7x04 Post-Show Discussion

I don't think Yara bothered with lookouts. I think it was something like 'The Queen gave us barrels of fine Meereenese ale for our journey, let's get good and drunk tonight boys!' As for the Lannisters, the lack of scouts is silly considering Jaime criticized the Freys for that last year.

The show has never been anywhere near as consistent as the books are. These sorts of "problems" have existed throughout the entirety of the show's run.
It's a shame, yes, but I accepted it years ago, because I didn't want to let small details - and in the grand scheme of things they are small - get in the way of my enjoyment of the show. If I stop enjoying the show, I'll stop watching it. If I stop watching the show, there's less reason to come to a forum about it.
Again, this is just me, and if you guys feel differently then I'll just have to accept that.

i think you are overestimating how much the audience knows (or cares) about medieval siege tactics. I couldn't tell you jack shit about what siege weapons jaime should or should not have used haha, and I don't think that makes me illogical. They need to fit things into an hour, so a long drawn out siege is not really feasible. Instead, Jaime just ambushes the Tyrells when they're not expecting it and takes the castle. Boom. Whatever. (Also I really doubt Olenna locking the doors would have stopped a giant army lol).

I'll concede that the painstaking details of military movements have gone out the window. The pace is quickening so they are just banging this war out as quickly and cool-ly as possible. Maybe some additional exposition would be nice, but whatever.

I think what bothered me about the 7x03 non-battle is that it led to an important character's death.  I did think of Whispering Wood while posting about Highgarden, but the important takeaway there is that Jaime was captured, and the first few seasons had to be much more careful with their budgeting, so it was understandable to gloss over it.  This time they tried to have the emotional impact of Lady Olenna's death, but they undermined it by skipping the conflict that came before it.  And I'm not saying that they needed a huge expensive set piece, but showing Olenna looking at an army and cutting to Jaime walking through the castle is a really bizarre storytelling decision.  Having an episode or two of Highgarden under siege could have built suspense and tension, instead they treated it like a twist, which kind of deflated the impact that Olenna's death should have had.  

And to be fair, as somebody who loves the show I'm disappointed that we're getting shorter seasons with a faster pace.  So it makes sense that I'd pounce on issues that I perceive to be consequences of rushed pacing.

It absolutely would have though. It doesn't take a degree in history to realise that people built these big ass castles for a reason - to protect themselves and keep people out. Jaime ought to have suffered huge losses against even a weakly held castle. And again, they can hardly be caught by surprise when the Lannister army crossed the entire Reach to attack them.

A long drawn out siege may not be feasible, you are correct. But something that makes more sense is easy. Have Jaime rock up and Randyll be in waiting Highgarden. His allegiance to the Lannisters remains unknown to Olenna. Randyll and his men end things quickly by opening the gates and turning on the Tyrell troops. Simple. 

Maybe the writers underestimate the audience, rather than me overestimating them. It would be nice to have a show where writers don't dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator. There are shows that do that, Thrones has done it in the past, but it feels like they are significantly dumbing things down and going for style over substance now.

Rushing Olenna's death (and, much as I despise them, the Sand Snakes) is also narratively disappointing given Season 6 ended with them vowing vengeance, justice, fire and blood. And then they fizzle out with not so much a bang as a wet fart within a couple of episodes