• PDI Press

    PDI Press

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

    PDI Press
    January 16, 2022

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

    PDI Press
    January 15, 2022 3

    Featured

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    John E. Meredith
    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Marvel at the Movies
    • Muppets 101
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews

    Reviews

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Movies
    June 8, 2025 7

    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

    Reviews
    June 7, 2025 22

    Until Dawn (2025)

    Reviews
    June 5, 2025 8

    Featured

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Paul Brian McCoy
    Movies
    June 8, 2025 7
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews

    Interviews

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397

    David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

    Interviews
    March 7, 2017 223

    Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

    Interviews
    September 29, 2016 8

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

    Interviews
    July 28, 2016 61

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

    Interviews
    July 27, 2016 3

    Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

    Interviews
    April 16, 2016 3

    Featured

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    The Final Girl
    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397
  • News

    News

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    News
    February 9, 2025 19

    “PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT” UNLEASHES TERRIFYING UNDERGROUND HORROR – A PSYCHEDELIC CULT MOVIE EXPERIENCE COMING SOON!

    News
    November 15, 2023 74

    Breaking Down The Upcoming DC Studios Slate

    Shot for Shot
    February 1, 2023

    Featured

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    Paul Brian McCoy
    News
    February 9, 2025 19
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Shop
Breaking
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)
  • Until Dawn (2025)
  • Havoc (2025) / Novocaine (2025)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
    Home
    Reviews

    Game of Thrones 6.02 “Home”

    Joshua Mattern
    TV
    May 6, 2016

    Okay, yes, I’ll get to that—but first:

    I’m glad that, as I predicted, after last week’s hour that consisted mostly of characters walking around and saying, “Hey, remember all the stuff we’ve being doing recently? Isn’t that crazy?”, things seem to be full steam ahead here in episode two, though one particular sequence, despite carrying a lot of narrative weight, nearly threatens to derail every bit of positive momentum the show has developed, this season thus far and throughout the run of the series as a whole.

    game-of-thrones-602-01

    We had check-ins from just about everybody (except Littlefinger. Where the hell is Littlefinger?), save for Daenarys, though it’s pretty safe to assume she’s either en route to or getting used to her new digs in the widow temple/tower/thing she was banished to in the last episode—Have no fear, though, as Tyrion took the reins on that end of the plot, as it were, and released the dragons chained in the dungeon. Apparently the dragons are wasting away and refusing to eat because—who knew?—they don’t like being chained in the dungeon. This does bring us to a point where the viewer is required to suspend disbelief for the sake of allowing the story to move forward, because if simply releasing the dragons is a Good Idea that won’t cause any problems, why did the dragons cause problems that led to their being chained in the dungeon in the first place?

    And we got Bran back, too! But, he only got two minutes, in the opening, which seems a bit off, after a season-long absence where he was literally living inside a tree cave learning magic from forest sprites. I do have a little inkling of worry, though, that Bran, after being gone entirely for so long, and essentially a non-player in the story even when he was a series regular, is being set up as almost a literal deus ex machina, to be the hero who will ultimately save the day—but I’m prepared, and hoping, to be wrong in the end.

    game-of-thrones-602-02

    Other big things happened this hour, as well—again, I’ll get there—including Arya being allowed to return to her training. Others, I know, will take issue with what a quick transition it was: there were all of two blind stick fights before the Faceless Man takes Arya back under his wing. What I did love about this scene, though, is how it allowed Maisie Williams to show she’s learned how to act pretty damn well over the past several years.

    First, the Faceless Man tells her if she says her name—basically, if she says she wants to go back to her old life—he’ll give her a roof to sleep under. That’s an easy one, of course, and she says, “A girl has no name.” Next temptation: say her name, and she gets food, but no dice—Arya won’t fall for that one. But when he says he’ll give her back her eyesight, if only she speaks aloud her own name, you can see it on her face: the simultaneous knowledge that this is a trick, a test, just like the other two temptations, and that she’s this close to being forgiven for her transgression… but also, that giving in may be worth it. She hesitates, only for a moment, but it’s a heavy, meaningful moment, and then says, “A girl has no name.” You go, Arya.

    game-of-thrones-602-03

    So all that is good, even Bran, and especially the ending. But then there’s also Ramsay—Jesus. We all knew he was evil. Whether it was the torture and castration of Theon or the physical, psychological, and sexual brutalization of Sansa that pushed you over the edge of outright loathing the guy, this was a new low for him. After learning he has a new baby brother, Ramsay murders his father—a move which, admittedly, I did not see coming; though it was the only part of the next couple scenes that wasn’t completely obvious. And frankly, what came next was the hour’s weakest link by a mile. (I’m tempted to say weakest of the entire series, but I’m not sure how healthy an exercise it would be to go back over fifty episodes worth of death, destruction, and mutilation to definitively say “That! That is the worst moment!”)

    Look, I’m not opposed to the violence of Game of Thrones. I’m not even particularly angry/offended when said violence is especially graphic or when its victims are the only true innocents of the series: children. What bothered me, though, about Ramsay’s murder-by-hounds of his new baby brother and her mother was that it existed solely for shock value. Again, we’ve known since last season, when Bolton began tormenting his son with reminding the latter that a full-blooded heir would take Ramsay’s right to that title, that if said child was ever born Ramsay would dispatch with him quickly.

    game-of-thrones-602-04

    Subsequently, we also knew, the moment the messenger entered the room in this week’s episode and announced the birth, that Ramsay’s very next move in his quest for power would be to kill the baby. The only surprise was murdering his father—but it was a necessary surprise, and let the viewers know that there are literally no boundaries Ramsay won’t cross in his quest for power. Immediately after stabbing Bolton and calmly wiping the blood from the knife, he calls for his new brother to be sent to him. At this point, the viewer knows, unequivocally, that the newborn is doomed.

    The protracted scene of Ramsay finding his stepmother in the courtyard, asking to hold the baby—while the audience holds its breath, hoping Ramsay won’t do… well, what Ramsay does—then leading mother and child into the pen with all the hounds…. It was all totally unnecessary, and was only “effective” on the same level that a woman thrusting her hand into a box full of hypodermic needles is “effective” in a Saw movie. Granted, the deaths here weren’t on camera, so the showrunners did display that restraint—instead, we stared straight on into Ramsay’s eyes and heard the sounds of his stepmother screaming, the baby crying, and the dogs’ teeth ripping. It reminded me, honestly, of a tonally similar moment from another otherwise-great show—The Shield, when one of the few true good guys of the entire series, a murder detective and master interrogator, strangles a stray kitten just to see what budding serial killers feel like when they torture animals.

    game-of-thrones-602-05

    And, just as in that series, this moment from Game of Thrones isn’t just offensive because it’s violent, but because it’s lazy. It adds nothing. Consider: Ramsay spent a whole season torturing Theon, then was so cruel as to pretend to be a friend helping him escape, only to lead him back into the dungeon where he started; proceeded to continue torturing Theon, ultimately castrating him; raped Sansa while forcing Theon to watch; and now stabbed his own father in the chest to preserve his own power—the same man who gave him that power in the first place. After all that, then, what, really, is lent to his character development by twenty or so odd seconds of literally hearing what it sounds like when dogs eat a newborn child?

    Now, how the hell I transition from that to the next thing, I have no idea, but here we are: Okay, okay, the big reveal: Jon Snow is back from the dead.

    game-of-thrones-602-06

    Though I do admit there was a moment, after several close-up shots of the sleeping dire wolf (good doggie!), where I thought that when Jon came back it would be in the body of the wolf, it was a welcome relief, if not exactly a surprise, to see him open his eyes and gasp for air just as the screen faded to black. I can envision an alternate universe where Game of Thrones is a far lesser show and this will-he-or-won’t-he-stay-dead? thread carries on throughout the whole season and ultimately becomes the season finale reveal (or, if they really wanted to be assholes, a cliffhanger leading into the next season). I’m glad, then, that Game of Thrones is not that lesser show, and gave us what we knew had to happen—and wanted to happen—so soon into the season six run. And the fact that so much of episode one teased his return and episode two ended with his resurrection implies that not only is Jon back, but that he’s going to be back in a big way. And in a show that is running out of good guys to root for at an alarming rate, this is welcome news, indeed.

    All in all, a solid second entry in the sixth season. The gratuitous murder by Ramsay almost ruined the entire hour, and in an inferior show that hadn’t earned my trust would have been enough to make me swear off watching it entirely, but the course was corrected by Arya’s seeming redemption, Tyrion’s bonding with dragons, and the return of that one character we’ve all missed so much: you know, Bran.

    (Visited 81 times, 1 visits today)

    Related

    Game of ThronesJoshua Mattern

    FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
    Previous Lost in Translation 160: Steel
    Next POPCORN CINEMA 23: THEY CALLED HER ONE EYE (aka, THRILLER: A Cruel Picture)
    monsterid
    Joshua Mattern
    Joshua Mattern is a West Virginia native, but lives in Las Vegas. He loves horror movies, shows that try to be as good as The Wire, and playing with his cat, Grendel.

    Related Posts

    Lost in Translation 214: The Reversal of Roles

    Scott Delahunt
    Lost in Translation
    June 23, 2017

    Things Once Seen: Sun Choke

    Joshua Mattern
    Things Once Seen
    January 23, 2017 20

    Daily Top Ten

    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • Eraserhead-01Eraserhead (1977) by Serdar Yegulalp
    • house-of-wax-headerHouse of Wax (2005) by The Final Girl
    • ballerina-headerFrom the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025) by Paul Brian McCoy
    • tusk-06Tusk (2014) by Alex Wolfe
    • curse of chucky promoThe Final Girl: Hi, I’m Chucky. Wanna Play? by The Final Girl
    • all-through-the-house-headerAll Through the House (2016) by Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    • patty-mullen-headerWomen in Horror: Patty Mullen by Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    • commander-usa-03Remembering Commander USA by Mike Burr
    400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

    Weekly Top Ten

    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • MacbethShakespeare’s Macbeth (2010) by Paul Brian McCoy
    • hills-have-eyes-02The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006) by Corin Totin
    • DS-headerDungeons & D-Listers: Deathstalker (1983) by Alex Wolfe
    • nightmare-07Freddy’s Sweater: Revisiting A Nightmare on Elm St… by The Final Girl
    • babylon-5-blu-ray-04Babylon 5 Complete Series Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • monster-squad-headerDrive-In Saturday: The Monster Squad (1987) by James Radcliff
    • guinea-pig-6-headerSick Flix: Guinea Pig 6 – Mermaid in a Manhole (1988) by Corin Totin
    • 2-headed-shark-attack-headerUnnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012) by Brooke Brewer

    psychodrivein

    We came here to chew bubblegum and write intelligent reviews and commentary on cult TV and movies! And we're all out of bubblegum!

    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Backstock Blacksite - Night Specter (2008)

In Backstock Blacksite, we open the classified crates and dig deep into Greg’s personal G.I. Joe overflow closet, where extras, variants, and forgotten figures wait to be unearthed.
—
@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #GIJoeClassified #NightSpecter #BackstockBlacksite
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Predator: Kill Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

With Predator: Killer of Killers, Predator fans are feasting, baby!!
—
Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile!

#Predator #PredatorKillerOfKillers #KillerOfKillers #DanTrachtenberg #LindsayLaVanchy #DamienCHaas #LouisOzawa #RickGonzalez #MichaelBiehn #JoshuaWassung #MichoRobertRutare
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com From the World Today at https://psychodrivein.com

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

I can’t wait to see more Ballerina films. Seriously. I want one right now.

—

Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile 

#Ballerina #JohnWick #FromTheWorldOfJohnWickBallerina #AnaDeArmis #KeanuReeves #IanMcShane #AngelicaHuston #GabrielByrne #DavidCataneda #LenWiseman #ShayHatten #ChadStahelski #NormanReedus #LanceReddick
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 05: Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2 

Join Paul and John in the fifth episode of the Psycho Drive-In podcast, where they delve deep into the universe of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill.
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#PsychoDriveIn #ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #KillBill #QuentinTarantino #LadySnowblood #Arena #FemalePrisonerNumber701Scorpion
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Until Dawn (20 Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Until Dawn (2025)

If you’re going to be Until Dawn in name only, why not just be that original horror idea and let someone else actually adapt Until Dawn as it was? 
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#UntilDawn #DavidFSandberg #PeterStormare #EllaRubin
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 04: Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning (Part One)

In this week’s Psycho Drive-In Podcast, Paul and John delve into the world of espionage and high-octane action with a focus on Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#PsychoDriveIn #PsychoDriveInPodcast #MissionImpossible #MissionImpossibleDeadReckoning #ArmyOfShadows #TheBourneLegacy
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Havoc (2025) / Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Havoc (2025) / Novocaine (2025)

Both Havoc and Novocaine are fairly enjoyable escapes and reminders that action cinema can be some of the most gleefully transporting sensory experiences.
—
Read more of Nate’s reviews at the link in our profile!

#Havoc #TomHardy #GarethEvans #Novocaine #JackQuaid #AmberMidthunder #ForestWhitaker
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 03: Sinners

In this episode, Paul and John discuss their recent film binges, and review Sinners.
—
Listen to the boys at the link in our profile!

#ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #PsychoDriveIn #Sinners #RyanCoogler #MichaelBJordan #JackOConnell #HaileeSteinfeld #MilesCaton #DelroyLindo #WunmiMosaku #LiJunLi
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S02E28 - File Card Focus: Recoil

Greg and Jaren take a deep dive into the world of Recoil?
—
Watch the @AnythingJoesPod guys at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes #GIJoes #FileCardFocus #Recoil
    Follow on Instagram

    Look Who's Talking

    Shawn EH
    Shawn EH - 5/4/2025
    Thunderbolts* (2025)
    Yep, very well done; avoiding the big flashy battle that these heroes (can any of you fly?)...
    Ideonova
    Ideonova - 12/26/2024
    Page to Screen: F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep
    Not living up to the source material? What source material? The book is a predictable, at times...
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr. - 8/17/2024
    Cahiers du Horror 03: Frank Henenlotter and The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
    I need to see that again. Maybe make it a double feature with All of Me. Steve Martin is someone you...
    RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

    Archives

    Large_rectangle_336X280
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    Type to search or hit ESC to close
    See all results
    Username
    Password
    Remember Me
    Lost password?
    Create an account
    Username
    Email
    Cancel
    Enter username or email
    Cancel