Game of Thrones S02E02 Overview

Much like in the previous episode, there isn't much real plot going on in this one either. I'd say that the first two episodes of this season were primarily made to introduce new characters and find out about their plans and intentions.
Season 1 was mainly about the Starks, the Lannisters, the Night's Watch and the Dothraki, and I found all of them very intriguing and fun to watch.
Some things changed though, and this is unfortunately no longer the case anymore. In second season all of them lose a large part of their screen time due to some new characters which I don't even like, and some supporting characters that only had a couple of short scenes in the first season, but now seem to get more scenes than the Dothraki and Starks. The scenes with Stannis and his army are omg so boring. What else? Oh, right, the brothel. Is the brothel really that relevant to the plot? I'd rather watch an additional scene with any of the Starks than those boring soft porn scenes.

In this episode we see more of Arya, who travels with Yoren and the others that are heading to the Wall.
At Night's Watch, Jon Snow is determined to stay out of trouble, but trouble seems to find it's way to him. Kit Harrington did a great job portraying this brave and idealistic young man who has a lot of good qualities and always tries to do his best with what he's got, but never looks truly happy.

Back at King's Landing, Varys (played by Conleth Hill) finds out about Tyrion's (Peter Dinklage) new companion and makes a smooth attempt to blackmail him. I personally found the scene with those two brilliant actors to be the best moment of the episode.
Another interesting scene takes place in Littlefinger's brothel. In the first season Ros was portrayed primarily as an intelligent and calculated prostitute who would do anything for money, but in this episode she shows her soft side for the first time. It kind of reminds you she's only human, even though she always looks so tough on the outside. I found this scene an excellent choice for further development of this character. It looks like Ros is going to get more screen time this season, which I'm happy about because she's kind of starting to grow on me.

The Dothraki scenes are not all that interesting for the first two episodes of this season, while in the first season I found them the most interesting part of the show. The Khalasar looks rather pathetic now as Drogo, Rakharo, Qotho and Mago are gone. Most of the other members of the tribe are gone too, it seems. Daenerys is left with Jorah Mormont and a small group of loyal Dothraki people.
Rakharo dies in this episode as suspected, which is a shame. He was one of my favorite characters. I believe he was originally meant to live much longer in the show and was also supposed to be one of the main Dothraki characters in Season 2, but the actor obviously couldn't be on the set due to some other obligations, so they had to kill him off Game of Thrones style.

I have to comment on Melisandre. I don't think Carice van Houten is a bad actress, but I don't find her convincing at all in this particular role. Apparently this character is supposed to be all mysterious, but I think the actress (or the producers) overdid it to the point that Melisandre looks as if she can't decide if she wants to be good or bad.

She has the perfect physical appearance for the role, but I think her interpretation lacks emotions and passion. Most of the time she has this strange poker face on, that sort of reminds me of my own poker face when I slack off at work. You get the impression that Melisandre's mind is somewhere else and she doesn't even care what's going on around her.
I really hope I'll grow to like this character as the show progresses.

Oh btw., that scene on the horse with Theon Greyjoy and the girl couldn't have been more disgusting. Well, at least you think it can't be any nastier than it is, but wait until you find out who the girl really is. The actress seems to be the right choice for this role. Yara (she's called Asha in the books) is obviously supposed to be very tomboyish, and I think the actress does a fine job at that.

This episode is generally filled with awkward sex scenes that are probably meant to compensate for the obvious lack of action.
Sometimes I wonder whether the choice of certain actors in this show was primarily based on their willingness to show their assets on TV. I can only wonder who else we are going to see naked throughout season 2.