You must watch..."Game of Thrones"

Hello all.  Wish I could say I’ve been busy doing something new and awesome and that’s the reason I haven’t been posting, but the real reason is just the usual stuff.  I’ve been plugging away on my writing and using the wasteland of summer TV repeats time to catch up on everything I missed the rest of the year…and well, I just finished watching the best new show I’ve seen in…a long time.

I prefer a less "pokey" chair myself.

If you don’t have HBO or if you do have HBO and you’ve just been living under a rock (like I was) you might have missed Game of Thrones when it originally aired this spring.  Not to fear, if you have HBO it’s still on, “on demand” for just under a week (till the 18th).  This might not seem like much time but trust me, if you like the show, you will finish all 10 episodes very quickly.  Also, I'm sure there will be cool legal ways for non HBOers to watch it soon/when it becomes available on DVD (like Netflix).

So, what makes Game of Thrones so great?  Is it all the naked ladies (and men), the occasional fighting/bloody violence, the excellent production values, or simply the Lord of the Ringsness of it all?  To tell the truth, I’m not a huge fan of fantasy or worlds where vaguely medieval knights gallop around on horses and live in realms where there are dungeons and dragons and those sorts of things.  I appreciate the detail in the world building, but I tend to be drawn more to family dramas and shows about the world I live in, even if they’re still totally unrealistic (like Desperate Housewives) or way outside the scope of my ordinary life (like The Good Wife).  I just feel like I can relate more to the familiar character dynamics of those types of shows (modern day parent/child, sibling, and couple relationships) which helps me in turn care about the shows' characters and their stories.  To me, fantasy or stories that happen in pseudo fantasy worlds are more about that world and therefore usually feel a little alienating to me, even if the worlds are cool.

But that’s the beauty of Game of Thrones.  The shows gets to have it both ways.  Even though the show definitely has a fantasylike world, at its core, this show is a family drama (or several family dramas as it were) and the show's focus on family relationships is just one reason I got hooked.

Another big reason has to do with the complexity of characters.  Fantasy to me usually means pretty clear GOOD and EVIL characters/creatures/giant burning eyes.  Game of Thrones is a lot more ambiguous.  Characters will surprise you, or you will find yourself loving them one moment and being angry at them for the way they act the next.  You might also find yourself rooting for two separate families or characters whose goals you know will ultimately be at odds with one another.  This complexity is great and with stakes so high (life and death) the show is exciting to watch and will hook you and keep you guessing where the story is going to go.

The show, based on a series of popular books (the newest of which is being released today, I guess) also does some craaaaazy stuff that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show do before in season one (no spoilers here, you’ll just have to watch to see what I mean, and if you have watched, then you already know).  Also, keep your eye on the oh so talented Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister.  Seriously, he steals every scene he's in and yeah, I’ll call it right now…Emmy nominations are announced later this week (7/14) and I think Dinklage will not only get a nom, but will win this year.

So yeah, even if you’re like me and fantasy isn’t your cup of tea, put that aside and watch Game of Thrones already.  It’s just that good.