Came to 'Game of Thrones' fairly late in the game and due to being so busy the binge-watching was gradual. Have found myself truly loving the show, very quickly becoming one of my favourites. It totally lives up to the hype and not only does it do the brilliant source material justice (a rarity in television) it is on its own merits one of the finest, most addictive and consistently compelling shows in recent years and quality-wise it puts a lot of films in recent years to shame.
"Kissed by Fire" may not quite be the season, and show, high-point that is the previous episode "And Now His Watch is Ended". It is regardless another great episode to a season that, up to this point, is as good as any of the consistently very good to outstanding episodes of the previous two seasons. It may be more characterisation and character interaction heavy than action-oriented and may lack the big revelations of the previous episodes, and is not as tightly paced and complex as especially "And Now His Watch is Ended".
As 'Game of Thrones' is incredibly good at how it characterises its characters and how they interact this is a long way from a problem. This is apparent in "Kissed By Fire", especially in the touching interaction between Jaime and Brienne and the hugely intriguing Lannister stuff.
Uniformly the acting is superb, especially from a moving Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Maisie Williams shining in Arya's Brotherhood scenes.
Visually, "Kissed By Fire" looks amazing. The scenery is throughout spectacular, the sets are hugely atmospheric and beautiful on the eyes with a real meticulous eye for detail and the costumes suit the characters to a tee. The make-up is beautifully done. The visual effects are some of the best of any television programme and are not overused or abused, the scale, the detail and how they actually have character and soul are better than those in a lot of the big-budget blockbusters. As well the cinematography and editing, which are cinematic quality as well.
One cannot talk about "Kissed By Fire" without mentioning the thematically, orchestrally and atmospherically multi-layered music scoring and the unforgettable main theme. Again, worthy of a high-budget fantasy/action/drama film.
It is hard not to be bowled over by the quality of the writing, outstanding isn't a strong enough adjective to describe how good the writing is once again. It always has a natural flow, is layered and thought-provoking and demonstrates a wide range of emotions such as suspenseful tension, poignant pathos and witty humour. The story is paced beautifully, structured with such nuance and attention to coherence, a high emotional level and is done with intelligence, passion and sensitivity.
Overall, Season 3 delivers again. 9/10 Bethany Cox
"Kissed by Fire" may not quite be the season, and show, high-point that is the previous episode "And Now His Watch is Ended". It is regardless another great episode to a season that, up to this point, is as good as any of the consistently very good to outstanding episodes of the previous two seasons. It may be more characterisation and character interaction heavy than action-oriented and may lack the big revelations of the previous episodes, and is not as tightly paced and complex as especially "And Now His Watch is Ended".
As 'Game of Thrones' is incredibly good at how it characterises its characters and how they interact this is a long way from a problem. This is apparent in "Kissed By Fire", especially in the touching interaction between Jaime and Brienne and the hugely intriguing Lannister stuff.
Uniformly the acting is superb, especially from a moving Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Maisie Williams shining in Arya's Brotherhood scenes.
Visually, "Kissed By Fire" looks amazing. The scenery is throughout spectacular, the sets are hugely atmospheric and beautiful on the eyes with a real meticulous eye for detail and the costumes suit the characters to a tee. The make-up is beautifully done. The visual effects are some of the best of any television programme and are not overused or abused, the scale, the detail and how they actually have character and soul are better than those in a lot of the big-budget blockbusters. As well the cinematography and editing, which are cinematic quality as well.
One cannot talk about "Kissed By Fire" without mentioning the thematically, orchestrally and atmospherically multi-layered music scoring and the unforgettable main theme. Again, worthy of a high-budget fantasy/action/drama film.
It is hard not to be bowled over by the quality of the writing, outstanding isn't a strong enough adjective to describe how good the writing is once again. It always has a natural flow, is layered and thought-provoking and demonstrates a wide range of emotions such as suspenseful tension, poignant pathos and witty humour. The story is paced beautifully, structured with such nuance and attention to coherence, a high emotional level and is done with intelligence, passion and sensitivity.
Overall, Season 3 delivers again. 9/10 Bethany Cox