Game of Thrones Season 2, Episode 4

• Courtesy of HBO
• LET’S MAKE THE TEENAGE JERK THE KING. WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN? Jack Gleeson as Joffrey

On “Game of Thrones,” HBO does so well by George R.R. Martin’s characters, it may be too much to expect a 100 percent success rate. This week, for instance, superbly fleshes out Robb Stark with a scene that wasn’t in any of the books. The characters prove so rich and alive that the missteps of adaptation look all the more conspicuous.
For instance, one of the most vivid, haunting characters of the books is Gregor Clegane, nicknamed “The Mountain That Rides” and just “The Mountain” on the show. The huge, vicious brother to Sandor “The Hound” Clegane, Gregor serves as the Lannister’s bloodthirsty enforce and comes across more ogre than human. As played by Conan Stevens in his major Season One appearance he was a big, Bluto-kind of guy who hulked out at the tourney and killed his own horse. They’ve alluded to Gregor terrorizing the countryside since then, and this week’s episode begins with a couple of Lannister soldiers talking like fanboys or Rotisserie-league sports followers about who would win in a duel: The Mountain, Ser Loras, etc.

We finally see him at the Harrenhal scene, but don’t exactly get a good look at him. Maybe the director wants to keep audiences from noticing that he’s now played by Ian Whyte, but we seldom get very good looks at him. He chooses the daily torture victim at Harrenhal, but he’s often shown in shadows or at a distance, and often speaks off-camera. Maybe they’re trying to convey Arya’s eyes-averted point of view, or cultivate a sense of threatening mystery about him. Maybe he works better for non-readers. Either way, Gregor represents one of my rare complaints about a show that started well and seems to get better every week.