Jessica Naftaly - Page 2

We're just one episode away from the final episode of Season 6 of Game of Thrones and the penultimate episode entitled “The Battle of the Bastards” premiered last night. Despite what the promos had us believe, we got not one, but two battles this episode, and it was certainly an episode jam packed with death, gore, and violence. All three things we're quite used to on Thrones! Episode 9 of this show has become known amongst its viewers and creators as the big one. It's usually the episode where everything comes to fruition, the climax of the series that has everyone cheering and applauding the show immediately after for its genius and shock. Last year we had “Hardhome,” which was a direct departure from the books and gave us death and destruction, only to have the Night King lift his arms and raised the dead. However, this episode, despite being totally epic in scale and stunning visually, lacked a certain complexity, integrity, and dimensionality that made episodes like “Blackwater” back in Season 2 so rich and exciting. “The Battle of the Bastards” was entertaining and a feat of direction, cinematography, and scale, for sure, but its predictability, cluttered circumstance, and ever so confusing character choices and motivations made the episode suffer as a whole. 

As this season of Game of Thrones draws to a close, Episode 8 gave us the required death count, male nudity (was that far away shot of Sandor pissing what you wanted when you called for equal nudity Emilia Clarke?) and debunked a lot of fan theories and book plot lines that have been building up since the first installment, further confirming the show's insistence that it's truly straying away from it's source material.

This season of Game of Thrones is flying by. Last night's episode entitled “The Broken Man,” brought along a lot of shocks, surprises, and questions as it led us into the final three episodes of the season. We saw old faces return, new faces realized, faces that were not actually faces, and many current faces battling with their great inner struggles. We checked in with a lot of plot lines, but focus of this episode revolved around the new character portrayed by Ian “[It's] just tits and dragons” McShane, of whom the episode title was based upon.

We're over halfway done with this season of Game of Thrones, and last night's episode entitled “Blood of My Blood” should have probably been called “Home” (the title of Episode 2), considering more characters were reconnected with their past, began to discern who they are at the core versus who they are expected to be, as well as some literally returning home. However, we did get our mandatory dragon shot! Finally we found out where Summer's CGI budget went! Subsequently, we did get a lot of general plot development this week! Yay! Things happened! Arya was able to move past her stick training, Sam and Gilly got to their destination, we saw the return of two long gone uncles, and Jaime was forced out of the Kingsguard and into his book location!

This weeks episode of GAME OF THRONES entitled 'The Door,' revealed a lot of information and answers to some of the biggest questions of the series, as well answered some questions that don't necessarily need answering. In a show riddled with plot holes, some of which were highlighted this episode, their ability to carry out reveals and give us answers isn't always up to task. If your biggest concern watching GAME OF THRONES was finding out the origin of Hodor's name, then this was the episode for you! If the importance of finding out the origin of the White Walkers, the biggest threat that endangers the lives of all of our characters, is highest on the scale for you, you'll get answer, but the attention and care given to revealing said answer may disappoint you. It's all apparent just looking at the recaps and reactions. The most used phrase from an episode in which we learn where the White Walkers came from, another direwolf dies, a mythic race goes extinct, and the Starks make a battle plan, is 'Hold the door!' That says quite a lot.

This week's episode of Game of Thrones just aired, entitled “Book of the Stranger,” a title that had little to do with the episode besides a not so subtle namedrop halfway through. This episode delivered more of what Thrones is seemingly becoming more about; shocks, deaths, quips and nudity, and less of what it originally was; a human and complex drama. Despite Game of Thrones insistence that this year, women will be “on top,” we were once again force fed faux-feminism doubling as “empowerment,” while it double downed on it's misogyny, racism, and plain nonsensical storytelling.

This week's episode of Game of Thrones aired on Mother's Day, perhaps as an ironic detail of seeding spread throughout the episode in the same vein that Tyrion killed Tywin in season 4 on Father's Day. The episode, entitled “Oathbreaker,” had it's share of deaths and gore, but seemingly shed light on three of our characters whom can be considered “oathbreakers” of sorts.

Episode two of Game of Thrones just aired tonight and with it, we got a lot of what we had last week, shocking deaths and violence, but we also got the answer to everyone's burning question. Is Jon Snow really dead? The episode, entitled “Home” not only was named so because of the word being dropped quite often in dialogue, but several of our primary characters dealt with their families, identities and “homes”. I would say this is one of the closes instances we've gotten on this show of having the title actually play a key role in the total events of the narrative, but alas, it still struggled to remain thematically relevant, despite it's frequent usage. 

One of the biggest shows in the world is back on television after a season full of shocks, surprises, and a lot of criticism. The premiere episode picked up right where we left off, answered a few questions, but mostly succeeded in creating many more. All that being said, it flew by and certainly didn't feel like an hour of television. 

Here we are, at the end. It's a bittersweet moment to say goodbye to a show as brilliant as BOARDWALK, but it must be done. So raise your glasses 'to the lost' one last time, waving off an exceptionally superb show that we loved with all our hearts! This ultimate episode, entitled 'Eldorado', meaning a land of weath and opportunity, opened in a parallel scene to what we are used to seeing in our opening credits. Nucky, on the shores of Atlantic City. It's different this time however. It's darker, Nucky removes all of his items of wealth and stature, and dives head first into the raging tides of the water, a truly incredibly metaphor for the door to Hell and darkness Nucky walked through and never came back out of.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE writes some of the best female characters around, many can agree, but the treatment of said characters on the show reflects quite the opposite insinuation about the writers. While the show has tackled many feminist issues such as women's health, the right to vote, the temperance movement, and the misogynistic mindset of the men at the time, it's also reduced so many of it's female characters to forgo pointless deaths in order to further characterize and develop their male counterparts, or how I like to put it, allow for the men to feel some “man pain” to make us connect further with them emotionally.

The penultimate episode of BOARDWALK EMPIRE, entitled 'Friendless Child', is probably one of the best episodes of BOARDWALK's five season history. While last week left us feeling sad with the loss of two of the show's best characters, this week we shifted our focus back to Nucky, but in a way that reminded us who we really have been following for the past five seasons.

With only two episodes to go, we raise our glasses 'to the lost' on the sixth episode of BOARDWALK EMPIRE, 'Devil You Know', where we lost two of BOARDWALK's most popular characters, and two incredibly talented actors who have been with us on this crazy journey from the very beginning.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE came in strong this week with assassination attempts, affairs, pregnancies and cockroaches galore! The fifth episode of BOARDWALK's final season entitled 'King of Norway' was one of the best of this season as we had some real movement and development. One of the biggest issues I had with the last four episodes was that as we neared the halfway mark of the last season, there was still no clear direction or driving force for the season. We had through line connecting all the dots and pointing us to what to expect coming forward and now, we're finally laying the groundwork for the real major plot points of the season. More than halfway there, it seems like these last four episodes were one big premiere episode, laying the groundwork for the actual season.

'Nothing changes, does it?' asks Margaret Thompson on the fourth episode of season five of BOARDWALK EMPIRE. We're halfway through the final season of the show, so what else should we expect, but plenty of renunions and our fair share of brutal deaths. The episode entitled 'Cuanto' which is spanish for 'how much?' opens up with a flashback that we follow through the entire episode. Nucky gets laid off from the Commodore as summer is over and when he returns home, he finds his house locked and little Eli sitting on the front steps. Nucky looks in the window to find his parents having sex and shields Eli from seeing any of it.

There's forgiveness for everyone. That's what Jesus said,” utters Fern. “Baby girl,” Chalky informs her, “Jesus was wrong.” This episode wasn't the most faced paced, informative episode. In fact, we really didn't learn much, but there were a lot of great character moments and set ups for what is sure to be an incredible next few episodes. This episode revolved around two things: forgiveness and the mistreatment of women (mistreatment being neglect, abuse or crimes against women).

Here we are again, back for the second episode of BOARDWALK EMPIRE's final season. The episode, entitled “The Good Listener”, hit the ground running this week as we caught back up with that major ensemble of brilliant characters we've been missing. The episode opened with a montage of Eddie Cantor singing, fish frying and other oddities, as abstract openings appear to be a theme this season. We pull out into the episode through the ear canal of Eli Thompson, who we find worse for wear, waking up from what appears to be a drunken stupor.

Okay so here we are! Episode one of the final season of Boardwalk Empire entitled 'Golden Days for Boys and Girls'! It kicked off in an interesting and beautifully visual fashion as we are met with an opening shot of boys diving for coins underwater. The cinematography in that scene, and in the entire episode is notably gorgeous. Voicing over this stunning imagery is a poem read aloud by a female voice. “Be honest and true, boys! /Whatever you do, boys /Let this be your motto through life.” This poem bookends the episode as it's featured during the flashbacks (yes flashbacks!) of young Nucky Thompson throughout the episode.

It's almost time for the newest and final season of “Boardwalk Empire” to premiere on September 7th on HBO. While no one wants to see it go, we all wait in baited breaths for what is sure to be a killer finale (both literally and figuratively knowing this show!). So while we all say “too soon, too soon” at the shows upcoming eight episode series finale, we'll raise our glasses “to the lost” in Jimmy Darmody style and watch it go out with a bang.