Lord Snow

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.

"Lord Snow" may not be quite as good as the brilliant first two episodes, but it still manages to be extremely good. Which does say a lot about the overall quality of 'Game of Thrones' as a show. The dialogue occasionally rambles and "Lord Snow" slightly suffers from trying to introduce new characters and concepts in a short space of time. Putting small emphasis on slightly because the characterisation is still superb and the ideas explored well, there was just the occasional sense of there being a little too many.

Not many shows have their overall quality, tones, themes and characterisations so spot on and well-established when it first starts, but 'Game of Thrones' is one of the strongest exceptions. The slower, more reflective and loose feel to the storytelling was appreciated and actually was appropriate considering the character and story density.

Visually, "Lord Snow" 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 "Lord Snow" 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, even with the odd rambling part here and there. 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 mostly very beautifully, structured with such nuance and attention to coherence, a high emotional level and is done with intelligence, passion and sensitivity. That it is heavy exposition managed to just about work.

Standout moments are the ending, Robert and the Kingsguard and Small Council scenes, while the father and daughter relationship and chemistry couldn't have been better depicted.

Helped by the superb character and multi-layered writing throughout, Sean Bean and Kit Harrington both give some of their best ever work consistently in 'Game of Thrones', that can be seen here. Maisie Williams is really coming into her own and Peter Dinklage continues to be a high-point. Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau sinks his teeth into the character of Jaime and Syrio's role may be small but not one to forget. It is hard to pick standouts though because everybody here pulls out all the stops and nobody is bad.

Overall, not quite as good as the previous two episodes but still excellent. 9/10 Bethany Cox