Recently my GoT ritual has been that after my weekly Sunday night flight to Chicago I would settle in my apartment and watch the that night's episode on my iPad at about 1AM. The following Friday I would then take about 5 shots of Bourbon and watch it again. I will miss that routine
I thought the season finale was great since this show is for viewers who appreciate delayed gratification. There is a lot of buildup just like in the books for a few episodes, but the big events do come frequently enough and are very well done.
With that being said the TV series does make some of the main characters so much more interesting than in the books. I particularly like Roose Bolton and Ramsey Snow (Bolton). Lord Bolton has been a sleeper character that has been understated, but has turned out to be one of my favorites. The actor that plays him brings the character to life through great acting instead of the literary elements used in the books. He is portrayed quite differently and I would say much more effectively.
The "Reek" scene was incredibly dark, but it had me chuckling. Again the actress playing Arya kills it again (pun intended). The "next time you do something like that, let me know" line was pure gold.
Although they are lesser substitutes, but at least I have True Blood, Boardwalk Empire and Peyton Manning/Wes Welker to fill in the void until next season. I can't wait!