While I haven't genuinely enjoyed the show since season 4, I have always been self-critical enough to realize that my expectations and standards as a book reader are often completely unreasonable to apply to the show. For years, I have cringed at book readers complaining that their favorite scene wasn't done credit, and of course they have a hundred "favorite scenes," and often enough it usually boils down to the fact that they wanted the text adapted 100% faithfully, which is not what a TV show based on a series of books is obligated to be nor often what it should be.
This time, however, I can't help but judge this episodeits decisions, dialogue, and directingas being a genuine disappointment on almost every level.
First, the material in Winterfell was bad. Very bad. Easily the most obnoxious plotline that Arya or Sansa have ever had. And they've had plenty of bad ones over the years. The potential reunion of the Stark children has always been a major point of interest in the series. The show then reunited everyone in about two episodes, and it came to nothing with absolutely no emotional stakes. And then they shoehorn in this lazy Littlefinger scheme which, no matters what clichéd outcome happens, is inevitably going to be terrible. It's not a good thing when you're actively dreading the next scenes of several main characters.
90% of the complaining about characters traveling too fast from place to place has always been in the realm of "you're technically right, but this is television as opposed to a bunch of thousand-page books and they have legitimate reasons for expedience." These however, were genuinely the most absurd Travel Time Shenanigans in the series and even I couldn't forgive it. Gendry runs back all the way Eastwatch to have someone send a raven, someone writes a message and sends it out, the raven flies all the way to Dragonstone, Dany debates whether she should go, then leaves and makes it all the way from Dragonstone to north of The Wall to save them in the nick of time. This whole series of events was treated as if it could not possibly have taken more than a few hours, which simply doesn't work. It makes it feel like Dany could have flown in and conquered Westeros two seasons ago in the course of 3 episodes tops.
One of the dragons dying is one of the few things I don't take issue with in the episode. To put it simply, Dany was using her dragons too much, and it felt like they could solve anything, and now the show has pushed back. Does this resemble how she might lose one of her dragons in the books? We'll never know, but it's far from the worst thing the show has done. Unfortunately, the direction did not do it much justice.
The scenes of Jon repeatedly trying to preserve the wight they were bringing back were nonsense, with people dying all around them and thousands of undead to choose from. The fighting was also pretty terrible all around, with Jorah and The Hound in particular coming off as helpless and having no business being there in the first place. Then the direction of Jon continuing to go out and fight instead of simply getting on the dragon and allowing them to fly off made it seem like he was directly at fault by stalling long enough to allow a dragon to be killed. Just really obnoxious directing all around. And somehow, somehow, Dany arriving north of The Wall with her dragons was not at all exciting. Perhaps the most anticipated concept in the whole series, and it just happened, and it was a fizzle. The abbreviated season hurt here no doubt, but the direction was clearly a failure as well.
Then, in a span of about 45 seconds, Benjen shows up, saves Jon, decides he can't ride on the horse too for some reason, and is killed off ignominiously. This was the capper that really solidified this episode's failure.
