10 TV Episodes That Wanted To Piss You Off
2. The Mountain & The Viper - Game Of Thrones
Game of Thrones' season four episode "The Mountain and the Viper" left literally millions of people screaming at their TVs in a blind rage, beside themselves that the worst possible outcome had indeed happened.
The episode centered around Tyrion Lannister's (Peter Dinklage) trial by combat after being accused of Joffrey's (Jack Gleeson) murder. The dashing, badass Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) agreed to fight in Tyrion's place and take on Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson).
At first the battle appears to go well for Oberyn, who manages to stab Clegane with a poison-tipped spear which eventually kills him, but not yet.
Rather than finish the job, Oberyn first wants Clegane to confess to killing his sister Elia.
And Oberyn ultimately wastes enough time parading around that Clegane's able to trip him and get the upper hand. He then mockingly confesses to Elia's murder before gouging Oberyn's eyes out and nauseatingly crushing his skull, killing him.
It was a deeply maddening outcome for two reasons: Oberyn had a wide-open window to confirm the kill but had to make a spectacle out of it first, and Oberyn's defeat of course meant that Tyrion was sentenced to death.
In just about any other show it'd be tough to believe that Tyrion would indeed be executed, but given Thrones' anything-goes approach to its entire cast, it was easy for non-readers to believe that Tyrion's days were indeed numbered.
Thankfully that wasn't the case, but David Benioff and D. B. Weiss clearly relished leaving every single person watching foaming with impotent rage.
And finally, MAJOR SPOILERS will follow if you haven't yet seen Stranger Things' fourth season in its entirety...