(cont'd from last post)
Second, the scene with Tyrion in which the latter plays him out like a fiddle by promising him Harrenhal. I’ve ranted quite a lot in the other topic on this point, so I’ll avoid repeating myself, but I was annoyed by how... ‘caricatural’ LF seemed. Tyrion tells him to convince Lysa to marry Robin to Myrcella. Sure enough, LF says, but what’s in it for him. It was pretty much the exact same line in the books – but it didn’t work on screen, and not because of the script. Gillen played him way too much like the evil chancellor who just can’t help it but be evil and conniving and selfish. Again, it’s a wonder they keep him around. The real LF would have played it very matter-of-factly, like it’s perfectly natural and that Tyrion was crazy to even ask for his help unless he brought something else in return. Still douchey, but it works.
I have a lot of misgivings with the scene with Catelyn, but that’s mostly the writers’ fault, I’m afraid. I did find Gillen to be much too forward in his feelings (and before you say that he was talking to the love of his life, let me remind you that he had a few scenes with Catelyn last season and was perfectly reasonable in them).
So yeah, I’m very disappointed in Gillen this season. At the same time, though, I can’t rank him any lower because even though he has dropped the ball a few times, when he does bring out his A-game, he’s really good. He’s got great screen presence and does a good job of supporting the leads around. And most of all, it’s the writers who should take most of the blame for his characters’ portrayal this season. To be fair, it’s not exactly an easy role to nail down either.
Best scene: As much as I hate the scene because it’s so out of character for him, I can’t deny that his scene with Cersei in the first episode in which she almost has him killed was exceedingly well-acted. Kudos to him. And since I want to end on a good note, I would also like to say that he was awesome in the first season – particularly in the scene with Ned Stark (in which he tries to convince him to attempt a coup against Joffrey). Holy **** was he magnificent in that one (and that’s a really, really hard scene to nail). If you want to see the true Littlefinger, as he should have been all along, go rewatch that scene.
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When you have nothing to say, quote yourself ~ Solfadore