Blood Calls Blood
- Episode aired Dec 3, 2021
- TV-14
- 1h
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
8.3K
YOUR RATING
Perrin and Egwene run into a familiar face. Mat and Rand see strange ones. Moiraine and Lan mourn their loss.Perrin and Egwene run into a familiar face. Mat and Rand see strange ones. Moiraine and Lan mourn their loss.Perrin and Egwene run into a familiar face. Mat and Rand see strange ones. Moiraine and Lan mourn their loss.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the books, Perrin killed two Whitecloaks in a fit of rage, thus explaining his aversion to violence afterwards and why the Whitecloaks were after him and Egwene.
- GoofsIn the intro scene, the Aes Sedai bury their dead and hold a funeral in the woods. The graves are barely deep enough for the bodies to be below the ground, and not deep enough to protect the dead from scavengers.
Featured review
It drags.
I haven't read the books yet (therefore can't comment on accuracy / faithfulness to the source material) but even as a casual viewer, here you have a classic case of inorganic world building & ineffective direction. Unlike the last episode (which in my opinion was surprisingly brilliant), I feel like this week, the creators admirably tried to provide the prior events featured with long lasting consequences, exploring themes of unresolved grief, fleshing out the main ensemble in a lower-key, slower paced, smaller scale character driven installment...
However, that was *intention*. How about the execution? There, I feel it's lacking.
This falter is mainly due to the fact that the mournfulness fails to read the room; we've barely gotten to know these people in the story (it's a debut season & we're only on chapter 5) & yet already, they're expecting us to be emotionally invested enough to stick around for a 1 hour funeral procession, brimming with introspective eulogies & long, overly emotional outbursts of despair. Now, this would all be very fair, lovely & understandable if we'd just lost our fan favourite in the 5th / 6th series of a show, but to be jumping the gun so soon & prematurely? Calm it down. Totally unwarranted & contrived. Give us a chance to start caring first.
In between those aforementioned moments of forced misery, the creative team seem enamoured with the idea of enriching the "Wheel of Time" TV universe with all the dense mythology from the novels - by cramming it in to a single outing. Thus, when we're not being bludgeoned over the head with needless sorrow, we as an audience are treated to another joyful affliction - heavy handed exposition dumps; numerous sequences brazenly constructed for the sole purpose of informing viewers about the preestablished lore - so obvious in fact that they might as well be talking directly to the camera.
Despite my apparent grievances & the tediousness of the sombre mood, it's not a bad addition at all to the series. I'd argue it's simply less skilled at hiding its objectives because the way in which it conveys vital information is done so unimaginatively. Whether that's the writer or the producer or the director's fault (etc.), I couldn't say for certain.
However, that was *intention*. How about the execution? There, I feel it's lacking.
This falter is mainly due to the fact that the mournfulness fails to read the room; we've barely gotten to know these people in the story (it's a debut season & we're only on chapter 5) & yet already, they're expecting us to be emotionally invested enough to stick around for a 1 hour funeral procession, brimming with introspective eulogies & long, overly emotional outbursts of despair. Now, this would all be very fair, lovely & understandable if we'd just lost our fan favourite in the 5th / 6th series of a show, but to be jumping the gun so soon & prematurely? Calm it down. Totally unwarranted & contrived. Give us a chance to start caring first.
In between those aforementioned moments of forced misery, the creative team seem enamoured with the idea of enriching the "Wheel of Time" TV universe with all the dense mythology from the novels - by cramming it in to a single outing. Thus, when we're not being bludgeoned over the head with needless sorrow, we as an audience are treated to another joyful affliction - heavy handed exposition dumps; numerous sequences brazenly constructed for the sole purpose of informing viewers about the preestablished lore - so obvious in fact that they might as well be talking directly to the camera.
Despite my apparent grievances & the tediousness of the sombre mood, it's not a bad addition at all to the series. I'd argue it's simply less skilled at hiding its objectives because the way in which it conveys vital information is done so unimaginatively. Whether that's the writer or the producer or the director's fault (etc.), I couldn't say for certain.
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
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