A Little More Flaming Nose Love for HBO's "Game of Thrones"

There's nothing like sitting down to a mini marathon of a series to either clinch the deal or make you turn it off forever.  I resolved to watch the first two episodes of HBO's fantastical new series Game of Thrones to see if I could swallow this new outing or if it was just too elvish for me.  Those of you who love the genre -- and probably those of you who hate it -- know what I'm talking about.  There's a point where these imaginary worlds can get just too involved and a mite off-putting -- what Jane here accurately termed "beards and bathrobes" as in video games in the same genre -- and I feared I'd be shaking my head more than nodding approvingly.

I'm pleased to report that so far I think my instincts were off; Game of Thrones is plenty exciting, not too weirdly complicated to make you throw your hands up and toss it back, and has a bit of something for everyone.  You might be bored by one storyline and set of characters, but there are so many swirling allegiances that somebody's bound to come along who pushes your particular buttons.  I've found a few of my own.

In addition to Sean Bean in the lead -- we've written about him before -- I'd put Nicolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey as an ambitious brother-and-sister romantic team in the forefront.  Treacherous and good-looking, both of these two dynamic forces from the House of Lannister (see, this is where it gets a little too much, all these Houses of this and that, so I won't even mention that stuff anymore...boring!) are dynamic and watchable.  Definitely dangerous and with a big dose of creepy, too, with that incest thing.  And the woman is wife of the King, so how do you like that!  Takes balls!

Young Jack Gleeson as the sloe-eyed Prince Joffrey, is a right little shit, son to the incestuous Queen described above, and always captures the attention.  He's a snotty royal, a spoiled brat who likes to taunt the peasants and then lie about it.  We're already hoping for a comeuppance, and we're only up to Episode 3!



Peter Dinklage, of course, as the dwarf brother of the treacherous incestuous Lannister duo.  Sometimes in a generation a beyond-amazing small-stature actor is born -- I offer up the unforgettable and brilliant Michael Dunn as Dinklage's acting equal in that category -- and Dinklage dominates every scene he's in and you can't wait for the next one.  Absolutely riveting, amusing, attractive, and he's mesmerizing enough to make intelligence cool again. 

How about the near-albino brother and sister Targaryens, children of the previous murdered king?  Intriguing, also kind of a whiff of incest-y interest on the part of the brother to the sister, who has been married off to a perfectly divine barbarian warrior leader named Khal Drogo.  Jane accurately termed him a "Klingon" and he's wonderful, played by Jason Momoa who is going to be the next Conan in the movies.  Ultra-masculine and sexy, he's obviously going to be falling for his pale missus in a big way -- she introduces him to the modified missionary position, a step up from the doggy-style evidently customary in their world -- and much ado will undoubtedly come from that whole alliance.  Also, Drogo seems to have at least three as-yet-quiescent dragon eggs incubating in his tent, and I sure hope that they get a little to close to the campfire and start cracking open sometime soon...should I put money on that? 

Here's the preview for tonight's episode:



I have to admit I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode.  This is the word from somebody who hasn't read the books, doesn't want to read the books, but I'm glad they spawned a so-far terrific new TV series!  The book series, btw, is by George R.R. Martin, who in addition to the incredible success of the sequence of novels that spawned Game of Thrones, has been a prominent science fiction and fantasy writer for decades, including penning a bunch of episodes of the memorable series Beauty and the Beast back in the 1980s.  Gotta love that!

Check out HBO's Game of Thrones website for more coats-of-arms and background information than you can shake a broadsword at!  Game of Thrones new episodes premiere Sundays at 9pm on HBO.

Also, there's a three-episode marathon of all episode so far coming up this Wednesday, May 4th beginning at 8pm.  It's a great way to get up to speed in one evening, or of course you can get the latest episodes On Demand.  Enjoy!