1661

I’m not sure why I would bother reading an article that starts by punning Game of Thrones into ‘Game of Bones’. Joel Siegel would be proud.

1662

With The Sopranos, Boardwalk, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and the Celebrity Apprentice, why do we still care about likeable characters?

1663

Actually, I think it’s a decent article that points out a couple of reservations I’ve had with the show so far.

  • Dany is dull. Yes, readers know that it gets better, but right now her story is deadly dull and her character is just an enigma. Why does she put up with her weirdo brother? Why doesn’t she protest anything? As I said earlier, her transition from victim to someone that wants to take charge of her situation through sex is really jarring. It’s not helped by the pseudo-lesbian scene with the servant.

  • Sean Bean is just there. The elder Stark has done nothing so far but react, quite passively, to everything around him. He hasn’t actually done anything yet other than look pained and mumble about honor. Again, readers know he starts to get better once he starts investigating what happened to Arryn, but for now he’s oddly bland. VF correctly pointed out that he has little to no emotional reaction to his son being on death’s door.

I’m wondering that as well. All of us come from a very different perspective on this. Even the people in the other thread that have never read the books have us to bounce off. I can imagine that watching this show in a vacuum would be tough. Primarily, where is this all going?

1664

Compared to The Wire, it’s not so bad. So far the only really significant character relationship thing that I missed (and honestly I think they really just haven’t talked about it in the show yet) is that one of the young men that I thought was one of Ned Stark’s sons isn’t his son.

1665

They should probably explain who Theon is at some point here. Otherwise some things when we get to season 2 will look like they were completely pulled out of the writers’ asses.

1666

I have a friend at work who has not read the book and I asked her for her and her husband’s take on the show after each episode. They went into episode one with her being optimistic since I’d recommended it and him (the husband) thinking it was going to suck (D&D/Fantasy prejudice at work). They both enjoyed episode one, and he changed his opinion quickly. After episode two they are both completely hooked. Both have made some fairly astute guesses at what might be going on behind what we see on screen, and both are eager to find out if they are right and what might happen. I have spoiled nothing for them, and will continue to let them experience the show as it airs without input from me other than to clarify a question or two about information already presented in the episodes that have aired. Surprisingly they’ve had very few questions, and those were about minor characters backgrounds.

It’s antecdotal evidence for sure, but from what I’m hearing from both my friends and people over in the non-spoilers thread it seems that non-readers are getting along just fine and showing interest in the show and the characters. That’s all HBO needs to do for the first few episodes as when the shit hits the fan even the most isolated non-readers will be totally hooked.

1667

Ratings held steady. 2.2 million on the initial Sunday night broadcast. Not counting repeat broadcasts or On Demand. Not losing viewers in episode 2 is always a good thing. And it was Easter, which usually puts a hit on ratings.

Everything I’ve heard from critics is that the first two episodes are the “slowest.” They get to King’s Landing this week, and things really start to crackle. If that happens, then it’s all up to WOM.

1668

From what I’ve seen, anyone that is actually paying attention when watching the show (as opposed to, looking at their phone or being distracted) gets what is going on. I would say the show is much less complicated than Treme, for example, which needs a glossary to understand sometimes.

1669

To be fair, it does have that silly HBO thing going where you can say to yourself “I wonder what’s wrong, they have gone 14 whole minutes without any boobs and … oh, there they are.”

1670

14 minutes is an eternity, and HBO is almost Puritan by cable standards. Check out Spartacus. Starz can’t go 14 seconds without boobs. =)

1671

This was my take on that scene. Also, in one of the previews I watched Lena Headey said that she thought Cersei might’ve loved Robert at one point, but things had soured and settled into the enmity we see between them at the start of the show. That interpretation of her first child dying would seem to reinforce that take.

I said the same thing to my brother about how The Hound was just standing there. He said The Hound hates Joffrey. My memory of the books is not great.

Exactly. I’ve been watching a lot of Sopranos lately and it’s startling what fucking scumbags they all are. Just when you think some of them might be worth rooting for, they turn around and do something completely abhorrent. It makes for fascinating television.

This is spot on. I’m not sure this is even Sean Bean’s fault. I think Ned just sort of lets things come at him for a while in the books. I’m hoping this improves as he becomes more active in King’s Landing.

1672

Lena Headey should probably read AFFC, then.

1673

Yeah, that’s what I thought when I saw that interview, but maybe they’re shaking things up just a bit in the series. The story about her bearing a son to Robert wasn’t in the books, was it?

1674

She tells Ned in the Godswood that Robert only got her pregnant once, and she took moon tea to get rid of it.

1675

Ah, ok. Thanks Guido. The temptation to start reading the books again is strong, but I’m trying to experience the show with the freshest eyes possible.

1676

Really digging the series.

For anyone that thinks they are bleak now and does not want to watch further, that is probably a good call, since bleak does not begin to describe the later happenings…

1677

Word of warning, folks. If you’re going to get into an argument about which characters on the show are the best, keep it civil.

1678

Lena Heady hasn’t read the books, based on the recent interviews she’s given. Many of the actors have, but others haven’t. Some avoid the books because their acting process is better not knowing that kind of stuff. Still, based on those interviews I’m totally confident she totally’s got Cersei figured out perfectly.

1679

That’s a great way to put it ;). I really liked what Martin did with Jaime’s character in A Storm of Swords. You never really feel like he’s a good guy, but you at least respect him, sort of. And when …

SPOILER!

… when his hand gets chopped off, you feel that a giant has fallen.

1680

Hahaha, I read a comment where someone said their non-reader friends were asking him after the first episode who his favorite character was, and he said Jaime, and they were all, “Wait, the guy who threw the kid out the window???”