Sansa-Ramsay Scene: Your Thoughts?

I actually have some readers on my blog who expressed their intent of not watching the show anymore over that scene, so I'm looking forward to linking that one awesome article debunking the negative points, hopefully they'll see it and reconsider. It's just so premature to quit the show now or even write about this scene at all if we don't know what happens later. That something awful happens to the character one loves is pretty bad reason imho to quit a series you've spent 4+ years with.

If I followed the outrage path, given what they've done to Cat - handful of screentime in s2,s3, not bringing her back, having her daughter raped and she might have been wearing Cat's wedding dress during this - I should not only quit but burn the DVDs and take a dump on them.

Maybe, but I think there are those who were serious. However I think those who will stay away from the show are not doing it just because of that reason - it can be the final straw, but never just "oh no, they did that, I'm not watching!". Either the show was starting to bore them or as book readers they were irritated but these who shout and throw 'not gonna watch anymore!' hissy fits are still gonna come back, watch it and bitch about it all over tumblr and westeros.

I get people abandoning the show because they don't have the time (reason I don't watch Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy and dozens of others), find the show too awful to endure (True Blood's later seasons), boring or offensive (Girls), but jumping the ship over one scene is just excessive, if you are gonna spend the equivalent of time that it would probably take on marathoning the whole series on complaining on social media

I think the show will lose viewers (not hardly enough that HBO should worry about ratings..) but I think there were viewers (like Claire Mc Caskell) who had a foot out the door before this episode aired and perhaps this past episode was the last straw for those viewers.  And if it wasn't Sansa's rape, it would have been something else.  Claire Mc Caskell also cited the Water Gardens as "dumb."  Most of the people that I have heard saying they will no longer watch the show were people that were getting fed up/bored/just done before this episode aired.  Those types of soon to ex-viewers can definitely be found for any television show, especially one in it's 5th season.

This is sort of off-topic but I was just getting into it with a rape-denier on another site and feel a need to vent because I had to be the bigger person and not tell her/him/it that they were a fucking piece of shit who should try getting fucked by Ramsay if they think it's so harmless.

I think they said it was 4 major characters, so I'm not sure that Meryn Trant would qualify. I may be misremembering

Yeah, I was thinking that. But by the way their deaths were portrayed, I would say both Mance and Barristan count as "major deaths" here. That would leave two, if this information is to be trusted. I would say that the characters with the biggest "aims" on their heads are, in order:

Meryn Trant - Bronn - Loras Tyrell - Mace Tyrell - Hizdahr zo Loraq - Stannis Baratheon - Shireen Baratheon - Ramsay Bolton - Brienne of Tarth - Tommen Baratheon

As long as the Tyrells and Baratheons are spared, I don't think the audience will care much. Everybody loves Bronn but his death won't be seen as tragic and revolting, I guess.

Anyway, there's still Jon there. That will hit a lot of Unsullied like a bomb.

I'm afraid of that too. Even though he is not very popular, having him getting killed by the "inquisition" because of being gay, with Grandma trying to save him, will not be good for the show I'm afraid.

I pray to the many faced God that GW dies. I cannot stand him and Missandei. It truly hurts to see them onscreen.

That was a great comment and I know the show is not going to follow up with Sansa starting a rape survivors's group or killing Ramsey in the next episode.  They have their flashpoint conversation with this one.  Let's hope they take the ball and run with it in the episodes to follow with Sansa.  I still think the direction for her is coming to the realization that to the Lannisters, Boltons, Littlefinger, Stannis and just about anyone else...they don't care about or what she desires, wants, needs...they care about her name and how she can help them secure the North.  And does she come to the realization that she is only a pawn to these people and does she try to make that work for her in getting what she wants or does she say, no, I am done.  I don't think that this is solved by the end of the season...but I do think we will see the wheels turning in her head about it and maybe she might confide in Theon or someone else at this point.
When Littlefinger made his deal with Cersei, it would increasingly clear Sansa was collateral damage for him.  He wants the North.  He'll the kill the Boltons to appease Cersei's paranoia about them and get the Northmen on his side.  I suspect it matters little to him if Sansa survives her sojourn to Winterfell. Because if the Vale army defeats the Boltons and he gets the credit, he thinks the North will follow him because he is a better alternative to them then the Boltons...Sansa or no Sansa.