Directed by: Tim Van Patten
Written by: David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, George R. R. Martin
Cast: Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Michelle Fairley, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Iain Glen, Aidan Gillen, Harry Lloyd, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Richard Madden, Jack Gleeson, Peter Dinklage
It's better than 97% of the shit on TV right now, that's for damned sure.
Unless, of course, you ask a middle-aged, unhappy, seriously-mainstream-circa-1987 writer for, say, oh, I don't know, The New York Times. In that case, you might get a different answer. Otherwise, Game of Thrones is nothing short of amazing.
"But that can't be true!" you exclaim! "There is no such thing as good TV anymore!"
Yes there is, I tell you. TV is good when it is really expensive. Like when they have an entire castle built in Scotland so that they can get an exterior shot of a castle. Like, "million dollars an episode expensive". That shit is good. Remember Battlestar Galactica? That good.
Game of Thrones is a fantasy story about warring kingdoms, and rulers, in a continent called Westeros. (Westeros, incidentally, is just north of Southoryos and west of Essos. Get it?). Westeros is inhabited by a medieval-Europe-type culture and has attained a medieval-Europe technological level. Inspired by the real-life War of the Roses in England and France in the 1300s, author George R.R. Martin has taken great pains to make his world as relatable to western history as humanly possible. The TV adaptation, likewise, takes great pains to copy the novels down to small and awesome details. Did I happen to mention they built castles, and shot in the snow?
Winterfell is a kingdom in the north of Westeros, which is held by the Stark family and has been held by Starks for thousands of years. Ned Stark, the patriarch of the family, receives a visit from King Robert from King's Landing, asking Ned to join him at his castle, called King's Landing, to serve as The King's Hand (think: Secretary of State) since his last three King's Hands all died really quickly in succession.
That's the plot of the first episode. If you feel like you're missing something, you are, and I shall fill you in. Ned's family consists of the red-headed Catelyn and their children; teenaged Rob, his 13-year-old half-brother Jon, 13-year-old Sansa (who looks just like her mother), 10-year-old Bran, 9-year-old Arya, and a 3-year-old kid (whose name I forget). Anyway, they live in Winterfell, a huge castle in the northern lands that gets snowy really early (think: Scottish Highlands weather, or Montana, if you're a yank) and winter is coming. Winter in this world can last for years, and so can summer. So it's really cool if it's summer, but once summer is over... well. You can see the problems. So, in this first episode, we meet the Starks, see their castle, learn how honorable Ned is, and how shallow Sansa is, how mischievous Arya is, how worried Catelyn is, how pissed off Jon is because he's illegitimate, and what a good climber Bran is.
We also meet King Robert, who runs everything, and his blond wife Queen Cersei. Cersei's twin brother Jamie is a member of the King's Guard, so he shows up everywhere Rob and Cersei are. Cersei and Rob have some royal blond children: Joffrey and Myrcella. We only meet Joffrey in this, kind of. He's a douche. Anyway, everyone gets together and has a feast.
But Game of Thrones, while a fantasy story, is actually an espionage-y thriller. There's a lot of political intrigue going on. People are plotting against each other, people are plotting to take over the one kingdom and put someone on the throne, to kill this King's Hand, etc. There's a LOT of political intrigue. Just in this first episode we find out that Jon Arryn, the King's Hand, was murdered because of something he knew. We also find out about Cersei and Jamie (if you read the books, you know) and we find out who isn't above child-killing to get their way.
Did I forget to mention that whole thing about Prince Viserys Targaryan, and his sister Daenerys, and how they live in Pentos, across the sea, because Ned Stark and King Rob and Jamie Lannister killed their father, Aerys Targaryan, the rightful ruler of Westeros, and Viserys is plotting to reclaim his throne with the aid of a Dothraki barbarian warlord, to whom he marries his sister? Yes? Hm.
What makes Game of Thrones so fucking good as a TV show (aside from the gobs and gobs of money spent on it) is the casting. It's brilliantly cast, and anyone who is a fan of the novels will have some really happy moments watching these actors look and sound like the characters. Cersei Lannister, played by Lena Headey in a long blond wig, is condescending and proud. Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) is probably a stroke of genius; he's the perfect embodiment of sarcasm and anger and wit. Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Ned Stark (Sean Bean), Viserys (Harry Lloyd), Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) are perfect. Wouldn't change a thing. My only gripe with the casting is that Rob Stark (Richard Madden), Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) are all cast a bit older than they are in the novels. Rob Stark is 14 at the beginning of Game of Thrones the novel, but he, and his younger brother Jon, are sporting some serious 20-year-old facial hair in the TV series. Daenerys's 13-year-old boobs look awfully 22, and Catelyn, who got married at 18 and whose oldest son is 14, looks suspiciously 45 (yes, I nerded out and did the math). I'm not sure why these characters were aged; maybe it has something to do with how much rape and child nudity/molestation goes on in the novels? No, I'm not kidding.
I know when I see a TV version of a novel I adored, and I like the TV version, that other nerds like me will also be quite happy. Because I'm a bitchy nerd who doesn't like change. The dialogue was not dumbed-down for you losers who haven't read the novels, and it wasn't written poorly like that shit on The Tudors. It's smart. It's not insulting. It's... respectful of the source material. And it's fucking gorgeous-looking. Seriously, this cinematographer should be looking at some kind of cinematographer-Emmy come, you know, Emmy time, whenever that is. The sets, the costumes, the art direction, the attention to amazing and important detail are literally some of the best I've ever seen on television. How can that be? Are most people who make TV just seriously untalented hacks? Because the crew behind Game of Thrones makes them all seem like seriously untalented hacks (see: Two and a Half Men).
I can tell you that the story only gets better from this point on. The first episode covers about the first 4th of the first novel. There's so much more. People get so much meaner. People get so much more wicked.
Rating: (5 out of 5):
Good to hear.
I'm really looking forward to checking this out. I'm sure we all have our dream book series we'd love to see done with this level of production value and faithfulness. I'd kill to see Joe Abercrombie's 'The First Law' trilogy done, or even the standalone novel in that world 'Best Served Cold'.
I think George R.R. Martin fans should consider themselves extremely fortunate to have this series made and that it wasn't just thrown together by a bunch of hacks.