Game of Thrones (Season 7)

⭐ 5.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

Whew boy, this season is bad. People talk shit about the "ending" of Game of Thrones, which often refers to season 8, or even more specifically the last few episodes of season 8, but make no mistake, the show has fully come off the rails by 7. For some reason I thought 7 was similar to 6 in that it's got some strange ideas in an otherwise good season, but no, this season is a different show. It's all bad now. I was shocked to see how quick it falls off.

It all essentially comes down to the writing, right? The actors are the same, the budget is increased, the directors didn't change... so why does this suck so bad? I could speak about the ridiculous plot points in this show, but it's deeper than that. The dialogue is so stilted and rushed, it's nothing but reunions and exposition and reminders of how these characters know each other. There are like twenty moments of two characters meeting and being like "you killed my uncle, remember? So I hate you." And then Jon says "we have to put that behind us now, it's the living against the dead." It's like the writers have to show us that they remembered the dynamics, but don't actually want to let them play out.

But also the bigger picture stuff. The plan to capture a white walker is stupid, but the raven flying from Nunavut to Miami overnight is far dumber. The Arya vs Sansa vs Littlefinger is so, so poorly handled, and just amateur stuff that every writing YouTuber will talk about in their "rookie mistakes for you to avoid" videos. The fast travel, the contrived conflict. It's all so terrible. I often wondered if it's that bad, or just so much worse than the high standard set. But no, I don't think this would ever have been acceptable.

I think it's still fair to mention the positives though. The action sequences are better than ever in terms of audio/visual. Despite the stakes feeling artificial, the loot train still blows your socks off. Dany beyond the wall is an incredible moment, especially seeing her dragon get picked off. And then the dragon being revived is just so dang cool. I also loved the final moment of snow falling across the world. Chills!! But it all makes me even more upset that it didn't happen within the context of a good show. So many cool ideas here, but the execution was awful. So close to being the best show ever, and yet so incredibly far.

This season makes me sad.