And to contrast him against Joffrey who not only leads from the back but turned tail and fled as soon as his mommy called him back.
Was I the only one a bit disappointed by this last episode? (The Climb). Something seemed a bit off. Maybe the direction? But wiki tells me that the same director did S2’s “What is Dead May Never Die” which had the fantastically filmed Tyrion triple-play scene vs. LF/Varys/Pycelle, the memorable Renly/Margaery bedroom scene, the cool Theon’s letter to Robb scene, and the awesome Yoren’s final stand. So I dunno if I can blame him, but I know they shuffle some scenes from episode to episode as needed, so maybe that’s the problem.
Everything just seemed a bit… cheesier and more cliche than usual. I mean, I almost burst out laughing at Jon/Ygritte kissing on the wall. The Littlefinger voiceover mustache-twirl monologue was more clunky than cool. Even the Tyrion/Cersei scene seemed off somehow, and they are usually awesome together. And the most egregious misstep: having the meat of the Tyrion/Shae/Sansa scene take place off camera. It was a great setup… and then they cut away before paying it off. It seemed like they tried to write it and the result wasn’t perfect, so they punted on it. Sam/Gilly was pure cheese, like a Meg Ryan movie meet-cute. Then the Theon/Ramsay scenes were just completely over-the-top… I dunno… this is the first episode of the series I haven’t liked.
I did like the Thoros and Mel scene, though of course Gendry looks to be diverging from his book arc big time. And every scene with Olenna is gold as well as every scene with Tywin, so the two of them together being phenomenal goes without saying. And I did like the stuff at Harrenhal and Riverrun, although why are they portraying the Freys like inbred yokels? Did their emissary really need a goofy limp on top of their funny hats?
To be fair, everything about Sam and Gilly is cheezy and lame.
Wasn’t one of the emissaries known as “Lame Walder”?
The “meat” of the Tyrion/Shae/Sansa scene would’ve been content regurgitated from several previous scenes. We already knew what he was about to tell them, we know from Shae’s reaction and past behaviour that she likely took it very poorly, and we know from the following scene that the whole chain of events absolutely crushed poor Sansa.
Lame Lothar, actually. He’s the main architect behind the wedding on the Frey side.
Lame Lothar. He’s one of the main architects of the Red Wedding. I really enjoyed that they gave him his limp.
eta Faceless manned!
Swear to God, that’s pretty much how I pictured them in the book :p. Kinda shabby, vicious, inbred yokels.
Yes, we know the content he conveyed, but how the heck did he do so (without revealing his relationship with Shae to Sansa)? How did Shae contain her anger in front of Sansa? How did Sansa react to his face? Did she scream “No, that’s not true, that’s impossible!” like Luke Skywalker (or simply “NOOOOOOOO!” like Darth Vader)? Or did she retreat into her hollow-faced “yes, of course, my lord” broken-ness?
These are the type of golden character moments the show has been so great with. I felt deprived of them.
Ah… yes, I’d forgotten that bit. OK, yeah, I retract that criticism and chalk it up as a neat book shout out. Still, the Freys on the whole are far more goofy than I’d imagined.
They match their book descriptions quite well.
Sending a cripple and a bastard (someone Rivers I think) to parley was a thinly disguised insult to Robb.
Fair enough. I personally didn’t feel it was needed in this episode. We got Sansa’s reaction and no doubt there’ll be a scene between Tyrion and Shae in the near future.
They are pretty goofy in the books too. They’re described as looking like weasels and no other house respects them. They’re the Westerosi equivalent of trailer trash.
But the show has also been very good at letting certain things happen off-screen. Reading your list of options, in particular, made me think “Wow, all those things sound pretty cliched. Good thing I didn’t have to see them.”
I don’t feel like I’ve been deprived of critical drama in this case.
If they played the banjo, Robb would at least have some warning before the Red Wedding.
From the other thread:
So Goddamn Adorable!
No, I believe the correct answer would be: Give him an interspecies head transplant. 
I’ve always assumed we’ll eventually learn Don/Dick bedded his stepmother.
Yeah, I was just coming to reference that post. I can’t wait to read the no spoilers thread after the red wedding.
It’s going to be a shock, especially if we don’t have any scenes of Tywin plotting with the Freys beforehand. Wasn’t that why the Freys did it? Because Tywin promised them something?
Well, yeah, I was exaggerating for effect, but I’m not a screenwriter. In particular, I was curious about Shae’s reaction, since the show has implied she’s more into Tyrion than book-Shae, so this would have been a good set up for her betrayal of him next season.
Double ditto. It’s almost too savory. Are we sure that poster isn’t a book reader floating out some insightful naivety in the guise of an innocent question?
Or McPoyles.
IIRC, book Tywin says something about letters winning wars just as well as swords. In the show, we have his epic letter-writing scenes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we at least get a shot of a Tywin letter, opened, on Walder Frey’s desk after the wedding. And possibly “Rains of Castamere” playing over the credits once again.