lol

Well written post northcoast! I think I agree with you.

@mechajutaro said:

Aside from Bran becoming the king, S8 wasn't bad, so much as it was rushed. Probably inevitable, as Benioff and Weiss were worn out, and some of the key actors allegedly wanted out. At the rate things had been going, wrapping things up exhaustively probably would've taken at least 3-4 more seasons, and I'm not convinced that folks like Harrington, Clarke, Dinkledge, Williams, and Turner/Jonas would have any interest in hanging around that much longer

Yeah, the majority of people don't actually have a problem with the things that happened towards the end of season 8 but the rushed way they happened. So it all just felt unconvincing.

@northcoast said:

People complain about the brevity of this final season, but if we consider that four of the final six episodes were extended-length, we basically got 7 episodes; not really that much shorter than the usual 10.

The episodes may have been longer but they were padded with a lot of nothingness. Especially the earlier episodes. Where was the complex politics of Game of Thrones? We needed 1 more season at the very, very least. Imagine how the story could unfold if Danearys' downward slip into insanity was written slowly and carefully rather than a big showstopping slap in the face. All the characters plotting around her. Using her for their own political ends.

And the actors who all wanted out should all have more respect for the show that made them. They've got what they wanted now, they're off the show but I'm willing to bet their careers all fade pretty quickly.

@mechajutaro said:

Had the show gone on for another four seasons, Emilia Clarke would've been 37-38 by time the series wrapped. Based upon what I've seen of her acting in other roles outside of Dany, I agree that GOT is probably the best it's going to get for her. That said though, an actress(more so than an actor)still has to be conscious of what she's doing between the ages of 20-40, after which the roles tend to be less plentiful. As such, we can't be TOO critical of her wanting to explore other projects before that fateful day arrived

Hell, I'm not sure that Lena Headey and Jamie Lannister would've been thrilled to still be playing those roles at 50+, for that matter

Looking at IMDB and doing the math, she was 32 when GOT ended so she'd be 36 if it went on for 4 more seasons. And I'd say that's a pretty good age for actresses. They start to get stronger, more complex roles as opposed to the eye candy or 2 dimensional love interest. Look what the roles the slightly older actresses like Amy Adams and Jessica Chastain play these days. Charlize Theron is 45 and still going strong. Halle Berry was 35 when Monsters Ball turned her into a serious contender.

All the cast would know what they signed up for right from the start. They know it's a long show with the character's trajectories already under some sort of plan and they need to be in it for the long haul.

But to be honest I'd feel pretty guilty for criticizing Emelia Clarke after the aneurysms she's had from the pressure she was under playing such an important character in the early days of the show. She's clearly been through a lot so if she wanted to get out and do something else I could clearly understand why.

I guess there's bound to be things going on behind the scenes that we would never guess. Maybe in about 10 years time when the cast and crew have some distance from the show they might all be more honest and open about the events that led to the rushed finale.

@mechajutaro said:

Theron was just excised from the Furiosa flick, an occurrence less common with male action stars, no matter their age. Harrison Ford's going to play Indiana Jones until they throw him in the dirt, and note how many actors have continued to play Bond, even when they were over 50. Note the trajectory of Halle Berry's career in the years shortly after Monster's Ball; Catwoman didn't help things, but it's tough to believe that her difficulties in rebounding afterwards aren't in some way attributable to Hollywood having less enthusiasm for women who are further and further away from age 20, something not as true for actors. Older actresses get work to be sure, but for every Julianne Moore, there's a thousand plus Michelle Pfeffiers

Not sure I totally agree with you on that. I think older actors do have a bit of an advantage over older actresses but not to the extent you make out. Not these days. Halle Berry stayed in the limelight for quite a while after Monsters Ball. She was seen as quite a movie star. And she stayed in the limelight despite appearing in many shit films. And that is eventually why she disappeared. There are only so many bad choices a career can take.

In any event, it stands to reason that Emilia Clarke would've been taking such things into account(What if the show would've went for 5-7 more seasons? This, after she's been playing the role of Dany Targaryen since age 23. We haven't even mentioned the possibility of her getting pregnant either), along with the rest of the cast. In hindsight, the hasty wrap-up may have been inevitable, given that GOT the show had to contend with pesky realities like actors aging and experiencing life changes. Something not as true for characters in a GRRM novel

If the show did go on for 5-7 more seasons then I think they really would be dragging things out. I'd even say the 3-4 you previously mentioned would be pushing it. From the feel of the pacing of the show I always got the sense of the story lasting around 9-10 seasons. Full seasons that is. Remember George's plan was to end the story after 7 books. And again the actors know what they are initially signing on for and HBO should not have signed them if they weren't prepared to complete the story. Many tv shows go on far longer than 8 seasons. Ageing actors? GOT takes place over a long period of time.

@mechajutaro said:

As a GOT fan, I would've loved for this show to hang around for several more seasons, and then wrapped up with the most magnificent final season known to man.

I would have wanted the show to last for exactly how long it took to tell the story. No more, no less. And I think despite that disappointing ending it was still groundbreaking tv for most of the way and I still hold it in high regard.

@mechajutaro said:

The advent of peak tv probably is giving many older actresses today shots that weren't available to Lauren Bacall and Veronica Lake in their latter years, it's true. That said, you still don't see too many gals in Hollywood actually hitting their stride in their late 30s-40s, as is the case with so many(Mike Fassbender, Cillian Murphy, Idris Elba, Timothy Olyphant, Gabriel Macht, Oscar Issac, to name just a few recent examples)men in the business

Yeah, tv has been a big part of it. Shows like Homecoming and Big Little Lies have cast older movie star actresses very succesfully. But I do think you see a lot of actresses hit their stride at an older age. And younger actresses struggle just like older ones. It's just you may not notice them struggle when they're that age because they're less well known. You will notice when an older established movie star fades because you're familiar with them.

An example would be Rosamund Pike. You probably wouldn't have heard of her before Gone Girl but she was in films like Die Another Day and Jack Reacher. She was clearly struggling with getting decent parts when she was younger and you can tell she is more talented than the material. She gets a part where she can show her ability off at 36. She's now doing roles that are more respectable. She hasn't become a movie star because it looks like she's more interested in the indie type roles but her career is clearly better off.

The better roles seem to be at an older age. And hitting that age seems to be a kind of filter to separate the ones with talent. Why don't we still see Sarah Michelle Gellar on the screen? Because she's not a particularly good actress. And yeah, some are just unlucky because they get typecast. I'm not saying the age bias doesn't exist at all. But a big part of it is- Why did they became famous in the first place? Was it because of looks or talent?