You can criticize this show but this
is just bald faced entitlement. They're allowed to do whatever they want. If it ends up in narrative calumnity, then sure, criticize away, but stomping your feet because it doesn't match up to something that the show has no earthly chance of matching up to all the way is not criticism.
And if you think I don't welcome criticism, I ran Lost threads for like four seasons and defended any number of people who hated it from the rabid superfans within those threads.
Of course they're allowed to do whatever he wants. And he, as a critic, is allowed to feel entitled as to how the show should end up, being a fan since the start. It doesn't mean you have to agree with his points. Saying that it's "just bald face entitlement" is a really silly way to dismiss someone's point of view.
Of course he's entitled - in my view, virtually all criticism requires at least a tiny amount of entitlement. Criticism is in large about making something into the image you like, rather than necessarily the image the creators have in mind.
I like the show, but I have problems with the speed of it... things rush by so fast, nothing is given time to grow. And that's partially because, yeah, it's dropping shit out of the book left and right in order to fit it into the 50 minute time slot. The first episode alone could have received another 25 minutes without breaking a sweat, and other shows frequently open with 1:10 premieres or 2 hour premieres, so Game of Thrones deserved more. And yeah, it's partially because of entitlement. I pay for HBO, these shows are the reason I pay for it, therefore the shows have to meet my standards. If people said there was never any entitlement involved with their criticism, I'd be a bit skeptical.
