Given the structural and emotional issues with the prior episode (see my review) I was looking to this for some indication the writers had rediscovered their inner "wizard." And really did not find it.
The cynical side of this reviewer wonders aloud if, at this stage in the production, they perhaps had budget issues? Please don't laugh until you review the logistics of this episode.
Having by this stage in the story killed, banished, exorcised, expunged, drowned, or otherwise removed almost all the major characters from the arc, the producers astonishingly managed to do this entire episode (check it yourself) with a cast of 7 actors (3 of whom had minimal screen time), virtually no extras (a few guards for a few moments), and no special effects except for some mist.
Against the backdrop of this entire series, which had had flying dragons, battles, courtyards overflowing with extras, pomp and circumstance, etc, you have to conclude that the top line savings would have been enormous. This episode was produced for a fraction of the cost of the earlier ones. That is a fact.
Now none of this would matter if the quality was there. But frankly it was not. From the opener when one of the knights "ignores" the warning he was given, to the fairly predictable end, this episode had little in common with the production values I have come to expect in this series.
The only respite was Bradley James acting his heart out at the conclusion, which kinda made the whole episode OK.
Barely.
The cynical side of this reviewer wonders aloud if, at this stage in the production, they perhaps had budget issues? Please don't laugh until you review the logistics of this episode.
Having by this stage in the story killed, banished, exorcised, expunged, drowned, or otherwise removed almost all the major characters from the arc, the producers astonishingly managed to do this entire episode (check it yourself) with a cast of 7 actors (3 of whom had minimal screen time), virtually no extras (a few guards for a few moments), and no special effects except for some mist.
Against the backdrop of this entire series, which had had flying dragons, battles, courtyards overflowing with extras, pomp and circumstance, etc, you have to conclude that the top line savings would have been enormous. This episode was produced for a fraction of the cost of the earlier ones. That is a fact.
Now none of this would matter if the quality was there. But frankly it was not. From the opener when one of the knights "ignores" the warning he was given, to the fairly predictable end, this episode had little in common with the production values I have come to expect in this series.
The only respite was Bradley James acting his heart out at the conclusion, which kinda made the whole episode OK.
Barely.