My thoughts about Game of Thrones

Having watched this show from the beginning, I know I had a lot of expectations for the final season.  I knew there would be a big battle in the North against the White Walkers.  I knew we would have a battle for King's Landing and the Iron Throne.  All of that happened.

Up until the second to last episode, I was totally with the show.  I may not have liked everything that happened, but it followed an internal logic that I could go with.  As I believe I have said before, I am a big proponent of watching a show on the writer's terms.  After all, it is their sandbox and they are allowing us in to play, so the fans shouldn't dictate how a show unfolds.

My issue with the second to last episode stemmed from the fact that Daenerys' torching of Kings Landing and killing thousands of innocents civilians was not in character for her.  In the past she has been ruthless, granted.  But there is a difference between being ruthless and being a sociopath and murderer.  While I may not have liked that she burned the Tarly's alive after they surrendered, it made sense in terms of how she developed.  If you were her enemy, she destroyed you.  But how were the innocents of Kings Landing her enemies?  Also, she had taken great pains in the past to help those who were on the lower end of the socioeconomic rung, so killing them all made no sense.  And her explanation that she killed them because of Cersei's actions?  Freaking ridiculous.  I could see that excuse if she had only launched an assault on the Red Keep and some civilians died, but the deliberate targeting of them made no sense based on what we had seen of her.

Honestly, once we reached the point where she died, I really didn't care anymore.  And I hate that because she has always been on of my favorite characters.  She and Arya have always been awesome and I also loved Sansa once she outgrew her annoying "I must defend my beloved Joffrey!" phase (pretty much the end of the first season).

As for the ending, I liked it for the most part, but there were several "WTF!" moments (and not in a good way).

[1] Arya leaving her family and going west made no sense.
[2] Is Jon the new King Beyond the Wall?
[3] Why did everyone just acquiesce to Sansa splitting the North off from the rest of the 6 Kingdoms?
[4] Bran as king?  Really?  Ok......
[5] Bronn as Master of Coin? Why?  What possible qualifications could he have?

I think my major problem with the last season is that the disposed of the battle with the dead in one episode and then had one episode followed by the Battle for King's Landing complete with character assassination.  I know they had limited time, but they really should have used it better somehow.

Overall, I thought the series was a good one, but the last two episodes are really making me question if I can (or even want to!) rewatch the show ever again.  Knowing how badly the end will be, do I really want to ruin the rest of a show that started so marvelously?  And then there is the question of any prequel shows.  If they are from completely different creators, I will possibly consider watching them, but I do not think I can watch anything from Benioff and Weiss ever again.  Maybe my views will change with time, but I honestly don't know.  There has been so much stuff written about the last season, and I suggest you read it because it is a lot more eloquent than I am.  I know that I feel like I devoted a very long period of time to the show only to have it pull shock for the sake of shock (in other words for no plot reason) in the last stretch.  And that feels incredibly disrespectful to the fans.

2019-2020 TV Schedule

It's that time of year again.  All of the TV networks have released their schedule, so here is my TV schedule for the fall.  It is a lot lighter than in the past, mainly because most new shows are not looking interesting to me.  I also have 4 shows ending this year: Arrow, Supernatural, Blindspot, and Madam Secretary.

Sunday

8 pm      - Batwoman (CW, premieres 10/6) [New Show]
9 pm      - Supergirl (CW, premieres 10/6)
10 pm    - Madam Secretary (CBS, Final season, premieres 10/6)

Monday

9 pm      - Black Lightning (CW, premieres 10/21)
10 pm    - The Good Doctor (ABC, premieres 9/23)

Tuesday

8 pm      - The Flash (CW, premieres 10/8) and The Conners (ABC, premieres 10/24)
9 pm      - Arrow (CW, Final Season, premieres 10/15) and This Is Us (NBC, premieres 9/24)

Wednesday

9 pm      - Nancy Drew (CW, premieres 10/9) [New Show]
9:30 pm - Single Parents (ABC, premieres 9/25)
10 pm    - Stumptown (ABC, premieres 9/25) [New Show]

Thursday

8 pm      - Supernatural (CW, Final Season, premieres 10/10)
9 pm      - Legacies (CW, premieres 10/10) and The Good Place (NBC, Final season, premieres 9/26)

Friday

8 pm      - Charmed (CW, premieres 10/11) and The Blacklist (NBC, premieres 10/4)

Midseason

Blindspot (NBC, Final Season), MacGyver (CBS), The 100 (CW), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (CW), Roswell, New Mexico (CW)