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How I Met Your Mother: Vesuvius (2014)
Makes the Ending Make More Sense
I don't like how the show ended, but there are several episodes, with this one probably being at the top of the list, that pretty clearly foreshadow the mother's fate. Hindsight is 20/20, but I don't hate the ending quite as much now as I did the first time I watched because it really wasn't as abrupt/out of the blue as it initially felt. Knowing how it the series ends, this is truly a beautiful and heartbreaking episode.
Schitt$ Creek: Happy Anniversary (2016)
Turning Point for the Show
I've watched Schitt's Creek all the way through a few times and I honestly believe that this is one of the best episodes in the series. I already enjoyed the show prior to this point, but I felt like this was the episode that turned it from a good show into a great show.
The scene at dinner with Johnny sticking up for Roland and Jocelyn was satisfying and marked a significant moment of character growth as he realized where his priorities should have been all along.
The scene at the end with the family dancing together was the first time we really started to see the love that they have for one another when they're not blinded by what they've lost and are able to focus on what they have. We also saw some character growth for Alexis during her interaction with Ted.
The show was not the same after this episode. This episode transformed the rest of the show moving forward.
Schitt$ Creek: The Rollout (2018)
Another Fantastic Episode
The entirety of season 4 of Schitt's Creek is phenomenal. The witty humor coupled with the heartfelt character moments makes this season stand out, and this episode is no exception.
The exchanges between Johnny and David, first about the "rollout" and then about the skin cream and poison oak, are hilarious, and the episode is punctuated by one of the best character moments Alexis has had all series. I actually think Alexis is one of the most underrated characters on the show, because her personality is very goofy and somewhat aloof most of the time, but Annie Murphy does a great job shifting that into some truly fantastic moments of personal and professional growth that really makes you root for her.
Pretty Little Liars: Til DeAth Do Us PArt (2017)
Good finale, but felt a bit rushed
The finale was exciting, had many plot twists that you'd expect from PLL, had some satisfying character moments, and overall left a positive feeling for viewers about where the characters ended up.
My only criticism is that the finale seemed rushed. AD was the character at the core of pretty much every conflict that occurred over the course of the last two seasons of PLL, and within one episode, we were introduced to AD, learned everything about AD, and said goodbye to AD. We came into this episode knowing nothing about AD's identity or background, only to see the entire development of her character unfold and our entire understanding of Spencer's family get flipped upside down all in the last episode of the series. It is very unlike PLL to confine a huge plot point to just one episode, and the fact that it was the finale just left something to be desired. It almost made the writing of the finale seem lazy, even though you can tell from all of the flashbacks to earlier events that the writers had an idea all along of how it would end; they just may not have portrayed it on the screen as well as they could have.
Overall, it was an entertaining finale and I do think everything revealed about AD made sense; it was just a bit rushed.
Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne (2019)
Decent Ending to a Mediocre Season
I don't think the ending deserves as much hatred as fans are spewing at it. I do think that the whole season was mediocre enough that it made the ending seem better than it actually was. I at least felt like it ended in a way that didn't leave cliffhangers and didn't create any new questions. The problem is that this entire season left so many plot points unresolved, and I think it was unrealistic to expect them to tie all those loose ends in one episode. The biggest mistake was rushing this season; however, based on what they gave us and how much they had already lowered my expectations going into the finale, I actually felt okay after finishing it.
Benioff and Weiss aren't awful writers. They wrote the first 7 seasons too, and those were brilliant. Granted, they had GRRM books to base them on, but they did change some things, alter some characters, and make the story their own in some ways. Not to mention, they were the ones who went to GRRM with their idea for the show. Without Benioff and Weiss, the show may never have taken off in the first place. The situation they faced would be like if they wrote the scripts for the Harry Potter movies but JK Rowling never wrote Deathly Hallows, so they had to tie all of the loose ends together without guidance from the books. For first-time writers of a series this monumental, that's a tall task, and while they obviously could have done it much better, the fact that people are spewing this degree of hatred at them is frustrating for me as a fellow GoT fan.
Thanks to the cast, crew, directors, writers, and especially GRRM, for taking us on an incredible journey.
And now, our watch has ended.
Game of Thrones: The Bells (2019)
Epic episode, comeback for the writers
Like many GoT fans, I have been pretty disappointed with this season, especially episodes 3 and 4. This episode didn't make me feel better at all about the previous ones, but in and of itself, this episode was phenomenal.
The writers have been criticized for not having the guts to kill big characters, and they clearly said "dracarys" to that critique in this episode.
We've seen Dany's "Mad Queen" potential over the course of the series. In season 3, she crucified 163 people without a trial. In season 7, she burned Sam's father and brother alive for not bending the knee to her. While she has often shown mercy and been very good to those who respect her, she has also made it clear that anyone who threatens or questions her path to the iron throne is disposable. Many characters have called her out for this over the seasons, and pretty much all of them are dead. Finally, tonight (or really, as of the end of episode 4), we saw all of this boil over.
Additionally, there were some great character moments in this episode:
1) The goodbye scene between Tyrion and Jaime was perfect;
2) The writers accomplished a seemingly impossible feat, in that they actually made us feel sympathetic for Cersei when she died. They also made us completely forget that we wanted Jaime to be the one to kill her. Not to mention, they tied in Jaime's "dying in the arms of someone he loves" wish;
3) The goodbye scene between Arya and the Hound pretty much went exactly as it should have, with the Hound still looking out for her, and Arya finally realizing that it's okay to let go of her need for revenge;
4) The final battle between the Mountain and the Hound, where the Hound finally killed his brother, and then appropriately fell to his death into a fire, because his hatred of his brother outweighed his fear of fire
I am not entirely sure how Arya survived or where her horse came from, and I'm not sure how Jaime survived multiple stab wounds to get to Cersei, but otherwise, I think this episode was great and I feel better about what could be in store for the finale.
Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019)
Mixed Feelings About this Episode
This was by no means the same caliber of writing as we saw earlier in the show, but I do think there are a lot of things about this episode that made people mad that I think have explanations either from previous episodes or may be explained in episode 5 or 6. So, here are a few:
1) People are mad that Daenerys is being made to look like the Mad Queen, or someone just as bad as Cersei, but we've seen signs of this throughout the entire show. She crucified 163 people without a trial. She burned people with dragon fire because they wouldn't bend the knee. Throughout the show, her goal has always been the iron throne. She treats people well if they respect her and/or submit to her, but as soon as they don't, they're her enemy and she has no mercy. The only real difference between Daenerys and Cersei is that Daenerys has shown more mercy at times than Cersei. She has never, for example, burned an entire city to the ground as Cersei has, but I do think she would if she felt it was the only way for her to take the iron throne. I don't think Daenerys being portrayed this way should be a surprise to anyone.
2) People are mad that the iron fleet knew exactly when they were coming, and that Daenerys didn't see the iron fleet from her dragon. It is very possible that someone tipped off Cersai and/or Euron that they were coming. We could tell from this episode that Sansa and Varys both seemed to have something up their sleeve. If this doesn't end up being the case, then I'll eat these words, but I think there was a reason they knew which we will learn in the next episode. As far as how Daenerys didn't see them, it's possible that they positioned themselves and their weapons to face in the direction they knew she and her ships would be coming, and it's possible that she did see them, but didn't realize how lethal their weapons were so she thought she could just burn them. Not to mention, her decision to send her army and ships down was purely impulsive and out of anger to begin with, and she is known for making impulsive decisions without thinking through the consequences. I think that is what happened here, too.
3) People are mad about us not seeing Sansa and Arya's reaction when they learned about Jon Snow. I actually was kind of mad about that at first too, but we did get hints that they are taking that information and have something up their sleeve. I don't think it was a coincidence that Tyrion was the person Sansa chose to tell, and I don't think it's a coincidence that Arya was leaving Winterfell, seemingly on her way to King's Landing.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that the writing has gotten much sloppier and the attention to detail is nowhere near what it used to be. There also are a few things from the episode I wasn't happy with (i.e. - Jon's "farewell" to Ghost, the general "soap opera" feel of the first 30 minutes of the episode, etc.). I gave this a 7 because I still felt like it was a decent episode, and I think a lot of the frustrations people have do have an explanation that we will hopefully learn in the last two episodes, but I still don't necessarily think it was a strong enough episode to warrant higher than a 7.
Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019)
Positive Spin on the Writing
I agree with a lot of the reviews that are saying that more main characters realistically should have died based on how this battle played out. Episode 2 now seems less meaningful, because a lot of the goodbyes and final moments we experienced were for characters who ended up surviving the battle. Not to mention, some of the characters in this battle did seem to escape impossible predicaments without us really seeing how (i.e. - Brienne, Jaime, Jon Snow).
At the same time, a lot of the characters needed to survive for the sake of us seeing pieces of the puzzle come together in the last three episodes. Jon and Daenerys still have to trek to Kings Landing and also resolve their iron throne conflict (which could also end up involving other characters), assuming they even defeat Cersai. It would be a letdown if Arya died before everyone on her list was dead. Jaime had to survive if we were going to see what would come of the deal Cersai offered to Bronn in episode 1. So I don't entirely think these characters surviving was because the writers were too scared to kill them, but rather was because the writers need them alive for the last three episodes.
I understand that characters never used to have this kind of plot armor, but there's a lot less wiggle room with only three episodes left. If the writers actually let everyone die who realistically should die at the hands of the Night King's army, then literally everyone in Westeros would die and the series would just end. In my opinion, that would be a lot more anticlimactic than this.
I also think it's fair to say that part of why fans may have viewed this writing as a letdown was because of how phenomenal the writing used to be. It is unrealistic to expect that episodes not driven by a GRRM novel will be written as well as episodes driven by a GRRM novel. I get that GoT was arguably the best TV show of all time when it was following the books, but it is still a phenomenal show, even if it doesn't quite have the surprises and unpredictability that it used to have.