Wow. When they said season 2 was going to be better, they weren't lying. The acting has improved so much that the two main actors with the worst acting in season 1 became the two best actors of this episode. The story jumped right into the juice immediately. The show is much darker, realistic and brutal than in season 1 and that is something evident from the very beginning of this episode. There were lots of nods to the books, more than I was expecting and that was very satisfying as a fan of the books. The relationships between the characters is excellent. The look of the show is much more appealing and dark than season 1. The new SFX are definitely much much better (and very visually appealing) than the SFX of season 1 (which made me cringe). I liked how there was an excellent balance between focusing on the relationships between the characters as well as the plot in this episode. It was much less predictable than season 1 (and this is great, coming from a fan of the books). When I finished the episode I immediately wanted to watch the next one. I can tell that season 2 is going to be amazing! If you were not a fan of season 1, definitely give season 2 a shot. I can't wait for episode 2.