TV #11 of 2018:
Game of Thrones, season 7
I literally just reviewed this season when I watched it last year, and even having rewatched all the earlier seasons since then (with my wife, watching the show through for her first time), I think my reaction remains the same:
All in all, this is probably one of the weakest seasons of Game of Thrones. As cool as it is to see long-anticipated developments finally happening – and it really is cool, don’t get me wrong – it’s a little disappointing how many characters have developed “plot armor,” aka the seeming ability to endlessly escape deadly situations due to narrative importance. This is all the more jarring since GoT first established itself as a show where no one was ever truly safe, no matter their apparent status as a main character. But any time someone escapes from mortal peril now, I have to imagine that their personal story arc must not be done yet, and that there’s something particularly important the writers are saving them for. It’s not like every single character in a cast this massive is going to get a tidy resolution before the end of the show, but with only 6 episodes left at this point, plot armor increasingly feels like the only explanation for some people’s continued survival. Plus, as many other viewers have observed, the travel logistics in this world no longer make any sense, and it definitely weakens the storytelling further when characters can suddenly whiz around all over the map on a whim.
The finale did a lot to rehabilitate some of these concerns, but it took some really shaky storytelling and narrative shortcuts to get there. With a rumored confirmed delay until 2019 for the final season to air, I really hope the writers spend more time ironing out a good story rather than just relying on spectacle to coast through to the finish line as they largely did here.
★★☆☆☆
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