Game of Thrones

The second season of Game of Thrones on HBO is scheduled to start on April 1st.  So I thought it was time to watch the first season. Lucky for me, it is available "HBO On Demand."

Game of Thrones is another sex and swords sudser.  It is set in a mythical midieval land of Westeros.  It follows the travails of seven noble families in a world somewhat real and somewhat fantastical.  The characters are vidid and engaging.  But seven familes--that is a lot of characters to keep straight in my head. 

Actually, I did watch the first episode when the show first began airing.  I didn't watch any of the other episodes because I got mad at the show for killing off a charming little boy named Brandon.  In order to write this review, I watched the second show last week, and it turns out he hadn't been killed off.  He was only in a coma after being pushed and falling from a great height. At the end of episode two, he regains consciousness. It is nice to know that he is alive. 

The opening scenes of episode one are brillant.  The landscape of a wintery forest is depicted so well that I had to button my sweater more tightly.  The ice and snow on the screen was not the only source of chills.  Strange, vicious, menacing, murderous undead Wildlings are afoot.

Episodes one and two do a good job of introducing us to this world of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.  Life is hard and harsh and intrigues abound.  We start to get to know the characters and discover who is good and honorable, who is evil with greed and ambition, and who has traits on both sides of the divide. 

The show is engaging and I hope to find time to watch more.  But premium cable TV requires a bit of a juggling act.  There are so many shows and only so much time (that is to say, not very much time) that can be devoted to television drama.  I have to make choices and watch the shows that have the greatest appeal to me.  I'm not sure Game of Thrones will make the cut.