Television in General

In House of the Dragon's best outing yet, its most significant time skip helps reframe its core characters and their relationships - except when it doesn't. In my review of Episode 3 , I reflected on House of the Dragon's biggest problem: How to pace the time skips. I worried that the periods lost between episodes would be forgotten in unchanging character dynamics and narrative tensions, or else be emphasized with little context and development onscreen.  This episode, in jumping ahead so many years, the writers could not rely on freezing the characters in amber, meaning a lot of work went toward convincing us to buy that a decade had past (work that I wish the show had invested in its smaller time jumps too). As many of the core characters changed actors - Rhaenyra and Alicent, though Laena and Laenor too - the writing and performances imbued the weight of ten years (and an octet of children) into the ways these old friends related to each other. Alicent's anger and R...

Rhaenyra Targaryen is not the kindest person. As she grows into and discovers her power (and its limits), she wields it without thought or care.    Rhaenyra and Alicent planning to run away together (probably, in a fanfic) A show like House of the Dragon typically focuses on nobility and their games of thrones for good reason - it generates drama that impacts a whole realm. It's easy to get caught up in the very real challenges Rhaenyra faces, as we root for her against the forces of patriarchy. Despite her enormous privilege, as a woman, she remains unable to "fuck [her] way through most of the brothels on the Street of Silk," as her father and uncle have (and as male rulers can); plus, her legitimacy as the heir is constantly called into question.  And yet... Rhaenyra's wealth and class privilege know no bounds; tellingly, she often demonstrates a lack of empathy for those around her, especially those 'beneath her station.' She seems amused by violence and d...

House of the Dragon has a pacing problem.  In three episodes, our characters have already lived through several years, births, battles, and broken friendships. While the moments in time chosen within each episode make sense for the plot, the gaps between those moments weigh heavily on the character arcs. I've mentioned before how this show's strengths follow in the footsteps of Game of Thrones - namely, via intimate conversations between characters. But when those moments have no space to breathe because each episode blasts us ahead in time, the writers are stuck with one of two storytelling options: Freeze emotions, growth, and relationships in time, so that viewers can more easily follow character development, despite how unrealistic it is to not grow as a person or with others over the course of several years off-screen; or Jump ahead in every way, hoping that the scenes you've written and the actors' onscreen choices can effectively convey all of the missing off-scr...