On Game of Thrones, quality is taking a backseat to speeding through an episode

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It’s as if the showrunners are racing to finish this game, rather than give everybody their due. “This show’s utteral refusal—it was so harried last night it almost felt like fear—to never stand still for a moment is producing ridiculous results,” says Rob Bricken. He adds: “My point is the show is moving so relentlessly fast that things feel rushed and unearned, scenes and characters aren’t given time to breathe, and the storytelling is suffering as a result—at least when there’s not a dragon to distract us. The show has completely abandoned its pretense of having a reality of time and space…” PLUS: The breakneck pace is gutting its most anticipated episodes, Joe Dempsie is on board the Gendry fan theory, why Gendry’s return is such a big deal, Aiden Gillen talks Littlefinger’s stark obsession, GoT is now a story about siblings, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on Jaime’s emotional news.