I am incredibly grateful to Game of Thrones for this adventure I have found myself sucked into for some years now. I am grateful for all the emotions it brought me since day one, bitter and sweet alike. I am grateful for all the laughs, all the tears, all the jokes and gags, every single bit of it, I really am grateful and appreciative of it all. It's been just... wonderful.
That said, I am feeling robbed and betrayed right about now. This ending is arguably one of the worst series finales in the history of television and trust me I realize how bold of a statement that is. The terrible violations the characters have suffered this season, the lack of proper resolution to many of the plots and narratives developed over seasons worth of buildup, the seeking of shock value at the expense of quality writing... that and much much more solidified this as an absolute disappointment of a finale, as opposed to the marvel wrap it could've given this cultural phenomenon.
This episode does have its positives, as always the score, acting and cinematography are perfectly performed but I just do not think it's nearly enough to compensate for how lackluster the writing has been, as much as I wish they did. Oh well, sad as it may be, I'll just hold on to the good stuff and hope that GRRM's book, once finished, will tackle the ending in a more coherent, more respectful and more meaningful way. It's been real y'all...
P.S: I'll leave this here lest some people jump me again. This comment is a representation of my own personal opinion, I am entitled to one just as all of you are. If you enjoyed this season and felt this finale delivered what you were looking for then more power to you mate, but that doesn't nullify my opinion nor does it make yours any valid. If you want to discuss or challenge my views, I'd be more than happy to engage you on that basis but if all you have to offer are petty remarks then please keep them to yourself.
What in the actual f*ck.
I'm a reasonable man, I realize I've been crapping on D&D even more than usual this season but I really do have to give them props for doing exactly what they set out to do. They hoped to subvert our expectations and they did just wonderfully in that regards.
We expected all of that buildup over the years to actually amount to something that at the very least passes for a presentable series finale but instead, we got an incoherent, steaming pile of shit. Expectations subverted!
We expected all of that character development to actually result in a beautiful pay-off that respects the journey of self-discovery each and every one of our beloved characters went through to get to where they are now but instead, we got a painful, disrespectful cycle of character regression. Expectations subverted!
We expected the final season of this show to keep us at the edge of our seats with thrilling writing that didn't subvert our expectations for the sake of subverting our expectations via low-quality shock value-seeking writing, but to introduce plot twists that make sense within the overall narrative of the story but instead, we got CW-level predictable, cringe material. Expectations subverted!
I get it. I really do. GRRM let them down by not getting the books ready in time and so they had to improvise away from his influence, but this? This? For a long while, Game of Thrones lived up to the slogan of its parent network, it wasn't just TV, it was something different, something unique and now to have to see it come to this... it's nothing short of disappointing.
On the bright side though, at least this episode didn't suck completely. The acting, score and cinematography were all on point, so I guess it's nice that I didn't walk out of it having appreciated absolutely nothing about it.
So why do I even bother anymore? I honestly could not tell you, though it's probably a mixture of masochism and a faint sliver of hope that they won't flush our collective investment into this series down the drain by the end of it, just one more episode dammit.
[9.5/10] You don’t expect It’s Always Sunny to get serious. Not even a little bit. Sure, there’s been hints of it before, whether it’s The Gang’s boat rescue a couple of seasons ago or Dennis leaving last season. But it’s typically pretty brief, so the show can get back to its delightfully deranged brand of comedy.
That’s not what happens in “Mac Finds His Pride.” Even beyond the boffo final performance, this is an episode centered squarely on Mac coming to terms with his homosexualty and self-identity and resolving those things with his old life and the people in it, especially his dad. That’s heavy stuff!
Granted, most of the episode isn’t that heavy. Sojourns to a BDSM club or a drag queen show as Frank’s solutions to Mac’s problems feels like something early season IASIP would do. And there’s the running gag of grodiness of Frank continually shoving things in and out of his bleeding nose. And there’s a solid number of amusing bits of Charlie and Dee chastising Frank because he “had one job” to retrieve a dancing Mac and hadn’t managed it.
But holy hell, this episode is basically a two-man story featuring Mac trying to express his inner turmoil and Frank learning to understand it. The metaphor the episode uses -- of Frank needing to stop trying to stem the bleeding and let it run out so that the healing can begin -- is a bit on the nose (so to speak), but at least adds a point to all that trademark Frank grossness in the episode.
And my god, the dance! Reading about what Rob McElhenney went through in order to be able to perform that makes it all the more impressive, but even without that knowledge, it stands on its own as a beautiful, artistic surprise. There is such legitimate emotion and artistry in that sequence. You don’t anticipate IASIP being affecting, but I have to admit, when the music swelled, and Mac’s dance partnered moved in concert but also in tension with him, or cradled him, on a rain-soaked stage, it was hard not to feel your heartstrings rent amid the beauty, talent, and pathos on display.
Make no mistake, there’s real emotion in these scenes and this episode. There’s legitimate arcs for both Mac and Frank here, and they’re not easy sitcom arcs either. Mac is, after so much internal struggle, finally able to express himself through art. But as he so feared, he loses his dad in the process. That too is heart-rending, and the effect it has on Mac is sadly moving.
But when Mac loses one dad’s understanding, he gains another (surrogate) dad’s understanding. I love the choice to have Frank admit that he “doesn't get it” and never really got Mac at all. It ties into a certain perspective of an older generation, one IASIP often uses Frank as a stand-in for, that may accept gay people but still just not really grok homosexuality in a way that younger generations, who were more socialized with LGBT acceptance in society, might be able to.
But in the end, he does! For however long Danny DeVito has played a deranged troll on IASIP, it’s been enough to make you forget that he’s a really good dramatic actor! Seeing him admit his lack of understanding, eventually encourage Mac, and then tear up when, through the majesty of dance, he finally does understand him, is incredible. The idea at play here, that by interpreting the “storm” inside himself through dance, by coming up with artistic representations of the light and dark inside of him, Mac can reach people and find his place is a moving, life-affirming one.
I ask you, what can’t this show do? What started as a clever enough hangout show that devolved into raunch and edginess whenever it fell into a jam has evolved into a series that is just as ribald, just as boundary pushing, but also fiercely intelligent and ready to push whatever boundaries and expectations people have of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Every year, it seems to top itself in terms of where it takes these characters, what it’s able to pull off, and even the level of emotional depth its able to wring from these self-admittedly terrible people. Thirteen seasons in, It’s Always Sunny has delivered its best season yet, buoyed by Mac’s striking, emotional finale, and that alone is an accomplishment.
We are moving on from Succession into this?
I don't know what this show wants to be, satire or erotic thriller? It was so all over the place that made me confused about what I was watching. This show is like Sam Levinson hitting back at his critics (mocking the intimacy coordinator, portrayal of sex, drugs, etc.) for negative reviews for content he created in the past. Levinson is one of those directors who fancy themselves as provocative when in truth they have nothing original to say and use graphic content to distract viewers from that fact.
The show is just dull and boring. I feel like it thinks it’s more edgy than it is. Is anyone really shocked my nudity anymore?
The acting is so wooden and everyone just seems a bit surface level. The Weeknd has no charisma. You can’t see why Jocelyn is so attracted to him and let’s him do what he wants. And why did they give him the worst hairstyle imaginable? I’m surprised some people liked Lily’s acting. She is not that terrible but she’s just trying too hard with her expressions.Jocelyn and Tedros have all the chemistry of oil and water, and their relationship was given not even 60 seconds to develop. Jocelyn's song was painfully bad, it sounds like they came up with the melody first and then had an AI write the lyrics.
The dialogues are just edgy and trying to go for shock value every second. You can tell this show is written by a male that watches way too much porn.
Melisandre: What do we say to the God of good episodes? Writers: Not today!
I feel like the writers are trying to insult people's intelligence this season.
Writer of the episode said that, and I quote ''Dany kind of forgot about Euron's fleet, but they haven't forgotten about her..'' She forgot. Everyone mentions the fleet 3 scenes before they show up and she was in that scene.
Not only did Dany suddenly suffer from concussion and forgot about them, she also couldn't see the entire fleet while flying high in the air. But tbf, they were hiding behind little rocks so she could not see them. Then Rhaegal gets hit 3 times in 3 tries, but when Dany goes straight at Euron (and does nothing) every arrow misses Drogon, of course. But then they destroy Dany's ships in a single minute, no misses there again, I'm afraid.
There were more bad things in this episode, like how no one else noticed Bronn (with big crossbow) in Winterfell, how no one asked for Arya's and Bran's help against Cersei, how Sam didn't ask Jon why he didn't help him in the last episode when he was lying on the ground, why Cersei didn't just kill everyone in that last scene, etc.. but the thing I hated the most was when characters were about to finally learn about Aegon Targaryen and then the show would just cut away from those scenes. We have time for those drinking games and romantic soap opera parts of the episode, but we cut away from Sansa's, Tyrion's and Arya's reaction about AT. Nice writing and directing.
The only scene that I liked and that reminded me of old GOT (S1-S4) was Tyrion and Varys conversation.. until Varys said that he'll betray Dany. Writers are probably going to kill him in the next episode because of that. In earlier seasons that character would never say his real thoughts, he would lie to Tyrion and then quietly spread info about Jon's true identity everywhere.
This is just.. sad.
Quite possibly one of the most amazing episodes of any show I've seen. The humor throughout, addressing/explaining the depression the way it was done towards the end, Jimmy having his own mental fight over which decision to make and then making the less selfish one. Acknowledging that he truly does care for her, and loves her. Right after having said to her what he thought it would be like in ten years with her. He saw the car and it reminded him of all the good times that she was there for & with him, just so much going on throughout the whole episode.
Most importantly for me though, was when he built her a "box" to separate her from the rest of the world. He got in it and took care of her. Saying, without words, that he's there for her no matter what and she is his life now, she is everything he wants and he'll go through any amount of hell for even a moment of heaven with her. Aya Cash's acting, particularly at the time she said the line, "You stayed?!" - so many surprise feels.
I've recently started dealing with depression issues that have been undiagnosed for a number of years. I'm still learning about it & myself, and my amazing wife is learning with me and helping when I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel or when I can't see how I've become. I can never explain it to her and this show has helped to give a voice to something I can't understand enough to explain. Every bit of this season, and the end of this episode, was incredible, witty, funny when it should be, serious when it needed to be. Perfect balances all around. Nothing I've watched in a long time has evoked as much emotion for me as this episode did. My wife & I watched the ending SEVERAL times.
Act 1: The right media and the right time
When i was in the 7th grade I got into anime. That summer I binged so much anime id probably seen all the anime on Netflix. I felt like maybe life would've been better as an anime protagonist (ik that's cringe) but I've I got introduced to anime series that really changed my life. Some, maybe I was too young for. But I'm glad I saw them because I learned about myself through the shows than from what real life could teach me. As an adult, now I'm doing it again like when I played Life is Strange. In fact that's what act 1 of this movie felt like. Especially with all the indie music playing. I was taken back to the time I played that game and my identity changed again.
Act 2:
Came into it's own. It left the feeling of nostalgia and identity from media and instead moved to the movie's own story of the two kinds of worlds. This really left like...an attack against some people who grew up and let life steer us away from who we really are. I personally felt exposed. And I think the ending, as odd as it is, left an open question as to what Owen will do. Will he go back or will he stay satiated? And that's sorta a question for the millennial/older Gen Z audience as well (but not exclusively just us).
In total, the performances were cringe enough to be realistic. I can only fault how slow it felt in Act 1 during conversations. Apart from that, while an amazing concept and for some this movie would be top tier, I think for others it's just alright. Like me perhaps. It's not very entertaining tbh, but it's really thought provoking and I still need to understand what the duality of self was in Act 2.
I was cognizant of the polarizing audience reviews for this movie coming into it, and I was fairly hesitant. I do not usually mesh well with artsy surreal movies that tend to be mostly symbolic. I find them often opaque (no pun intended for the in-movie TV show "The Pink Opaque) with very tenuous symbolism, and I often feel people read too much into those movies because they remain so indecipherable that any interpretation seems valid for something so obtuse. I was thinking of movies like mother! which I loathe, so I went into this movie fully expecting to struggle with it. However, I Saw the TV Glow, while allegorical, is also pretty straightforward. It is not muddling its message or being purposefully obtuse for the sake of appearing insightful. It has a very clear purpose, and everything within the movie serves to further that purpose. The symbolism is intentional and well thought out, and I found the way the message was conveyed to be very well done overall. It's still a strange movie, though I would not say it is really horror, although it gets very dark and does face a more existential style of dread. It's kind of a personal reflection. There is some cool cinematography, and the soundtrack is maybe the second-best of the year behind Challengers. I think some sections drag on, and there are scenes that probably should have been cut out because they don't go anywhere, especially during one concert scene mid-movie. I am shocked to say that the more I think about it, the more I honestly really enjoy it.
It tells an intimate story about living a life that is true to oneself and the cost of burying it. It talks about the courage and leaps of faith required, and it explores the power of childhood nostalgia and magic found within media. It's a story about not being passive and a call to action—a movie that feels simultaneously autobiographical while also holding up a mirror to the viewer. I strongly urge viewers to try to dig deeper than the surface level plot because the movie isn't overly dense. There is meaning here, and you do not need to dig that deep to find it. You will be rewarded with a unique movie that might just make you reflect on the way you live your life.
This show has taken the crown. It has not just dethroned Games Of Thrones for the worst ending I have ever seen.... It also took the crown of the worst show / movie I've ever seen in my 27 years on this green earth. This show is completely irredeemable.
They REALLY had me in the first half of the episode. I thought they were trying to recover and save the show. Tedro's was such a disgusting abuser and the things he did were actually unforgiveable, and thus far there has been NO action against him.... SO the first half with the huge power struggle between Joycelyn & Tedros felt AMAZING. Joycelyn was taking back her power, standing up for herself. They RUINED him, put an article out & he was FINISHED - it was hard fought. Tedro's got his just desserts after everything. I was like "this was rushed but I'm happy".
I was thinking "Man this show was rough but at least she won in the end." Then, they did the most unbelieve sh** I ever imagined.
They hit you with the "6 weeks later"......
Them showing Joycelyn's success - it was kinda nice to see. Then TEDROS WALKS IN, HAS A PASS READY, SEES HIM, SHE STILL MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM. SHE EVEN INTRODUCES HIM AS THE LOVE OF HER LIFE TO HER FANS. UNBELIEVEABLE. I did not think it was possible. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever watched. I am 100% convinced it was The Weeknd's doing. He has such a huge ego he couldn't tell a complete story, he just HAD to be the winner & "good guy" in the end.
SO basically this show had no meaning - there's no point. It teaches no lesson, there is no moral. It was just a weird array of random BDSM torture porn scenes that The Weeknd got off to. There was no beginning, middle or end. No real progression, character development OR plot. It just existed.
It really felt like a disturbing look into The Weeknd's life and nothing more - he wrote it after all & it was made VERY clear from the show that he see's no issues with Tedro's or his actions.... You can TELL he think he thinks he's cool.
All it did was glorify extremely disgusting abusive behavior and there was no conclusion or moral to the story.... They could not portray the "bad guy" and his behavior as negative for more then 5 minutes.
The Abuser won.... and that's that.
WHY DOES THIS SHOW EXIST?
The dragons are such a power imbalance. The stupidity of the last scene? Why would he do that? I mean I can understand him pretending to surrender, but why did he charge for all those men and THEN call the dragon. In Game of Thrones the dragons seemed to be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb... see season 8. Only the Targaryens have them so... how the fuck are you losing a war? So far I haven't seen one counter for them. There is no way an army of regular men could defeat a dragon. Daemon seems like a one trick pony. He's the bad guy... I don't understand his motivation... He wants to be the king, but he would've been heir a long time ago if he didn't have the thirst for...idk blood? Please the king, be the heir, than poison him. Hell... blame Rhaenyra (make her dragon kill him or something) contest the throne. So far Daemon seems dumb as fuck. I might say he is literally Jon Snow in season 7, but the "evil" version. He needs a hell of a lot of character development... or fuck no, just some character exploration at least. What is his limit? His pride? He should've accepted the help from the King. That shows the kingdom he has the King's blessing. Work with what you can get... This show needs a Tyrion, a Little Finger... someone who thinks three steps ahead.
[7.8/10] I’ve come to terms with the fact that Westworld is more style than substance. But what style. Look, there may not be nearly as much going on under the hood as this show pretends, but if all it wants to be is high class, gorgeous pulp, well then hey, count me in.
Maybe this is all the show should aim for. After a lot of ponderous set up, this episode features almost all of the series’s major characters in action. It has most of them dressed to the nines in exotic and luxurious locales. And when that’s not enough, it has them kicking ass and going toe-to-toe with one another.
Does it make any grand statement? Not really. Does it advance the story of the season? A bit. Do the characters feel meaningfully changed by the events? I guess so. But more than anything, it is just a damn entertaining hour of television, which is more than you can say for Westworld’s first three installments this year.
This is Westworld though, so we can’t get away from the big twist. The big dangling mystery at the end of season 2 was just which “pearls” (had we heard that term before) did Dolores take with her from the park? It turns out that she didn’t take anybody. She just used those little programming balls to replicate herself, so every host we meet outside of the park is just Dolores in a different getup.
It’s an entertaining reveal, I’ll give the show that much. There’s something to the Poirot-esque notion that it turns out that all the culprits were Dolores! But thematically, it also speaks to the notions of identity that seem to be at the core of this batch of episodes. Mostly, it feels like a “Did we make you say whoa? Huh? Huh? Did we?” type of reveal, but I’ve grown to appreciate that on this show.
It also spends a good amount of time giving everyone some genuine motivation, and letting those motivations clash with one another, which is the right kind of basic storytelling a series as expansive (and often up its own ass) as this one is needs.
We learn that Serac is a...humanity supremacist? He himself has been trying to map the human mind, only to realize that Davos already did it better than he could and poses an existential threat to humanity. His tragic backstory doesn't do much for me (though the worldbuilding of a disaster-struck Paris is an intriguing detail), but giving him a simple M.O. and purpose helps make him more than a random, mustache-twirling villain.
By the same token, he can also offer Maeve something he wants and which he claims Dolores has -- a key to Heaven, where she can find her daughter. That provides good reason for her to do his bidding and show off her general badassery.
It’s some damn good badassery! There’s nothing especially profound about the way she takes out various mooks, or uses her technology manipulating powers to break into places and misdirect firearms, or get into a martial arts battle with Musashi (the Shogunworld equivalent of Hector). And yet, it’s pretty damn fun to see her go half-Neo, half-John Wick on all these randos, en route to the beautiful but macabre image of her blood mixed with the white liquid from which hosts are born. (Incidentally, it looks like Dolores is planning to build an army, or at least a lot more of her kind.)
We also get what feels like it’s supposed to be closure for William. He spends much of the episode wondering whether what he’s experiencing is real, and by extension, whether he’s real. His arc has become so convoluted that it’s hard to care too too much about his plight or the answer to those questions, but “The Mother of Exiles” still makes the most of it.
For one, it works in sheer plot terms as the whole “the board needs you to root out a mole” routine is a ploy by Dolores (or Serac, maybe? Or both?) to give Hale a controlling interest in Delos. It works as a twist on the same terms when we’re led to mistake the same as a sincere effort to stave off a hostile takeover. But it’s also a great outing for Ed Harris, who’s deranged ramblings and palpable guilt over killing his daughter and whether he had a choice to do it works as a gripping standalone cold open even if his broader arc is a hash. There’s an irony to the fact that he finds himself trapped, questioning whether he’s real, as Dolores’s ultimate revenge. If this is the end for him, which I doubt, it’s a fitting one.
But we also get a confrontation between Dolores and Caleb on the one hand, Bernard and Stubbs on the other, with Liam stuck as a pawn in the middle. Again, the setting of a high class charity auction for prostitutes is just weird and Kubrickian enough to hold your interest, feel very on brand for HBO, while also nodding toward the class conscious themes that have also been a thematic undercurrent this season.
At the same time though, “The Mother of Exiles” does better than most outings at drawing the tension out from all of this. The scene where Caleb needs to use his purloined biometric password to get into Liam’s account, lest Dolores do things the old fashioned way of “just killing everybody” is dripping with suspense. The conflicting plans of Bernard to stop the “kill and replace” millionaire (or so he thinks) while Dolores wants to taunt him over stealing all his money add stakes to the ostentatious event. And seeing Dolores and Stubbs go mano-a-mano, despite the fact that it’s “not personal”, is a surprising thrill.
Give me this brand of Westworld every week, and I will be a happy camper. Sure, its pretensions to profundity still make me roll my eyes a bit now and then, but include enough action, enough fun, enough aesthetic joy to make its four-color storytelling this much fun? Then hey, you can include as much freshman year philosophy as you want, and I’ll still tune in.
