HBO

Telltale’s Game of Thrones series continues to struggle as it passes its halfway point with the latest episode, Sons of Winter. What’s really unfortunate about this serialized gaming experience is how much the comparisons to both the HBO television series from which it takes its name, and Telltale Games’ previous titles like The Wolf Among Us, and The Walking Dead continue to hurt it rather than help it. Alas, even as a slight improvement on the previous installment, The Sword in the Darkness, it still falters nearly as often as it soars.

Winter is coming, and things will only get worse. At the wall, Jon Snow leaves on a mission without the full support of his men. Ignoring Ser Alliser Thorne’ advice, the Lord Commander follows through with his plan to free Tormund Giantsbane and join him in rescuing the Wildlings north of the Wall. Notice how the camera once again lingers on Ollie in the background, further proving my suspicions that the young boy can’t be trusted. Is mutiny on the horizon?

As Tom’s political viewpoints start to come to the fore, Mike becomes the latest member of Meyer’s administration to start cracking under the pressure in another entertaining episode.

As Meyer deals with James’ popularity usurping hers, Dan deals with Amy making a better impression than him as a lobbyist, while Jonah deals with his physical similarity to Teddy’s other victims in another entertaining episode.

We all knew that an arranged marriage between Ramsay and Sansa was never going to go well, but I underestimated the level of discomfort that awaited viewers this week. Her marriage to Ramsay Bolton this week not only led to the most depressing moment of the entire series so far (and that’s saying a lot), but it is also one of the most unnecessary scenes of the series. We’ve seen enough pain and suffering born on the aftermath of weddings since the first season, starting with Daenerys’s marriage to Khal Drogo; later the Red Wedding, Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion, and eventually Joffrey’s fatal Purple Wedding. Some have tried to step in and defend the series and the plenty of very notable scenes that were mishandled. This week’s scene however was deliberate, and I don’t think any of us anticipated it being this cruel. Sansa and Ramsay’s union went too far, even by Game of Thrones standards. We all watched Sansa get raped and I’m not entirely sure what it brings to the show. As I’ve stated many times on our podcast, the nature of episodic television reviews means that we don’t know where this will lead. Is there a reason for this scene to exist other than to shock viewers? Maybe there is. Maybe this will lead to Sansa giving birth to a son – a son born of rape – much like her husband was born of the same sin. But that just isn’t enough to redeem a series that has been a repeat offender when insisting on raping their lead female characters time and time again, without any interest in exploring how this emotionally impacts these women. I have to ask, is it worth my time to continue to watch a show that makes me feel so terrible once the credits role?

Meyer’s campaign loses both a running mate and a campaign manager as Amy finally reaches the end of her rope.

A relatively quiet episode finds room for plenty of strong developmental character moments.

HBO has acquired its next series, as the channel has given a straight-to-series order to Big Little Lies. The show, being billed as a limited series package in the vein of True Detective, is written by prolific TV scribe David E. Kelley, marking his first return to television since the cancellation of the Robin Williams …

Real comedy still happens on late night, we can prove it. If you like Conan comedy gold, Fallon friendliness, cutesy Corden, list-making Letterman, kneedy Kimmel, and all the rest, I hope you’ll enjoy this column too. Sunday features only one major nightly talk show, so this post is about Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. John …

Silicon Valley is on a real slow burn. Part of that has to do with the expanded episode order from last season. Following the death of Christopher Evan Welch, the show restructured its back half in order to accommodate the absence of Peter Gregory, shortening its episode order for the first season from ten to eight. So part of the experience of watching season two involves trying to refigure out how the pacing of the show works. With two extra episodes of content, the show feels like it is taking longer to reach its endpoint this season even though, with the show being renewed for at least a third season, season two is more indicative of how the show operates than season one.

Dan embarks on the next phase of his career as Meyer touches down in Iran, with her victory over freeing a journalist ending up a short-lived one in another entertaining outing.

It was 2004 and I was fifteen years old when I read Charles R. Cross’ Heavier than Heaven. I remember finishing the last chapters, sprawled on the floor of my family’s cottage as I cried so hard I started to dry heave. At the time I was unaware of the controversy that surrounded the adaptation, both in how Cross took liberties in certain facts (some information was later disproved, or at least not substantiated) and the decision he made to create what was ultimately a fictional take on Kurt’s final days up until the point he killed himself. Like many teenager before and since, Kurt Cobain represented a romantic and ultimately tragic figure to look up to – for better or for worse.

A data breach leads to a major shakeup in Meyer’s administration as Katherine’s woes continue.

Game of Thrones Season 5, episode 2, “The House of Black and White,” pushed several storylines forward and made some noteworthy changes from George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. “High Sparrow,” focuses on these changes as Jon Snow struggles with his new leadership within the Night’s Watch; Cersei meets the High Sparrow; Arya grows impatient doing menial tasks in the House of Black and White; and Tyrion searches for more comfortable surroundings on a long trip with Varys.

Meyer’s attempts at brokering a peace deal are undercut by Gary going mad with power and a conflict over a White House painting, leading to a hilarious and strong episode that gives nearly all the castmembers a chance to shine.

Meyer’s ascension to Presidency turns out to be more of a curse than a blessing as the show returns in fine form, playing on its strengths and remaining as funny as ever.

After four extraordinary seasons, we’ve come to expect great things from HBO’s flagship series including dragons, impressive world-building, damsels in distress, femme fatales, epic battles, well choreographed action, blood, death, sex, black magic and lots of nudity in between the dirty politics. “The Wars to Come” (a line heard several times throughout the episode) was a solid, modest season opener, but as with every season premiere, there seems to be something lacking.

When the idea of melding the rich world of Game of Thrones with Telltale Games’ unique talent for storytelling was initially proposed, it seemed like a match made in heaven. What better place than Westeros, a locale bursting with lore and dripping with morally murky situations, for a new Telltale series. Unfortunately, more and more as this series continues, it is beginning to appear as the weakest link in the Telltale chain thus far.

The show’s cancellation comes following its second season finale, but HBO has given the series a chance to wrap up their storylines in a special.

All relationships involve compromises. No one is 100 percent compatible with his or her partner, and so there must be some give and take when building a life together. Typically, the big discussions – about having children, what city to live in, and, yes, whether to be completely monogamous – occur before a couple moves in together, but not so with Looking’s Patrick and Kevin. By this time, the show’s season (and probable series) finale, these two have accelerated the pace of their relationship for different reasons. Kevin needs an excuse to break up with John, and he would never have done so if there were the possibility of him being alone. Patrick wants to prove to himself (also his friends, family, and maybe most importantly, Richie) that he can be in a relationship that doesn’t end disastrously. So they both need each other at this point in their lives, but give not a moment of thought to what the relationship will look like a year, let alone ten or twenty years, down the road.

By now it’s clear that Looking isn’t too interested in exploring the friendship between its main characters. Far more episodes of the show’s first two seasons, including last night’s “Looking for Sanctuary” have Patrick, Dom, and Agustin going off on their own romantic or personal adventures, each character in his own storyline. Occasionally the three of them will go out to lunch and update each other about what’s going on in their lives, or they’ll see each other at a party and introduce one another to a current boyfriend, but ultimately they lead separate lives. While this actually pretty realistic – thirty-something men with careers and relationships usually don’t spend every waking hour with their friends – it’s almost unprecedented in the world of episodic television.

As they explain multiple times in “Looking for Glory,” Patrick and Kevin are now “a thing.” They’re living together at Patrick and Agustin’s place, they’re wearing each other’s clothes, and they’re debuting their new app at the GaymerX convention. It’s unclear how much time has passed since Doris’s father’s funeral, but Patrick no longer has a cast on his arm, so it’s been a few weeks at least since the two reunited. No one seems particularly thrilled by this coupling. Patrick and Kevin’s coworkers seem miffed and bring up completely valid points about the ethicacy of a boss having a relationship with his employee. Richie, condescending as ever, warns Patrick that he’s moving too fast. Agustin simply doesn’t want a second roommate. Even Brent, the snarky developer of a glory hole review app called Glorified, played by the delightful Gabe Leidman, doesn’t approve.

The moniker “It’s Not TV. It’s HBO” has never been more true than now. HBO is taking a big step in its competition with Netflix.