Dr. Gonzo

I remember when they said it would only be a 6 episode season, thinking "that might cause pacing issues" and tbf to the show, I don't think any episode of this season has struggled with pacing up until this one. Even with 30 minutes or so tacked onto the end of each of these episodes, this one just seemed like they were trying to get ready to tie up more loose ends than they had time for. But with pacing issues on television like this, some things do baffle me:

I didn’t like that episode at all, thought it felt rushed.

Who the fuck are TotalRookie and ChelseaTotty?

If he’s concussed he’s probably out for 10 days though, which likely means his season is done.

No the undead they take down in a wooden box, while in the crypt they punch through what I assume are tombs more durable than wood

Should everyone in the Crypt be dead? Imo if Jamie was able to be convinced to fight for the living, it makes more sense that nobody in the crypt should have died. We shouldn’t forget the genius behind the story is no longer behind the story and TV people are in charge of how this ends. The brilliant writing we expect should be tempered because the brilliant backstory doesn’t exist here. That last episode is going to be used as the quintessential example of plot armor. I don’t think this was that well written of an episode of GoT - but it was very entertaining. And I think that’s how the series will end - entertaining, but not necessarily matching the writing of the earlier seasons. It’ll always be one of my favourites, but not my actual favourites because of that drastic shift when the source material ran out and it was the TV lads calling the shots. But what could they do, we weren’t going to wait until GRRM finished.

Yeah I think the series might have that though with The Battle of the Bastards. That or Lord of the Rings' Helms Deep battle scenes - but I'd probably go with the battle of the bastards. Personally, I think it was a fantastic episode of what is probably the most impressive show we've ever had on our TV. But that doesn't mean it wasn't without it's flaws, something can be excellent and still not free of legitimate criticism. But beyond little gripes about the episode, it did its job really well. It was an episode that was designed to make you feel lost in the chaos of the battle, it did a great job of constantly ramping up tension. And the way they gave you hope before the first charge, only to then relentlessly shit on that hope immediately afterwards and fill with you with a sense of "WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY GOING TO DO TO GET OUT OF THIS!?!" And it had other moments to pull on certain heartstrings. And then it has a great conclusion to a very tense battle scene. Those things all outweigh the fact that I had to turn off every light and shut the blinds to see what the fuck was going on, for sure. They even outweigh the fact that I thought "so if these dead bodies can punch through their tombs, why the fuck couldn't a white walker have escaped from that wooden box they took one to King's Landing in?" Because the episode was fucking fantastic and I'll excuse some shite like that to see this fantastic show get the ending it needs. I think if that episode is an indication, the ending of the show will be fairly satisfying. Can't be said of every HBO show.

If I had to guess, I'd imagine there's journos (or people interning for journos or people who want to be journos) that look into players social media accounts and if they find stuff they'll either go to the FA or just write about it somewhere and then BAM that's a new story for them to tell about a premier league player/club. I'm of two minds to this. I think it can be a bit unfair to punish people for things they said a long time ago, particularly when they were a teenager. On the other hand, I don't really see a way of tackling this situation that is effective unless it's just a zero tolerance policy. You start coming up with excuses like Hennessey and people will find ways to excuse that kind of behavior. If you simply don't tolerate that behavior regardless of circumstance, then it sends a pretty clear message about future conduct.

The Wayne Hennessey thing is a fucking joke tbh. He should have absolutely been punished, I don't believe for one second he had no idea who the Nazis and Adolf Hitler were - and even if that's true, he should be punished for being so fucking ridiculously stupid. Because if these players really are role models, then clearly Hennessey is a bad role model because he's about as stupid as anyone I've ever heard about if he's never heard of the Nazis before (but again, I'm sure he fucking has). I'd not heard about the Declan Rice tweet... but yeah, that's also not acceptable and should be punished. No excuse for the double standard. But I do think it's fair game if someone's tweeted shit about other races, nationalities, ethnicities, shite like that, to have someone dig into it and for there to be some culpability for having said stupid things in the past. Even if it's a bit unfair. I don't know what the punishment should be, tbh. I think the more recent the tweet, the more severe the punishment should be - but then the FA has to deal with the question of "does this player still feel this way?" for shite that's really old. And the Hennessey defense of "well, actually I am a giant fucking moron and I didn't know any better" is actually a lot more believable if you take it and apply it to teenagers "I was a giant fucking moron when I was a teenager and I didn't know any better, but now I'm older and have learned I was wrong" is significantly more fucking believable than "I'm in my 30s and I don't know what Nazis are." Has anyone actually stopped to think about Hennessey's defense? Why did nobody at the FA ask him, "Wayne, have you seen Raiders of the Lost Arc or The Last Crusade?" He's in his fucking 30s, he's probably seen the 2 best Indiana Jones movies. Even if that's all some people know about the fucking Nazis, they know about the fucking Nazis. It's absurd they believed him.

On the one hand, I agree it's not fair to hold peoples' words from when they were stupid kids to be the same things they think and feel now... but on the other hand, he's alleged to have made a racial slur and said unsavoury shit about people who killed themselves (so likely suffering from mental problems). I think the best example the FA can set is to have a 0 tolerance policy. Yes, it's unfair because chances are he's changed a lot in 5 or 6 years and almost everyone is stupid when they're a teenager and says stupid and edgy shit because that's just what teens do for some fucking reason... But this is the FA trying to take on societal issues that are stem from outside football and have ventured there way into football because people are Jim Broadbent's. And because players are considered role models to children, it sends the wrong message to not punish a player for saying something... even if it was a long time ago and even if the player doesn't harbour those thoughts or feelings anymore. And yeah, that can be particularly harsh on the player here, but it's for the greater good of trying to stamp out these shite views in our society from being pervasive in English football. And I think the message that sort of zero tolerance policy sends greatly outweighs the negative aspects from a player/club being unfairly done over by the implementation of that policy. It's a Hot Fuzz approach to society:

I want to have hope re: Leicester and then I remember it’s that fraud Brendan Rodgers and he’ll be “organising a defense” against Man City. Organising a defense is in quotes because Rodgers has no clue how to organise a defense. Our only chance is if Vardy has a massive night, I don’t like our odds. Keita’s season is over too, thank you for that Rakitic - you dirty fucking cunt.

Tbf 30 years is a lot longer than 5

It just feels like I’ve been here before but this time is more heartbreaking than any other “nearly” season I’ve ever experienced. It’s hard for me to hang onto any hope

I’m gonna be honest, this season has been awful for my mental health and it feels worse than being totally shite, having a good side that’s almost guaranteed to not going to win anything this season. I don’t know how much more I can take being a football fan tbh, might be time for me to pack it in

This is such an excellent description of how I also felt an hour into the episode.

Breaking Bad is still the best TV show ever imo. Well except for Its Always Sunny and Archer

Well google that particular character + George R. R. Martin’s wife and you’ll see why that’s the case

Holy shit. What an episode

Synagogue in San Diego shot up yesterday

Yeah, how on earth are Chelsea not in a transitional season? In any case, even if Chelsea trying to completely change the way they play on the pitch to a more attacking style after over a decade of primarily conservative football was somehow not a rebuild of Chelsea... does it make sense to sack Sarri if the transfer ban is upheld? Maybe if you bring in someone with a track record of pushing young players into the first team, since you won’t have any new signings. In any case, Chelsea are going to be in transition at very least until they can sign players. But it’ll likely take more than one transfer window to bring in the right players. If I were a Chelsea fan I’d be obsessed with news re: that appeal and hoping the transfer ban is overturned. That’s far more important for the club’s long term future than whatever happens this season (though obviously you want to do as well as you can). Sarri’s style at Napoli was great, but that Napoli were better built for attacking football that he inherited at Chelsea. At Chelsea I think it’s a solid group of quality players, but the established creative players there are Hazard (world class), Pedro (used to be world class but looks passed it this season, which pushes more responsibility for creativity to Hazard), and Willian (who isn’t even that creative). I suppose Marcos Alonso too, but he’s not balanced enough as a fullback to do well in a proper Sarri system because while he’s great going forward he’s shit going backward. So that’s the vast majority of the side’s creativity coming from one world class player, who’s likely about to leave. If the ban’s upheld and Hazard leaves, I think a Sarri or no Sarri, Chelsea are in for a painful season.

I feel bad for CHO, that’s a really awful injury.

Sterling suggested that if fans are racist, their club should get a 9 point deduction and have to play 3 matches behind closed doors. The problem with that idea is it makes me want to buy a Man City shirt and sneak into the Etihad so I can unfurl a racist banner in that City blue and win us the title. So I’m not sure that actually does anything to prevent racism

I wish I was as good at guitar as Alexi Laiho is:

That was a good episode because of all the tension that was built.

Yeah but there's something to be said about having a good keeper behind a defense, the keeper isn't just an important player because they keep goals out, they're generally a leader and organiser of the defense (in fact, I'd argue we've struggled when we've had keepers that are only good shot stoppers at worse clubs but don't have those leadership qualities once they make the step up to us). I think even a good defense is likely to concede goals when they've got someone they don't trust to not make mistakes behind them - and even if a mistake happens, a good keeper has the trust of his defense that a one off mistake is just a one off mistake. I agree it's a reflection of the defensive unit. But Pickford's a big part of that defensive unit, despite having made some high profile errors this season he's obviously still been a good player for Everton. I've heard some whoppers (my Evertonian cousin, for one) say some shite about how Pickford should have been dropped for a spell this season and how maybe being the England keeper has gotten to him mentally. And that's just ridiculous. Yes, he's under more scrutiny now because he's the England keeper. That's what happens when you're the England keeper, unfortunately. But he can't be dropped at the first sign of struggle under this pressure, and I think he's done well this season to bounce back from moments of hotheadedness and strange errors - those stats don't indicate that he's suddenly a poor keeper. They indicate he's a good keeper that's had a few shit moments this season - which happens to players sometimes, things aren't always smooth sailing. Especially when you're at a club that's under going a transitional season after a few seasons of botched transitional seasons. He's never going to learn to deal with the pressure if he doesn't get a chance to deal with the pressure. So it's a good thing for Pickford and Everton that Silva isn't an idiot like my cousin. It's a transitional season, there's going to be poor moments, but there's still plenty to be positive about with Everton. Likewise it's good for Everton that Silva seems to have weathered the storm after Everton's loss of form compared to earlier in the season, where he was looking like he was under real pressure because his side in transition wasn't immediately great. Those early calls for him to get sacked were mental and the last thing Everton need right now is instability.