Opening episode of GoT S2 reaction post

[salinea]

So I wonder how well the series will hold now that the cast and story is so spread out - I mean, they were already, but as we start a new season, pretty much every plot thread is on its own, and besides a comet and too many kings, there isn't that much to hold them together. I wonder what the nonreader watchers feel on that front.

I liked Stannis' introduction. The editing of the letter was brilliant, as was his interaction with Davos. I'm not quite sure if I like this interpretation of Davos yet, but seems good enough so far. Unsure about Melisandre too, but then again, I was never good at having an opinion on Mel.

Cersei oscillates between badass and stupid. Despite the improvement of the show compared to the series, I think she still comes across as somewhat too stupid - the power is power scene is a good demonstration, but it seems a bit weird in how it brought out. Would Littlefinger be that blatant? I know he was with Ned, but the Lannisters are another beasts - and would Cersei act this way against one of the key player who allowed her to put Joff on the throne not so long ago? - well book!Cersei would of course, I was hoping the tv show version was a bit smarter. Also I dislike how disrespectful to her Joffrey was.

Tyrion was great. Sansa was okay. I hope we'll get more Sandor soon.

Robb and Jon continue to bore me, I'm afraid.

Overall not that much happened, mostly reminding us of where we'd been left before, introducing Stannis, and Tyrion being put on the King's Landing's board.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

there isn't that much to hold them together. I wonder what the nonreader watchers feel on that front

Personnellement, ça ne me dérange pas, tout est tellement intéressant. En fait, je trouve même que ça donne moins cette impression que le début de la Saison 1, où tout avait l'air plus ou moins lié sauf les Dothraki à 1000 km des autres personnages.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

tant mieux alors :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

Je suis en train de lire ça, il y a des gens qui ne comprennent rien à la vie... ^^;;

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

bah, ils peuvent geindre comme ils veulent, le show a du succès :)

[ness-du-frat.livejournal.com]

Pareil pour moi, ça ne me dérange pas du tout, je trouve les différentes intrigues très intéressantes ! Par contre, j'ai vraiment pédalé dans la choucroute car je ne captais plus rien... J'ai téléchargé le récapitulatif de la saison 1, faut que je le regarde rapidement histoire de me remémorer un peu tout ce qui s'est passé...

[dizilla.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I kinda got more lost in this ep than any of last season for not being a reader of the series. I mean I figured we'd be introduced to the other kingdoms and such but it's like.. Who's that again? Wait why's that going on? And they do a pretty bad job of showing how much time's gone on.

Tyrion is so awesome, I love him. I just wanted more Arya XD.

Robb seemed more badass to me in this. Didn't really think much of him in s1. Love Bram!

Looking forward to the next ep. =D

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Bran is adorable ♥

I've already watched the next ep, you might find it online!

[zombie-process.livejournal.com]

J'aime pas ce qu'ils font avec Cat. Elle est bien plus badass et intelligente que ça (même si l'actrice est merveilleuse). Et Robb EST un boy king. Il peut menacer les gens avec son loup tant qu'il veut, c'est un gosse.

J'ai beaucoup aimé les scènes de King's Landing, en règle général. Et j'avoue que la scène des bâtards m'a beaucoup touché. C'est très bien qu'ils montrent les affres du peuple, j'espère que ce sera fait plus souvent que dans les bouquins.

Me languis de voir Brienne, Asha et Meera en action.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

J'aime pas ce qu'ils font avec Cat.

Moi aussi, pour les mêmes raisons. Elle est représentée comme la vieille mère du roi qui est jeune et fort et capable. Mais elle est l'adulte capable et Robb est son fils adolescent qui ne comprend bien la politique.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Moi non plus, c'était d'ailleurs déjà le cas en S1. Je m'ne fous pasque dans ma tête je l'ai recasté en Alicia Florrick, partie être awesome dans son propre univers et ne laissant qu'une pale copie derrière XD

j'espère que les affres du peuples ne seront pas encore trop un excuse à montrer des gens qui baisent. Ca devient vite lassant.

[zombie-process.livejournal.com]

J'aime bien cette idée :)

Oui, on est d'accord... Mais je pense qu'on est mal barrées.

[aiffe.livejournal.com]

Not an ASoIaF reader, as you know, but I wasn't lost at all, despite being like LOL WHAT WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE @_____@ in the pilot episode. Once I got to know all the characters, I could follow fine. Haven't rewatched, but had no trouble remembering the first season. There's some new stuff being introduced that I'm not really solid on yet, but I'm not worried.

I did get a bit concerned that we basically haven't wrapped up any of the old plot threads and we're starting new ones...this could get a bit kudzu. I doubt the books are any different on that front, though. And I guess it will keep it fresh. I hope this actually has a proper ending at some point, though. AFAIK the books aren't even done, and a friend of mine says HBO is a two-season pony for sf/f shows (though True Blood bucked that trend) so I'm worried. At least the show seems to be popular.

I don't think Cersei is stupid. I think she doesn't realize what an absolute little shit her son is, though. And I think now she's getting it. And I'm sincerely hoping she's going to teach him a lesson. Even if things do go badly for her, I can't really fault her. She planned for everything but that. She never thought this shit would come from her own son. That's actually kind of likeable.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of people!! I think it's a problem when you read the books too, if you take too long, don't pay close attention, haven't spent a lot of time rereading and reading discussions about them until you learned the back-story and hidden connections of even tertiary characters!!

lol yeah, on the opening new plot threads w/o resolution to old ones. It's the thing that is starting to cause big problems to the books too. But yeah, it's been successful so far, so that makes it hopeful. And if they do three seasons at least, I think i'll be satisfied.

Yeah, Cersei doesn't have much luck with her son. In that aspect she's more sympathetic in the TV show - which I'm glad for.

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

I just watched the episode. I agree the cast being so spread out could be a problem for the pacing of the episodes, and if it follows the books that'll only get worse over time.

I quite liked the episode, but it was mostly set-up for the rest of the season without a huge amount actually happening.

I agree the actor playing Stannis seems good so far, he does seem to live up to the "personality of a lobster" description Loras gave him last season ;)

I thought Mel seemed good as well, I haven't quite decided about Davos yet, but he'll probably be OK.

I'm not sure about the Littlefinger/Cersei scene either, Petyr seemed to lack subtlety (and not for the first time in the TV adaptation).

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Petyr lacking subtlety has been a motif in the adaptation. I mean, on the one hand, it's not like he's always the most subtle of men - he is arrogant and likes the idea of acting brazen especially with Ned - but it definitely feels too much in many of those scenes.

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

I think the show's interpretation of Petyr has been a mixed success. At times I think they have got it right and Aidan Gillen has put in some decent performances, he had some great scenes sparring with Varys in the first season, and most of his interactions with Ned were done well, but at other times he has had some quite poorly-written scenes such as the infamous 'sexposition' scene from the first season.