3. The 11th Hour, the Finest Hour: Part 1
Episode Nine: Blackwater Commentators: Episode director Neil Marshall, Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) By far the biggest name director to work on Game of Thrones is Neil Marshall (
The Descent, Centurion), whose Blackwater is arguably the best episode of the series so far and the one that the producers had been budgeting for and preparing for ever since the second season began. Everything narratively and creatively had been building up to Episode Nine and it shows - with its epic battle scenes on both water and land punctuated by a great deal of fire and blood, the money is all up on the screen, a crown jewel for both Marshall and the show. All of that becomes even more amazing when you realize that Marshall was never part of the original plan. The director describes a call he got on a Saturday morning from producer Bernadette Caulfield asking if he wanted a job directing an episode based on the previous work he had done on
Centurion. Thinking Caulfield meant months from now, Marshall agreed, but quickly found out that she actually wanted him to show up the following Monday morning since the initial director had had to drop out due to a family emergency. Marshall then watched all of Season 1 on Sunday and showed up Monday morning for work with only
a week and a half left in pre-production to help him prepare to direct what was, at that point, the biggest episode of the series. Luckily for Marshall, he was able to bring longtime collaborator and DP Sam McCurdy along for the ride and his past stunt coordinators and horse master were already employed by the show. Fans of
Dog Soldiers will also know that Marshall and Liam Cunningham weren't strangers to each other, so in more than a few ways, Marshall was actually the ideal choice to direct the episode. Thankfully, Marshall will be back to direct another episode in Season 4 and while it'd be inappropriate for the purposes of this article to discuss just which specific episode he'll likely get his hands on, I think it's safe to say that given more time to prepare. We can expect great things, especially considering some of the things he brought to the table with only a week and a half to prepare...