cement an alliance in Dorne between House Martell (represented by Ellaria Sand) and House Tyrell (as represented by the Queen of Thorns, Olenna Tyrell) to combine forces to battle the Lannisters for "vengenace and justice"
• Jon Snow is declared King of the North after Lady Lyanna Mormont gives a brilliant speech in his favor
• We see Brandon Stark learn that Lyanna Stark is Jon Snow's mother (so Jon is definitely a Stark, but the question of who his father is, is not answered, and whether, Jon is in fact a bastard or not)
• Last but not least, we see Jon and Sansa hanging out, and she tells him that it is official, "Winter has come."

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The entire opening 25-minute sequence (which has limited dialogue, and a very effective score by Ramin Djiwadi, including a new piece called "The Light of the Seven") set in King's Landing is one of the most impressive moments in the entire television series.
• The best line of the episode (and perhaps the season) goes to Cersei "I do things because they feel good... I drink because it feels good. I killed my husband because  it felt good to be rid of him. I f*** my brother because it feels good to feel him inside me. I lie about f****ing my brother, because it feels good to keep our son safe from hateful hypocrites. I killed your High Sparrow, and all his little sparrows,....because it felt good to watch them burn. It felt good to watch them burn. It felt good to imagine their shock and their pain, No thought has even given me greater joy." 
• Another great line is Lyanna Mormont's "I don't care if he's a bastard. Ned Stark's blood runs through his veins. He's my king from this day, until his last day!"
• The two last shots, showing Cersei on the Iron Throne and then the huge armada of ships on their way to Westeros, including three fully grown dragons, is thrilling, and Djiwadi's music is astonishing.

Lowlights
No lowlights. A near-perfect episode. Probably the best of the first 60 of the show.

Grade: 10/10.

GAME OF THRONES (S6E06): "Blood of My Blood"

Episode 6 of Season 6 (S6E06) of HBO's Game Of Thrones is titled "Blood of my Blood." This is clearly a reference to family and kinship, which are often concepts around which alliances and betrayals occur in A Song of Ice and Fire.  This could also be a reference to the tangled relationship between Cersei and Jaime Lannister or between Cersei and Jaime and their son, King Tommen Barratheon. The specific family relationships we see in this episode involve the return of a long-lost relative, a disowned son's return to the family manse to his stern father's disapproval and a usually obedient son who breaks with his parents at the most inopportune time on what the best path forward to the future is.

Summary
I think the most significant of the examples I listed above is also the most surprising. For the entire series, Tommen has been a dutiful, obedient son interested in other things (Ser Pounce, comes to mind) so it is quite stunning when it is revealed that Tommen (and Margaery, I'm sure) have joined with the High Sparrow, who imprisoned and humiliated his mother (in S5E10 "Mother's Mercy") to form an alliance of Crown and Faith. This allows him to get his wife back safely under his protection, but completely counteracts the plans that a strategic alliance of the Tyrells and Lannisters have made to try and take out a threat to their dominance of King's Landing. It's still too early to tell who will be the winner in this contest but it does show that the High Sparrow is no pushover. I still think Margaery has some  tricks up her sleeve, and her brother, the future of House Tyrell is still in the High Sparrow's dungeons.

The return of Benjen Stark was a long time coming. Benjen is the brother of Lord Eddard Stark who we last saw in Season 1 talking with Jon Snow and going out ranging beyond The Wall. His name has often been on character's lips, for example, it was the (false) report that Benjen had returned to Castle Black that Jon Snow's assassins used to lure him out of his office before stabbing him to death. After the tragic events of (S6E05) "The Door" Brandon Stark and Meera Reed are stuck out in the snow far North of The Wall with out any food or shelter. Happily, just as the wights catch up with Bran and Meera a dark stranger on a  dark horse appears out of nowhere and using a flaming brazier is able to dispatch them all.  Afterwards he reveals that he was saved by the Children of the Forest from becoming a wight himself by plunging dragonglass into his heart (like Bran saw in his vision) and says that Bran is the "three-eyed raven now."

The heart of the episode is built around the return of Sam and Gilly to Horn Hill, the ancestral home of the Tarlys. Although Sam is the first-born son, because of his bookish and unathletic nature his father disowned him and told him to either join the Night's Watch or he wouldn't survive the next hunt he was forced to go on. However, Sam has been ordered by the Lord Commander to go to the Citadel to become a Maester. But Sam doesn't return home alone, he has Gilly and a little baby boy with him. However, Sam's father, Lord Randyll Tarly hates wildlings and during an incredibly tense dinner with Sam's family Gilly inadvertently lets the truth about her origins out of the bag. Of course, Lord Tarly thinks that Sam has picked a wildling bride just to spite him and belittles and denigrates him in front of the rest of the family and banishes from Horn Hill forever. Sam gets his revenge by changing his plan of leaving Gilly and babe with his family while he goes to the Citadel and instead all three of them sneak out of Horn Hill, and on his way out Sam pilfers Heartsbane, the Valyrian sword which has been in Tarly hands for over 500 years.

There are other important moments in the episode, but they are not completely aligned with the "blood" theme. A Girl With No Name Arya decides NOT to join the Faceless Men after all, instead she seems  enamored with the family of choice created by the cast of traveling mummers, deciding instead to save the person she was supposed to kill. She goes back and unearths Needle from its hiding place and waits for The Waif to come punish her for her disobedience.

In Essos, Drogon finally appears and is reunited with Dany, who implores the Dothraki to follow her over the Narrow Sea to conquer Westeros. Hard to argue with a Khaleesi on the back of a dragon!

Another scene that is setting up the major conflict for the season is the re-appearance of the odious Walder Frey. He is going to try to appeal to blood ties in order to ransom the life of Edmure Tully (the groom in the Red Wedding) in order to get the Blackfish (Ser Brynden Tully) to give up his hold over Riverrun.

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• For the first time Gilly probably has the best line of an episode when she tells Sam "You aren't what they think you are." A close second is from a multiple winner of the "best line" contest, which is Olenna Tyrell saying tartly "He's beaten us
• Gilly all cleaned up and dressed up for dinner at Horn Hill was most definitely a highlight.
• Drogon continues to look amazing. Now that the show appears to have a near-infinite visual effects budget, they are stinting no expense in the depiction of the dragons and it shows.
• Another episode with no Ramsay Bolton is always a highlight!

Lowlights
There was no low light in this week's episode.

Grade: 9/10.

GAME OF THRONES (S6E05): "The Door"

We are now halfway through the 10-episode sixth season of HBO's Game Of Thrones with the airing of  (S6E05) "The Door." This is often a pivotal and important point in every season, because the fifth episode often sets up action that will be resolved or poses questions that will be hopefully answered during the season finale. In "The Door" we had a heartbreaking death, (or two!) an important confrontation, an intriguing introduction, an unfunny comedy and a surprising escape. Overall, this was one of the best episodes of the show's entire 55-episode series run so far.

Summary
Any discussion of "The Door" needs to begin with talking about the heartbreaking death of Hodor. In (S6E02) "Home", in addition to the big reveal that Jon Snow's death is not permanent, we are also shown Hodor as a (very large) youth named Willis (who could say something else besides "Hodor" at that time). In "The Door" we see that Brandon Stark actually caused Willis' seizure because he was greenseeing that point in time when back in the future, Meera Reed is desperately trying to save Brandon's life by pulling him to an escape from the Night's King and his army of reanimated corpses (known as wights). "Hold the door!" she screams at Hodor and the words get transmitted via Brandon's mental link with Willis in the past and the emotional intensity compressed the words into the now famous "Hodor" and scrambles the teenaged Willis' brain in the process. This results in a sickening irony. Brandon, who was cared for and carried by Hodor so lovingly actually caused the mental defect that resulted in his companion not being able to communicate meaningfully with those around him. Hodor heartbreakingly sacrifices his life to hold the door against the Night's King's undead army, allowing Meera and Brandon to "escape" into the frigid night, carrying only the clothes on their back, with Brandon paralyzed and his direwolf Summer, the Three-Eye Raven and Leaf (the Child of the Forest) and Hodor all dead behind them. Is it worth it? Is Brandon really that important to the fate of mankind?

One key takeaway of the events of this episode and the revelation of how Hodor got his name is that there is no question that when Bran is greenseeing, he can affect the past. However, it also appears to be true that even if Brandon affects the past, it doesn't change his timeline. To Brandon, he had only ever known Willis as Hodor, even if he had not yet been responsible for the events that turned Willis into Hodor. The question is, can Bran change other past events?

In addition to the two heartbreaking deaths (Hodor and Summer), the important confrontation occurred between Sansa Stark and Lord Petyr Baelish. Remember, back in Season 4 Sansa was under Baelish's protection when he married her off to the odious Ramsay Snow. Sansa starts their conversation with "Did you know abut Ramsay? If you didn't, you're an idiot. If you did, then you're my enemy." She meets Littlefinger with Brienne present as a more than implicit  threat that she no longer needs Littlefinger's protection, and that she could have him killed right there if she wants. She excoriates him with the line "You freed me from the monsters who murdered my family and you gave me to other monsters that murdered my family."

The intriguing introduction occurs back at Essos where a mysterious new Red Priestess named Vintana is brought in by Tyrion to try and spread the word about Daenerys' achievement and although Varys (and the audience) have doubts about the existence and powers of the Red God, she skeeves him out by revealing details of the worst night of his life that Varys has never revealed to anyone. I suspect we will be seeing more of her as we barrel towards the end of the season and events in Essos quicken to a climax.

The unfunny comedy happened in Braavos, where we watch Arya reacting to seeing a mummers play that re-enacts the events of the first two seasons which are almost unrecognizable to someone like herself who was a first-hand witness. She sees her father Lord Eddard portrayed as a fool, the sadistic Joffrey as a hero and Cersei as a loving mother. She is able to sneak backstage and eyes the person that she is being tasked with murdering. The one notable aspect of this scene was that there was gratuitous male nudity (of course there was also female nudity later in the scene as well, but atleast it wasn't gratuitous!)

The surprising escape (Brandon's escape from the Weirwood cave was not really surprising) involves Yara and Theon, the Greyjoy siblings of the recently murdered King of the Iron Islands who combine
forces at the Kingsmoot (a gathering where the Ironborn decide who will be the next candidate for the Sand Throne) but are defeated by their Crazy Uncle Euron (who admits killing his brother and sovereign). Yara and Theon see the writing on the wall and escape with all of the Iron Born's best ships. Newly crowned King Euron vows to hunt down his niece and nephew and then to sail to Essos to convince Daenerys Stormborn to marry him and  combine forces to invade and rule the Seven Kingdoms.

Highlights
The highlights of this week's episode were:

• The best line of the episode was Sansa's, to Littlefinger: "You freed me from the monsters who murdered my family and you gave me to other monsters that murdered my family." (ouch!)
• Of course, Meera's "Hold the door!" and Willis' "Hold the door, holdthedoor,...,holddoor,...,hodor" will also be remembered forever.
• The scene between Sansa and Littlefinger was a clear highlight of this week's episode as it shows Sansa's increasing control over her own destiny.
• The assault of the Night's King's forces on the Weirwood tree cave was quite thrilling, and heartbreaking as the losses mounted up (first the Three-Eyed Raven, then Summer, then Leaf and ending with Hodor). It was one of the most exciting sequences of the entire series.

Lowlights
This was a near flawless episode. The only possible lowlight was the scene with Dany and Jorah, which seemed out of place with the rest of the episode, since it primarily involved the departure of Jorah which is a character not much of the audience cares about (including me).

Rating: 10/10.