Showing posts with label Game of Thrones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Game of Thrones. Show all posts

Monday, December 19, 2011

My Top 10 TV Shows of 2011

I'm really hoping that with the new year, my zest for, well, anything really, will return, but until then, this blog is going to be pretty sparse. It's not that there isn't plenty to talk about TV wise (the fact that Once Upon a Time just killed off one of the few characters I liked is currently irking me and the fate of Boardwalk Empire sans Jimmy looms large), but I just can't seem to care enough to type. Venting to the kiddies at work is my current outlet. I highly recommend everyone get their coworkers hooked on all the same shows.

Anyhow, in spite of my apathy, I couldn't not put together a top 10 list of the best television programs of the year, and then some significantly pettier, dorkier lists as well. Without further ado, and in no particular order...

MY TOP 10 SHOWS OF 2011

JUSTIFIED
My love for this show knows no bounds, and the fact that it's been rather conspicuously absent from my schedule since March is kind of maddening. That said, the show is finally starting up in about a month and I can't wait. FX has been re-airing the first season and even though I've already seen it at least twice, I couldn't help but watch again. What's more, it didn't even occur to me to fast-forward through the boring or annoying parts because, well, there aren't any. It's not a crazy, fast-paced, explosion a minute kind of show or anything, but I find that I'm simply riveted from beginning to end. While season 1 was fantastic, season 2 brought something even more amazing to the table: Mags Bennet. When you have a cast of characters that includes the likes of the Crowder clan, it's hard to imagine someone stealing the spotlight, but Margo Martindale was electrifying. My one quibble with the show in general is that female characters tend to play the damsel, but the addition of Mags (and Loretta for that matter), balanced the scales in all the best ways. Oh sure, we started the "Oh, for hell's sakes, Winona!" drinking game during her tenure as the dithering damsel with sticky fingers, Mags was there to temper the gender gap. She was layered and warm and terrifying and ruthless and caring, oftentimes all at once. I'm incredibly sad that Mags won't be back for season 3, and her loss, coupled with the loss of Helen and Loretta, the other tremendous female characters on the show, means that we're left with Winona and Ava. If any show has the power to turn them into more than moronic damsels and fluttering love interests, it's Justified, but their treatment of these two thus far gives me pause... That said, the promos have Raylan and Boyd seemingly teaming up, so there's only so much I can worry about.

BREAKING BAD
Once upon a time, when television aficionados would herald the greatness of the medium or defend it against the slings and arrows of critics defaming it as pulp, they would call on The Wire to justify their cause. Now they call on Breaking Bad. This show is just so, so good. This is one of the few shows that I've actually addressed in fair measure lately, so I'll keep this short. Maybe. While it's been a powerhouse of awesome and artistry since day one, I think this most recent season might have been their best yet. The brilliance with which the writers balanced so many different factions, agendas, mental and emotional priorities, political concerns, and kingpins is nothing short of amazing. At any given time, I found myself pulling for someone different, condemning characters I once loved, and exalting the baddest of the bad. Then it would all change in the coming week. The best part of all is that these shifts in my loyalties were not based on the most ostentatious or sensational of events. By contrast, with Breaking Bad, it's the quiet moments that shed the most light and send me reeling. Which isn't to say that the show is lacking in big, insane, WTF moments or anything. There are certainly plenty of those. It's just that with Breaking Bad, a scene with a few guys sitting around a table talking (or a scene with no talking at all) is just as gripping and terrifying as the deadliest shootout, the biggest explosion, or a mass poisoning. This season saw the end of Tio Salamanca (ding! ding! ding!) and Gus Fring, two irreplaceable powerhouses, but I have every confidence that next season will see the introduction of even fiercer, quirkier baddies. In a lot of ways, I think the season 4 finale could have served well as the series finale, but I'm sure glad it wasn't.

REVENGE
Going into every fall pilot season, I have shows that I'm excited about, shows that I know I'll hate, and shows that I'm willing to give a shot, but fully suspect I'll drop them in a couple of weeks. Revenge definitely fell into the third category. Little did I know it would quickly turn into the sudsiest, juiciest, most delectably addictive soap opera to hit TV in years. The first few episodes had me a little worried that I was headed for a revenge procedural, with Emily dispatching of one of her father's foes each week, all wrapped up in a nice little bow. Much to my delight, those early episodes were only setting up the tangle web to come. This show is a soap opera, which is generally used in the pejorative, but there's not guilt in this pleasure. With any genre, there are going to be good ones and bad ones. For genres like "chick flick", "rom com", "soap opera", and "crime procedural", the bad so often outnumber the good that the genre as a whole gets a bad wrap. Well, Revenge may be a soap, but it's a bloody good one. The story-telling is lightning fast, but there's also a long con that sweeps maliciously from episode to episode, tying things tighter and raising the stakes. The characters are surprisingly layered and complex, giving the writers plenty of room to explore not just the outlandish soapy plot elements, but the more intriguing character elements as well. The cast in general is very strong, but my heart belongs to Nolan (which, given my propensity for siding with the smart, snarky game-changer should come as no surprise). Revenge is truly a watercooler show, even in an age when everyone seems to watch shows at different times. With Revenge, you simply can't afford to risk missing it or you'll be subject to 45 minutes of heated discussion without you. I'm not sure where the show is headed in the long run (although I hear a move to New York is in store for season 2), but I'm definitely along for the ride.

BEING HUMAN (UK)
Although the US version tries desperately to keep pace with it's British predecessor, it's an incredibly high bar that it will never surpass. The most recent season of the British version ended many months ago, but it was still one of the first shows to come to mind when compiling this list. Being Human, on paper, has one of the most absurd, campy, tween concepts in town. And yet, the writers brilliantly explore the human condition through werewolves, ghosts, and vampires. Indeed, by looking at what humans are when they aren't human at all, it sheds light on humanity as a whole. This most recent season was brutal and beautiful and heartbreaking. The writers had a plan from day one, plotted and executed it perfectly, and ended right where they should have, even if that was the most devastating place possible. It's months later and I still can't believe Mitchell is truly gone. As the season began, and it was foretold that he would be killed by a werewolf, fans couldn't help but wonder if that werewolf would be George. Against all inclinations to the contrary, as the season concluded, it only made sense that George would end Mitchell's life. It had to be done, I knew it had to be done, but it was devastating for all involved. No matter what Mitchell had done, no matter in how many ways his inhumanity wreaked havoc, he wanted so desperately to be a good person, but it just never happened. Until the bitter end. The wolf-shaped bullet ending his life was, in its own way, the most human thing to have happened. I honestly don't know where the show will go without his handsome mug, but even if it falls apart, I can always remember last season as being something truly special. The US version can try and try all it likes to match the darkness, the brutality, the hilarity, and the humanity of its predecessor, but I can't really fault it for falling short.

SUITS
Last year, almost all of USA Network's line-up got a nod in my "Best Of" list, but this year, only their newest show garners a spot. While one-time favorites slumped, fell by the wayside, or decreased in quality, Suits arose as the banner show for the network. I assumed this would be yet another "blue skies" procedural for the network, taking the exact same principles and elements of their other shows and wrapping them in the guise of "lawyer show," I was very pleasantly surprised to find the network's most adult offering to date. It has "lawyer show" elements, of course, but it's more of a serial than I've ever seen on USA, it takes more chances narratively, and it even adopts the standards and practices for foul language that networks FX and AMC have employed for years. The occasional "shit" may not seem like much, but it marks a shift in terms of tone and audience. I recently noticed that Covert Affairs has taken a similar tack, so I'm hopeful that as the network takes more chances, the quality and originality would follow suit. Don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed the "blue skies" approach taken by the network, but after a few years, it starts to wear on you with its sameness. For various reasons, USA's other options haven't retained their luster, but the sameness is one of the main factors. Burn Notice has played the same hand for the past three seasons, needing a reinvention sooner than later, In Plain Sight got pregnant and ruined the show, Covert Affairs is somehow surprisingly boring, seeming to have lost its narrative thrust, its sense of direction, and its understanding of its own characters, and Psych is... well, it's Psych. If you've seen one episode, you've seen them all. (White Collar is really the only other show on the network that has upped the ante and kept me totally enthralled.) Suits (oh yeah! we're talking about Suits!) bucks the trend of sameness in the best ways possible. It takes the best elements of the network's shows and adds so much more. Suits isn't afraid to have heroes that do bad things, characters that are unlikable, and real tension. All of this is undercut with an incredibly charming bromance, a lot of laughs, and several ongoing storylines to keep the show from stagnating or stalling. In the best surprise of all, they have crafted characters that are layered and intriguing in surprising ways for this network. Indeed, the show's lead, Harvey Spector, isn't particularly likeable on a number of levels, but that's what makes him so special. He's not the kind of character I usually latch onto, but I'm completely enamored. This kind of connection with characters, and the knowledge that they won't always do what you expect them to, makes for a surprising ride where I genuinely don't know what's going to happen every single minute of every episode. It's a lovely change of pace for USA and one that I hope continues. I can't wait for Suits to come back and have spent the downtime re-watching this year's episodes.

GAME OF THRONES
It honestly took me about half of the first season to really get invested in this show, but once I did, I found myself really looking forward to it week-to-week. Even if it weren't my kind of show, the size and scope and scale of the production should garner it a spot on most lists. My initial qualms with the show stemmed from the seeming marginalization of the female characters. Based on the time and setting, it made sense, but that didn't mean they deserved to be afterthoughts. As the season progressed, however, I was very pleased to see the female characters taking center stage and becoming substantive movers and shakers in the narrative. As the season drew to a close, my qualms were fully assuaged. Rumors of storylines to come have also bolstered my confidence. It's not the easiest show to jump into if you haven't read the books, but I think the writers and producers did a nice job of paring down the cast and explaining who was who in a mostly non-oppressive manner. I have always appreciated a show that's willing to kill people off (as long as it makes sense for the story and isn't to the clear detriment of the show... *cough* Once Upon a Time *cough*), and Game of Thrones does not hold back. I had heard that the characters who start off the series are not the ones you end up with in the end, but this didn't truly hit home until Ned was beheaded. That takes balls. As much as I enjoyed Ned, killing him off was true to form and turned the narrative on its head. That's the kind of storytelling that keeps me on my toes and genuinely surprises me. When all bets are off, there's a terrifying sense of the unknown that I absolutely love and dread with equal measure. For someone who watches as much television as I do, it's not easy to quash my expectations, so when a show manages to achieve such a feat, it gets rewarded with a place on this list. Game of Thrones wasn't perfect, but it came close enough. I'd tune in just for Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish alone, but Robb Stark and Jon Snow don't hurt either. Now that the show has it's legs and a better grasp of how to turn this story into a series, I'm very hopeful that season 2 was be even more sensational that season 1. It'll certainly be just as expensive to produce. Wow, HBO knows how to loosen the purse-strings and I can't thank them enough.

COMMUNITY
No top 10 list would be complete without the best comedy on TV. No, not Modern Family. Indeed, while Community continues to push the boundaries and have me rolling in the aisles for new and surprising reasons each week, Modern Family seems to get more and more boring. I used to really enjoy the show, but more and more, I find myself smiling on occasion, and almost never laughing out loud. This is most delightedly not the case with Community. Most shows on TV can be likened to other contemporaries or predecessors, but Community is genuinely unlike any other show. In any given week, the show somehow manages to combine hilarious gags, clever jokes, erudite allusions, and a hell of a lot of heart with a willingness to play with form and narrative unlike any other show. You truly never know what exactly to expect from Community, whether it be a Spaghetti Western, a musical, an homage to an obscure movie, a parody of an entire genre, a more conventional comedy episode with a splash of anime, or anything and everything in between. They play with storytelling in a way that makes me smile every time. All the while, the show maintains its warmth and heart. The show isn't too cool for school, and it embraces it. Indeed, this collection of characters is probably the most endearing family on TV. Other comedies find themselves hitting the same beats again and again, what with comedy being a genre where true character growth and development is difficult to manage, but Community throws out the rulebook, giving it's characters real journeys to follow all the while making me crack up. I'm heartbroken that NBC has shelved the show until who-knows-when. I realize that the ratings are bad, but so are the ratings of every other show on the network. I don't want to live in a world where dreck like Whitney and dumbass shlock like Two and Half Men survive, but Community gets put on hiatus. Oh, America. You make me sad sometimes. I do hope that NBC keeps sucking just long enough for Community to get another season. They're only about a season away from being able to be sold into syndication, so hopefully NBC will take that into consideration. Come back, Community! Come back!!!

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
The CW doesn't often get a lot of love when it comes to critical acclaim, but more and more, even the hold-outs have had to admit that The Vampire Diaries is one hell of a show. No longer mistakenly thought of as a Twilight rip-off or True Blood lite, The Vampire Diaries has set itself apart as a kickass supernatural thriller. It's storytelling is tight and compelling, giving viewers a thrill-a-minute, tantalizing cliffhangers, and a surprising amount of depth and character advancement. Sure it has its flaws, but ounce for ounce, it's one of the best shows out there. While the last part of season two got a bit muddled with the moonstone and the curse, season 3 has been its best yet. Two of the best aspects of the show are that it's willing to kill off important and beloved characters and if a character doesn't need to be in an episode he/she isn't in it. True Blood could learn a lot from TVD in this regard. TVD blazes through story at a breakneck pace, introducing new characters and killing off others in near equal measure. This keeps the cast from spiraling out of control the way that True Blood has. What's more, the storytelling is tight and interlaced among the characters. While True Blood has about 87 different storylines going at once, half of which have nothing to do with the others, TVD brings everything together in the most tantalizing of possible ways, ending each episode (if not each segment) with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger. There's an insane amount of character history and supernatural mythology that has been doled out over the past two and a half seasons, but somehow the show makes it all work (well, mostly). When Rebekah revealed the history of her family, the origins of werewolves, the original vampires, her brother as a hybrid, the sun and the moon curse, and everything in between, it... actually made a lot of sense! Sure there are certain things that we just kind of ignore, but for the most part, the writers put it altogether in a way that worked. No small feat, that. The show also manages to impart all of that history and mythology in a captivating way. Seriously, where most shows put me to sleep with plot exposition and info dumps, TVD makes those some of their best episodes. Seriously, in a recent episode, the entirety of the actual action that took place was Elena talking to Rebekah while Damon and Stefan hung out. Sounds like a snooze-fest, but it was exciting, revelatory, and fabulous. Best of all? Elena and Stefan, who used to be on the bland and boring side, have become interesting and badass in their own ways. Evil Stefan is even better than I would have guessed and Elena has finally taken some control over her life. Now if we can just kill off Bonnie and Matt, we'll be good to go!

THE GOOD WIFE
This is one show that has received a fair bit of press on this blog (more so than the other deserving entries on this list), but I promise, it's still not enough. That this is one of the best dramas on TV goes against so many factors. The show airs on network TV, said network is CBS of all things, the show features actual adults, it tackles sensitive issues like religion, politics, and money in just about every episode, it's been moved around on the schedule, and it skews older in terms of demographic (for some unknown reason). And yet, it survives. This show is smart and sexy and has more than a few serial elements to it. In a network viewing landscape that has seen the success of one crappy crime procedural after another, The Good Wife bucks the trend. Thank god! Season 2 was absolutely amazing. Seriously, the last 5 or 6 episodes could each have served as the jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching season finale, but they just kept piling on the awesome, episode after episode, culminating in one of the best season finales I've ever seen. So good, in fact, that had the show been unjustly axed after season 2, it could have served as one hell of a send off. Season 3 hasn't quite kept pace with the insanity of the last half of season 2, but it's building slowly and surely. One of the most heartbreaking factors of season 2, Kalinda and Alicia's falling out, reverberates through season 3 in a very real, restrained way. One of the things I've always loved best about the show is that the female characters are allowed to have layers, agendas, and a well-rounded presence on the screen. They're also allowed to be friends. On most shows, women are invariably pitted as sexual rivals. On The Good Wife, as with the real world, women are friends, they support one another, and form complex bonds and relationships with one another. Seeing Kalinda and Alicia, the best of friends, fall apart was devastating, but seeing the slow easing of tensions over season 3 has been incredibly rewarding. This show knows how to hit all the right buttons and it doesn't casually forget about things that have happened before. I'm constantly amazed at how a person, an event, or a piece of information comes back many episodes later like a lightning bolt. This show has an amazing cast, an enviable list of guest stars, and Eli Gold to boot. Alan Cumming is completely magnetic as Eli, but this is so good that even when he's not in an episode, I don't notice until long after the show is done. As with The Vampire Diaries, The Good Wife knows how to economize storytelling. If they don't need a character, they don't have that character. Case closed. (Heh, get it? Case closed? They're lawyers? I'll shut up now.)

SHAMELESS

Any and all US imports of British shows are met with extreme scrutiny and prejudice from this humble TV watcher. The same goes for animated shows being adapted to live action. In general, I simply don't see the point. In most cases, the original is by far the superior and a remake or adaptation seems unnecessary and counter-intuitive. It's with this bias in mind that I'm surprised at how much I grew to love Showtime's US adaptation of Shameless, a raunchy British program that I was honestly not too familiar with. To this day, I've only seen a couple of the episodes of the British series, but to my delight, the US adaptation took the principles of its predecessor, made the show its own, and made it really damn good. It took me a couple of episodes to really invest in the show, finding William H. Macy's character to be more of a hindrance than a celebrity draw, but as the show settled in and found its feet, it managed to craft interesting, complex characters whose interdynamics sucked me right in. At its heart, Shameless is about a family. For all of its dysfunction, and there plenty to go around, at the end of the day, the burdens and traumas they suffer makes them one of the closest knit families on TV. When you're that poor, that desperate, and that downtrodden, all you have is each other. The family simply has to work together just to survive. On a less dire level, I can relate. My family was by no means as bad off as the Gallagher clan, but it was very clear to all of us from a very young age that we don't have the luxury of bickering or fighting or holding petty grudges. We're all in this together, and a lot of the time, that's all we have. In speaking with other people, I'm constantly amazed at how well my family got along, how close we all were (and are), and how willing we are to give relatives money without any expectation of repayment. I always assumed all families were like that when I was a kid, but as it turns out, we were in the minority. Anyhow, with the Gallaghers, this hits home in a number of social, psychological, and financial ways. It was so heartbreaking to watch Fiona, the eldest daughter turned mother, trying to break free of all the responsibility, only to find that she simply couldn't. The last few episodes of the season were tremendous and showed how this kind of close-knit dependence on one another has its wonderful aspects and also its insidious underpinnings. Her siblings want her to go, they know she's paid her dues, but she just can't leave them. What started out as a raunchy dramedy that was trying too hard to be shocking quickly morphed into a searing character piece with the family unit as a whole being the most important single character of all. It's been gone for entirely too long and I can't wait for season 2 to premiere early next year.

**HONORABLE MENTIONS**


Alphas
It's a genre show, but it genuinely managed to put a new spin on an old routine. Most importantly for any genre show, it focused on the characters as much as the storyline, so that helped turn it into quite a quality program by the end of its first season.

The Chicago Code

Gone, but not forgotten. I'm not a huge fan of cop shows, but this one was excellent. It's ratings weren't spectacular, but they were steady and decent. This show really had Fox's once chance at any kind of dramatic critical acclaim, but they opted for poorly crafted CG dinosaurs and a bickering family that just refused to get eaten by them instead. Boo.

Nikita
Season 2 hasn't quite had the same focus or narrative drive as season 1, but this show is still a solid genre show that knows how to craft a spy thriller. Covert Affairs should take notice. This show is 15 times more entertaining and exciting on 1/10th the budget. Where Covert Affairs is so bland this year the background is more interesting than the story, Nikita takes what it has and makes the most of it.

Hell on Wheels
I'm... not entirely sure why I'm enjoying this show so much. Nothing... really... happens. But, I find I get swept up in whatever is happening on screen and I don't seem to mind that over the course of several episodes, we've basically built 10 feet of railroad and... ridden some horses? Whatever the reason, I'm digging it.

Boardwalk Empire
If my list above were a top 11, this would have made the cut. It made last year's list, but their second season took a lot time to really get me enthralled. I got several episodes behind because I just didn't feel very invested anymore, but once I got caught up, I could appreciate that in a number of ways, it was better than ever.

White Collar
Aside from Suits, this is really the only other USA network offering that I'm excited about. This last year the show hit quite a stride, and while there were some casting decisions I still can't believe, on the whole, this is a light, fun caper with enough depth to keep me eagerly anticipating its return next month. And then, of course, there's Matt Bomer, so it may as well be a freeze-frame for 42 minutes and I'd be just as pleased.

Aside from my overall top shows of the year (and well-deserving honorable mentions), there were some other odds and ends and categories that I just had to include in my year-end review as well. Here are some random judgments and dubious distinctions...

Shows that Showed Signs of Recovery Only to Flatline Once Again:
  • Glee
    After the craptastic second season, I had pretty low expectations for season 3. When the season started off and seemed to have gained a slight grasp of continuity and storytelling, I was ready to put this in the Most Improved Show category... Until a few episodes ago when it all got shitty again. Seriously, that Christmas episode was even more painful than usual.

  • How I Met Your Mother
    Started off a bit better than expected, but then Lily and Marshall got pregnant, then Robin got pregnant, or didn't... oh, who the hell cares. It was awful either way.

Worst Hair and/or Clothes:

  • Robin (How I Met Your Mother)
    Apparently barrenness leads to hideous hair and horrible wardrobe choices? That's all I can guess, because why else would they make her look that way?

  • The Entire Cast (Parenthood)
    Okay, maybe not the entire cast, but I think it's safe to say they hit critical mass about 3 characters back. When you hit 80%, is there any real reason to split hairs? (Heh, get it? Oh lord, that pun was almost as bad as Haddie's permed bangs... sorry about that.)

  • Dr. Reid (Criminal Minds)
    Not going to lie, he's the reason I started watching the show. His look and persona were a huge part of the draw. Now he has this unfortunate fuzzy, choppy something or other on his head and it just takes the charm away...

  • Rachel (Glee)
    The storytelling wasn't the only casualty during season 2...

Best Chemistry:
  • Damon and Elena (The Vampire Diaries)
    A lot of real-life couples fall flat on screen, but these two totally sizzle. Seriously, that (fully-clothed) scene where he ran his hand along her ribs was sexier than some of the most explicit sex scenes I've seen.

  • Eli and Kalinda (The Good Wife)
    They may not be sleeping together (that I know of... that would be kind of awesome, actually), but the rapport between Alan Cumming and Archie Panjabi is completely irresistible. Eli's chemistry with just about anyone is giggle-worthy and fabulous, but with Kalinda, he sees a true peer. He doesn't bullshit her the way he does other people and she doesn't try to manipulate him the way should would someone else. The professional courtesy is hilarious and undeniable.

  • Nolan and Tyler (Revenge)
    These two are both so conniving, so manipulative, and so driven that it's hard to know just what to make of them as a pair, but one thing is for sure, their chemistry is sexy as hell. Although Tyler might claim otherwise, I'm guessing they're both about a 3 on the Kinsey scale, so anything goes. Their couple portmanteau is "TyleNol" by the way, which is just about the best I've ever seen.

Speaking of Magnetism on Screen, Here are My Irrational TV Crushes of 2011:
  • Robb Stark (Game of Thrones)
    It took me a while to really connect with the show, but his presence among the cast was never an equivocal one.

  • Jesse Pinkman (Breaking Bad)
    Aaron Paul is such a tremendous actor that yes, I kinda sorta really adore a murderer/drug dealer. I mainly just want to give the guy a hug. He certainly needs one.

  • Harvey Specter (Suits)
    As I mentioned above, I'm a little surprised by this one, but Gabriel Macht is just beautiful and he manages to make a slick, corporate, 1 percenter unbelievably sexy.

  • Johnny Iuzzini (Top Chef: Just Desserts)
    Love him. Aside from being talented, charming, and easy on the eyes, he's a bit of a gay icon and he's totally fine with that (even though he's straight). That wins him a hell of a lot of points in my book. Rather than being threatened by attention from the gay community, he embraces it. WIN.

  • Seymour Birkoff (Nikita)
    I know, I know, of all the beautiful people on that show, I'm in love with the snarky computer nerd. That's just how I roll. Not that Michael or Owen or Ryan or anyone else isn't a winner, but my heart belongs to Birkoff.

  • Nikita (Nikita)
    Okay, it belongs to Birkoff or Nikita. It's a toss-up. Maggie Q is amazing. She simply could not be any more fabulous. Or badass. Or gorgeous. Could I be her when I grow up? Pretty please? Ooh, or Kalinda!

  • Hardison (Leverage)
    It's a mid-level show, to be sure, but Hardison makes it all worth it. He's far and away the best part of the show and certainly the easiest to look at.

  • Mitchell (Being Human UK)
    Goddamn, he's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, he slaughtered a train full of people... Still beautiful. Sometimes, it's what's on the outside that counts.

  • Paulo (The Borgias)
    Okay, I admit his hair is not doing him any favors, but that's what you get when you're cast in a period piece. That said, Luke Pasqualino will always be Freddie to me and that's really all it takes. My darling Freddie (sob). Love him. Unfortunate historically-accurate haircut and all.

  • Nolan (Revenge)
    He may not be the most conventionally attractive guy on the show, but for me, personality, character, and intelligence count for about 80%. Being a 3 on the Kinsey scale certainly doesn't hurt either.

  • Tim Gutterson (Justified)
    His character is pretty much the exact opposite of what I would ever really want, but I just adore him. Seriously, a law enforcement officer with a history in the military? Yikes. And yet, his manner is so appealing and his demeanor so chill, I just can't help myself.

  • Jai Wilcox (Covert Affairs)
    Sure it took me an entire season to stop calling him Mohinder, but that in no way diminishes the pretty. It's a very attractive cast in general (you know, as opposed to all those shows with ugly people), but he takes the cake. Not that he'd be able to eat it, but still. It may be a boring show, but the scenery is nice.

  • Damon (The Vampire Diaries)
    No list of TV crushes would be complete without Damon Salvatore making an entry. It's a plain and simple fact that's beyond reproach or argument.

Well, kiddies, I think that's it for me this year. I'm hoping to be less of a slacker as the new year begins, but I excel at not giving a shit. We'll see. Happy viewing!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

If you put dragon eggs on stage in the first act...

...they better hatch by the third.

And so they, rather awesomely, did. The moment we've all been waiting for (Chekhov included) finally came in the very last moments of the season. Sure, there was a whole hell of a lot of other stuff going on, but at the end of the day, er... episode, I think we all said goodbye to the first season of Game of Thrones with a resounding, "BABY DRAGONS!"

Daenerys has pretty much been removed from the action of the rest of the realm all season, but with the reveal as the true daughter of dragons, one who cannot be burned and was born to rule, that's definitely going to change in season 2. It's depressingly premature to talk of season 2 at this point (what with a new season being nearly a year away), but much of the finale was set-up for the horrors to come. In looking at where the season started and where it ended, it's not only the cast that's looking different, but the entire trajectory of the show.

I have to admit, it took several episodes for this show to really grab me. Having not read the books, the first few episodes felt like a whirlwind of disparate characters that I was supposed to care about, but didn't, and who seemed wholly removed from one another. At about the halfway point, the transitions between the different lands became smoother and the interconnections between characters began to solidify. Early on, cuts to Daenerys or the wall seemed like annoying distractions that took me away from what was going on in other places. I could appreciate that they were necessary and that they would factor in more directly later on, but it still felt like I was watching different shows with varying levels of interest. I'm truly bummed that the season is over because, quite frankly, it feels like we were just getting started. In the last few episodes, I finally grew to know and appreciate many of the characters who had seemed flat to me early on and the effects of one character's actions of the lives and welfare of everyone else had become more concrete and terrifying. In a perfect world, Sunday's finale would have marked the winter break, not the season's end.

This show has a ton going on, so bear with me on organization with my thoughts here... meaning that there likely won't be any...

One of the wonderful aspects of this show is the inter-connectivity of the people and places. A seemingly isolated event in the middle of nowhere eventually affects everywhere else, no matter how far removed they may be. Indeed, a little boy climbing the wall of a castle shouldn't logically lead to all out war a few episodes later, but in the world of Game of Thrones, the domino effect is unstoppable. Had Bran not climbed that wall, he wouldn't have seen Jaime and Cersei and wouldn't have been shoved out the window. He wouldn't have been paralyzed and Catelyn wouldn't have gone on a crusade to find out the truth. She wouldn't have taken Tyrion prisoner, the Lannisters wouldn't have gone of the warpath, Ned wouldn't have been in such a compromising position when Robert died, etc, etc. So what I'm saying is, this is all Bran's fault. After all, Cat did tell him not to climb the effing wall, now didn't she? Joking aside, basically every character on the show has been responsible for some act, some deed, some random comment that led to much larger consequences down the line. Something as innocuous as Sansa saying that she would give Joffrey beautiful blond children led her father down a path that would eventually seal their fates. A little boy climbed a wall. A teenage girl mooned over a boy. War broke out. The lines from one event to another certainly aren't that simple, straight, or short, but in Game of Thrones, the lines are drawn one way or another and they affect everyone.

Of course, not all the pivotal events are are seemingly innocuous as these. Some events were perpetrated by those who simply aren't as good as playing the game. First off, Ned. Oh, Ned. Honorable, noble, delusional Ned. He's a good guy, but he wouldn't be winning any leadership trophies even if he hadn't been beheaded. I have mixed feelings about him as a character. Sean Bean is excellent in everything, so it certainly doesn't come down to the actor's portrayal, but in terms of character fundamentals, it often felt like Ned was living in a different story. There are a number of noble (or at least noble-adjacent) characters on the show, but they all seem to understand the world in which they live. Ned, who seemingly has more experience with the way the world works than most, apparently has less understanding than Arya. Well, perhaps he comprehends better than I'm giving him credit for, but in terms of how he responds to situations, he may understand what's going on, but he seems pathologically incapable of doing what needs to be done or playing the game in which he lives. I get it. It's the reason most politicians are sleazy, manipulative, dishonest cretins. The sociopathic qualities that led to advancement back then are the same ones that apply today and the truly good among us are simply incapable of or unwilling to stoop low enough to succeed. So let it be with Ned Stark. That said, however, and it seems impossible to me that his sense of honor could have 1) withstood the test of time, given the life he's led, and 2) not wavered in response to current conditions. Indeed, when Renly and Littlefinger basically told him exactly what was what and what needed to be done after Robert died, Ned honestly seemed to think that a piece of paper would hold up against the Lannisters. In and of itself, it's a charming notion. To think that people are so honorable that they would uphold the written word of a dead king is a nice thought. But again, I don't know what show Ned has been in for the past few episodes, but if he really thought that was the way things were going to work out, he obviously exists in a different realm than everyone else on the show. It's bad enough that the realities of Westeros completely escaped him for his own sake, but that he put these things into motion without getting his daughters out of there first is just unfathomable to me. It's one thing to believe that people are noble enough for things to end up as they should and it's quite another to take absolutely no precautions just in case it all goes to hell. This is why I honestly wasn't all that broken up over his death. People online lost their shit when he died, swearing to never again watch the show, blah, blah, blah, but for me, it just seemed sort of fitting. Sad and shocking and incredibly stupid on Joffrey's part, but Ned played the game worse than anyone. And as Cersei pointed out, in the game of thrones, you win or you die.

Ned's only real chance at survival was that his family and followers actually do play the game pretty well (at times), and the Lannisters know it. Well, everyone but Joffrey, it seems. Smooth move, Ass Face. Sometimes it's the little things like climbing a wall, sometimes it's the impulsive beheadings. I can see where a sadistic sociopathic dick like Joffrey would think that killing Ned was a good idea, but the fact that cold, calculating Cersei completely freaked out when he made the order should have told him he was being a fool. He played it off as the weakness of women to allow a traitor to live, but I don't think anyone looks at Cersei as a delicate, meek little flower. She knows what she's doing and Joffrey, even as stupid and hot-tempered as he is, should know that. She owns this game. In a way, Joffrey is the anti-Ned, but with similar results. Ned is too noble and Joffrey is too arrogant for either to play the game well. Cersei plays the game better than most and knows that killing Ned is about the worst move that could be made. Her reaction to the death is on a par with Sansa's and Arya's in terms of horror, albeit for different reasons. For as much as I chalk up her terror at Ned's death to her guile and cunning, I think part of it is that she genuinely respects Ned on a certain level. He could have destroyed her with the knowledge the Jaime is the father of her children, but didn't. On the contrary, he gave her a chance to escape. As per usual, it completely backfired on him, but in this instance, for Cersei, the thought actually does count for something. The fact that her grudging respect for Ned coincides with the smartest plan of action they could undertake should have been icing on the cake, but instead, Joffrey's idiotic gambit means that Jaime is as good as dead and all out war is upon them. Let's hope Sansa gets another chance to shove him off a ledge. Real soon.

Speaking of Sansa, Cersei, and all the other women on the show, one of the aspects of the show that was a turn off early on was the characterization of the female characters. For the first few episodes, they largely came across as cliches, afterthoughts, or simply eye candy. For someone such as myself, who's particularly attuned to the portrayals of women on TV, it was a definite disappointment. After an entire season, however, the constraints placed on women by the day and age of the show are still largely in place, but their positions within this world most certainly are not. In spite of Joffrey's impulsiveness, Cersei has very real influence over the crown, Sansa has developed from a whiny, simpering child into woman with steely resolve and vengeance on her mind, Arya has gone from being your stereotypical tomboy to an actual threat with a sword, Catelyn is finally making sound decisions and brokering deals to advance the war, and Daenerys has literally risen from the ashes as a true queen. It took the better part of a season to get there, but the egalitarian inside me can now commend the show for putting complex, interesting female characters front and center. They've all evolved into characters that I truly care about. Even Sansa. I never would have guessed that I'd love hear until these last two episodes, but seeing her countenance change as the gravity of her situation sets in has been gripping to watch. The look on her face as Joffrey repulsively tells her he'll put a son in her once she bleeds was a true turning point. For a moment, I thought perhaps she was going to fling herself off the ledge in order to spare her family from trying to rescue her, but it was all the more satisfying that she was really planning to shove Joffrey off the edge, or at the very least take him with her. The young actress portraying Sansa finally has something substantive to work with and she showed what a fine actress she really is. I had long assumed that she was probably in her early twenties and that it was fairly ridiculous for her to be playing a girl of 13 or 14, but in reality she's only 15 now, which means that at the time of filming, she was very close to the right age. She looks far older than her years and now, her character is acting it as well.

It's really impossible to do this show justice in a post like this because there are simply too many things to discuss. The war we've seen so far seems to be little more than set-up for the real battle to come in the coming seasons. That said, Robb Stark stepped up in a way I hadn't expected. He's still very young (the actor is in his mid-twenties, but as I understand it, in the books, he's just a teenager), but he rises to the occasion. For me, Robb (on whom I have an irrational crush) bridges the gap between honor and success in a way his father never could. Robb is definitely an honorable man, but he still plays the game. And he plays it well. Knowing our dearly departed friend Ned, he would have taken Jaime up on his offer to have this out in a duel and be done with it, because that would be the noble thing to do, sparing their armies from a bloody battle. Ned wouldn't have considered the fact that he might lose and that it would have destroyed everything. Robb, on the other hand, flat out tells Jaime that he's not going to do things that way. He's going to play by the rules that will allow him to win, even if it means not being completely honorable all of the time. In the end, it's worth it to sacrifice the lives of 2000 men in order to gain the upper hand. Ned would never have done such a thing and would have lost everything as a result. In the end, honor is only honorable for so long. As some point, it's only honorable on paper. The ramifications are what matter.

I'll be very interested to see just how far Robb is willing to play the game and what lengths he'll go to, but I have a sneaking suspicion I won't get to find out. I haven't read the books, but I'm predicting that before the battle between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins (Joffrey Malfoy, anyone?) reaches a head, the white walkers are going to make the game of thrones irrelevant. Winter is coming and with it comes a much more insidious foe than rival houses. I'm guessing that it will dawn on both factions that they have way bigger problems than each other and that if they have any hope of surviving, they'll need to put their differences aside and band together. As cheesy as that sounds, that's where I predict we're headed. I'm looking forward to that for a number of reasons, but first among them is Jon Snow, who's been off in no man's land up north for entirely too long. I could always appreciate that the stuff with Jon and the wall would eventually become extremely important, but it was so irksome to have Jon removed from everything that I was thrilled when he decided to go join Robb. Much to my chagrin, his escape was rather less than successful. In the coming season, I think the action will come to him though, and I'm hoping it brings the other characters on the show as well. Even though I've enjoyed his newfound brotherhood (Samise Gamgee? Is that you?), I've missed his interactions with him family.

All in all, it's been a hell of a ride. It took longer to really suck me in than I would have guessed, but the point is is that we got there. Truth be told, it was Littlefinger who truly captivated me early on and stoked my interest. I may be in love with the beautiful Robb Stark, but Littlefinger is probably the best game-player on the show which means that not only is he fascinating to watch, but he's likely to survive longer than his cohorts. Same goes for Tyrion, who, in spite of a shaky accent, is fantastic. Littlefinger wins out thought for me. The gleam in his eye as he held a knife to Ned's throat and said, "I did warn you not to trust me," was truly a highlight of the season. His conversation with the eunuch (was his name Spider or something? I can't find him online) was masterful in every sense. These two expert players, both of whom came from disreputable, underdog beginnings, rose to a level where they have very real influence over the world around them. It was very fitting to see the admiration between these two on a show that celebrates cutthroat politics and underhanded maneuvering. They may not sit on the throne, but they come pretty damn close. They make for worthy adversaries, indeed.

It wasn't a perfect season of a perfect show, but it was head and shoulders above most of what's out there. One of my main quibbles would be the often gratuitous sex. This doesn't come from a place of prudery, I assure you. It was off-putting in that it often felt like the writers/producers didn't think the storyline or dialogue were interesting enough on their own. Even though it took me a few episodes to really get into the show, random sexual acts weren't what kept me coming back for more. Had it come across as more organic to the story or less exploitative, I wouldn't have minded. But trying to focus on Littlefinger giving a stirring monologue while Ros and some other woman are taking whore lessens wasn't sexy, it was annoying. Maybe if I were a straight man I would have found the juxtaposition more tantalizing, but alas, I was just trying to listen to my favorite character, thanks.

Anyway, minor quibbles and whatnot aside, it was a very successful start to what is hopefully a long, captivating series. This is an expensive, audacious show to produce and they pulled it off impressively. The story never seemed to meander (even when we were up at the wall, I knew it would be important down the line) and the writers managed a ridiculous number of characters in a confident manner. While it should have felt increasingly scattered, as the story wore on, it proved to be more and more cohesive.

And, you know, baby dragons (!), so there's really no fault that can be found with any aspect of any episode all season. What little there is to forgive is definitely forgiven. Bring on next year! And winter! (Seriously, if Chekhov had one quibble, it would be that they've been talking about winter coming for an entire season and, unless you count metaphorical winter, it ain't here yet.)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Who's the Boss? (Medieval Edition)

In spite of my total lack of knowledge of the book series, I found myself pretty excited for HBO's adaptation of George R. R. Martin's multi-volume epic Game of Thrones. As it turns out, the excitement was well-warranted. Unfortunately, my unfamiliarity with the books and the massive breadth covered by the first episode means that this review is easily going to be one of the hardest I've ever written. Not life-in-the-world-of-the-show hard, of course, but that's a rather high, rather blood-soaked bar.

The first episode was essentially three shows in one, with the narrative focusing on several separate peoples and places. Add to that the fact that within each of these locales there exists a complicated web of allies and enemies, a thousand-year-old Redwood of a family tree, half and full siblings galore, and sexual pairings that span from contractual to incestuous. It's a lot to process and there's really no chance that I'll be able to do it full justice. As such, below are mostly generalities and musings because I'll be damned if I can remember everyone's name or family relationship. I honestly have a pretty good understanding of the structure of everything, so it's more a matter of spelling people's names and remember which kingdom they're from.

I had an unexpected reaction to Game of Thrones. I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but there were certain aspects that were off-putting, as I'll explain later on (and surprisingly, the incest wasn't one of those aspects). It's a truly grand production with incredible sets and locations, a cast of hundreds (it seems), and a budget to rival many Hollywood feature films. At this point in the story there are at least three seemingly disparate narratives going on, but it's clear that they'll begin to intersect as the battle for control reaches a head. The world created is rich and diverse with each culture exhibiting its own qualities and values. In short, there's a cold, wintry land to the North where a wall is in place to protect the country from outsiders (and hopefully all manner of pseudo-supernatural elements). To the South is the home of the Stark family (at least I think that's where the lived... I'm not sure where the Lannisters hail from, but apparently it ain't where the Starks are from), a green landscape with old growth forests that most closely resembles Medieval Britain. Then there's a warm Mediterranean location inhabited by extras from Mad Max (but, you know, on horseback) and a pair of exiled siblings who are eager to return to their homeland and reclaim the throne (theirs are the names I'm having the hardest time remembering). Each of these places has its own tone and texture and is home to numerous characters. It's a lot to take in in only an hour, but for the most part, the producers did a hell of a job conveying the harsh realities of each of these worlds in as economic a fashion as possible. It would be way too difficult and time-consuming to enumerate all the wonderful aspects of the show, so just assume it was excellent overall.

That said, I think the constraints of telling a story on television rather than in a lengthy novel were the root of the few issues I had with the show. Each of these places and families was easily interesting enough to have their own show, so to see their narratives chopped up into thirds was a little unsatisfying. I'm sure once these stories begin to overlap the transitions back and forth will seem more fluid, but with only the first episode, it felt more like I would get sucked into one storyline only to be transported across the sea to an entirely different group of people who, at this point, have absolutely nothing to do with the people I was just watching. I think my dissatisfaction with this aspect has more to do with me than anything else. I love a good, slow burn, and I'm more than happy to allow for set-up, but I found certain storylines more intriguing than others, so to be pulled away from one and tossed back into the other was mildly irksome. By the end of the pilot I was invested in all aspects of every locale, but with only an hour to work with, none of them seemed to be given their due. I suppose when it all boils down, I would have preferred that each family be afforded an hour of their own, but I'm sure the splicing will grow on me as the show progresses.

The world(s) established by the series are both familiar and foreign at the same time. It's all incredibly brutal and gritty, but some of the overlap between the prosaic and the other-worldly spun me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong, names like Ned, Robert, Jaime, Catelyn, and was-that-youngest-son-really-named-Brandon? are easier to remember, but in the world of the show, they seemed oddly out of place. When stacked up alongside names like Cersei, Viserys, Sansa, Tyrion, and Kahl Drogo, it just seemed like an odd melange of past and present, near and far. Beyond that, some of the dialogue seemed Medieval in structure and cadence, but other exchanges seemed completely modern. In a world of kings and dragons and magic, I just wasn't expecting certain verbiage. For example, I actually looked up the historical uses for "fuck" and found that it dates back to the mid 16th century. Were this Elizabethan England, I think it would have felt appropriate, but Game of Thrones had a much more 12th or 13th century feel to it and the usage felt out of place (or about 300 years too early). These are all rather minor quibbles, and they're easy enough to overlook, but it just struck me as odd creative choices to be made on the parts of the writers and producers. Maybe the blend is exactly what they were striving for, and it does give the production a particular feel, but however intentional, every now and then I'd have a "Wait, what? Did he really just say that?" kind of moment and it was a bit jarring. Add to that the often clunky plot exposition and the stunning brilliance of other aspects of the show were a bit tarnished. Seriously, at one point, the Stark family is watching the arrival of the Lannister family and the youngest Stark daughter Arya literally starts naming them and their relation to everyone else. Helpful? Yes. Organic to the story? Sadly, no. "That's Cersei, wife of the king and twin sister to Jaime," she says, to which her sister hisses, "Will you shut up!" All I could think was, "But sister, it's plot exposition, it has to go somewhere!" I can see where it's necessary, but it could have been achieved in a much subtler way.

Another aspect that I had a hard time with was the role of women on the show. I realize that this is set in another time and place, one most akin to the Middle Ages, and that in that setting, women weren't afforded much status or respect, but that doesn't make scenes like the gigantic, muscle-bound leader of a band of barbarians raping his teenage bride any easier to watch. Although on the show, Daenerys (I had to look it up) is played by an adult, as I understand it, in the book, this character is only 13. It was disturbing enough watching this happen to an adult, but the thought of a 13-year-old being sold into such a situation was stomach-turning. Again, I realize that that it part of the set-up and it absolutely makes sense in terms of the narrative, but it's still hard to watch. Maybe it's that between The Borgias and Game of Thrones I'm experiencing an overload rape and debasement of these poor female characters, but it's getting harder and harder to endure. You know these women have it rough in the world of Game of Thrones when the only sex scene that wasn't based in rape or prostitution was one of incest between twin brother and sister Jaime and Cersei. Honestly, having seen what sex between newly married and non-related couples is like for women, hooking up with your twin brother somehow seems the least exploitative and the most consensual of all. It managed to be the only sex scene the was actually sexy. How twisted is that? I ran across one commenter on the show wondering if the fact that Jaime and Cersei are twins makes it less icky or more icky. I can't believe I'm actually having this argument with myself, but I say less icky, and I'll tell you why! Twins are the same age, so at the very least, you don't have an older sibling exploiting a younger sibling. Right? Whatever their genetic relationship may be, Jaime and Cersei seemed to be the only sexual encounter that had any semblance of equality about it. When your brother shoves a 10-year-old out a window on behalf of your affair, that's gotta be love, right? In related news, a lot of people on the web seemed shocked that Jaime shoved him out the window, but I saw it coming from a mile away. Regardless, it was a pretty powerful way to close out the first episode, and gave viewers a keen insight into Jaime and "the thing's [he'll] do for love." Oh, Jaime Lannister. Pretty? Absolutely. Ethically grounded? Not so much... (Although honestly, who hasn't at least considered shoving a troublesome 10 year old out a window? Just me? Really?! Liars.)

Alas, I have no doubt that horror is exactly what both of these shows were aiming for in terms of the treatment of women, and in that case, mission accomplished. In that day and age, women weren't really considered people and more than anything were a means of allying one family with another in a political bid for power. As a woman and a feminist, seeing these characters as little more than bargaining chips is incredibly disconcerting. At the same time, it makes for an interesting dynamic, and it's one that I'm really only exposed to in period pieces, so if nothing else, it's something different. In spite of the constraints, there are some very strong, influential female characters and I'm hopeful that they'll go against the grain. I'm not sure how much more subjugation I can muster, so the roles of Catelyn Stark and Cersei seemed the most promising (or at very least, not quite as unbearably depressing as all the other women of the show). It's probably just a matter of me being more attuned to the portrayals of women in television, but this was one element of the show that I found disappointing. For every female character who appears to be fairly well-rounded and interesting, there's a stock character that we've seen a million times before. While the dynamic among the Stark brothers is classic in its own right, it's also deep and engaging. The sisters? Well, we have the spunky youngest daughter who's a tomboy (yes, they actually had a scene of her ditching her needlepoint class so that she could one-up her brother at archery) and the older sister who's shallow and prissy and only concerned with marrying well. Sigh. Again, I realize that in this particular world there aren't a whole lot of options for women, but at the same time, it felt like they were mostly an afterthought. Perhaps it was more a matter of how they were presented onscreen, but I found them predictable and underwhelming compared to their male counterparts. Here's hoping for more depth in the future. The initial set-up was less-than-enthralling, but it lends itself to something more robust down the road, so I'm hopeful.

I'm making it sound like I didn't enjoy the show nearly as much as I did. Again, to spell out all the ways in which Game of Thrones is spectacular would take ages. Incredible cast, captivating mythology, political maneuvering, sex, betrayal, power, and death. What more could you ask for, really? Well, aside from my fleeting concerns listed above, not much. It drew me in immediately and didn't let go. In spite of some niggling concerns here and there, it's a beautifully crafted work that would hold up against any cinematic achievement. I may not know how to spell your name, bizarrely blond and creepy brother of that poor girl who got married off to the horse guy, but I'm totally invested in your storyline anyways.

Some random musings and whatnot on the show:
  • Peter Dinklage is simply awesome as Tyrion Lannister. Granted, he spent the better part of the first episode whoring around, I think his character will prove to be far more influential than the other characters would anticipate. Being a dwarf, he cannot rely on brute force to achieve his ends, so he must use his wits. I liked that he equated himself with John Snow (the bastard son of the king) in terms of status and opportunity and that John didn't even kind of see the parallel until it was spelled out to him.

  • Sean Bean is a power-player to the nth degree and heads the Stark family with authority and cool resolve. He also seems to be one of the more morally grounded characters, but I suspect that may change. It was mainly nice to see Boromir back in action. Hey, he's found his niche and he's going to stick with it. Can't says I blame him.

  • As I understand it, young Bran Stark survives plummeting to his not-death. He's credited for several more episodes than just the pilot, and my sister confirms that he lives, but I don't see how that's possible. I mean, there's a magical undercurrent to the show, but I'm not sure "undercurrent" is going to be enough to reset 106 bones, stem the massive internal bleeding, and restart his heart. And lungs. And brain...

  • It is so, so, SO very nice to see Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) in a show that's actually worth watching. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see him in any capacity, but when it's a show that revolves around an immortal homicide detective who solves crimes using his powers of... being really old... Yeah, no, I'd much rather he sleep with his twin sister and murder people, thanks. What can I say? He and his sister make a cute couple and I think Bran had it coming.

  • The opening credits are absolutely stunning. A great title sequence can really set the tone for the show you're about to watch, and Game of Thrones did a masterful job. It's a striking blend of old world runes and symbols, the progress of city building, nature, and technology in a medium that almost looks like origami or an erector set. Once again, I'm not doing any of this justice. Just watch it here. However one might describe it, it establishes the many different realms of the show and gives a feeling of "ever-upward" that I think is reflected in the drive for power and control on the show. Build and conquer. You win or you die.

  • I have a DVD recorder that I often use to transfer shows from my DVR to disk for friends. Well, it's a brave new world, peeps, and TV has gotten too smart for its own good. I have recently tried to put Justified and Game of Thrones on disks and was met with an angry message about it being protected content so I couldn't record it. Oh for hells sakes, I put these shows on disks so that I can get MORE PEOPLE TO WATCH YOUR SHOWS! Do you really think there aren't other ways of getting this content out there? Do you really have to cramp my style like this? Oy.

  • This show is VERY expensive and but for the grace of HBO, it never would have seen the light of day. It has already been picked up for a second season, so, as with Boardwalk Empire before it, I have no reservations about getting invested because I know that it'll be here for the long haul. Kudos, HBO. Kudos.
Winter is coming, and for once, I can't wait for it to get here.

Pilot Grade: A-