Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 12:31PM 
by Ben Miller
Boy howdy, that was an episode. Regardless of your thoughts on the final season, we can probably all agree that the penultimate episode, “The Bells,” was the MOST episode Game of Thrones has had in a long while, if not ever. Before we get to the big developments in the back half, let's focus on some of the other quieter scenes that really popped...
Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 11:18PM by Eric Blume
In this season’s best episode yet, Game of Thrones head creatives David Benioff and D.B. Weiss display their astounding aesthetic taste and uncanny ability to know exactly what viewers want to see. This episode featured one powerhouse match-up after the next, giving us duet after duet of characters we want to see together, talking about what we want them to talk about, in exactly the way we want them talking about it. The episode also features particularly fine writing, an element of Game of Thrones that often goes unsung despite being one of the show’s strongest features.
The show opened with a funeral segment and an extended banquet scene that paid tribute to last week’s monumental battle...
Monday, May 6, 2019 at 7:10PM By Spencer Coile
In recent years, Netflix has held the honor and burden of bringing to life countless TV series – giving a voice to talent previously under or unseen. While it has become impossible to keep up with everything the platform currently has to offer, it also allows its creators, writers, and directors to tell their stories on their terms. Gone are the days where television was situated comfortably in the binary of comedy and drama. Now we have space carved out for shows that subvert our expectations, make us uncomfortable, and if we’re lucky, invite us into the artist’s vision.
Liz Feldman takes complete advantage of this genre fluidity. Her Netflix creation, Dead to Me (streaming now), is a darkly comic meditation on grief and the ways it manifests within our interpersonal relationships. Featuring especially remarkable turns from two typically underutilized actresses, Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me is a prickly, but surprisingly personal examination into how we process trauma...
Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 9:00PM Previously: Episode 1 and Episode 2
by Eric Blume
Fosse/Verdon certainly isn’t flawless, but it’s very strong out of the gate in these first three episodes. Hamilton director Thomas Kail guided the first two episodes with an assured hand, throwing us headfirst into the theater world with little set-up, allowing audiences to feel their way into the environment, and trusting that his two star performances will keep people hooked. His instincts were right on, and despite some awkward editing and temporal shifts, the show is arresting, absorbing, and intelligent.
Episode Three is directed by Adam Bernstein, a very talented guy who won an Emmy for 30 Rock and was nominated for Fargo...
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 8:00PM 
by Eric Blume
The Game of Thrones creative team are taking a very strategic approach into this final season. While last week’s premiere episode laid the groundwork to reorient the viewer and feature satisfying reunions for characters parted for years, they’ve used Episode Two to provide an emotional tapestry between the characters, with a meditation on mortality, before they go into the big battle episodes ahead. For loyal viewers, this episode served as a reminder of our attachment to these characters beyond the narrative, as well as a laser focus on the show’s main theme of honor.
We started with a killer scene where Jaime stands trial against the two families he has slain and wronged over the years, followed immediately by a tender exchange between him and his brother Tyrion (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau and Peter Dinklage are always magical together)...
