What I’m Watching: Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones: Season 4, Episode 6 “The Laws of Gods and Men” (B+)

We’re back to the regular format of spending an extended period of time on a given plotline and missing a handful of our regular characters in each episode. That wasn’t a problem in this hour as most of the content was extremely strong, starting with a focus on a character I’ve extremely excited to see featured prominently. I think that actor Liam Cunningham is enormously talented, evidenced by his work as the star of the short-lived “Outcasts” and the film “The Guard,” and he does such fine work in a small role as Davos, who in the extended opening scene got to make a case for Stannis and show some energy for once. The rescue mission for Theon was a definite bust, and his current situation continues to be immensely disturbing. Daenerys is understandably having issues keeping her newly freed constituents in order, finding some expected backlash to her merciless punishment of the masters. As the Lannisters discuss the severity of the challenges posed to the new king’s rule, their present problem is much more internal. Peter Dinklage proves his salt once again as, even when offered a way out by his kindhearted brother Jaime, Tyrion opts to speak up and dare the courtroom to convict him, exposing the hypocrisy of what is happening. An ordinary man might be defeated by the sheer nature of the odds stacked against him, particularly Shae’s betrayal, but Tyrion just took things to a whole new incredible level, ending this show on a maddening cliffhanger for the first time in a while.