after S1 and S2 finales, were people expecting the S3 finally to be something shocking? if you haven't notice, the penultimate episode has always been the big one. net's beheading in S1E9. the battle of blackwater in S2E9. the red wedding in S3E9. then the finale is to show everyone's reactions, wrap up a few storylines, and establish new storylines for the following season.
just amazes me when people ***** about the same thing they've been doing for 3 seasons now like it's something unprecedented. also, i'm not sure what was going on differently in S1 and S2 to build up to the penultimate episodes that was so much more great than S3. i just think people forget how long it took things to escalate and expect a big battle or major death every 2-3 episodes or something. if you want something that gives you instant gratification without good storytelling, there's plenty of network dramas for you to watch like the following or hannibal.