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Meh, the Sansa heading to Winterfell to be wed to Ramsay made the most sense for the TV show. Seeing as how Ramsay is a psycho, what happened tonight was completely inevitable, and I would've been disappointed in the writers if something like this didn't happen, as it would be completely out of character for Ramsay, otherwise. Seems like they did a good enough job of keeping everything off screen. It definitely was still rough to watch, but this is far from anything that would make me completely give up on the show. Sansa is no longer a little girl in the show and Sophie Turner is 19 years old.
My issue is less about the rape per se as it is the story. I understand why LF wanted Sansa to go to Winterfell I suppose so he could get Cersei's backing to be Warden of the North (though what does he really need that for with the Lannisters half a step from war with the Tyrells and incredibly weak overall). I still have no understanding though of why Sansa would want to marry Ramsay, other than to make LF happy. Sansa's virginity/ability to marry was an incredibly valuable chess piece in the Game and I don't get why they gave her to Ramsay. That only makes the Bolton's stronger and if Ramsay isn't killed then Sansa is stuck married to a psycho who is the son of the man who betrayed her family and killed her brother and mother. The people of the North that are pledged to the Starks will now have to follow the Bolton's unless Ramsay dies and there is no controlling the Boltons. It's just sloppy.
This is very different than Dany getting raped in the first episode by Drogo (which was a departure from the books that made no sense either btw) because at least then you had a naive and weak Dany that became strong and grew up. Here you have Sansa that has already been weak and naive and has gotten strong and is showing she can play the game and suddenly she is made to look weak and be humiliated by her own choosing for .... what? What does she gain? She could have hung out in The Vale with LF and waited for the Bolton's and Stannis to fight it out and come in with the Knights of the Vale and cleaned up, then choosing to marry with another House that would turn strengthen her position. Just to add to the sloppiness we have to assume that Sweetrobin who is older and stronger in the show and has been promised to Sansa will be ok with Sansa marrying Ramsay. LF isn't even with him to control him right now unlike the books. I would say that the "show Robin" would be just as likely to let LF "fly" as he would to allow him to go to war in the North either for or against who he will perceive as Sansa.
Having Sansa raped though was a bad choice for the casual viewer as well. My wife is a show watcher and she was disgusted last night and her interest in GOT is at an all time low. They played out the "Ramsay is a psycho" storyline with the Theon torture and no one is interested in watching Sansa become the new Reek and made to look weak and helpless all over again after she finally was becoming strong.
I don't mind changes to the books, I just want them to be smart and make sense in the larger story. The way they have made some of these changes though work against the larger plot that they have set up. It's costing them too. The ratings for the first time are down. People just aren't as interested in the show whether they are readers or watchers. D&D have made some bad decisions on plot changes and it is costing them. Changes had to happen but they are losing viewers and may lose a lot more after another episode of little action and what they are doing with another protagonist.
