#I didn't even feel that strongly about Alicent before this last episode

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

I happened to read this post on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1e9qtwm/house_of_the_dragon_is_currently_displaying_the/ and it seems that now even the general audience is starting to realize the problem of HOTD season 2. Ignoring the main post, the comments also point out issues that I strongly agree with: "I disagree that it's slow, I think it's empty. They could've covered the same story beats but have more interesting scenes and dialogue, instead of the same "Rhaenyra frustrated and council is pushing for war" scene over and over, and similar for the greens. And it's true that the book is very sparse, but there's a bunch of things that they could've fit that they didn't: Aemond returning to King's Landing after killing Luke, Corlys grieving Rhaenys, Corlys adivising agaisnt Rhaenys. I feel like we keep getting the same 4 or 5 character combinations over and over. I don't mind Daemon being off doing his own thing. It's a nice way of having everyone else evolve without him.Plus, all scenes feel empty of a backdrop. S1 had a lot of parties and a tourney and a hunt, and the keep felt more alive." "Because season two doesn't do what season one did which is make the supporting cast characters almost as important.Take the guy that's basically the equivalent of little finger remember all his creepy shenanigans last season in the whole foot fetish thing? do you actually felt like he was a character and was important and not just a plot device for the cast to bounce off of. This season he just sorted there and insulted.Or you take the folk and the bastard children You have a whole interesting story about how the main brother saved his dad his desires his life. Instead, we are given the exact same shipyard every scene with the two of them talking.The show refuses to elaborate on the supporting cast and elongates the primary cast's stories." "I think the biggest problem is that they've sold Rhaenyra as the main character of the story. She's on all the promotional stuff, every poster etc.The issue is that Rhaenyra doesn't actually do a whole lot for large swaths of the story . But because she's been made the character, HBO feels like they need to give her a ton of screen time.

Hello!

I agree with basically everything pointed out there. This season of HotD has been criminally wasting precious running time (even more precious than before because the number of episodes was reduced) on completely unnecessary scenes of characters contemplatively staring at something (for the sake of what? it added absolutely nothing either to the plot or to the character) and repeated portrayals of women (Rhaenyra and Rhaenys specifically) being disrespected by men (misogyny is bad, we get it, move on already). And they keep showing us the aftermath of major events but hide the immediate reaction of the characters to them (TG's - to Aemond killing Luke, Alicent's - to Aegon nearly dying, Corlys' - to Rhaenys' death etc.)

Overall, the way characters are presented in the show is very superficial. It feels like for each of them the writers are doing less than 50% of actual development needed not only for the story but for the audience to actually connect with them. And it also seems that the writers themselves realize that there is no way they're getting any notable emotional reaction from the viewers like this - and so they try to compensate for the lack of depth with shock value scenes and endless GoT references. Cheap moves - and not very effective ones.

[medschoolash]

Struggling to see why I should feel sympathy for Alicent. Rhaenyra is the rightful heir who had consensual sex with someone she’s attracted to, she didn’t owe Alicent the truth - it was none of Alicent or Otto’s business. The fact we’re meant to be going “oh poor baby, she’s so upset” has me doing the exact opposite. She should get over to, it’s not like she told Rhaenyra about her secret meetings with the king either.

ohh Anon thank you so much for this ask (also sorry it took me a few days to reply). After last night I became a hardcore Rhaenyra Targaryen defender. You're right, Alicent was not sympathetic at all this last episode. I had the exact opposite reaction to her antics and I'm already annoyed by the justifications out there from some of her hardcore defenders. I was planning on doing a separate essay this week but since you asked I'll just go for it now.

So here goes.

In Defense of Rhaenyra Targaryen:

In this essay, I will......

establish that Rhaenyra never ever got a fair shot and Alicent is a jealous bitter woman who believes she's powerful but is truly just a perfectly crafted pawn of her father and the patriarchy.

I feel like a common theme among some of the viewers has been that Alicent's extreme actions this episode make sense and being upset at Rhaenyra is justified and a few times I sat there reading it trying to figure out if I watched the same show because it's just such a nonsensical conclusion to make.

let's start with the first complaint

"Rhaenyra's lie got Otto removed as hand"

Lie. OTTO'S OWN AMBITION IS WHAT GOT HIM REMOVED AS HAND. NOT RHAENYRA'S LIE.

Otto has had a conflict of interest this entire time. The moment he pimped his daughter out to the king to advance his agenda is the moment is job became precarious. The man had been plotting to have Aegon take the throne in place of Rhaenyra this whole time. He was always going to make a move to convince Viscerys to disinherit her and that move was always going to be extremely risky but I don't think Otto even realized how risky it was because of his arrogance and his belief that he could easily manipulate Viscerys. Daemon called this from episode 1 when he told Viscerys that Otto was a vulture preying on his weakness and Viscery didn't listen. The man was so blinded he didn't even realize Alicent was a carefully planned plot by her father until the last episode. Because he was so arrogant and he underestimated how much Viscerys loves Rhaenyra (of course a man who pimped out his own daughter would think other fathers don't give a damn about theirs) he didn't expect his actions would ever lead to Viscerys actually doubling down on Rhaenyra as heir. If it wasn't this scandal it was going to be another crafted up by him to get rid of her. So Rhaenyra's lie didn't directly lead to shit, besides exposing otto as the conniving schemer that he always was and he did that on his own. Viscerys didn't even believe Rhaenyra. Like I'm almost positive the man truly believes Daemon took his daughter's maidenhead so how can it all be blamed on Rhaenyra lying? Moral of the story is Otto would still be hand if he wasn't ambitious and knew how to mind his own fucking business.

Speaking of minding one's own business that brings me to the next complaint

"Rhaenyra lied to Alicent and Alicent was supposed to be her friend"

Somebody, anybody please tell me why who Rhaenyra decides to pussy pop for is Alicen't business? Why exactly was Alicent owed the truth on what Rhaenyra did that night and with who? Does Alicent have some sorta ownership over Rhaenyra's vagina? Not to mention Rhaenyra technically didn't even completely lie to her. She admitted they went to the brothel and she said that Daemon left her there and they didn't have sex, both of which were true events. Alicent asked her if she had sex with DAEMON. She never asked her if she had sex with anybody else. Rhaenyra didn't have sex with Daemon. Her sexual encounter with Criston wasn't her damn business and she never asked so how can you claim you were lied to.

Not to mention how is Rhaenyra being villainized for maintaining her own privacy when Alicent was the first one to deceive someone in his friendship? Did Alicent tell a grieving Rhaenyra that she was spending time with her father? No, she did not. Did Alicent tell Rhaenyra that she was sitting in meetings with her father who is straight up telling her he's working to replace her as heir to the throne? No, she did not. If she was such a concerned friend who valued transparency why has she never been transparent with Rhaenyra? When has Alicent ever divulged information to Rhaenyra that could work against her? So she's owed transparency but Rhaenyra isn't?

What good would telling Alicent the truth do for Rhaenyra? Would Alicent have been any less judgemental? She would still be looking at Rhaenyra like an unrepentant whore. If anything telling the truth would have done more harm than good because from Rhaenyra's perspective Criston could have gotten in trouble and now the mother of the other person threatening her succession would have information she could use against her. What was stopping Alicent from trying to convince Viscerys that his whore daughter is going to bring shame to his reign if he doesn't replace her with their son? So why tell her the truth? Why was she owed the truth in the first place?

If anything Alicent's behavior proved exactly why Rhaenyra shouldn't have told her a damn thing. She found out Rhaenyra had sex and decided to basically declare war like that's completely rational behavior over something that was already cleaned up nicely by Viscerys. Not a single soul knew Rhaenyra fucked Criston and Rhaenyra's betrothal to the richest house in the realm was already secured so what harm did Rhaenyra's sexual exploits bring politically? The only thing it hurt was her feelings and instead of trying to talk it out or calm down she decides she's done with rhaenyra and is gonna come for her birthright. All this over the fact that Rhaenyra had sex. BECAUSE RHAENYRA HAD THE AUDACITY TO MAKE A CHOICE ABOUT HER BODY AND NOT DIVULGE THE DETAILS OF THAT CHOICE TO PEOPLE WHO AREN'T OWED ANYTHING IN THE FIRST PLACE.

And this brings me to my biggest point. At this point, Alicent is willingly a tool for the patriarchy and that's her ultimate problem. She resents that she was dangled to viscerys and is a moist empty hole and baby maker. The only way she can cope with her own circumstances is by convincing herself that living within a strict patriarchal society is actually the best way to live a life. The freedom Viscerys allows Rhaenyra spits in the face of her only coping mechanism. Viscerys gives Rhaenyra a choice in her marriage. Rhaenyra gets to explore her sexual desire in the way men get to explore their sexual desire and even when it angers her father he doesn't discard her for her behavior, he actually protects her by making sure she doesn't have any unintended consequences that could jeopardize her status as heir and by brokering the perfect marriage agreement for her. None of this aligns with what Alicent believes is right according to the patriarchy. Rhaenyra is not doing her duty as a woman and is being protected and rewarded while she's doing her duty and is being ignored but instead of challenging her own belief system and the system as a whole in the way that Rhaenyra has done more than once, she doubles down on it. She holds on even tighter to the ideas of the patriarchy and starts to resent Rhaenyra for constantly reminding her of her own delusions that she willingly becomes a tool for it. She's about to do everything she can to destroy a woman who has the audacity to live her life outside of the narrow confines of what the realm thinks womanhood should entail WITH THE BLESSING OF ALL OF THE MEN AROUND HER so that she can be the righteous woman in the wings, the exemplary woman of the patriarchy who does the "right" thing by propping up a different heir solely because he has a penis.

Because that's really what all this hoopla comes down to. Daemon said it best. The men can run around in every brothel in the city, have as many mistresses and bastards as they want, and experience whatever sexual desire they want and no one bats an eye but women in Westeros absolutely can not. They can't be true heirs because they don't have a penis, they can't want to have sex, and they can't want anything besides to be a support for their husbands and nurturing mothers. The second they do anything outside of these limited things they are horrid women who can't be trusted with the realm. That's why some fans think Rhaenyra committed a horrible sin for fucking and not being transparent bout who she was fucking. That's why people think Rhaenyra is to blame for Criston's actions even though he had CONSENSUAL sex with her ONE time and she never ever gave him the impression it was some intense love connection. Deluding yourself to believe a princess and heir to a throne would ever reasonably give that up to be your poor and bored little wife is a glaring example of patriatchy-inspired delusion but Rhaenyra is the bad person here. She doesn't owe him a relationship, she doesn't owe him shit but she's at fault for everything. It's why you have people claiming Rhaenyra should be removed as heir because by the age of 19 she hasn't "shown she can be a good queen" even though her replacement would be a whole ass toddler who hasn't done a single thing so show he can be a better alternative besides being born with a penis.

It's not Rhaenyra's fault she is not brainwashed by the patriarchy like Alicent. It's not Rhaenyra's fault that Alicent has no real thoughts of her own, only the thoughts of the men around her that she's adopted as her own. Why should Rhaenyra have to play by Alicent's rules of who a woman should be and how she should behave? Fuck her and her precious patriarchy. Even if/when things go wrong for Rhaenyra I'll always be glad she didn't bow down and accept the confines Alicent and the rest of the realm tried to place on her. If/when she dies at least she dies as a woman who navigated a close-minded society on her own terms. That's better than going to the grave as a repressed and miserable obedient pawn for a patriarchy that will forget your name before your body is even cold.

[dreamerandcrazy]

Ok, so I haven't been able to comment much on my Riverdale rewatch mostly bc i'm watching it with my boyfriend and we have an agreement of no cell phones when we're watching, otherwise we can't pay proper attention to it. But I wrote down some notes about the episodes I did watch (I watched up until ep 6, which is very ironic bc apparently today is its anniversary, so yay for my perfect timing). I actually remember most of the stuff that happened in s1, so here's mostly a few things I paid more attention to or noticed about the characters and the ships, or things i'm able to look at through a different view now that i've watched all the seasons. Strap in if you want to see my notes, if not just scroll please, no ship or character hate here please. Also, feel free to ignore, this is really just a personal look in some stuff I didn't notice in my first watch.

- Betty's character used to be much happier and lighter in season 1. I know we're introduced to "Dark Betty" right in episode 3, but still, I feel like the way Lili played Betty in season 1 did not hold the same "darkness" as it does in the following seasons. The scene where she is dancing happily in her bedroom because she's going to homecoming with the boy she likes? The scene where she introduces Jughead to the Blue & Gold and gets him to work with her? Her genuine innocent happiness at seeing her sister again after so much time? The way she interacted with Kevin and Veronica? Those were all chef's kiss because she actually feels like a teenager in them. In all her girly glory, she radiates youth energy and it's a thing that was sadly lacking after s1. Btw this is not a critique at Lili's acting at all, I blame it entirely on Ras and his obsession with dark Betty.

- There's actually so many indications of Cheryl being a lgbt character in the first episodes that I have no idea how I missed it the first time. But then again, there were many indications with Veronica as well, and sadly that's not the path Ras chose for her.

- Jughead in s1 is truly so superior in so many ways that it's not hard to see why he quickly became such a fan favorite. I think even if he wasn't played by Cole Sprouse, he still would have conquered many fans' hearts. Sadly, the things that made Jughead such a loving and interesting character for me also fizzled out in s2 when the writing team decided to make him a woke serpent leader instead of allowing him to sticking to his true personality as a passionate mystery lover, a dedicated friend and very nerdy, which was very cute. I feel that we got some of that back for him in s4, which was good, but sadly s1 is where my love for him really stayed to stay. But I still care for him, and s5 has a promising storyline for him which i'm excited about, so let's see if s5 Jughead can become better than s1 Jughead.

- Going back again to Cheryl for a sec, I just noticed that the red lipstick actually wasn't that common for her in s1? At least not in the first five. I wonder when did it start becoming her trademark? Anyways, it's actually a really good look her and allows you to appreciate Madelaine's natural beauty even more.

- Also, did anybody notice how Alice lowkey figured out who killed Jason in ep 2 lmao, like... in episode two she legit says she wouldn't be surprised if the Blossoms themselves had killed Jason, which... is what happened LMAO, considering we know it was his father. And even more hilarious and tragically ironic note, in ep 6 she's laughing at Betty suggesting that Hal killed Jason because "do you think your father has the stomach for it?!"... Ma'am... i'm-.... 😂😂😂😂.

- This rewatch has reminded me of how much I adored and how I much I miss Josie and the Pussycats. The girls were such a nice addition to the cast, and their songs were so beautiful. I truly wish we get to see them again someday, but at the same time I also think the actresses deserve to be at a work place where they're given the treatment they deserve and not completely ignored and treated like extras.

- Archie/Valerie was super cute and is very underrated in the fandom, but i'm glad Valerie stood up for herself and didn't take any of Archie's or Cheryl's sh*t. Still sucks because they were really good together, though.

- Why was Jason not allowed to talk, lmao? Like, i'm sure it's become a running joke in the show at this point, but back when season one was airing what was the excuse for it? He appeared in so many flashbacks and scenes and we still never heard a single word ☠️☠️☠️☠️. I just want to know what was the reason lol.

- I liked s1 Reggie, but I feel like Charles Melton's Reggie is better because he actually feels like a douche with good intentions lol, and he has more of a personality. Most of the time I even forgot about Reggie in s1, but after s2 he definitely made me more aware of him. So for that, I like Charles Melton's Reggie more. But the actor from s1 still did a good job with what he was given.

From now on I will be talking about the ships, so bear with me, and know that I am a multishipper. Yes, I have my preferences. No, my word is not law, it's just an opinion, so please respect it.

- Bughead is still super cute in s1. I feel like from s1 they will always be my otp, even if I no longer feel as strongly about them now and have a different insight as to where I would like their story to go, and now I definitely see the problem others had mentioned before of how they kind of took over the show, which is something I kind of closed my eyes to before... But I really loved them in s1. It felt like a very juvenile teenage relationship, they didn't give much thought on why and if they should be together, they just went for it like teenagers usually do, and they were very very cute together.

- I feel like if you don't count Beronica (because they really were the best no matter what you say or ship), if there's a ship that deserves "best chemistry" award for s1 is probably Varchie. I lost my interest in them years ago, but this rewatch reminded me of why I actually loved them once. They never really became an otp for me, but Kj and Camila's chemistry in s1 was VERY GOOD, and I really liked them. Their kiss in the pilot was electric and the s&xual tension was OOF, and that chemistry carries on through the season. You can easily tell something will happen between them eventually. It makes me sad bc I don't know what happened after s1, but their chemistry from s2 onwards was just... not there for me. Which is ironic bc it's the season they truly started dating and they got a lot of smexy scenes, but I just... didn't feel it. But I'll leave that comment to my s2 rewatch. For now just let me enjoy Varchie's chemistry in s1 while it lasts because it was really good.

- Now we get to Barchie, who I made clear was the reason for my rewatch, so let's get to it. I LOVED the way Barchie was written in s1. I remember when I first watched Riverdale, I was curious about their dynamic but didn't put much thought into it because I loved Bughead too much and wanted them to be together, and I thought Barchie would be the traditional "first og ship" thing and wouldn't have a big follow up, but boy was I WRONG and am I GLAD for it. I'll talk more about their development in the next seasons when I get there, so for now let's focus a bit on s1. Just in like the first two episodes, there is so much Barchie foreshadowing, like, it's legit insane how it was right there in my face and I missed it the first time! "I have never felt what i'm supposed to feel with betty", "it's not my fault he doesn't like you", "I can't give you the answer you want"... Omg, those are obvious eyebrow raising "this will come back to bite you in the a$$" moments and it's incredible how they actually DO! I would call it clever writing, but like... it's Riverdale lol. So I really am just glad that the ship was done this way, i'm glad Barchie has the back story that they do, they've really come a LONG way and i'm happy I get to experience their whole growing storyline. It's also especially good because s1 actually provides you with scenes that show you their friendship and how they're so close, you see them hanging out, talking, their pictures together, everything was just really done well with them. Still have a bit of critique with the way Archie contradicted himself sometimes regardinf his feelings for Betty, but let's be honest, we've watched enough Riverdale to know that's just a problem with the writing.

- Kevin/Joaquin is still my favorite Kevin ship, i'm sad it's completely impossible to go back to them someday so for now i'll just be really glad it existed and that I got to see them even if it was short-lived. They had great chemistry and their kiss scenes always outsold.

- Beronica... sigh. Beronica. The most wasted chemistry i've ever seen on CW and I've watched a LOT of CW shows. There was so much potential there, s1 was practically overflowing with them and it's one of the reasons it became some popular. I remember when the Beronica fandom was the biggest one, ah, good times. Veronica and Betty were easily the best part of season 1, their friendship, their lowkey romantic moments, they were just superior in every way. This ship deserved better, not even just as a ship, but as a friendship.

- Veronica's s1 hair >>> Veronica's hair in seasons 2-4. I loved the side part and I am glad it's back in season 5, it looks so much better like that.

- Cheryl, as always, deserves better. Can't wait for her to meet Toni so I can watch again Cheryl finally get to love someone and be loved back, which is exactly what she deserves.

For now, that is all! I will probably make another post soon when i'm done with season one and from season two on I will be live-blogging the episodes since I will be watching it alone. Once again, pls, no hate, my thoughts are my thoughts. Peace.