WATCH: Sneak Preview of The Walking Dead Season 4 Mid-Season Finale!

The Walking Dead - 4x08 " Too Far Gone" : Sneak...
by Llegaronparaquedarse Oh crap! I found a sneak preview of tomorrow's mid-season finale of The Walking Dead. Ywo of my favorite characters, Michonne and Hershel, are being held captive by the Governor in order to force Rick and the others out of the prison. I don't see how this can possibly end well!

WATCH: Walking Dead Season 4 Starts Sunday!

2013 EMMYS: Analysis of the Winners

There were lots of surprises at the Emmys this year. In a repeat from last year I again had four of the Top 10 categories match what I wanted to win: Modern Family, Claire Danes (Homeland), Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) and Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory).

However, there were lots of first time winners, such as Merritt Weaver from Nurse Jackie and Tony Hale from Veep (two shows that I watch occasionally). There were bg snubs in that Game of Thrones had 17 nominations and zero wins and Mad Men had a slew of nominations which also didn't win anything.

Outstanding Comedy Series:

"30 Rock" (NBC)

"The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)

"Girls" (HBO)

"Louie" (FX)

"Modern Family" (ABC)

"Veep" (HBO) 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series:

Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development"

Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"

Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes"

Don Cheadle, "House of Lies"

Louis C.K., "Louie"

Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series:

Laura Dern, "Enlightened"

Lena Dunham, "Girls"

Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"

Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreation"

Tina Fey, "30 Rock"

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:

Adam Driver, "Girls"

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, "Modern Family"

Ed O'Neill, "Modern Family"

Ty Burrell, "Modern Family"

Bill Hader, "Saturday Night Live"

Tony Hale, "Veep"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:

Mayim Bialik, "The Big Bang Theory"

Jane Lynch, "Glee"

Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family"

Julie Bowen, "Modern Family"

Merritt Weaver, "Nurse Jackie"

Jane Krakowski, "30 Rock"

Anna Chlumsky, "Veep"

Outstanding Drama Series:

"Breaking Bad" (AMC)

"Downton Abbey" (PBS)

"Game of Thrones" (HBO)

"Homeland" (Showtime)

"House of Cards" (Netflix)

"Mad Men" (AMC)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:

Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"

Hugh Bonneville, "Downton Abbey"

Damian Lewis, "Homeland"

Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards"

Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"

Jeff Daniels, "The Newsroom"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:

Vera Farmiga, "Bates Motel"

Michelle Dockery, "Downton Abbey"

Claire Danes, "Homeland"

Robin Wright, "House of Cards"

Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"

Connie Britton, "Nashville"

Kerry Washington, "Scandal"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:

Bobby Cannavale, "Boardwalk Empire"

Jonathan Banks, "Breaking Bad"

Aaron Paul, "Breaking Bad"

Jim Carter, "Downton Abbey"

Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"

Mandy Patinkin, "Homeland"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:

Anna Gunn, "Breaking Bad"

Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"

Emilia Clarke, "Game of Thrones"

Christine Baranski, "The Good Wife"

Morena Baccarin, "Homeland"

Christina Hendricks, "Mad Men"

2013 EMMYS: Final Predictions, Hopes and Analysis

The 2013 Emmy awards will be given out today on live television (on CBS), providing recognition of the best achievements in television for the last year (since September 2012). The full list of Emmy nominations is here. Last year I analyzed the 2012 Emmy nominations and in the top 10 categories only 4 of the winners were what I had hoped. Last year one of my favorite shows, Homeland was a big winner and this year my favorite show Game of Thrones has a record 17 nominations.

Unlike my annual Oscar predictions, for the Emmys I usually just say which ones I wanted to win, not which ones I thought would win. However, this year I have decided to put in bold who I want to win and in italics who I think will win. We will know how well I did by 8pm PDT tonight! Openly gay Neil Patrick Harris is hosting the Emmy awards for the second time.

The interesting things to look for are whether comedy powerhouse Modern Family can continue its unbeaten string of winning this category or will voters finally acknowledge  the most watched comedy on television, The Big Bang Theory. Hip shows like Louie, Girls and Veep also have a (small) chance of upsetting the 3-time champ in this category.

The other thing to look for is whether a show that is not even broadcast on television, the Netflix show House of Cards starring 2-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and an eye-popping $100 million production budget will be acknowledged, or will Homeland repeat its stunning success from last year, stopping the run of Mad Men. That show has prevented Breaking Bad from winning a Best Drama Series Emmy and since it is currently at its zenith in attention with its final episode set to air next week, will voters reward it, or wait until next year? I'm hoping that my favorite, HBO's Game of Thrones is recognized for its excellence this season.

Here are the nominations in the Top 10 categories for Drama and Comedy. Bold picks are ones I hope win and Italic picks are the ones I think will win. Bold italics is when they coincide :)

Outstanding Comedy Series:

"30 Rock" (NBC)

"The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)

"Girls" (HBO)

"Louie" (FX)

"Modern Family" (ABC)

"Veep" (HBO) 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series:

Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development"

Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"

Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes"

Don Cheadle, "House of Lies"

Louis C.K., "Louie"

Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series:

Laura Dern, "Enlightened"

Lena Dunham, "Girls"

Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"

Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreation"

Tina Fey, "30 Rock"

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:

Adam Driver, "Girls"

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, "Modern Family"

Ed O'Neill, "Modern Family"

Ty Burrell, "Modern Family"

Bill Hader, "Saturday Night Live"

Tony Hale, "Veep"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:

Mayim Bialik, "The Big Bang Theory"

Jane Lynch, "Glee"

Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family"

Julie Bowen, "Modern Family"

Merritt Wever, "Nurse Jackie"

Jane Krakowski, "30 Rock"

Anna Chlumsky, "Veep"

Outstanding Drama Series:

"Breaking Bad" (AMC)

"Downton Abbey" (PBS)

"Game of Thrones" (HBO)

"Homeland" (Showtime)

"House of Cards" (Netflix)

"Mad Men" (AMC)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:

Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"

Hugh Bonneville, "Downton Abbey"

Damian Lewis, "Homeland"

Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards"

Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"

Jeff Daniels, "The Newsroom"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:

Vera Farmiga, "Bates Motel"

Michelle Dockery, "Downton Abbey"

Claire Danes, "Homeland"

Robin Wright, "House of Cards"

Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"

Connie Britton, "Nashville"

Kerry Washington, "Scandal"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:

Bobby Cannavale, "Boardwalk Empire"

Jonathan Banks, "Breaking Bad"

Aaron Paul, "Breaking Bad"

Jim Carter, "Downton Abbey"

Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"

Mandy Patinkin, "Homeland"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:

Anna Gunn, "Breaking Bad"

Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"

Emilia Clarke, "Game of Thrones"

Christine Baranski, "The Good Wife"

Morena Baccarin, "Homeland"

Christina Hendricks, "Mad Men"

WATCH: New Episodes of Homeland Starting 09/29/13

One of the best shows on television is Homeland. It won the Emmy award for Best Drama Series and is up for that award for its second season as well (competing against the third season of my favorite show Game of Thrones for that honor). Homeland will be returning for its third season on September 29th. It airs weekly on Showtime.

Homeland is actually third on my list of favorite shows last year, behind Game of Thrones and Walking Dead. I would say that both Walking Dead and Homeland had less successful seasons than the seasons before. For 2013, I would probably put The Good Wife ahead of Walking Dead with Game of Thrones as the clear favorite to keep the top spot. This trailer for the third season of Homeland looks encouraging though!

New Doctor Who Is Peter Capaldi. Actor Who?

As I told you yesterday, the new actor who will play Doctor Who has been revealed to be Peter Capaldi. Capaldi is a 55-year-old Scottish actor most well-known for his role as an acerbic, expletive-loving spin doctor on the British television series The Thick Of It. Actor Who playing Doctor Who! (I hadn't heard of him before either!) American audiences may have seen him as a doctor in the Brad Pitt zombie movie World War Z.

The BBC analyzes the choice:

After Matt Smith, the youngest actor to play the Doctor, comes Peter Capaldi, one of the oldest. 

At 55, the same age as first Doctor William Hartnell in 1963, Capaldi's casting seems a significant nod to the past as the show celebrates its 50th anniversary. 

Capaldi is likely to bring gravitas - as well as humour - to a role widely regarded as one of the most prized in British television.

I have to say that I am disappointed that the producers went with a very conventional choice, an old white guy with a British accent, as the 12th Doctor. Then again, first and foremost Doctor Who is a British science fiction show, and their fan base is the British public. Still, I had hoped that the producers would try and think outside the box and pick someone other than a white male. It's not clear to me if they are going to re-cast the current companion of the Doctor, who is now played by Jenna Coleman.

New Doctor Who Star To Be Revealed Today!

There have been 11 white male actors to play the lead character on the long-running British television series Doctor Who. Matt Smith announced this summer he would be leaving the show, and we will know who the 12th Doctor Who today will be by the end of a live television show on BBC America at 7pm British time (2pm EDT).

The show has been running for more tan 50 years and has improved dramatically in recent years. It no longer has cheesy visual effects and it still has one of the best television theme songs of all time. A number of Britain's greatest acting talents (Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Diana Rigg, Sophie Okonedo, John Hurt, Richard E. Grant, Bill Nighy) have guest starred on the latest version of the show, which is run by an openly gay man, Steven Moffatt. (CORRECTION: Russell T. Davies, the showrunner before Moffat too over Doctor Who, is openly gay; Moffat is not!)

The show has become notably more diverse, with people of color playing larger roles. It will be very interesting if the producers take the next logical step and cast a non-white actor in the role. Do you think it will happen?

Celebrity Friday: Game of Thrones Got 17 Emmy Nominations!

The television series Game of Thrones received its most Emmy nominations ever for the recently concluded third season last week. Game of Thrones was nominated 17 times, 5 more than in Season 2 and 4 more than in Season 1. It won 2 Emmy awards for the first season in 2011: for Main Title Design and Peter Dinklage was named the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for playing Tyrion Lannister. In the second season which aired in 2012 the show won 6 Emmy awards, all in the creative categories (and Dinklage was nominated again). The show has been nominated for Outstanding Drama Series every year, losing in 2011 to Mad Men and to Homeland in 2012.

For Season 3, Dinklage was nominated for the third consecutive year but this time there were other members of the cast whose performances were also recognized, the most notable being Emilia Clarke for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for playing Daenerys Targaryen (more commonly known as the Mother of Dragons an Daenerys Stormborn). Also nominated was Dame Dianne Rigg for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for playing Lady Olenna Tyrell (more commonly known as the Queen of Thorns for her acerbic wit). In the Outstanding Drama Series category this year Game of Thrones is facing off against Mad Men, Homeland, Breaking Bad, House of Cards and Downton Abbey in Outstanding Drama Series. It has a pretty good chance, because although Homeland won last year for its first season, its second season was not as good, and reviews for Mad Men have not been kind. Breaking Bad is supposed to be amazing but I have never seen an entire episode. The show with the most buzz is probably House of Cards, which made history as the first show to not be broadcast on television (it is streamed on Netflix) to be nominated for the top Drama award.

The full list of Game of Thrones Season 3's 17 Emmy nominations can be found at Westeros.org.

Game of Thrones (S3E10): "Mhysa"

The tenth and final episode of Season 3 of HBO's Game of Thrones aired Sunday June 9. The Season 3 finale (S3E10) was titled "Mhysa" which means "Mother" in one of the many languages of Essos. Here at MadProfessah.com we have been blogging every single episode of Season 3 of Game of Thrones, the first time we have blogged an entire season of a television show. It was hard work but enjoyable, and with this post now I have my reactions to each of the episodes in Season 3 on record for posterity.

This last post has taken me awhile to write partly because I have been in four different cities since I watched the finale live while in Washington, D.C. But it has also been difficult to write because it is hard to face the reality that the next new episode of my favorite television show will not be available for 9-10 months, probably in late March 2014!

Recap
The most important line from the episode, as is the case with most episodes in which he appears, was spoken by Conleth Hill's Lord Varys when he said "Here only the family name matters" to Tyrion Lannister's wife's maid (and his lover), Shae. The fact that Shae and Varys do not have a n important family name, or any family name at all, like Lannister, Stark, Bolton, Frey, Tyrell, Tarly or Greyjoy means that in the universe of Game of Thrones they are automatically doomed to subaltern status.

After last week's decapitation of the family the audience most identifies with, i.e. the Starks of Winterfell through jaw-dropping treachery and obscene  violence, "Mhysa" has a much more low-key feel to it, although multiple important events do occur.

One of these is the conversation between Varys and Shae where he offers the former slave a near-fortune in diamonds, enough money to set up her own household in a far-away land, if she will only abandon Tyrion Lannister and exit his life. Bizarrely, Shae refuses the money. Another important scene is the confrontation between Jon Snow and Ygritte, where the former lovers tried to reconcile their different understandings of loyalty and faith, unsuccessfully, It ended with Jon on a horse galloping away with three of Ygritte's arrows protruding from his punctured flesh. Another important scene was the chance meeting between Brandon Stark and Samwell Tarly, which neatly showed how the fates of the two characters are intertwined yet, moving in very opposite directions, as Brandon "needs" to go beyond The Wall, while Sam very much wants to get back to his home with the Night's Watch on the "right side: of the Wall.

Highlights
There were several high points to this episode, with the primary ones being:

• The look on Cersei's face as she turns around and find a one-handed, somewhat nervous, silent Jaime (her brother and the father of her children!), standing in her King's Landing doorway was thrilling. The actor did a great job wordlessly communicating the character's joy, sadness, relief and curiosity in just a lingering glance.
• Arya's transformation from spoiled tom boy to dangerous girl who likes to (and does) kill people if the attitude strikes her. This time she did it as a sudden revenge for a hapless Frey bragging about the death rattle of Arya's mom.
• As usual, Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister, the "real" king of Westeros was fantastic. First he continued to devastate the psyche of his son Tyrion, this time explaining that he put his love for family ahead of his own disgust at the birth of his own dwarf child, because even that child would possess the Lannister name. Second, he literally commanded his grandson, i.e. the King of Westeros, to go to bed without his supper. The show is indicating that there is likely to be a future blow up between Joffrey and those who dare to try to control or limit his royal powers.

Lowlights

• The primary low light was the final scene of the episode, and thus the season. It showed Dany, one of the most important characters in the ongoing Game of Thrones, being carried on the shoulders of the people she has just freed from slavery, who spontaneously start chanting the word "Mhysa" (Mother). The optics of the situation are just overwhelmingly negative. As the image at the top of this post indicates, Dany is very, very pale, with white-blonde hair and blue-eyes. To have her walk into a sea of dark-brown people who are chanting her name and lifting them up on their shoulders simply reeks of multiple racially problematic tropes we have seen before (the great white hope rescuing the unwashed, powerless brown people).

Grade: B+/A-.
Overall, this was definitely a let down from S3E09 and was the weakest of the three Season finales so far (S1E10 we saw the birth of the dragons and in S2E10 we saw the arrival of the army of the White Walkers). There are simply no obviously narrative-altering events that occur in the episode. That being said, there are plenty of traditional cliffhangers to pique our curiosity for the long wait until S4E01.  Some of these are: How will Jaime and Cersei's relationship be changed by his disfigurement? Will Jon survive his wounds inflicted by Ygritte? Will Walder Frey and Roose Bolton get away with their treachery of the Red Wedding unscathed? Will Gendry survive a voyage on the open sea in a small boat? Will Yara be able to actually rescue her little brother?

Game of Thrones (S3E09): "The Rains of Castamere"

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They did it! The most anticipated episode of the entire series (not just the season) of HBO's adaptation of Game of Thrones, S3E09, titled "The Rains of Castamere" which depicts the second wedding (of three) in the book A Storm of Swords and the fateful events following it, finally aired on Sunday night and it was a doozy! For people not "spoiled" by reading the books the scene now known as "The Red Wedding" must have come as a horrendous shock, but even for people like myself who knew what was coming S3E09 still contained some of the most emotionally lacerating 15 minutes of television I've ever seen.

Recap
"The Rains of Castamere" is a song known throughout the land of Westeros as the unofficial theme song of the Lannisters. We learned in S3E08 that the catchy tune is really about the massacre (by Tywin Lannister) of an entire family named the Reynes who dared to think that they would try to move up from their position as the #2 most prominent family in a certain region of the kingdom, and the #1 family (the Lannisters) responded by slaughtering the entire family. On the show, the wedding between Catelyn Stark's brother Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey is an act of contrition to try and get in the good graces of the odious Lord Walder Frey (played with impeccable disdain by David Bradley). Robb Stark had sworn an oath to marry one of Lord Frey's daughters but he fell in love with someone else and married her instead. Robb needs Frey's men in order to execute his strategy of trying to capture the Lannister family domicile of Casterly Rock. The show points out how Robb Stark (King of the North) and his mother Lady Catelyn are given bread and salt when they enter Lord Frey's castle and the significance of this in the religion of the Seven of providing hospitality and safe passage to all guests. Frey even sonorously intones some words indicating the safety of all visitors under the protection of his roof. However, as we see later, Lord Frey is a very, very evil man who is willing to violate all manner of oaths in order to get his way.

Frey conspired with Lord Roose Bolton and Lord Tywin Lannister to bring Robb Stark and his bannermen to the Twins and then, after promising his protection he has Robb Stark, his wife Talisa, his mother Catelyn Stark and several dozens of his loyal men brutally murdered. Talisa is killed first, stabbed repeatedly in her stomach (clearly targeting the growing Stark heir in her womb) and then Robb is hit by multiple crossbow bolts, with Catelyn only hit by one. Catelyn is able to beg Frey for the life of her son, but she can only watch while Lord Bolton walks up to her staggering child and stabs him in the gut and says "The Lannisters send their regards." This causes a  scream of anguish to erupt from Catelyn and she slits the throat of Lord Walder's wife she has been holding hostage, just a few seconds before her own throat is cut. All of the deaths are shown explicitly and graphically on screen, with an impact much more visceral than the usual cartoonish violence of a hailstorm of bullets and multiple explosions. The events of the Red Wedding have long been talked about by fans of the books and the producers have explained that it was reading the scene in the 3rd book that convinced them that they needed to adapt the entire series for HBO as a multi-million dollar, multi-year, grandly staged television epic.

Besides the Red Wedding there were some other fairly important events that happened in this episode. Jon Snow finally revealed to the Wildings that he has been a "double agent" the entire time, that he is still loyal to the Night's Watch, and then he killed Orell the Warg and abandoned Ygritte. In addition, Brandon Stark is revealed to have powers even more important than controlling animals with his brain, more powerful than any previously known Warg, because it appears as if he can enter the consciousness of other humans (well, starting with Hodor at least). And Arya Stark came within 100 feet of being reunited with her brother and mother, only to get clos enough to see the aftermath of their brutal murder, as well as witness the death of Robb's direwolf.

Highlights
The entire Red Wedding sequence was a highlight, of course, with an extra special mention of the exquisite acting displayed by Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark. She has not always been a fan favorite because of the brittle personality of her character and her bad treatment of Jon Snow as well as some questionable decisions (i.e. the release of Jaime Lannister). But the shriek of anguish she makes (and the look in her eyes) as she sees her eldest (and she thinks only remaining living) son killed before her eyes as she decides to kill her hostage before being kille herself is a sound that will live in the memory of everyone who heard it and saw it for a very long, long time.

Lowlights
There were no low lights.

Grade: A+.
S3E09 is probably one of the best episodes of the series, as well it should be, since the source material is some of the most important and significant of the entire multiple volume series A Song of Ice and Fire. It's hard to imagine how the producers will op themselves in the final episode of the Season next week, with S3E10's "Mhysa." It should be remembered that in Season 1 after the shocking execution of Lord Eddard Stark in S1E09 ("Baelor") was followed up by the thrill of seeing the birth of Daenery's dragons in S1E10 ("Fire and Blood"). In Season 2, the slaughter of the Battle of the Blackwater in S2E09 ("Blackwater") was followed by S2E10 ("Valar Morghulis") with the escape of Arya and the appearance of the White Walker army. What will it be this year?

Game of Thrones (S3E08): "Second Sons"

Episode 8 of Season 3 is called "Second Sons" and I would have thought that the title refers to the problems of male children in a system of primogeniture where the first-born son is the heir apparent to the name and holdings of the father, so the second son is always an inferior with potential but no actual power. (Sort of like a perennial vice presidency!) The most prominent second sons in Game of Thrones I can think of are Tyrion Lannister, second son of Lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock (the richest man in the world), Stannis Barratheon, the younger brother of King Robert Barratheon (the most powerful man in the world) and the two second sons of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell: Jon Snow (the bastard and actual second son) and Brandon Stark (acknowledged and official second son). However, the title "Second Sons" apparently mostly refers to the name of a band of warriors who Danaerys Stormborn meets in Essos since neither Jon nor Bran appear in S3E08. (Kudos to Erik Kain of Forbes magazine whose review of "Second Sons" points out two more second sons in Game of Thrones: Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, the younger brother of Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane and Samwell Tarly, who even though he was born as the first son, was demoted to the second son by his father Randyll Tarly.)

Recap
S3E08 focuses on Dany and the Second Sons in Essos, the wedding between Tyrion Lannister and Sansa Stark in King's Landing, and the evil things Stannis will allow Melissandre to do in order to get to the Iron Throne in Dragonstone. In fact, this episode was nicely paced, because these three stories dominated the action, with only two more locales shown: Arya and The Hound somewhere in the Riverlands and Sam and Gilly with nameless baby boy travelling beyond The The Wall.

The episode opens with Arya realizing that her captor (the hated Hound) is asleep and she finds a huge stone to bash his head in with. However just as she is poised to drop it and kill him, Clegane opens his eyes and says to go ahead and try but if she doesn't succeed he will break both her wrists. Arya quickly realizes it's not worth the risk. Soon afterwards we discover that The Hound is not taking Arya back to King's Landing and a horrible fate at the hands of the Lannisters but instead thinks he'll get more money from the Starks who are attending the wedding of Arya's uncle Edmure Tully to one of the Frey girls at the Twins a bit down the river. The look on Arya's face as she realizes she may actually be reunited with her mother and brother is heart-breaking, because (as a book reader) I know that happy event is not going to happen. Happiness is not a large part of Arya's future.

The episode closes with Sam again showing his incompetence (intentionally, I think) by not starting a fire in a deserted house he and Gilly are seeking shelter in during the night. Gilly suggests that they can keep warm by sharing their body heat under the covers and Sam's eyes light up lustfully. However, of course before that can happen we hear strange noises outside and it turns out an Ice Zombie (i.e. White Walker) is near. Amazingly, the cowardly Sam rushes towards the beast and it throws him aside easily and shatters his sword by merely touching it (presumably due to the extreme cold). The Walker then moves towards Gilly and the baby and Sam rushes towards the deadly creature again, this time with the sharp black stone (which from the books we know is obsidian) and plunges it into the Walker's back as Gilly screams and the White Walker explodes spectacularly into ice and water. This is the first time we have seen a White Walker destroyed in the television series so it is a big moment in the story. (Of course, this being Sam, he ruins the moment by dropping the weapon and he and Gilly run screaming into the night, chased by what looks like a thousand crows.) Roll credits.

In between, the three main stories are told well, although the one most likely to have the most significant impact on the course of the larger tale is probably the one with Melissandre seducing Gendry. While the two are having sex she ties him up and puts leeches on his body (including his engorged penis!) to obtain the "king's blood" (i.e. the blood of Robert Barratheon) running in his bastard veins. Stannis uses the leeches filled with his brother's son's blood in one of the Red Witch's eerie fires and calls for the death of three people: Robb Stark, Tywin Lannister and Balon Greyjoy. This is a good marker for the audience to see how powerful the Lord of Light is if anything happens to these three important people. Thanks to an intervention by Davos, Gendry is not killed for his blood, but this "demonstration" of the R'hllor's power is put together by Melissandre instead. That being said, things do not look too good for Gendry. Since this is a variation from the book I don't really know what is Arya's former travelling companion's future.

However, the story which is most interesting (and executed the best) in this episode is the first wedding of Season 3 (and first in a series of weddings that occur in the book A Storm of Swords): the union of Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister. Sansa has been repulsed by the Lannister dwarf since she first met him way back in Season 1 and the drastic change from thinking she was going to be wed to her crush Ser Loras Tyrell (a.k.a. The Knight of Flowers) to the reality of marrying The Imp has got to be soul-crushing. Even so the actual wedding is done very well and reveals numerous schisms among the powerful Lannister family. The odious King Joffrey serves as the father figure in the wedding because he is the titular "Father of the Realm" and gives Sansa away (which must be even more galling since Joffrey had her own father killed). Joffrey takes away the stool some kind person had placed there for the diminutive Tyrion to use during the actual saying of the vows and then leads the laughter when the wedding couple's height differences leads to awkwardness. Joffrey goes even further by threatening to rape Sansa on her wedding night, saying that she is just trying to get a Lannister baby inside her and doesn't matter which Lannister gives it to her, and that he would have two of his Kingsguard hold her down. Later on, Tyrion threatens to  "geld" Joffrey and Joffrey explodes, looking ready to sentence his uncle to death when his grandfather Tywin smooths the waters. The best part of the scene was the Queen of Thorns remarking to her grandson Loras that when he marries Cersei, instead of being Margaery's brother, he would also be her father-in-law (since her brother is marrying her fiance's mother!). The familial connections this would make are complicated and amusing. Cersei has an important moment when she explains the significance of the song "The Rains of Castermere" which is about the slaughter of "the second richest family in the Kingdom" to Margaery Tyrell, noting sweetly ("The Tyrells are the second richest family in Westeros, aren't they?") Cersei goes on to rebuff Margaery's gambit that "I want us to be like sisters" by saying "If you ever mention anything about us being sisters again I will have you strangled in your sleep" and later when her alleged fiance, Loras (Margaery's brother) approaches Cersei she snaps at him, rebuking him as well and demonstrating how upset she is at the loss of control over events in King's Landing.

Highlights
There were many highlights of this episode

• Sam The Slayer! Sam Tarly finally showing some spunk and slaying the White Walker. In a significant deviation from the book, he not only loses the obsidian weapon, but the incident occurs with only Gilly as a witness, which nullifies the impact it had on Sam's "street cred" among the fellow members of the Night's Watch in the books.
• Bitchy Cersei. As Queen Regenct Cersei Lannister Lena Headey is doing Emmy-worthy work (as is Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister, her father) but in S3E08 she had a short but very important scene and nailed it, communicating menace and bitchiness in very effective ways.
• Naked Gendry! Of course the nudity of Game of Thrones is becoming legendary but they have started making sure that they are being even-handed about it by showing male nudity more. The sex scene between Gendry (Joe Dempsie) and Melissance (Carice van Houten) went on two long, but there's no question that both actors are handsome physical specimens.
• Daario? Daario! We were finally introduced to Daario Naharis, who in the books we know becomes a love interest/crush object of Dany. He was played by a male model-looking guy named Ed Skrein, but in my mind the guy who they chose to play the leader of the Second Sons should have been cast as Daario instead.
• Arya's Face. The look on Arya's face when The Hound tells her that he is taking her to the Tully-Frey wedding to ransom her back to her family is absolutely heart-breaking.

Lowlights
Not very many low-lights in this episode. The choice to focus on three main stories and book end those with two other scenes is an excellent format which I hope the show returns to in the future.

Grade: A-.
Overall, S3E08 was definitely better than S3E07, and very close to the quality of the three best episodes, (S3E03, S3E04, S3E05)  and probably equivalent to S3E06. All in all, the wait for the next episode, S3E09 (which will be aired next Sunday due to this week's Memorial Day holiday) will be excruciating! The final episode on Sunday June 9th will be breath-taking!

Game of Thrones (S3E07): "The Bear and the Maiden Fair"

Episode 7 of Season 3 of Game of Thrones is titled "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" which in the fictional land of Westeros is avery famous song and as depicted in the image at the top of this post, refers to the plight one of our favorite characters, the gender-bending Brienne of Tarth, finds herself in  during this episode. S3E07 was written by George R.R. Martin, the author of the source material for the series of books which inspire the television series (it's not clear if we can call the HBO series an adaptation of the books any more since they have strayed so far from the original text). Martin's involvement raised expectations for this episode, which sadly were not really met.

As you know I have been blogging ever my reactions to every episode in Season 3 (click on the House Buckmire sigil in the left navigation bar for my Game of Thrones-related blogging). However, I was unable to write up my reaction to S3E07 in a timely fashion because I had to get ready for my 15-day Caribbean vacation (which I am currently on).  I will also probably not review S3E08 "Second Sons" until after I return to the United States on Friday May 31. Happily, I actually do have access to HBO at the place I am staying so I will try and view it at least once, but I can't promise a review. The soon-to-be infamous S3E09 "The Rains of Castamere" episode will air on Sunday June 2.

Anyway, one reason why I wasn't motivated to write about "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" was that it was somewhat disappointing. (Any episode in which Varys doesn't appear tends to be that way!) After the brilliant run of three great episodes (S3E03, S3E04, S3E05) and one very good episode (S3E06) this 7th entry in the 10-episode season was mostly about setting up things that will conclude the season, so there was not much action or shattering events in this episode.

Highlights
The main highlight of this episode was that Jon Snow, who is probably my favorite character in the books, finally got some dialogue for Kit Harrington (the actor who plays Jon Snow so fetchingly) to sink his teeth into and reveal more about the depths of his character. He has an excellent scene where he explains to his Wildling girlfriend Ygritte how he knows that the Wildlings are going to fail in their attempt to defeat the Night's Watch and invade Westeros. "Six times in the last thousand years, a King-beyond-the-Wall has attacked the kingdoms. Six times they failed. You don't have the discipline. You don't have the training. Your army is no army. You don't know how to fight together." Of course, the fiery red-head responds with her stock phrase "You know nothing, Jon Snow!" We will see...

The other highlight of S3E07 was of course Dany taking on the slavemasters of another city on the continent of Essos. She and her Unsullied army are camped outside of Yunkai when she is brought two trunks full of gold and the offer of a ship to sail to Westeros as a bribe if she will just leave Essos (and its slave trade) and go on and cause trouble someplace else. Dany doesn't take this well and neither does her dragon (which looks amazingly rendered on screen). Doesn't everybody know dragons love gold? The Yunkai dude is lucky to leave with  his life and Dany has another battle on her hand. Not only Yunkai but their "powerful friends," whoever they are.

Other highlights

• Margaery Tyrell consoling Lady Sansa Stark and realizing that the Stark girl is really very clueless about how relationships work between (straight) men and women, revealing to the audience (and to a clueless Sansa) that she has a lot of knowledge about sex, which presumably comes from experience, which as a professed virgin about to marryKing Joffrey she really should not have (or be telling anyone).
• Jamie Lannister jumping into the bear pit where Brienne has already been injured slightly after forcing Lord Bolton's men to turn around and go back to Harrenhal save her, after getting his stump treated by Maester Qyburn who we also find out has some unorthodox (i.e. vivisectional) proclivities of his own

Lowlights
The main problem with this episode was raised expectations not met. This happened in multiple scenes, starting from the confrontation (finally) between Lord Tywin Lannister and his teenage grandon King Joffrey Barratheon, the famous titular scene between Brienne of Tarth and a very large bear, and another scene with Tyrion trying to placate Shae (this time because he is being compelled by his father to marry her employer Sansa who she is already jealous of). All of these scenes should have been absolutely crackling and basically each one of them fizzled, or failed to meet (admittedly very high) expectations.

Grade: B-.
I understand that there can't be major action in every single episode of the show, and that a lot of the action of Game of Thrones is really in the dialogue and drama between the characters and the intricacy of their competing motivations. I just think S3E07 was not well-executed, which is pretty shocking since the source material was from the Source Himself, George R.R. Martin. Happily, the preview for (S3E08) "Second Sons" looks like we will atleast see an out-of-control Joffrey and the introduction of a potential love interest for Dany, the dashing Daario.

Happy Endings Cancelled. Oh, Cruel World!

Friday was the day when the networks make their final decisions about what shows will be renewed to appear and what new shows will be added to their schedule. Sadly, one of my favorite comedies, ABC's Happy Endings was on the list of cancelled shows. The show is basically an update of NBC's Friends, following the lives and loves of six 30-somethings living in an urban setting. Except this time there's a Black member (the very funny, and quite attractive Damon Wayans, Jr.) named Brad and a gay member named Max (played in non-stereotypical fashion by straight actor Adam Pally). The biggest star on the show was probably Elisha Cuthbert, who played the ditzy Alex. However, the funniest actors on the show are Eliza Coupe (who plays Alex's sister Jane and is married to Brad) and Casey Wilson (who plays Penny, Alex's best friend and Max's college girlfriend). The 6th member of the group is Zachary Knighton (who plays Dave, who was Alex's fiance but who in the pilot was left at the altar.

The show was known for its incredibly fast dialogue, obscure pop references and slapstick situations. It was very, very funny but also pretty lowly rated and ABC tried mightily to help it find an audience by moving it from the time slot after power house Modern Family on Wednesdays to Tuesdays and then Fridays. (When your show moves to Friday you know you're almost dead!)

Max was one of the most interesting gay characters on television, and was a fully fleshed-out member of the cast, most definitely not just another "sassy gay bestfriend." Other gay-related shows that were cancelled are Smash (which I watched the first season but once Jennifer Hudson's arc ended this season I was done) and The New Normal, which was a comedy by openly gay TV producer Ryan Murphy (the creator of Glee) about a gay couple trying to raise a family by having a baby with a quirky surrogate. I never saw a single minute of The New Normal so I won't miss it. It only lasted a single season, while Smash lasted two and Happy Endings lasted three.

Apparently there were two other shows with prominent gay themes that were cancelled as well: CBS's Partners and NBC's Go On. I suppose it's a good thing that there are so many gay characters on TV that one doesn't feel obligated to watch every one. Now, let's hoping that representation of the LGBT community can be more uniformly distributed among the best shows on television as well.

Right now it's my understanding that there are no openly LGBT characters on The Walking Dead, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory for example. There are gay characters on some of my favorite shows like The Good Wife and Game of Thrones. Perhaps some new ones will be added in the new season.

Hat/tip to Queerty!

Game of Thrones (S3E04): "And Now His Watch Is Ended"

The fourth episode of Game of Thrones Season 3, "And Now His Watch Is Ended," aired last night and it demonstrated that the show is starting to hum on all cylinders just as it approaches the halfway mark of its 10-episode season. It also may be one of the most expensive episodes to date. There are stunning images throughout: of the interior of the High Sept (like a huge cathedral featuring absolutely beautiful statues of the Seven Gods), of a vast army of Unsullied, and of a young dragon, burning a city to the ground.

Recap (with spoilers) 
One would presume that the title of the episode refers to the Night's Watch, the group of rapists, murderers and thieves who have been exiled to lifetime service near a 1,000 foot Wall of snow and ice ostensibly protecting the rest of Westeros from the frozen horrors (blue-eyed, re-animated corpses known as White Walkers) and uncivilized individuals (called "Wildlings) that exist "beyond the Wall." In fact, for people who have read the books, we know that the phrase is used at a funeral for a Brother of the Night's Watch. In fact, during this episode we see Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (and the entire company) saying these words as the dead body of a fallen brother is set afire. By the end of the episode we see that it is Mormont's own watch that will be ended. Mormont is literally stabbed in the back by some of his own treacherous Brothers who have grown tired of starving and freezing while watching a "daughter-fucking, Wildling bastard" (and self-proclaimed "Godly man") stay warm and eat heartily.

But a mutiny among a group of dishonorable men is most definitely not the most important event to happen in S3E04, but it is probably the event that will have the most impact on Westeros, because it demonstrates that the organization that has been dedicated for millennia to protecting the rest of the continent from the northern terrors is unlikely to be able to do so, and "Winter is coming."

Highlights
There are so many highlights to this episode but the first one I want to talk about involved Varys. Varys is a eunuch, also known as the Lord  Of Whispers or The Spider who is an undisputed powerhouse in King's Landing (the site of the Iron Throne and the unofficial capital City of Westeros) and a member of the 6-person Small Council where ultimate power resides. Varys is one of my favorite characters in the books (closely followed by Tyrion Lanniser, Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Brienne of Tarth and (of course) Daenerys Targaryen). On the show Varys is played by Conleth Hill with mesmerizing power and pitch-perfect mystery. Even though he is intimately involved with some of the most significant events that happen in the books, Varys has never had a chapter named after him and the story is never told from his perspective. On the show, however, the producers have wisely decided to use their precious minutes of screen time to put Conleth Hill's Varys on the screen.

In this episode, Varys has a scene where he explains to Tyrion how he was "cut" i.e. became a eunuch which is absolutely blood-chilling. But, he also gets a second scene where he shares information about Littlefinger (whom he calls the most dangerous man in Westeros) with the infamous Queen of Thorns, Olenna Tyrell, played with delicious aplomb by Diana Rigg. Varys and Olenna are extremely skilled players at the Game of Thrones, and the moves that they make together will reverberate throughout the cast of characters.

The second highlight that I must talk about is of course the final scene where Daenerys "sells her dragon" in order to purchase a slave army of Unsullied. This is a great triumph for Emilia Clarke, who completely dominates the screen as she recites unintelligible words (in HIgh Valyrian) to  command her slave Army to rise up and kill their former slave masters while her dragon does what dragons do, which is breathe fire and kill people. It is one of the high points of the entire series, and it is depicted very effectively and powerfully on the little screen.

Lowlights
The only low point of this episode was the continued thread with Theon and his savior/betrayer. In the books, Theon is a pitied and pitiable character, punished horribly after falling into the hands of a vicious sadist. But the portrayal of his story arc just appears confusing at this point, and this is from someone who has read the books relatively recently!

Grade: A.
I think this episode was very good, but not as transcendent as last week's "Walk of Punishment." What is nice is that there is so much story packed into the source material that every single episode for the rest of the season should have at least one major, important event and some may have more than one. For example, it looks like in S3E05 we will discover that not everyone who worships R'hllor, the Lord of Light, is as evil as Stannis' Red Priestess Melissandre.