Sorry guys, call me an unbeliever, a heretic or a witch, but the second season has too much talking to my taste. They talk and recollect past and exchange threats and glares and talk again, and it prevents something from happening. I think all events of 8 episodes could be easily packed in 4 episodes, with each episode focused on fewer plot lines.
Yeah...the thing is
A Song of Ice and Fire is primarily about the characters; how events are set up by people, and how they impact people. All of the talking is the mortar that holds together the bricks of major events. Without the talking and slow bits the show would be a shakey wobley heap of stones that couldnt hold up to curious children let alone Dragonfire.
Why has my well-constructed metaphor gone rambling about Dragons? Because a few episodes ago some of the characters were
talking about Harrenhall (Where Arya and Tywin are) once holding the title of impenetrable, until the Targaryens melted the towers and shattered the walls with Dragons. This gives you some history, enhances the scenery and tone of the location, and builds the reader/viewer's respect for the power of these creatures.
Several times Littlefinger and Catelyn's childhood together is mentioned, alluded to, and brought up. What happened back then and the way they talk about it makes these characters into people. Then in later scenes, confrontations and arguments make more sense when you understand some of the thoughts that must be going through their minds.
The things people talk about make the events that are happening, or will happen way down the road, much more significant.