The Night Lands

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.

After a great Season 2 premiere in "The North Remembers", "The Night Lands" continues the high standard. It doesn't introduce as many plot lines or characters while still being exposition-heavy. Despite how that sounds this proved to be a good move due to much of the exposition being interesting and well-written, adding a lot to the characterisation. "The Night Lands" is moodier and darker than most episodes before it, certainly more so than "The Night Remembers" but no less intriguing.

Will admit to have done without the sexual elements, they seemed gratuitous and could easily have been left out due to adding nothing to the characters or the story. That way, some of the pace could have been tightened. That is my sole complaint of an otherwise great episode.

Visually, "The Night Lands" 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 "The Night Lands" 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.

All the characters are wonderfully written and layered, liked the expansion of Arya, and the acting from especially Peter Dinklage and Kit Harrington is superb all round.

To conclude, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox