Game Of Thrones Recap - Season 4 Finale - The Children

What a totally badass finale that was! Electric! Let's get right into it!

Joffrey Swag: 0 Points. While I wish I could give points to Cersei bemoaning the loss of her son, I think tonight was the night that Joffrey Swag officially ended. Maybe it died somewhere on the toilet with Tywin.

Direwolf Badassery: 10 Points. This has just been a phenomenal season for direwolf kills with even Summer, Bran's lovely named Direwolf getting an amazing kill this episode.

1. Finally we get to see Mance Rayder again and while he gets a some great lines like "of all the ways to kill you Jon Snow, poison would be the last" he doesn't last linger too long before tha boss Stannis shows up. Gotta say Stannis and Ser Davos look pretty badass in full armor - you know usually they're just slumming it in Dragonstone, so this was cool. Also was Melissandre sporting a darker hair style? Why do I care about that? Who am I?

2. It's worth noting that Mance was pretty clear that all he and the wildlings want is safe passage to the other side of the wall - something seriously evil is coming for them. The White Walkers aka the baby takers aka the Blue Eyed Demons. Hopefully we'll see more of them next season. 

3. There was a ton of visual metaphors in tonight's episode but none was more direct than Jaime Lannister literally throwing a book of his family history away so he could get busy with his sister. Speaking of Cersei, she is now the character I have the least amount of sympathy for, yes even less than Theon/Reek.

4. Another visual metaphor was Daenery's tying up her dragons. What once gave her freedom and power is now becoming a problem and needs to be contained. Ruling is hard. People and beasts need to be contained. Freedom sucks...whaaa? Got dayuuum were they really talking about contracts this episode? She either needs to die or get to Westeros already.

5. Last week was the Jon Snow beastings on bad guys power hour and then BAM right away we're back in it with the super Emo Jon Snow we all love to hate 15 minute stretch. He's burning his dead brothers, wandering in the woods with a torch, talking about his dead Dad, and saying goodbye to his true love. He may not know nothing but he sure can brood well.

6. Nothing makes me more upset than when I'm scoping out some amazing foliage and I get attacked by a skeleton army. That entire scene was the most "magical" thing the other show and I think they almost got it right. The fire-balls where a little cheesy, but it was VERY cool to see Bran find his "destiny" ohhh...what's that --- the return of the MIND MELT

MIND MELT WITH SIDE OF AGED BLUE MANCHEGO SWISS - That whole business about "you will fly" can only mean one thing - Bran is going to go full Warg on not just ravens, but....Dragons! Dragons! Why else do you think Dragon is missing to?

7. While I wanted Arya to finish off The Hound - it melt more true to the show that she didn't. He was an ugly ugly character with an occasional flash of humanity and he showed it by protecting Arya in that fight. Any other compassionate moment wouldn't have worked and besides the whole sitcom road trip story of the Hound and Arya all season was leading to that moment. All their previous interactions (stealing the money, killing the Lannister men, Arya learning to kill, discovering the nature of violence) all lead to Arya's moment to travel on and leave him to die. 

8. Jaime and Tyrion's hug was so deeply emotional it almost mad me cry. I'm serious, those two are just good bros!

9. Tyrion killing Shae was extremely raw and him killing his Father was brutal as well. I have to wonder though where does his character go from here. For so long he's been defined by his relationship to his family and the capital - now he's on a journey to a whole new world. I'm sure there will be many characters for him to manipulate but I think these two killings will change him greatly.

10. Is the Mountain alive or dead?

11. Arya giving that Bravoosi guy the coin was thrilling. She is on the long road to becoming a soulless assassin of the order of the Faceless Men. How sweet, what would her mother say -wait - she's dead.

12. Real quick - longtime readers know I've been following the Bran-Three Eyed Raven story for some time and I have to say I was very satisfied with what happened tonight. I've always thought Bran's compassion for Hodor makes him a real future candidate for a future KING and with his brother, mother, and father all dead, his sister gone full Goth, and his other sister becoming an assassin, and his little brother stuck in cute-land he is the most in line of the Starks to rule the realm. That's my prediction!

Now our watch, I mean, wait begins! The waiting is the hardest part!

24 Points About 24: 5:00PM - 6:00PM

1. The biggest mystery of this season is just what's going on with Jack's Serbian sidekick?

2. President Heller seems to be the most relaxed stressed out President ever. His love of cardigans makes him come across more like Mr. Rogers and less like the leader of the free world.

3. Just how big is Margot Al-Harazzi's network that she can activate an operative at any time?

4. Adrian Cross is working with Navarro! Clap it up folks. The first mega twist of the season. I did not see that coming.

5. Intimidating doctors for essential information is so second nature to Jack he knows where the vending machines are in every hospital are in LA, New York, DC, and London.

6. In the larger 24 Universe I hope that Yasmin that grows up to be either a vengeful British spy or a massive super-villain in 24 Season 30: Battle For Mars.

7. There is no way this Yasmin girl would be so lucid after seeing A)Her mother get murdered by her aunt B) Get chased through the city C)Said Aunt get hit by a bus. D) Have some blonde American Ice Princess with cuts on her head interrogate you.

8.  I just realized that Jack's cool new leather jacket is the jacket equivalent of the Jack sack.

9.  I'm not buying the whole Agent Navarro being an evil villain who sends his agents out to get murdered. He just doesn't come across as that evil.

10. The Prime Minister's press conference is an interesting dynamic to the season. How will it impact how Jack and co get around in the city? More soldiers on the street? Less people to kill? More terrorists to hunt?

11. Jack Bauer's bedside manner has not changed on bit. First he talks to the patient...then he tortures them. Pretty standard.

12. So weak that Jack has to apologize for hating terrorists. Old Jack would never do that.

13.  Can a hospital really be evacuated in 8 minutes? Seems like a stretch even for this show. It would make more sense to shoot down the drone.

14.  Chloe hacks even in a pub. That seems like advertisement for Chloe. Chloe O'Brien - hacking here, hacking anywhere.

15. Some big time explosion budget this season. Haven't seen firepower like this since Jack took down an entire oil rig back in the day.

16. Lots of excess gore in the aftermath from the hospital attack. Wow, that was gnarly.

17. The car/drone chase is one of the best action sequences the show was ever done. Buildings exploding, multiple car crashes, dude bros getting punched for their cars.

18. Absolute power move by Jack to put that brick on the accelerator and fake out the bad guys. I love this MacGyver moments but is it too much to ask to have Jack rip a power kill for once? Enough of these mind-games.

19. Do drones really require that much lock on before they can fire missiles? Also why not just switch to a bigger missile?

20.  Jordan Reed may not have died, but he didn't get to use a machine gun like Chloe did last time she was in the field.

21. Tate Tots is going to get killed by Russians before the season is done. Bald and an epic mustache - not a Russian you want to mess with.

22. Under Armour has really been sidelined since the mansion drone attack. Get that dude back out in the field!

23. If President Heller really surrendered himself to Margot than I think we may have found our perfect excuse for Jack to really get back in the field.

24. Another fantastic episode! The show is really operating at a high level right now. If there was a weak point it would be the whole Navarro/Jordan Reed plot, but hey it wouldn't be a season of 24 with random side plots.

Game Of Thrones Recap - S4E9 - The Watchers On The Wall

What an absolute dynamite bean cranking mega episode. So many epic moments and some surprisingly strong thematic undercurrents as well.

Joffrey Swag - This was the first episode since the start of the show where "the one true swag king" wasn't mentioned nor considered by his biggest fan (that would be me).

Direwolf Badassery - 100 points. Ghost ripped a guys face off and you saw all of it. His introduction was dope as well.

1. Tonight's episode was directed by Neil Marshall who directed the season two episode "Blackwater" and is quickly become the shows go-to guy for epic battle episodes. I hope he doesn't get pigeon-holed though because his movies are pretty great as well. Check out The Descent if you want a good scare.

2. With the entire episode dedicated to The Wall, for the first time on the show you really got a sense of the variety of the characters in The Night's Watch. I've always liked what good friends to Grenn, Pyp, and Sam have been to Jon, but tonight I loved how they got their own character beats.

3. The Night's Watch oath always gets me fired up. I thought it got me pumped up in season when Jon and his buddies make their vows, but that was nothing compared to Green and gang screaming it while holding the gate against that giant.

4. In addition to the epic kills tonight's episode had a lot to say about the nature of love, courage, fear, and leadership. Let's talk about love first. It opened with Jon describing physical love to Sam, who followed that up with physical and emotional love with that old rascal Maester Aemon and we ended up with some real deal romantic love with Ygritte dying in Jon's Arms after she couldn't kill him. True love is so much deeper than anything physical. It's the kind that endures, the kind that locks you in a cellar to keep you safe, until you get back.

5. When that Giant used that bow and arrow my draw dropped to the floor. Also Tormund is a such a beast, his fighting style is brutal. I hope his capture is a sign that he will continue to be on the show.

6. I called that the Thenn were pretty much only on the show to die horrible deaths at the hands of our heroes and I wasn't wrong. Hammer to head, crossbow to the eye, and more. 

7. Finally Jon Snow fulfilled his own destiny, not just of being a leader of men, but of being a total badass and wrecking some real bad guys, not just some Night's Watch maniacs at Crastor's Keep. Also I LOVED the imagery of him stepping out into the cold white snowy abyss at the end. Now he is in his rightful place, the boss of the Night's Watch.

8. Sam's speech about not even thinking about how he conquered his fear in the moment and how he "felt nothing at all" was a beautiful way to reflect on the unlimited potential we all have within ourselves to be brave and to be great. Many times in this episode we saw that - Pyp & Sam conquering their fears to fight, Grenn making a stand to hold the gate, Alliser rallying the troops even though he knew he messed up, and finally the little boy avenging the death of his family by killing Ygritte. 

9. One thing that struck me as strange with this episode was the lack of the Wildling leader Mance Rayder. Shouldn't he have been at the battle?

10.  The icing on the cake of the whole battle was that giant blender snow death mine of metal that was unleashed on the side of the wall at the end of the affair. Absolutely insane and I loved it.

Finally next week. Still lots of questions to be answered.

24 Points About 24: 4:00PM - 5PM

1. I can't tell if William Devane is a good actor pretending to be an old dude slightly losing it or if William Devane is an actor who is losing it himself. His acting style and some of his line delivery is so bizarre.

2. "Jack wants her. Jack needs her. Jack gets her," very simple orders from the President.

3. The Al-Harazi clan joins a long line of crazy messed up of families on 24? The Palmers, The Bauers, The Behrooz's, The Morgans, The Logans, the list goes on...

4. Where do the Jack Sacks come from? He loses one and then another one appears on the table, just beckoning him to fill it with gadgets, guns, and knifes.

5. Tate Tots and Bauer had a little micro-showdown and Tate Tots is more shaken up than Edgar realizing he wasn't going to have the life of his dreams with Chloe.

6. Kate Morgan's hair is impossibly straight. I don't know why this bothers me, this isn't a fashion show and Kate Morgan is not Kate Middleton. Don't know why I'm concerned about fashion and Kate Middleton while I'm watching 24. Oh man I need to get my shit together.

7. Audrey is on the fast-track to crazy-town. A very high speed fast track.

8. Tate Tots is quickly upsetting a bald mustached Russian. This is poor move on his part but a smart move on the writers as I cannot wait to evil Russians to be involved.

9. I really respect Kate Morgan picking up that needle on her power. And she just met Jack Bauer as well!

10. Jordan Reed, the nerdy C.I.A.  analyst who loves Kate is going to learn the hard-way that he won't be able to compete with Jack...ever. Do you the trust the guy who's digging into your past or the guy who is offering you a needle? Apparently the second one.

11. According to 24, arms dealers are much scarier when back-lit. I tend to agree with this assessment.

12. Damn, Margot Al-Harazi is quickly becoming a real demonic villain. Advocating child murder by calling it another loose end. That's brutal.

13. When Jack Bauer sees a chain hanging from the ceiling does he think of Fayed? You know his second greatest kill ever?

14. This torture scene is nuts. Electrocution? Slashing with knives. Power drill!!! Welcome to the latest 24 2.0 I guess, that was hardcore.

15. It is weird that MI6 and the Brits are being positioned as contrary forces to Bauer. They're not bad guys, they're just in the way. Since when are the Brits the bad guys? Actually considering that almost every major role in Hollywood is playing by a Brit, it's refreshing that they're bad guys here. USA!

16. That whole fake dude at the bank ploy by Rask was genius, but props to Bauer for not falling for it, I mean what does Bauer fall for?

17. Why do so many arms dealers do deals in places with floor to ceiling windows?

18. Kate Morgan's kill was wild! That stabbing was a clear message that Kate will be the new Bauer next season.

19. Jack has obviously played a lot of video games. Always shoot the exploding barrels next to the bad guys. That's 101 shit.

20. Who knew Rask hated Mi6 enough to blow himself rather than get captured. What a dedicated terrorist.

21. As my fiancee points out - Simone loves the knife death.  Call me a prude but I can handle torture but stabbings in front of children is a little too much for me to handle.

22. Well in guess one thing deserves another and so if you stab a mother in front of her kid you get hit by a bus.

23.  So Agent Navarro is crooked? Kind of weird that it pertains to the Kate's husband and not the main plot, that is unless they link up.

24. If Simone eventually found her heart and warned Naveed's family, will her brother turn as well? At the start of the episode he thought the execution in front of Simone was too much, now his sister is dead, sounds like he could be switching sides.

Game Of Thrones Recap - SE4E8 - The Mountain & The Viper

Thrones came back with a vengeance last night and there is lots of gooey parts to get into. I mean, whoah, Oberyn, we hardly knew ya bud, I wish you could say you died like you lived but I mean you died a really horrible horrible death. Well, let's say the rest for the post.

Direwolf Badassery- Nowhere to be seen but I expect that we'll get some next week.

Joffrey Swag - People are still talking about how much they hated him, but the true mark of Joffrey Swag was when you saw what a whiny little bitch Robin Arynn is. At least Joffrey was cocky, Robin is just...lame.

1. Pour one out for my main man...Ser Jorah. The image of him riding away from his friend zone filled past was haunting. But seriously, where does this character go from here? 

2. OK let's get into it. I did not see that Oberyn death coming at all. Much props to the creators because while I've seen the thumbs through eyes before, I have yet to see a full on skull crushing of a main character. I mean DAMN. Now, that was wild, but was it as wild as The Mountain's horse chop back in season 1?

3. Jon Snow's friends (besides Fat Sam) are some of the most ride or die supporting character on any TV show ever. They're just always popping up to offer encouragement and and also to kick ass. I'm into that.

4. Grey Worm's low key indirect romance skills of Missandei were dynamite tonight. For his sake I hope he has the pillar and the rocks.

5. You can learn so much more about Daenerys as a character by seeing her braid Missandrei's hair than you can learn in 10 "I'm the mother of the dragons slave liberator" speeches.

6. The Bolton family is a bunch of freaks. I hate Ramsay even more now because unlike fellow bastard Jon Snow he gets to assume the family name and Jon Snow just inherits...his father's scowl.

7. Littlefinger is scheming on the whole realm and I love it. He's like the medieval Frank Underwood, always just climbing that ladder to power, one kingdom at a time. 

8. So about that whole monologue about the beetles? Was it foreshadowing the crushing death of Oberyn? Was it Tyrion saying that he remains eternally fascinated by the existential questions of life? Or was it him very slyly winning Jaime over to his cause in case things didn't go well for Oberyn in the fight? I think it was all three.

9. Although I've said I've never do it, I'm starting to feel for Theon. I know he did a ton of terrible things in Winterfell but at this point he's out of his mind, lost his manhood, doesn't recognize his sister, and is just a shell of himself. I hope he gets his mojo back and kills Ramsay who is a thousand times worse than Joffrey ever was.

10. What the hell happens to Tyrion now? He's such a fan favorite so I don't think he'll bite but I don't see how he gets out of there alive? It's not like he can fight his way out. We'll have to see, maybe his old pal Varys will help him out?

So good to have Thrones back!