Game of Thrones photo recap: "The Ghost of Harrenhal"

This week on Game of Thrones we were treated to a marriage proposal, signs of unrest in King's Landing, and a truly incredible number of references to death by burning. As for Melisandre's smoke baby, that child has left the nest and is doing his parents proud. As usual, the night's best moments are on display in photographic form, while Westeros' wittiest wordplay has been compiled below for your reading pleasure. Make sure your baby dragons are fed, and read on!

The best moments from "The Ghost of Harrenhal": the Night's Watch makes it to an even less hospitable location than Craster's compound, a warlock shows off his abilities, and Brienne of Tarth kicks ass even when she's grieving.



The episode's best quotes: Tyrion is, as usual, on fire (not literally, although that may be coming soon),  Arya stares down Tywin Lannister, and Ser Jorah (almost) proclaims his love.

"Do you want to be a queen?" "No. I want to be the queen." And Margery Tyrell throws her hat (or, rather, extremely low-cut dress) in the ring.

"Myrcella's a sweet, innocent girl and I don't blame her at all for you." Myrcella's betrothal may be less about protecting the girl from Stannis, and more about protecting her from Cersei.

"Tell me, if the vile allegations against my brother and sister are true, do you think it would make Jamie more likely to kill you, or less likely? When I tell him you're fucking her, I mean." "I'm telling you the truth!" "Smart money would be on more likely." "She's making wildfire, I swear!" "Though then perhaps his own unnatural urges would give him sympathy for yours." "The alchemists' guild has been commissioned!" "I suppose there's only one way to find out." The disinterested way that Tyrion keeps going with his train of thought, oblivious to Lancel's desperation, is just wonderful.

"He's very busy. Being repeatedly humiliated by Robb Stark is time consuming." One suspects that Tyrion is at least a little pleased by Tywin's losses.

"You have to admire his imagination." "He's talking about you." "What? Demon monkey!?" It's easy to forget that not everyone sees Tyrion for the hilarious, brilliant badass that he is.

"Stop! We yield." Yara may have appeared for a grand total of thirty seconds, but she uses her moment in the spotlight for the best possible purpose: to mock her vainglorious brother.

"Anyone can be killed." I half-expected Arya to leap at Tywin and strangle him to death right here. The girl is that fearsome.

"I was always a girl." "And I was always aware." Jaquen H'Ghar could either be a highly useful friend to Arya, or a very fearsome foe.

"Beautiful isn't it! Gilly would love it here." When you do get married, Sam, maybe let your wife plan the honeymoon.

"What do you think they were like, the first men?" "Stupid. Smart men don't find themselves in place like this." A little sarcastic humor goes a long way north of the Wall.

"You would not dare insult my order whilst Aerys Targaryen lived!" "Well, he's not living anymore." Bronn for the win!

"Men like to talk about other men... when they're happy." Daenerys is the subtlest pimp on Game of Thrones, which is really saying something.

"There are times when I look at you, and I still can't believe you're real." It's a good thing that the show aged Dany up from the books (where she was 14); that way, Jorah's love is sweet, rather than creepy.

The Atlantic proves that the New York Times doesn't have a monopoly on fantasy bashing

Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) bares all on Game of Thrones. (That "all" is not included here, as a
consideration for anyone reading this at work or in front of small children.)

Apparently Ginia Bellafante and Neil Genzlinger at the New York Times aren't the only writers who let their anti-fantasy bias inform their opinions of Game of Thrones. Ta-Nehesi Coates at The Atlantic took on the issue of gratuitous nudity on the series, which in and of itself can be a very productive discussion. But instead of actually looking at the problem critically and coming up with a reasonably explanation, he fell back on the frustratingly prevalent explanation that fantasy is only liked by nerdy male virgins, and nerdy male virgins like to look at naked chicks:

If there's one thing I've enjoyed about exploring French film it's that the film-makers don't always come off as bunch of nerds compensating for something that did--or rather didn't--happen in high school. There's a strain of thought here (and maybe abroad) which holds that violating manners is--in and of itself--an aesthetic good, that art which makes your grandmother uncomfortable has, for only that reason, advanced society. (You see the same strain of thought in "ironic racism.") I'd rather art that considers manners largely irrelevant.

First of all, comparing Game of Thrones to the French New Wave is somewhat facetious, as they are entirely different works that are working towards divergent ends (and I say this as a fan of both French film and Game of Thrones). And saying that Francois Truffaut wasn't "compensating for something that did - or rather didn't - happen in high school"? Has Coates ever actually watched Jules et Jim? Because - and I say this again as a fan of Truffaut - the character of Katherine, like so many of the director's women, is clearly his attempt to deal with romantic rejection by resigning himself to the fact that women are, like, complicated and confusing, man.

Fringe gets a thirteen-episode fifth season

Per J.H. Wyman's Twitter page, as of last night Fringe has been picked up for a thirteen-episode fifth season, which hopefully means that we will get to find out more about the dystopian future, the bald-headed oppressors' ultimate plan, and what happened to Olivia.

Of course, in the alternate universe, Fringe gets ten million viewers every week and will run for at least six seasons (and possibly a movie?), but on this Earth we're just grateful that the writers are being given a chance to wrap up the storyline. Talking to EW.com, executive producer J.J. Abrams promised a "wild and thrilling" conclusion, while showrunners Wyman and Jeff Pinkner thanked the show's "enthusiastic fans," and guaranteed that season 5 will be a "conclusive thrill ride."

And yes, there is somehow already a trailer for the fifth season. Enjoy, and tune in tonight, when you can finally watch an episode of Fringe without feeling a lurking sadness in your soul.

THAT Scene: A Bollywood number exemplifies the highs and many lows of Smash

Katharine McPhee in "A Thousand and One Nights," a Bollywood number from Smash's "Publicity."

THAT Scene is a new recurring feature that takes a closer look at a single scene that exemplifies a particular show, theme or moment in time. The scene might be good or bad, but it will always be memorable and worth talking about.

Smash is an incredibly frustrating series. It contains certain moments that are absolutely sublime and transporting in the way that only musical theater can be, but those moments are surrounded by absurdly over-the-top drama and conflicts that, rather than feeling like a natural outgrowth of the storytelling, seem as if they were dropped into the action to create false conflict. And while some of the characters - notably Tom, Derek and Eileen - are fascinating creations, they tend to get overshadowed by the soapier elements.

"A Thousand and One Nights" (also known as "the Bollywood number") encapsulates Smash's wildly uneven tone and and lazy storytelling perfectly. The number starts out as a bizarre exercise in WTF-ness, escalates into a wildly entertaining piece of musical theater, and completely falls apart after a moment of sober analysis. Plus, it's derailed in the middle by the appearance of Julia, Frank and the hilariously inept actor who plays their equally inept son.

I'm not going to lie; I really, really enjoyed this number the first time or five I watched it. And I continue to enjoy the hell out of it now, despite the many, many problematic elements at play. The tune is catchy enough that I've been singing it in the shower for two days, the choreography is incredibly fun (as a dancer, I'm a huge sucker for good choreography), and the costumes are shiny and brightly colored. "A Thousand and One Nights" is no "The Higher You Get, The Farther The Fall" or "Let's Be Bad," but it is a solid piece of theatricality, which is something I greatly appreciate.

Donald Glover on playing Tracy Jordan, and a promo for a Law & Order-themed Community

As you may have heard, Donald Glover will be playing Tracy Jordan in this week's live episode of 30 Rock. And just in case you weren't excited enough about this news, here's Donald Glover talking to Gowhere Hip Hop's Miss Info about the history of his Tracy impression.

My favorite moment? "Some days, it'd be like, 'What happened?' 'Tracy stole a cruise boat, he can't come to the thing,' so I would stand in for him." Super pumped for Thursday's episode.

Also happening Thursday: Community's Law and Order episode. Which, based on the promo below, is going to be awesome.

Game of Thrones photo recap: "Garden of Bones"

"Garden of Bones" saw the return of Daenerys, Tyrion being an incredible badass, Joffrey reaching new heights of sadistic awfulness, and an ending that I can only interpret as a set-up for a Lost crossover episode. As usual, a gallery of the night's best, most memorable and weirdest moments can be found below, and a rundown of the most memorable quotes will follow.

"Garden of Bones" best moments: we find out how hot dragon fire burns, Renly proves he can best his brother in the charm department, and the episode ends with what is perhaps the strangest thing that has ever been seen on this earth outside a Lady Gaga video.

The night's most memorable quotes: Tyrion and Renly compete for the title of Westeros' Funniest (sadly, Yara was not with us tonight to offer a challenge), Littlefinger has no sense of timing, and Daenerys has a hard time with foreign words.

"Careful now. We don't want to get blood all over your pretty white cloak." Bronn: a perfect combination of hilarious and menacing.

"Bronn, the next time Sir Merrin speaks, kill him. That was a threat. See the difference?" It is really unfortunate for Tyrion that no one else in King's Landing is up to his intellectual level.

"There's no cure for being a cunt." Bronn understands Joffrey all too well.

"The whole notion of marriage seems to confuse you, so let me explain. My husband is my king, and my king my husband." Win: Margery Tyrell. Loss: Petyr Baelish.

"Joffrey. Cersei. Illynpayne. The Hound." You know that you're a badass when your nightly prayers are more threatening than most people's actual threats.

"I've loved you since I was a boy. It seems to me that fate have given us this chance to..." It's nice to see that Littlefinger has a heart somewhere under all his business acumen, but his sense of timing is about as bad as it can be.

"I suppose if we used the same one the battle would be terribly confusing." If I were Stannis, I would have yielded in the face of Renly's onslaught of quips.

"No no, I'm relieved. Never really believed you were a fanatic. Charmless, rigid and a bore, yes, but not a godly man." Stannis might not be able to take a joke, but Renly sure can make one.

"Born amidst salt and smoke? Is he a ham?" Honestly, given what we've seen of the various gods people worship in Westeros, a ham might be an improvement.

"Listen to yourselves! If you were sons of mine, I would knock your heads together and lock you in a bedchamber until you remembered that you were brothers!" See, Catelyn can be pretty convincing when she isn't endlessly discussing the coming of winter.

"My name is..." "Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen." I love Daenerys more than any other character on television, but the girl does suffer from a tendency to constantly proclaim her name and title.

"The beauty of Quarth is legen..." "Qarth." "Qarth." If the city was really legendary, one would assume that people would know how to pronounce it.

"You'll do no such thing. This one's a girl, you idiot." Tywin Lannister: quicker on the uptake than 90% of the inhabitants of the Seven Kingdoms.

"Your own father, Lord Tywin, when I was named the king's squire, he told me to obey her! In everything!" "Did he tell you to fuck her too?" Well, he didn't use those exact words, but it was implied.

"I could swear that I had not harmed a single hair on his head, but that would not, strictly speaking, be true." Tyrion might not be, strictly speaking, honest, but he is without a doubt the baddest of the bad ass mother fuckers.

"And it gives me four less fingernails to clean." "Fewer." "What?" "Four fewer fingernails to clean." Really, Stannis? You're sending Davos to a spot under the walls of Renly's fortifications, with an enchantress who is about to birth a spirit from Hell, and you're concerned about the guy's grammar?

Fringe recap: The day the Observers stopped watching

Henry Ian Cusick, Blair Brown, Georgina Haig and John Noble talk under a reminder of the omnipresent
Observers in "Letters of Transit," the 19th episode of Fringe's fourth season.

The New York Times honored Fox's 25th anniversary (which happens to be today) with a piece that discussed the way the network changed the television landscape, by consistently airing innovative shows that no other network would touch. The Simpsons, Married... With Children, were considered too low-brow and crude; The X-Files had a premise that, as the Times noted, was treated with derision and mockery. It's only fitting, then, that Fringe celebrated its network's anniversary with the kind of insane, out-there installment that could really only be pulled off by two shows: Fringe, or its parent series The X-Files.

"Letters of Transit" opened with a crawl that filled in its backstory; in 2015, the bald, taste-impaired Observers stopped watching and started acting, taking over our world and subjugating humans, now referred to as Natives (all of this meant that this was a very easy episode for Spot the Observer, the game that I succeeded at for the first time in last week's "The Consultant"). The episode revolves around the resistance efforts of Simon (Lost's very own Henry Ian Cusick, who has earned himself my undying love through his portrayal of Demond Hume) and Henrietta (Georgina Haig), a Fringe agent with psychic abilities. These two want nothing more than to release Walter and his team from amber captivity so that they can continue work on a device that will destroy the Observers and free humanity from subjugation.