[8.4/10] I feel like this episode isn't going to please most people. The critical crowd is going to be annoyed at it for indulging in fan service at times and wrapping a lot of character relationships too quickly. The more casual fan crowd is going to be upset that this episode was full of yakking and sparse on action or narrative momentum. But honestly, I really liked this one. I have to imagine that the next four super-sized episodes are going to be filled to the gils with action and high drama and excitement. In the prelude to that, it's really nice to get a series of quiet moments to reflect on where everyone has been to get to this point, and the uncertainty of the future, amid the other grace notes that "The Rightful Queen" provides.
Those are the two big ideas at the center of the episode. On the one hand, you have this sense of everyone both assuming that they're doomed but worrying about what the future holds. More than one character declares that they're all dead. And yet at the same time, you have Dany and others worrying about who might have a claim to the Iron Throne or some slice of the Seven Kingdoms. You have Tyrion and others worrying about who might become (or remain) Hand to the Queen. And you have everyone from Misandei to Sansa thinking about what the world looks like when this battle is over. There's the sense of an inevitable, mortal threat, but also of concern for where things stand after they've picked up the pieces.
But there's also a sense of marking how long the journey has been to reach this point and how much everyone has changed along it. Arya is grown, with her own skills, directness, and desires that mark a sharp contrast from the aspirational little girl who went with her father to King's Landing. Jaime and Tyrion are both much different men since they were "The Golden Lion" and "The Imp" who previously set foot in Winterfell ("the perils of self-betterment"). Hell, even the likes of Podrick has become a capable warrior (and classy singer to boot.) There's a boatload of taking stock in this episode, of remembering where everyone's been and the distance between here and there.
What's more, there's tons of nice little moments. Lyanna Mormont gets a nice scene with Jorah, Gilly gets a little time to shine, and Edd gets a chance to reunite with his Night's Watch brethren. That's all on top of Tyrion's little gathering by the fire, which makes the most of the hang out vibe this episode summons when the time is right.
All-in-all, this feels like one of those Game of Thrones episodes we'll remember beyond the bigger clashes and contretemps the series usually has in store. It's a slower episode, but one that deepens our understanding of where these characters at psychologically and developmentally after nearly eight seasons, and lets us wonder about what the future holds right alongside them.
Well...that was weird. It was very cool to see the return of the various people in Tony's life who have died over the course of the show. (Livia excepted for obvious reasons). It felt a lot like the Season 7 premiere of Buffy in that way. Hell, the whole episode felt like "Restless" from Buffy in its way. I was practically expecting the Cheese Man.
But I'm not really sure how to unpack it all. There's a lot of vague symbols and callbacks and call outs to elements of the show. There's a sense that we're exploring Tony's subconscious here. When he confronts his old coach, (who, incidentally, is a big fat guy who smokes a cigar), there's the sense that he's still insecure about his position -- that he feels like he didn't live up to his potential in some way, that he could have lived a straight life and maybe been something more or better.
And there's other little moments beyond the ghost of his friends. He tells Carmela that he wants to come home in the dream (on top of, what I suspect to be his favorite horse). The scenes of Tony in the hotel are very lonely. He won't admit it, and he still gets frustrated at certain things, but he wants Carmela back in his life, and if there's a sweetness to all this weirdness, it's their conversation at the end of the episode where they sound like regular, mildly supportive, interested people for once.
And then there's the most obvious point -- that Tony S. realizes that Tony B. is going to avenge Angelo and it's going to mean that everything goes to shit in its wake. It's the realization that he's going to have to kill someone he loves, or at least see him killed, when he still has tremendous survivor's guilt for the actions that led his cousin to jail without his family and led Tony S. to such success and, from the outside at least, happiness.
There's a lot of other telling little bits there -- Tony confusing an incident with Gloria for one with his mother, his old cop "pal" playing the role of FInn's father (alongside Annette Benning, in an inspired bit of randomness). There was even some metacommentary with "I've seen your TV show" and the man whom I suspect is Gary Cooper on the TV and "it's more interesting than life" "this is your life." I don't know how it fits together necessarily, and maybe that's the point, but I was intrigued by it.
