TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - The Battle of the Bastards

Spoilers...

Well, we're a week away from the end of the season and this fact is killing me, but before all that there's a little matter called The Battle of the Bastards, which is one of many things this series has been building up to - the fight between Jon and the Wildlings, and Ramsay and the forces of House Bolton for the seat of Winterfell and control of the North. An incredible episode, it still played out fairly simply to how you'd have thought it would, and most of the episode was focused on the conflict.

However, it did take a little detour to show us what was happening in Mereen, as a somewhat parental Dany arrived to find the city on fire from the masters, with a rather apologetic Tyrion. It was easy for the three dragons to start nailing their ships, and after killing two of the three masters, we got down to finally bringing together the Ironborn and the Dothraki, who sliced through the Sons of the Harpy like Needle through a candle. Theon and Yara faced down Dany and Tyrion and agreed to join up, but the joy of the scene was seeing Dany and Yara flirting like crazy. We already know which side Yara's bread is buttered, so this could be an interesting development. Poor Dario Nahaaris.

Joy was the last thing happening in the North, as the armies faced each other at last. Poor Rickon immediately became another ex-Stark after being part of one of Ramsey's games, one that got Jon to fall into his trap, especially after Sansa warned Jon that Ramsay is a different kind of beast. From then on it was utterly grim, as bodies piled up and became almost ramparts to fight upon. Jon went on a mission to slaughter everyone he could see on the Bolton side, but the enemy army were able to surround them with their superior numbers and shields, and for a second it looked like curtains until Sansa and Littlefinger arrived with the knights of the Vale.

What came across in the battle is just how grim and desperate and claustrophobic this kind of combat could be, and with the sight of the Vale knights seeing Jon get trampled on by his own men. It was a terrifying sequence, with him unable to breath and see, and as he finally came out of the maw and gasped for air, it was almost like a rebirth, with the real Jon coming back to take care of business, which he did after Ramsay scarpered back to the fort. It was a pretty harrowing moment seeing Jon just beating Ramsay again and again and again, all pure anger and vengeance, but he realised at the last second that while this was his battle, someone else had a greater need for making him suffer. Sansa.

Her final scene was glorious and another example of how far she has come from the beginning, standing up to Ramsay and looking him in the eye as his hungry dogs ripped him apart. Her triumphant stride away was wonderful, especially the little smile that she gave at the end. Justice done. Speaking of justice, there was a lovely scene where Davos found Shereen's pyre, and discovered her toy stag in the ashes. It was beautifully shot with a fiery sun full of rage as his figure stood alone in the snow, and that is something that certainly has to be covered in the finale.

There is a fair bit that needs to be tied up really. Cersei's trial for one, whatever the Hound is doing, how to get thousands of Dothraki onto boats, plus where Benjen is taking Bran and Meera and how they're going to prepare for the assault of the Night King. It's been a saying since the first episode - in fact it was the title - but after six seasons of political intrigue and power struggles and relationships, it's finally at a point where we can safely say "Winter is coming."

Westeros had better be prepared.

- Charlie

You can read Charlie's review of previous episode, No One, here.

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TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - The Broken Man

Spoilers...

Is it really episode seven? This season has absolutely flown by, and has to be one of the most consistently brilliant so far, with The Broken Man, which is another great episode. And it doesn't waste any time in reintroducing a great character from previous seasons who had been theorised to return; The Hound aka Sandor Clegane, who is found being part of a religious commune building a sept. The show had taken Sandor on an interesting journey previous, having shifted not only loyalties but morality, with a somewhat different take on things after being paired with Arya.

Here, Clegane's story is given significant heft, with the episode structured around his story, itself a sad reminder of the inevitability of war in the world of Game of Thrones, and its effects on everywhere - nobody is safe, no matter how far, remote, or peaceful they are. And for a man with a history of violence, it's almost impossible to escape. He seems content as part of the commune, if still as cynical as ever, but it's fascinating watching his conversations with the leader Ray - played by Ian McShane - who has had seemingly as dark a past as Sandor. McShane's casting is a masterstroke, bringing wonderful gravitas and depth to a tiny part (in the scheme of things) which has a crucial role in reintroducing Sandor.

The warrior's attempt to get away is shattered by the Brotherhood of Banners, who kill everyone in the commune for no discernible reason - something we're unfortunately used to seeing in Game of Thrones. Joffrey may have become the king we all loved to hate, and Ramsay is doing a similar job, but they both did cruel and inhuman things not for tactical or leadership reasons, but because they wanted to and they had the power to do so. The episode ends powerfully, with Sandor finding the bodies of the commune members strewn across the field. In his scenes he was shown to be chopping wood with an axe, almost as a redirection of power from his previous use of similar items, but the final shot has him picking up the axe from a tree stump, his motivation clear.

Speaking of Arya, she's not having a wonderful time trying to escape Braavos and the faceless men, and after booking passage on a ship she was approached by an old lady who, hugely predictably, turned out to be the waif. It was a bit uncharacteristic for Arya to let her guard down like that, but it was after a little moment where it felt like was saying goodbye to the city - and ready to become a Stark again. She was stabbed quite a few times, although while the episode left her looking bleak, you know it's not going to kill her off (it doesn't help that you see her in the preview for the next episode afterwards). The other Starks aren't getting on particularly well either: While Tormund was able to rally the wildlings to Jon's cause, House Glover had no interest, and while House Mormont pledged their allegiance, they only have sixty-two men. Nevertheless, the young leader of House Mormont was a charming girl of ten years old who happily talked smack to Jon and Sansa, with Davos eventually getting through to her, possibly thinking of Shireen.

Things in King's Landing are beginning to pick up, and we finally have a bit more of an idea of Margarey's plan after she secretly passed a drawing of the Tyrell rose to her grandmother, confirming her allegiance under the watchful eye of the faith militant. Olenna had a brilliant scene with Cersei where she just absolutely railed against her leaving her absolutely struck dumb, and hopefully she'll stick around in the show even though she's back off to Highgarden. Cersei undoubtedly has something up her sleeve, and chances are the theorised "Cleganebowl" is about to come true with Cersei choosing zombie Gregor as her champion, and The Mountain versus The Hound sounds like a fantastic way to go.

PS Yara likes the ladies. Never saw that coming.

- Charlie

You can read Charlie's look at previous episode, Blood of my Blood, here.

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TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - Oathbreaker

Spoilers...

Well, I'm not sure what Benioff and Weiss have had with their porridge, but similarly to last week this episode shot by. Obviously the focus was on Jon Snow - who to be fair is pretty hot for one of the undead - but the wheels are definitely in motion across Westeros.

Only a short glimpse of Dany this week, with an introduction to the widows of the Great Khals, who were all seemingly promised glory alongside their Moon and Stars (although presumably none of them had dragons), while in Mereen, Varys talked business with a conspirator of the Sons of the Harpy, with a wonderfully creepy performance from Conleth Hill. Meanwhile, in King's Landing his little birds (children) were being transferred to Qyburn's books, with the small council vacating their seats as soon as Cersei, Jaime, and Ser Gregor (no Robert the Strong) came to visit. I'm a little bored of Cersei now, she's no fun and her threats seem as empty as the Lannister's coffers. And then there's poor Tommen, who went in fierce against the High Sparrow for about a minute before he was convinced everything is hunky dory because his mother loves him. Oh dear. However, Jonathan Pryce is a joy to watch in this role.

We finally had some satisfaction in Braavos, where Arya kicked that smug girl's backside and won her eyesight back, and finally got a glimpse of Samwell and Gilly on their way to homestead Hornhill, although I doubt Randall Tarly will be hugely pleased to see his son. But all of this is small fry compared to more of Max Von Sydow's guided tour of the history of the Starks, where Bran saw his father go up against Ser Arthur of Dayne at the Tower of Joy. Ned was on a rescue mission to save sister Lyanna, and while he had always told Bran that he defeated Arthur bravely, the actual truth of the matter is that Arthur was a wiz with steel who brandished two swords like a medieval Chow Yun Fat and massacred his way through the Stark party, only to be stabbed in the back by Howland Reed (father of Meera and Jojen).

What's interesting is Bran's shocked and slightly disgusted reaction to this, with how we tell stories as parents to our children and what really happens. But while Ned shot off to find Lyanna, Bran shouted out to him, and he seemed to hear him. Is this a clue to some more special powers Bran may possess? And of course the Raven stops the vision as Ned disappears, meaning we have to wait to find out about the tower (I'm pretty confident Ned will reappear with a baby in tow). Talking of Starks, we finally caught sight of Rickon but it wasn't in the happiest of places after he was unveiled to Ramsay Bolton as a gift by Smalljon "fuck oaths" Umber along with Osha. But the most horrific thing was the "proof" that he was Rickon Stark - the severed head of Shaggydog.

BUT WAS IT?!

I'm going with no. That head was way too small to be a direwolf, and I can see this being a double-cross, with the Umbers being incredibly loyal to the Starks previously. Then again, this is Game of Thrones and George RR Martin can be a right bastard. But this is likely to be setting it up for Jon who, after a bit of an understandable shock at no longer being dead, got back to his duties and hung his stabees, including Ser Alliser (yay!) and Olly (aww). However, it was pretty obvious from that act that this Jon Snow is taking no shit, and he proved that by immediately leaving the Night's Watch, leaving Dolorous Edd in charge (he's not deserting - his oath was "until my death"). If he's going to unite everyone against the White Walkers he'll have to unite the North first, and the best way to do that is to fuck up Ramsay Bolton. GAME ON.

Another fine episode, and this season is rollicking along. I'm a bit bored by Cersei and Dany at the moment, but everyone else is stepping up to the plate, and it feels like it's becoming a real worldwide conflict again. So much time was spent with the Starks and the Lannisters, but the pieces seem to be moving in a more satisfying way, and the pace is just tremendous. Let's hope it stays that way, although I know I'll be howling at the skies when the episode ten cliffhanger rolls around.

- Charlie

Read Charlie's review of the previous episode, Home, here.

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TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - Home

Spoilers...

Well, he's back. Of course he is, there was never any doubt, even before the stills emerged of him fighting fit. Game of Thrones has thrown us some serious curveballs over the years from Ned Stark onwards, but you always had the feeling that Jon Snow was destined to pull through, no matter what. So a dozen stab wounds from his "brothers" of the Night's Watch are nothing really, especially after a special sponge bath from everyone's favourite nutty religious redhead, albeit going to a crisis of faith.

But while Melisandre had doubts, Davos was convinced she could knock up some sort of spell to bring Jon back. She shouldn't have been that worried, considering her previous run-in with resurrection specialists Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion, but all it took was a simple please to the lord o'light. You'd think the men of House Bolton might want to have a chat with her after Roose, the most likeable evil bastard since Tywin Lannister, was dispatched by his own bastard Ramsay, who might as well have a dunce cap stapled to his head. He may be a vicious mad dog, but he's also a moron - at least Joffery surrounded himself with advisors, while all Ramsay really had was his dad. It's getting a bit boring now with Ramsay, and I suspect Benioff and Weiss understand that, hence showing him feeding his mother-in-law (together with her newborn son) to his hungry dogs.

With Ramsay probably not long for this world (I doubt he'll last long with the rest of the North around him), this leaves a bit of a space for the Lannisters to get back in it, provided they can get around the High Sparrow, who has gone from wanting to purify everyone to world domination in a couple of steps. What a brilliant ending that would be, to see a religious bigot on the iron throne, right as a real life one gets ready to fight for America's crown. Cersei and Jaime are both pissed that their children have been slowly ebbed away, and I don't imagine Tommen will be around for much longer either, so I can imagine the pair getting behind Ser Frank of Stein aka the Mountain 2.0 and going for it. But would they get very far without Tywin?

There's also the question of the other other Lannister, Tyrion, who took a step towards being able to confront his enemies with flaming death after making pals with the two remaining dragons. Amazingly, Dany was nowhere to be seen this episode, although if last week was any indication she's en route to Vaes Dothrak, where she'll live out the rest of her years with the other widows of Khals. Oops. And then there's Pyke and the Ironborn. Oh Pyke. Here another head fell as Balon Greyjoy was chucked off a bridge by his mad brother Euron, and at the funeral Yara was told she was no longer a dead cert to take over, and that it would be decided at the Kingsmoot. I hope it's shorter than an Entmoot. And finally, an ever-growing Bran returned alongside the human form of the three-eyed raven (Max Von Sydow yay!), with a curious vision to a youthful Ned Stark and family.

So all in all, Home actually sped through things in a surprising way, maybe now realising that we are not too far from the end - twenty-seven episodes may sound like a lot, but you can never be sure with the propensity Thrones has to take things slowwwwly to the point where you think of the Cadbury's caramel bunny. But it's all good; not only the usual points for surprise deaths and gore (although I can't remember any tits in this one) but the gears moving like they've been freshly oiled, like people are actually starting to take notice that winter is coming (it's only taken six years!).

And with that, Jon Snow. What was also interesting was that Bran's vision with the raven not only showed young Benjen and Ned but also Lyanna. The focus here is curious, considering the long-held rumour that Jon Snow is actually Lyanna's son after she was raped by Rhaegar Targaryen (what a lovely world!), so perhaps this is leading up to that. But it does feel like this is ramping up - which either means it's going to crazy or we're going to get a bunch of slightly meandering episodes until eight or nine. Also, how many bloody daughters does Walder Frey have?

- Charlie

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TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - The Laws of Gods and Men

The first half of this fourth season of Game of Thrones has been decidedly wobbly. I realise I'm in the minority of this thinking, but I've found aspects of really quite dull, which is something I'd never thought I'd say about this show. Last week's episode felt like a step in the right direction with a nifty action sequence and finally some plot development regarding the men of the Night's Watch which had been dragged out beyond belief. Thankfully, The Laws of Gods and Men goes some way to prove that all of that set-up will be worth it come the rest of the season.

Part of the reason that this episode is so strong is because each scene feels connected thematically in a way that earlier episodes haven't. It's all about identity this week, taking on the roles you're supposed to have rather than the ones you necessarily want. Right from the opening scenes in Braavos (which was absolutely stunning and all credit to the visual artists for creating something so beautiful), characters are rebuilding themselves in the only ways that are open to them. For Davos, he has to remake himself as the loyal servant of the true king when faced with Mark Gatiss' deliciously arrogant Tycho Nestoris of the Iron Bank. Stannis also has to constantly re-iterate that he is the rightful King, not Tommen, despite everyone now pretty much ignoring him because he's got no cash. It's still a scene that feels largely like set-up, but the presence of Gatiss and Davos' impassioned speech elevated it to a worthy opening scene for what followed.

The return of Yara Greyjoy is a welcome one as she is one of the more enigmatic and interesting Westerosi female figures. With Theon now decidedly not himself and assuming the identity of Reek, their conflict is not only one of family loyalty, but of an internal, traumatic identity crisis. The violence and claustrophobic nature of the scene added to the turmoil, emphasising Reek's weakened presence in the face of both Ramsay and his more powerful sister. It also harks back to Theon and Yara's relationship; they barely know each other with Theon having been brought up in Winterfell whereas Ramsay has much more power over him. Alfie Allen's performance has been an under-appreciated one, but his journey from arrogant, misguided Theon to broken and tortured Reek has been exceptional. He shares a great chemistry with Iwan Rheon as Ramsay and the pair have gone on to form one of the most interesting partnerships of this season, in a weird Stockholm Syndrome-y way.

After checking in with Dany too (who is unwittingly becoming the tyrannical oppressor she's supposed to have overthrown), we return to King's Landing where things are about to kick off in a big way. It's time for Tyrion's trial and, casting our minds back to his time at the Eyrie, we all know that it's not likely to go well. The build-up to the trial feels like the preparation for Blackwater, albeit on a smaller scale because it feels doomed. Cersei has been steadily manipulating everyone around her and rigging it in her favour, one of the judges is Tywin and Tyrion wasn't exactly the kindest person to Joffrey when he was alive. In short, he's doomed.

Despite this, the trial manages to throw up a fair few shocks along the way, particularly when it comes to the witness testimonies. People like Pycelle and the odious Meryn Trant were always going to testify against Tyrion and take pleasure in doing so, but Varys and Shae? Two wholly different set of variables. Varys has always been somewhat of an ally  to Tyrion and his seeming betrayal of his friend is captured in that great moment when Varys says 'I never forgot a thing'. It's an excellent reminder that Varys has no allegiances, something which his earlier scene with Oberyn (Pedro Pascal once again knocking it out of the park with just a handful of lines).

Many people are rightly praising Peter Dinklage for this scene, particularly the blistering speech he gives at the end, but for me, its his reactions to Shae's testimony that deserve all the plaudits. Betrayal is felt with a simple look and that nuanced performance continues into that brilliant speech to finish it all off becoming the monster everyone thinks he is, if only for a minute. I also enjoyed the performances of those around him. Charles Dance is always on form as Tywin and I enjoy any scene in which Jaime tries to get one over on his father. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau handles Jaime's weakness, his family, so well and his performance captured that desperation and helplessness in the face of Tywin's manipulation. Jaime is another forced to face up to his identity, played by his father into accepting his role as son and heir to Casterly Rock, all in exchange for his brother.

Like many Game of Thrones episodes, this one was bookended by two fantastic scenes, but unlike the rest of this season, the filler has been excellent throughout. It feels less like playing for time now and more as if we're seeing actual narrative progression towards the back half of the season. 

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of the previous episode here.

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TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - Second Sons

A delayed review this time to cope with the two week gap instigated by the American HBO network, Second Sons nevertheless starts to ramp up the action for the two final episodes of the season.

The last three episodes in the series have been largely more about character developments, slowing down the action to ensure we know where each piece of the considerable Game of Thrones chess board is at the current time. However, it also meant that the pace was a little off and whilst the quality of the drama cannot be disputed, it did feel as if it was time for the show to actually go somewhere. Thankfully, Second Sons upped the ante just that little bit and though it may not have been action-packed, there was enough progression to pull us all back in again.

There were three major threads running through this episode, devoting screentime to those in King's Landing, Dragonreach and Yunkai with each dealing with some fairly big developments. Dany (Emilia Clarke) is preparing for war with Yunkai and is attempting to build her army up with the addition of mercenaries calling themselves the Second Sons. Clarke has grown from strength to strength in her performance and I just loved her cool composure in the scene with the three captains, including Daario (Ed Skrein) who eventually joins with the Khaleesi. She had one of the big moments in the Dracarys scene earlier in the season and her takedown of Yunkai promises to be just as eventful.

Perhaps the sweetest scene that the show has seen for a long time was the one between Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Sansa (Sophie Turner) preparing for their ill-advised and obligatory wedding. The oddest couple around, both seem determined to make the best of their situation and Dinklage and Turner played the awkwardness of the situation beautifully. This was then contrasted with the wonderfully catty scene between Cersei (Lena Headey) and Margaery (Natalie Dormer), both of whom seem to typify all those 'mother-in-law' jokes that went out of fashion back in the 70s.

More of a ritual humiliation than a matrimonial ceremony, the wedding was an affair in which words were barely spoken, but there was enough subtext there to get the point across. And of course it gave us another chance to really hate Joffrey (Jack Gleeson). Has there ever been a television character so universally hated as Joffrey? He's not in the series a whole lot any more, but that just seems to intensify my dislike. It's a good job he was then contrasted with Drunk Tyrion, who may be my favourite version of Tyrion and I like the character a great deal. In the most awkward family wedding in the history of awkward family weddings, a depressed, drunk groom was exactly what was needed. But then, his scene with Sansa was so wonderfully tender and gentlemanly that it further emphasised how complex the Imp is. 

The other character I've found myself disliking with great intensity is Melisandre (Carise Van Houten) and like Joffrey's fleeting yet memorable appearance, she cropped up in this episode to remind us just how evil she is, taunting poor Gendry (Joe Dempsie) with some standard nudity before applying some leeches to places leeches shouldn't be applied to. The melding of Gendry (Joe Dempsie) with the book character of Edric Storm (non-book people, don't look him up - spoilers abound) has been an inspired choice that means Gendry gets just a little bit more to do. It's a good move for the series and increases my confidence in Benioff and Weiss; they may have made some big changes, but the television story is working as a cohesive whole. Not an easy thing to do when you're tackling something as big as A Song of Ice and Fire.

Despite opening with an encounter with a White Walker, this season has been relatively low on the undead, though of course the constant threat remains. Therefore, the final scene was a (un)welcome return for the pesky little blighters in a scene that served as a chilling reminder of the biggest scare north of the Wall. With the sweet Gilly (Hannah Murray) and Sam (John Bradley) opening the scene, it was left to some squawking ravens to set the tone. The scene was genuinely chilling whilst also allowing for Sam to finally have his hero moment. I love the developing relationship between Sam and Gilly and I'm hoping we'll get to see a bit more of them, if not in this season, then definitely in the next.

This episode was also notable for the characters it did not feature, presumably because we're setting up for some pretty big moments for the last couple of episodes. Certainly, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Ygritte (Rose Leslie) are closing in on Castle Black with the wildlings and the Starks are on their way to the Twins for a big wedding. I also missed my favourite odd couple Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Brienne (Gwendolyn Christie) after their bearscapade last week, but they've probably had more screen time than any other combination this season so a break was perhaps needed.

The Rains of Castamere airs on Sunday/Monday (depending on which side of the pond you happen to be) and tension and anticipation is already high. The ninth episode of the season has been traditionally the biggest, darkest instalment and this one has a lot to live up to after the masterpiece that was Blackwater (where of course, The Rains of Castamere was first sung). Something tells me it might just match up.

- Becky

You can read Becky's review for the previous episode, The Bear and the Maiden Fair, here.

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TV REVIEW: Doctor Who - Cold War

After last week's philosophical and visual feast, the third episode of Doctor Who left me feeling, if you pardon the appalling pun, a little cold. The Doctor and Clara find themselves on a Russian submarine as everything starts to go wrong. Led by an impressively bearded Liam Cunningham as Captain Zhukov, bothered by Tobias Menzies on fine weaselly form as Stepashin and threatened by a pressuring ocean, the submarine also happens to be carrying nuclear warheads. As if the situation weren't already bad enough, we're also in the 80s during the Cold War. So really, the Doctor and Clara could not be in a worse position. Well, until they find themselves dealing with an Ice Warrior who has been frozen for 5000 years and has been recently thawed by a cocky Russian with a blowtorch.

Now, first of all the good points, of which there are a few, despite my low temperature level response. Having been written by Mark Gatiss, I was filled with a certain amount of trepidation approaching Cold War as his previous Whoniverse record isn't exactly glowing; his last outing, Victory of the Daleks, still leaves a bitter taste even with the Jammy Dodger speech and a neat Where Eagles Dare reference. Yet for Cold War, he manages to be on good form, offering us a decent narrative about honour and restraint with some major Hollywood influences.

The episode was notable for its bringing back of an old Doctor Who foe in the Ice Warrior and it was a welcome return for the honourable Martian. Skadlak was an intriguing character too, a Martian out of his time, believing himself to be the last of his race. The parallels to the Doctor were clear, if not explored in great depth, but it was clear enough that a lot of the Doctor's respect for his foe stemmed both from that and his previous dealings with them. It's always good when the show-runners bring back an old foe that hasn't suffered from over-exposure. With the Cybermen showing up later (at the hands of Neil Gaiman no less, colour me excited) and the Daleks having already appeared in the first half of the series, I really enjoyed seeing an old fore back again.

Speaking of the Ice Warrior, I also enjoyed the return to a more traditional Monster of the Week episode without the constant questioning of who Clara is or a wider narrative arc taking away from the events of the episode. It meant that we got a focus on the supporting cast who were all excellent. I'm a fan of Liam Cunningham anyway and he brought the necessary gravitas to the role of a beleaguered submarine captain (with more than a few shades of Sean Connery in Hunt for Red October). Tobias Menzies is another one of those actors who crops up in everything (most recently in Game of Thrones) and he's on fine form again here, as the over-eager yet also slightly cowardly first officer. But it was David Warner is the Walkman-toting Grisenko who stole the show, right from the point in which he burst in singing Ultravox.

However, the major problem with the episode was that it held about as much tension as a lettuce leaf. With clear influences from the likes of Alien and The Thing, it could have been a truly suspenseful, claustrophobic and memorable episode. Alas, once again a victim of the run-time, there was no real build-up in the scenes where Skaldak was on the loose in the submarine. Instead, we got a couple of head-grabby scenes, a couple of off-camera screams and that was about it. The emphasis on the distress signal that the ice warrior sent out also meant that, at the back of your mind, you knew someone was on the way to pick him up.

Like the films it references, Skaldak held much more potential to scare people who hadn't seen the ice warriors before by skulking in dark corners, never to be seen or heard until someone dies. Think of Alien with its monster only being seen in flashes, bursting out of ventilation shafts or grabbing people from the ceiling. Skaldak did the same thing, though without any of the build-up or without the sense of peril. Granted, Doctor Who is going out at primetime on a Saturday evening, but it is a show that doesn't tend to shy away from scares - Blink still terrifies me. Here though, it just didn't seem to be trying.

The first disappointment for me of this new series run, Cold War was less than the sum of its parts though it was probably the best of Gatiss' episodes. Still we have a fair few more episodes to come and next week's looks like a cracker. It has Dougray Scott in it for one thing. 

- Becky

You can read Jen's review of The Rings of Akhaten here.

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TV REVIEW: Merlin - Arthur's Bane Part Two

After last week's doom-laden opener, Merlin and Arthur find themselves captured, Gwen is becoming a calculating warrior queen, Morgana is angry and evil and Gwaine has still not found his shirt.

Arthur (Bradley James) and Merlin (Colin Morgan) find themselves trapped and on their way to Ismer as captives, held by an old acquaintance, Mordred (Alexander Vlahos) who may or may not be Arthur's bane. Morgana (Katie McGrath) meanwhile has been having all sorts of nasty nightmares and as we know from previous series, that doesn't tend to end well for the people around her. Speaking of which, her new right-hand man Ruadan (Liam Cunningham) has found out that his daughter and secret agent Sefa (Sophie Rundall) is being held as a traitor and sentenced to death by Gwen (Angel Coulby). Gaius (Richard Wilson) still seems to have a dying wig on his head but is also acting once again as the conscience of the Queen while Gwaine (Eoin Macken) is being helped a mysterious glowing alien thing.

The darker turn that Merlin has taken this series is really working in its favour, upping the ante not only for the characters but also for the audience. I'm still quite impressed that a programme I had originally only watched for a bit of light entertainment when there was nothing else on has becoming something so interesting and involving. This is probably due to the improving quality on the show all round but in particular, the writing has become a lot more focused. Before, the action would have been punctuated with unnecessary comical scenes to lighten the mood which also succeeded in slowing the pace, but across this two-parter, each scene is tightly constructed within the wider episode. The trademark humour is still there of course, but it is grim and less frequent and the show is all the better for it.

Another way in which the show has completely won me over, particularly in just these two episodes, is how well they are writing for Gwen now. Finally, after four series of being saddled with lame romantic subplots, either with Arthur or Lancelot, Angel Coulby has been granted some excellent scenes and is really flying with them. She's still the gentle Gwen of old but with a new steely, royal exterior and is proving herself to be a fine tactician with her intentions to lure Ruadan to Camelot by threatening his daughter Sefa with execution. Likewise, Katie McGrath's Morgana has had a few years to stew in her anger and is all the more fun for it. The confrontation between Arthur and his wayward sister was such a fantastic scene and McGrath's performance has really grown from the evil-grinning of old into truly capturing the hatred that Morgana feels towards her family.

The alien thing turned out to be the Euchdag, the very thing that Morgana was searching for. I must admit, the scenes with this creature were the weakest of both episodes for me because, primarily, it looks like a cast off from Farscape and not the medieval magical creature I would have personally imagined. It's a small niggle but it distracted from what was going on elsewhere. I'm also not entirely sure why it picked Gwaine to help, other than for the writers to conveniently demonstrate that it was benevolent. Maybe it will come back later on in the series, leading to more of a focus on Gwaine if that relationship was to continue. It does some rather odd to set it up and then abandon it. The other actors playing the knights don't always tend to get much of a look-in bar battling alongside Arthur and it would be interesting to see a couple of episodes, not necessarily entirely focused on them (the show is called Merlin after all), but with a little more time given to the knights of the Round Table.

Another small niggle (and I am really nitpicking now but it did bother me) was the use of all the slow-motion in the fight sequences all of a sudden. Whilst it does, at odd moments, look cool, for example Arthur taking out one of the slavers in an impressive slashing move, it can also look a bit silly. During Ruadan's one-man raid of Camelot, the slow-motion at first did fall on the cool side, but then it carried on a bit too long. As he walked away, it stopped looking bad-ass and started looking like Liam Cunningham was attempting a bad Reservoir Dogs impersonation. On with the positives though, it does emphasise that the actors are the ones doing the fight sequences and they are therefore all the more impressive. However, can we not over-use it please? A couple of times, it looks awesome. After that, I want to hit fast-forward.

As I said, they're both small niggles and overall the quality has been so good that it's hard to see if the rest of the episodes are going to be able to match this fantastic opener. We've got plenty of plot-lines to pursue, particularly now that Mordred has become a Knight of Camelot (it's not going to end well, is it?) and Morgana is wounded and possibly even more rageful (that's definitely not going to end well). Also, now that Merlin knows what Arthur's bane is, what is he going to do about it? And will Arthur ever find out that his best friend has been saving his life all these years with magic? I really hope so.

Next week appears to feature a guest appearance from the Horn of Gondor with some shiny new resurrection powers which could mean that evil Giles - I mean Uther - is back in the picture for an episode. Family reunions eh? What a joy.

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of Arthur's Bane Part One here.

Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea
Or follow her blog beckygracelea.wordpress.com

TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones

I offer my most sincere apologies, having been so lax in my Westeros-based reviews of late (I blame real life getting in the way) but now, here's a bumper look back at the last four episodes of everyone's favourite quick-witted, drama-filled and semi-nude fantasy drama. As always, spoilers after the dramatic title banner.

Plotwise, things are beginning to speed up in the battle for the Iron Throne. Robb is gaining victories all over the place and is attempting to ally himself, through Catelyn's emissary work, with Renly Baratheon. Stannis is Westeros-bound and, thanks to Melisandre, looks set on gaining some major victories for himself. Arya and Gendry have fallen in with Lannister forces at the creepy melted castle Harrenhal while Jon is journeying even further north in search of the wildlings. Dany has found refuge finally in the walled city of Qarth, though it may cost her a lot to stay. Back in King's Landing, Tyrion is revelling in his role as the King's Hand, playing the game of thrones with an assured hand, exhanging one-liners with Bronn and generally making his sister miserable. Oh, and Joffrey is still a shit.


While the third episode, What Is Dead May Never Die, was a little too pedestrian for some tastes (including my own), it was necessary to ensure that the audience was completely aware of everyone's motives, otherwise a lot of the upcoming plot points will have made little sense. As The Clash of Kings, the novel upon which this season is loosely based, is a massive set-up for its sequels, it does make sense that the showrunners spent so much time setting all the characters and locations up. One scene that particularly deserves a mention for both its technical and performing brilliance was the one in which Tyrion decides to root out the small council mole. Deftly-handled, it was a joy to watch Peter Dinklage go toe-to-toe with the other fantastic actors, particularly Aiden Gillen and the editing between the three was just seamless. However, I was starting to worry that the pace was becoming just a bit too slow - there's only so many times you can listen to a conversation about how dangerous the whole game of thrones is getting before you actually just start yelling at the television and baying for blood yourself. Thankfully, the show is in such good hands that when the action began to ramp up, it really took off. 


Episode four, Garden of Bones, did cause a bit more of a ruckus than previous episodes, mainly because of that birthing scene, but I'll get to that in a bit. What the Garden of Bones episode did for me, was to push the boundaries both for the characters in the show and for the members of the audience and sadly, it wasn't always successful. There were great scenes, Dany's takedown of the Thirteen in Qarth was particularly memorable, reminding you just why so many people follow her and what a queen she could become. Likewise, the scenes at Harrenhal with the torture in front of Arya and Gendry was an excellent way of reminding everyone of the peril all around for the youngest female Stark. Yet there were other scenes that seemed mainly there to shock you as much as possible. 


The main one to which I am referring is the one with Joffrey and the prostitutes. It seems to have become an episode staple that, at some point, the audience must be reminded that Joffrey is evil and needs to die. As if we need that. He killed Sean Bean. The first scene in which he mentally and physically humiliates Sansa was necessary to the plot - you get to see just how well she's playing the game and, as Tyrion observes, she's one of the most capable survivors in this world. That would have been enough. But no, instead we get an overlong, disturbing scene in which Joffrey gets one prostitute to beat the crap out of the other. The whole thing was just deeply disturbing and didn't really offer much more of a development in Joffrey's psyche; we all know that he's a misogynistic power-hungry twerp. This scene was just another excuse to see Ros naked and throw things at Joffrey's face. I would have much rather have seen something that developed one of the other characters a little more, or something that furthered the plot. 

Speaking of which, the other outrage-inducing scene had to be Melisandre's maternal moment. In the book, the passage in which Melisandre gives birth to a shadow-creature that looks like Stannis remains to this day one of the most jaw-dropping moments in the entire Ice and Fire series. And I have to admit, I loved the fact that they kept it in all its deeply shocking glory. Kudos must go to Carice van Houten for her courageous performance in this scene and also to Liam Cunningham for reacting exactly as most audience members were no doubt reacting in their sofas. Twitter went a little mental, some people proclaiming the graphic nature of the scene to be the outrage, which by all accounts, is an expected reaction. 


I knew what was coming and I was still amazed that they managed to get away with showing as much as they did. But then, there was the other outcry against it, that of the overwhelming amount of magic the series had all of a sudden developed. Only, this isn't really the case is it? Although the writers did play down the magical side to this particular fantasy epic in Season One so as not to put off any prospective viewers, it was always there. We had zombies, dragons, witches and gigantic wolf creatures right through the ten episodes. Yes, it is one of the more 'realistic' fantasy series out there but it was always engrained within the narrative of show. And you'd be really disappointed if they got rid of the dragons wouldn't you?


Like Season One's episode, The Lion and the Wolf, which saw the proverbial excrement really hit the rotor blades, episode five, The Ghost of Harrenhal, saw the plot lurch forward in such an exciting way, I barely stopped for breath for the entire episode. As the title suggests, it was a little more Arya-focused this time as we saw her developing relationships between both Gendry and the mysterious Jaqen H'ghar. We also saw a scene that was practically dripping in dramatic irony as Arya served water to Tywin Lannister as he goes on about what a nuisance her elder brother Robb is being. The reactions of Maisie Williams to hearing this news were perfectly pitched and she really is one of the most consistently brilliant performers in the show. 


Back in Highgarden, we also saw the consequences of the weird shadow birth from the previous episode. Poor old Renly. No one ever took him seriously, not Ned Stark or his enemies and especially not his brothers. And he never really stood a chance, despite his startlingly practical wife. Now, Renly's been murdered by a shadow man-thing and Brienne of Tarth is to be blamed, running off with Catelyn Stark. I had my reservations about the transfer of Brienne from page to screen. She's one of my favourite characters and is described as being so aesthetically unpleasing that I thought there was no way she'd be portrayed accurately in a glossy, good-looking production. But thanks to Gwendolyn Christie and some less than flattering make-up, it's like Brienne just got up and walked on to set; Christie captures her earnestness and naivety perfectly, as well as the fact she could cut you in half without really making an effort. She's an excellent addition to the cast and I can't wait to see her development for rest of this season and into the next.


Finally in this bumper review section, it's the most recent episode, The Old Gods and the New that has raised the stakes even more than those that have gone before. More explicitly violent than previous episodes, it felt like the showrunners are now starting to crank it up in the run up to the season finale. First of all, Joffrey got hit with a cow pat. YES! Although it's not really the cathartic torture scene we're all hoping for, it's certainly nice as an audience member to see someone so evil get hit with crap. All is not well in King's Landing; the people are starving and decide that the best way of showing this is to throw stuff. Which is fair enough really. Sadly, Joffrey has a characteristic over-reaction and decides to behead everyone which results in some dismemberment and Sansa getting a little closer to the locals than is perhaps strictly legal. The near gang-rape in this scene was really hard to watch and was an expert example of tension and nail-biting fear for a character who's winning a few more people over now. Poor Sophie Turner has been bashed about this season but is selling Sansa's journey from simpering moron to natural born survivor really well.


But the biggest development in this episode though has to go to Theon Greyjoy's decision to invade the North. Oh Theon, so many daddy issues and so little time, but attacking Winterfell was the worst decision since Ned Stark decided that Littlefinger was just trying to help him out. Not only are his actions going to royally piss off most people of importance in Westeros, he also completely hamfists it in one of the most uncomfortable beheading scenes ever committed to celluloid. Like Renly Baratheon, Theon's never really taken seriously by anyone, even Bran doesn't quite believe him when he says he's taking over Winterfell and almost everyone thinks they can convince him to stop being a fool. Sadly not though as poor Rodrik Cassel found out. Alfie Allen's performance has been one of the weaker in the season so far but he's starting to settle into it, conveying the turmoil of character torn between two families and not really knowing what to do about it. 


Thankfully, we had some comic interludes to cope with all the violence. We spent longer with Jon north of the Wall as he is learning, rather unsuccessfully so far, that being a Ranger isn't all sword-swinging and posturing. Despite some early tension with a wildling fight, it's Jon's introduction to Ygritte that provides a chuckle or two as they hunker down in the snow together to cope with the cold. Though the cold isn't really what Jon's got to worry about... Another comical scene is back in the gloomy towers of Harrenhal between Arya and Jaqen when she calls in another death for his debt after being discovered sneaking information away from Tywin's table. Compared to the escalating violence elsewhere in the episode, Amory Lorch's death was both unexpectedly quick and played completely for laughs. While a dry sense of humour is always present throughout, it's often very welcome to have explicitly comical moments, breaking the tension on what was otherwise an incredibly nerve-wracking episode.


What continues to amaze about this second season is how real everything feels. One of the big marketing themes in the run-up was all the new locations in Westeros that we'd be travelling to. The landscape of the show got a whole lot bigger and thankfully, it hasn't lost anything by having to travel all over the fictional map. Whether it's the ports of the continually damp Iron Islands or the oasis of Qarth, each location feels completely authentic. This sense of authenticity develops the show so much, allowing you as an audience to get totally sucked into everything that's going on to the point of feeling your skin crawl when you're wandering the streets of King's Landing with Tyrion and Bronn. The winner of the Best New Set award (which I have just made up) though has to be Harrenhal which is just fantastic, creepy and terrifying all at the same time. It's one of the weirdest locations in the books and the set designers have captured it perfectly. The world of Game of Thrones, in its entirety, looks beautiful and it's a testament to the production team that I actually want to explore Westeros and see it for myself. Well, I'd go and wander round if I was armed, preferably with a large machine gun. You know, just in case.


-Becky