Balance

Published May 13, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Gene, Big D,

Guys hope you don’t get a bunch of rabid idiots writing to you, and I hope this email goes some way to offset that. You guys provide the most balanced coverage of the show around. You give each other space to express your ideas, and how you manage to be so cogent, so late at night and on the fly in your instacast always blows me away.

Here are my thoughts, and I find myself somewhere between the two of you in my stance on the episode.

This last episode somehow has managed to spoil my favorite character’s arc (Jaime) and manage to elevate Dany’s arc from one of my least favorites to be utterly compelling.

I’m curious as to your thoughts on these two, I thought the scene with Jaime and Tyrion was excellent but from the smack down with Euron onward, I felt as strong a sense of disappointment as I did with the final season of Dexter. The Michael Bay analogy was apt, and Jaime being mortally wounded and then magically able to function enough to be comforting Cersei really took me out of the moment. (Arya and the Waif fight had a similar effect).

I am probably a victim of my own expectation, but he and Cersei being crushed, left me similarly feeling flat. Not because of their end, but because of what led up to it. The Euron conflict robbed that moment of the emotional stakes it should have had.

Dany’s arc, on the other hand, has been compelling, and I think Emelia portrays the darker side of Dany superbly, and I enjoyed the unspoken bond between her and Grey Worm they showed in both the scene with him guarding her and when he follows her charge into battle after the bells.

For me now an awful lot is riding on this last episode, and it will really make or break the series.

I don’t know if you guys agree but for me the season has been alternately hit and miss, episodes 2 and 4 really emotionally powerful but with episodes 3 and 5 emphasizing action over emotion, perhaps the showrunners were seeking balance but for me I was left with a feeling of inconsistent tone and a resulting disconnect.

Apologies for the rambling email, I’m on a noisy train whizzing through the Chinese countryside. A huge fan of all your hard podcasting work,
Your musical friend,

Si Haywood

Subscribe Now