Archive for the ‘TV’ Category

Unconventional Warfare in HBO’s Game of Thrones (Seasons 2 and 3)

Posted: May 15, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Last Sunday’s Episode of Game of Thrones “Laws of Gods and Men” featured a stirring testimonial about my favorite Baratheon brother, Stannis.

I’m still on my Game of Thrones blogging hiatus (while Season Four is ongoing), but here’s a Stannis-related post I wrote last year on my supplementary material backup blog, one of the elements packaged with my In Defense of Stannis Baratheon post.

Hope everyone is enjoying Season Four, I certainly am.

patricksponaugle's avatarEven I'm Shocked How Long This Is

On my main blog patricksponaugle.com, I have a post basically defending Stannis Baratheon on HBO’s Game of Thrones. The following article will contain spoilery details of Season Two and Three Game of Thrones. If you are not up to date, I recommend you read no further. Look away, right now!

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No discussion of Stannis would be complete without addressing the implications of him assassinating his brother, Renly, via magic.

Stannis’ defeat of Renly was accomplished using an unconventional form of warfare, and I think it warrants a discussion, as well as comparison to other examples of unconventional warfare that are seen in Game of Thrones, but don’t seem to get the same negative associations of shadow assassin demon-babies.

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Breaking Bad Season Five – We Just Finished the Series (Post 3 of 3)

Posted: April 13, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Breaking Bad, Opinion, TV
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This is my final post discussing our viewing of the end of Breaking Bad. Two posts ago, I had a recap of the last eight episodes of the season, and last post I discussed some topics more or less relevant to the final season. Now I’m going to express my final thoughts on the entire series. (I’ll be short. After all, I’ve already put out series of blog posts at the end of each season. How much more can I say?)

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Breaking Bad Season Five – We Just Finished the Series (Post 2 of 3)

Posted: April 13, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Breaking Bad, Opinion, TV
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Last post, I announced that my wife and I had just finished watching the final episodes of Breaking Bad. That previous post was a season recap that probably everyone skipped reading (not an unwise decision: either you’ve seen the show and don’t need the recap or you’ve not seen the show and SHOULDN’T read that recap)

This post will my observations on the final season. (Post 3 will be my observations on the entire series.)

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That Coffee Can’t be as Good as Gale Boetticher’s. That Stuff was the Bomb, Yo.

Season finales have a tough task in general. They have to wrap things up in a satisfying way, there’s a pressure to refer back to things that have happened over the years, besides resolving plot issues, there are emotional closures that need to be crafted, and the final episodes need to be surprising. It’s no fun if it’s too obvious or predictable what’s going to happen. But things can’t be too surprising. Things should make sense.

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Breaking Bad Season Five – We Just Finished the Series (Post 1 of 3)

Posted: April 13, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Breaking Bad, TV
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I’m going to be talking about the last eight episodes of Season Five Breaking Bad – the last eight episodes of the entire series. Breaking Bad is too great a television show to be spoiled, so if you’re not up to date:

  1. Don’t read anymore of these posts.
  2. Start watching Breaking Bad. It’s available on Netflix, bitch.

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Recently, my wife and I watched Felina, the final episode of AMC’s excellent drama Breaking Bad. We have different reactions springing from a common root emotion: she’s missing the show because (quite frankly) it was awesome, but I’m glad we’re done because (quite frankly) it was crazy intense. Also awesome.

I need to have some television downtime where my nerves aren’t all jangled and on edge. (Luckily, I’ve read all of the A Song of Ice and Fire books so this season of HBO’s Game of Thrones won’t sucker punch me the way the last episodes of Breaking Bad did. Probably.)

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The Targaryen Candidate

Posted: April 1, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be discussing plot points from the third season of HBO’s fantastic series Game of Thrones. If you are not caught up on the show and don’t want to be sullied by spoilers then stop reading. Go watch the show. Then come back. DO IT!

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Vote For Me, Smallfolk! (That is, If I Grant You a Vote!)

 

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Defending Magic in Game of Thrones

Posted: March 25, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be touching on magical plot points covering the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent series, Game of Thrones. If you are caught up with the show, there won’t be any spoilers here.

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Although HBO’s Game of Thrones was relatively light on magical elements in its first season, the show is undeniably a fantasy as we approach its fourth season.

Dragons, witchcraft, curses, illusions, face changers, resurrections, and creepy bald headed warlocks have all made their way on screen.

The question is, are all these elements good for the show? Game of Thrones operates masterfully as a quasi-historical epic, without magic. If magic can be used to dramatically change the equation of power between the competing factions, then doesn’t this lower the stakes? How can we become invested in the story if magic can be used, a la deus ex machina, to slay or save one of the characters without warning?

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Breaking Bad Season Five – We Just Finished the First Half

Posted: March 16, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Breaking Bad, TV
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I’m going to be talking about Season Five of AMC’s excellent crime drama, Breaking Bad. Specifically, the first 8 episodes which left Breaking Bad fans desperate for the final 8. Since everyone had to wait during the Breaking Bad hiatus, I decided to blog my impressions on the half-season before continuing my watch of the show.

As always, if you’ve not seen Breaking Bad, this post will be spoilery, yo.

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The King in Yellow.

Usually I breakdown a Breaking Bad season in more than one post, doing a recap in one post and observations in another. Since I only have a half-season to talk about, I’ll provide both a recap and observations in this post. If you’re not interested in my recap but mysteriously are interested in my thoughts, feel free to skip down. You animal.

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In Defense of the Warlocks in Game of Thrones

Posted: March 11, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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If you’re up to speed on HBO’s Game of Thrones, at least a few episodes into Season Three, then this post won’t be spoilery. 

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Too Magical For Eyebrows!

I want to state up front that I’m not siding with the Warlocks of Qarth against plucky Daenerys Targaryen. I can’t defend their nefarious plot to abduct her in order to draw power from the Silver Queen and her dragons.

Instead, I’m defending them against allegations that they are an over-powered drama-breaking element in the show.

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Defending Theon Greyjoy

Posted: March 4, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be covering events from the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent Game of Thrones. If you’re not caught up on the show, I recommend you skip this post, unless you don’t mind spoilers.

There are tons of characters with shades of gray in Game of Thrones. Some we like, some we hate, some we love to hate.

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Dad’s Totally Going to be Impressed With Me. Sharp Dressed Man!

Theon Greyjoy is one of those characters who generates diverse reactions. I know people who are sympathetic to him, who downright hate him, who are fascinated by his journey, or who find his journey so awful that they hope he dies. The sooner the better, they would say.

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In Defense of Joffrey Baratheon (Yes, JOFFREY)

Posted: February 25, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be touching on the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent series Game of Thrones. If you’re not caught up on the story, be forewarned that I’ll be dropping plot spoilers for the TV show.

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Bring Me a Puppy! A King Has a Schedule to Keep!

There isn’t a lot of good things that can be said about the eldest son of Queen Cersei…

  • Executing Ned Stark? Bad move.
  • Torturing Sansa with severed heads, having her publicly humiliated? Extremely ungentlemanly.
  • Killing Ros? There’s nothing that I can say that would adequately express my horror and disgust.

But, and as odd as it sounds, I’m not here to condemn Joffrey Baratheon (although he is worthy of condemnation.) I’m here to defend the one time he was solidly, entirely right. And as a bonus (or the opposite of bonus) I’ll try to cast some reasonable doubt on some of the atrocities attributed to him.

Even the Mad King 2.0 can be surprisingly correct on occasion.

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