House of the Dragon’s foot fetish scene is gut-wrenching cringe

polygon.com:

One of the biggest challenges facing House of the Dragon has always been one of the many messy aspects of its wildly successful predecessor: At times, especially in its earlier seasons, Game of Throneswas a show for perverts. (This is not a joke, but something frequent Thrones director Neil Marshall told Empire magazine in reference to an executive producer that encouraged him to include more nudity for “the perv side of the audience”). The series relished in what became known as “sexposition,” a term coined to discuss the many instances in Thrones and premium TV dramas like it that delivered heaps of exposition in titillating scenes — Littlefinger, like Tony Soprano, did not have to set up shop in a brothel or Bada Bing, but they did. Sex sells.

In its first season, House of the Dragon’s approach toward sex has been intentionally much more muted. It’s still there, but not front and center, and usually as a dramatic turning point in the plot. However, in “The Green Council,” the penultimate episode of the season, there’s a bit of a sexual curveball: Following the death of King Viserys and in the midst of a dramatic plan to install Prince Aegon as king over the crown princess Rhaenyra, the schemer Larys Strong meets with Queen Alicent in her chambers to discuss the rapidly shifting balance of power.

As Larys speaks, Alicent sits across from him and takes off her shoes — an oddly normal and relatable moment in a show that’s full of high drama. The woman has been up and scheming all day! She’s tired. Then things get oddly familiar as Alicent takes off her stockings and puts her bare feet up for Larys to see, slowly turning away while his gaze turns lascivious and he reaches under his robes to touch himself.

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