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| Photo from Wikipedia |
Plot: Following the death of the Hand of the King through a sudden and mysterious cause, the King of the Seven Kingdoms travels to the North to ask his friend to be the Hand of the King, at a very tumultuous time of his reign. External and internal conflicts complicate the Seven Kingdoms. External: the threat of the re-emergence of the Targaryens, the House of the former Mad King, to reclaim the throne from the King. Internal: the King's wife's incestuous relations with her twin brother brings the Queen's House, the Lannisters, against the new Hand's House, the Starks.
PROS:
1. It is highly recommended by the Chuck Bartowski, Zachary Levi, and... well, almost every person I know. The enthusiasm people have with Game of Thrones reminds me of the enthusiasm that my friends had with How I Met Your Mother. I was hesitant to try it at first but convinced myself to try it, and I have never looked back since.
2. It is very well made. An episode seems like a movie in itself, in terms of production. In my virtual ranking of best produced series, Game of Thrones rank second to Sherlock. The setting, the costumes and the props (hello, the swords look like real swords, the ones that could really cut someone) were perfect.
3. The show is blessed with good actors. Producers should thank their casting director for a good job. I loved the strong performances of Sean Bean as Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark, Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark, Kit Harington as Jon Snow, and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark.
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| (clockwise from top left:) Daenerys Targaryen, Lord Petyr Baelish, Lord Ned Stark and Queen Cersei Lannister |
4. The story is very well written and the characters are so promising that the writers are not afraid to kill off the main character. Yes, the death of Ned Stark was written in the George Martin books but still, following conventional TV series writing, the writers could have not followed Martin and let the only upright character in the whole of Westeros live. They choose to defy the conventional and didn't care whether they get crap for killing off the main guy. Sometimes I wish other writers have this confidence the writers of Game of Thrones have. But, then again, other shows are not blessed with the open mindedness viewers of Game of Thrones have. Just look at what happened to House when Cuddy, Cameron and, to an extent, Thirteen left.
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| The show's still underdeveloped characters show promise: (Clockwise from top left) Arya Stark, Jon Snow, Bran Stark and Robb Stark |
5. The direwolves. When I convinced my brother to give Game of Thrones a try, I found myself highlighting the fact that the five Stark children each had a direwolf, which served as the Stark's sigil, to take care of and protect them. These direwolves played (although I doubt it if they are aware of it) important roles in the Stark children's lives. Bran's Summer defended him from his hired killer. Nymeria almost ate off Joffrey's hand after he attacked Arya. Sansa hated her father for letting the King take Lady's life in replacement for Nymeria's. Even Jon Snow's albino direwolf Ghost and Robb's Grey Wind have been given ample screen time.
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| Bran holding a very young Summer |
CONS:
1. Although I am a history major--well, sort of--the whole medieval-kingdoms-against-kingdoms plot does not appeal to me that much. Mind you, I fell asleep in the first few minutes of the first movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I am not even sure if it was about kings. I'd rather watch science-y stuff the boys of The Big Bang Theory rant about over this. Yeah, I know, kill me now, Game of Thrones fans.
2. After watching eight episodes, I came out of it with a strong hatred towards the characters rather than love. Usually, after I finish watching two episodes for my QNBS review, I focus on the show's positive aspects and what I love about it. But with the Game of Thrones, the dominating emotion was hate. I hated Viserys Targaryen, Jaime Lannister, Joffrey Baratheon and Jon Arryn's son who loves violence and his mother's colostrum (come on, the boy looks ten years old!). I don't want to watch a show because I strongly hate its characters and slightly like the others. Although as cheesy as this may sound, I remained loyal to Chuck, How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory because I loved its characters.
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| The guys I love to hate: (clockwise from top left) Jamie Lannister, Joffrey Baratheon, Jon Arryn's son and Viserys Targaryen |
3. Too much gore, sex and scheming. I was thinking my sensibilities are, well, liberated enough to endure the explicit violence and sexual content of Game of Thrones. But, no. The way the show treated sex and violence casually was something I cannot get used to. I am young barrio lass after all. Haha I can just imagine what my reaction will be to Spartacus.
Game of Thrones is good yet somehow I don't find myself liking it enough for it to replace Chuck in my regular TV series viewing. I think of Game of Thrones as my family's traditional, special Christmas Eve dish. We love it but we do not eat it regularly because it is best served during special occasions. Its quality will not be appreciated if served regularly.
So it is decided that I, Jo Ann Frances, first of my name, of the House of Madarang, shall watch Game of Thrones after every season is finished to enable me to appreciate its plot, actors and story properly.
(Yeah, the inner geek in me has wanted to do that since I heard the characters speak these lines)
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You may want to check other QNBS reviews:
QNBS: Sherlock
QNBS: Suits
QNBS: Game of Thrones 1
QNBS: IT Crowd
QNBS: Rizzoli & Isles
QNBS: Community
QNBS: Awkward
QNBS: New Girl
QNBS: Outsourced
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