This should remind anyone who uses IMDB to read below the ratings before making your decision. A raft of users have rated this a single star before even watching the episode. Whatever their motivation -- and you can be sure there is one -- they've taken their shot at hammering down the rating. We'll have to see if a tidal wave of objective reviewers can emerge to provide a non-idiotic overall rating.
I consider myself an objective reviewer. I found the last two episodes of GoT pretty disappointing. Leaving a Starbucks cup on set, while kind of funny, hurt credibilty. It's just one of many recent weak points, for me. But I kept my mind open just enough to watch Episode 5, and I believe it is one of the great episodes in GoT history (and one of the great episodes in tv series history).
The concluding episodes of this show had to bring violence. But instead of a loud, unphilosophical, and brutal series of sequences (as happens in all sorts of comic-hero big films), GoT delivered a collection of principles and insights with the savagery. War is random. Don't expect your heroes to crawl through while everyone else dies (and many other principles, far more interesting than that.)
The episode also brought unbelievable visuals at all levels. Episode 5 was a work of art, a Hieronymous Bosch in motion, with narrative to match. If you've read the book "Tribal Leadership" by Dave Logan (very highly recommended), this is Level 1 existence at its most grim. Everyone's life is hell. No winners. No joy. Revenge, fear, brutality, hatred, shock, and misery. Every single character suffers.
It scores a 10 out of 10 for me. The series now has a fighting chance of closing out masterfully, at a level at -- or beyond -- its greatest moments.
I consider myself an objective reviewer. I found the last two episodes of GoT pretty disappointing. Leaving a Starbucks cup on set, while kind of funny, hurt credibilty. It's just one of many recent weak points, for me. But I kept my mind open just enough to watch Episode 5, and I believe it is one of the great episodes in GoT history (and one of the great episodes in tv series history).
The concluding episodes of this show had to bring violence. But instead of a loud, unphilosophical, and brutal series of sequences (as happens in all sorts of comic-hero big films), GoT delivered a collection of principles and insights with the savagery. War is random. Don't expect your heroes to crawl through while everyone else dies (and many other principles, far more interesting than that.)
The episode also brought unbelievable visuals at all levels. Episode 5 was a work of art, a Hieronymous Bosch in motion, with narrative to match. If you've read the book "Tribal Leadership" by Dave Logan (very highly recommended), this is Level 1 existence at its most grim. Everyone's life is hell. No winners. No joy. Revenge, fear, brutality, hatred, shock, and misery. Every single character suffers.
It scores a 10 out of 10 for me. The series now has a fighting chance of closing out masterfully, at a level at -- or beyond -- its greatest moments.