So I finally TOOK THE PLUNGE and got into GOT at the insistence of roommates and girlfriend and it's p good! It reminds me a lot of the Wire in how it shows a vast setting populated by complex individuals who all have conflicting desires and ambitions. As such there is nobody who is morally pure, though some are more LIKABLE than the rest. Tyrion, for instance, and his whole GANG are always fun, and John Snow's snowbound swashbuckling is weird and SPOOKY, which is a nice change of pace.
Really the only storyline that is kinda FHEH to me is the Dothraki nonsense. Feels like it takes place on a whole different planet, and not in a good way. The political maneuvering was so consequence-free and irrelevant to anything I cared about that it was just bizarre. I liked it in season 1, with Dany learning to manipulate Drogo, but at this point the only thing that interests me is Ser Jorah and that's because he reminds me of John Carradine's character from Stagecoach.
Also like the Wire, certain dimensions of the characters are unearthed over time. I thought Cersei would be the one-dimensional BITCH all the time, but as Joffrey has come into power and Stannis has advanced on King's Landing, she's sort of shed her COLDNESS for moments of really heartbreaking sadness. There was a scene with her and Tyrion where she talked about how Joffrey's nature may have been a result of her relationship with Jaime that was DEEPLY AFFECTING.
The acting in this show is pretty BRILLANT across the board. Scenes like that, with just two people sharing their thoughts (usually in beautifully oblique ways), are what make the show for me, beyond the amazing production design. Moments like Tywin's interactions with Arya, which were more suspenseful than most action scenes, when he talked about how he trained Jaime to overcome his apparent dyslexia. Moments like Rob being forced to justify his war.
I like how the three ELDEST SONS OF NED have factored into the story. Theon, Rob, and John are pretty much the main characters at this point, even though John's storyline doesn't really coincide too much with theirs. Theon in particular has had a really engrossing arc, striking his former family for a shot at potential glory, never thinking of the consequences. Even though he has become even more of a TREMENDOUS TOOL than he was in season 1.
Overall it's a good show and I can't believe I've refused it for so long!
Most recent was 2x08, which ended with the reveal that Bran and Rikon were still alive (!!!)
I'd figured that was the case considering their capture was never shown, but then the show has a habit of not showing certain KEY MOMENTS and I thought the omission would have been a pretty powerful way of showing Theon's DESCENT. Still a bummer because Bran has to live with the knowledge that he was responsible for the deaths of some farmer kids.
Earlier in the episode Rob was talking with Lady Talisa about how Ned cared deeply about how his rule impacted everybody in his domain, and that was clearly a lesson passed on to all the Starks.
Most of what I said above continues to hold true. I think my big issue with the show is that, more than even the Wire and Deadwood, there is no individuality to any of the episodes. Things happen and while they are connected, it's rare for an episode to actually resolve something it introduces. I would like it to be more like Boardwalk Empire where many episodes have little SHORT STORIES about the characters that also progress the plot, rather than straight up plot progression all the time. The reason I'm thinking about this is that the finale was a big offender.
Yeah, I'd say Blackwater (2x09) was really the only self-contained episode of the series. IIRC it didn't cut away from King's Landing at all. I don't mind the fractured structure though. I think it's pretty similar to The Wire, it's just that there's way more subplots going on, which is why it feels even more fractured
haha all i know is that a lot of people die at a wedding.
Blackwater Bay was fantastic, and it was what got me thinking about the nature of the show's serialization. Seeing one event progress linearly, with subplots feeding exclusively off that event, was REFRESHING. And then you have the finale with about 4 minutes to every character to make sure you can change the dynamic a little
I'd generally figured out what would happen for the Red Wedding, but when it occurred, it was so brutal. I almost turned away at parts.
More bummed out than angry. I knew that Robb's winning streak would come to an end, as soon as he killed Karstark, but happening so soon, and in as cruel a way as it did, just broke me. And then Cat, who has gone through so much, not even able to reach Walder Frey... :(
