Okay, so, Game of Thrones.

I don't think I have a lot of interesting material to cover here: no show before or since will ever be so completely trampled upon by the content-industrial complex quite like this one. Yes, I hated the ending — I was "out" on the show a few seasons more than the average person, I think, mostly because I was always more interested in the "High Fantasy Sopranos" angle more than the "Dragons & Zombies" angle and the plot understandably shifted from the former to the latter over time.

That being said: still a good show! I don't regret spending time with it, and if someone somehow appeared in the world without a preconception about it I very easily and very quickly recommend them the show.

The thing that will stick with me about Game of Thrones, though, is the first few seasons, and the pitch or lens that I'm sure is relatively common but I can't find the original source where I encountered:

Take the most stereotypical fantasy premise possible: a king has become insane with power and a loyal group of warriors unite to overthrow him and improve the world. Now what happens after that?

I love that, and that vaguely postmodern genre lens fulfills its promise and then some. Game of Thrones was — is — at its best when its deconstructing the genre with equal parts adoration & malice.

★★★★

Highlights

“You’ve had a strange journey.”

“Stranger than most.”

“I would like to hear about it.”

“It’s a long story.”

“If only we were trapped in a castle, in the middle of winter, with nowhere to go.”