Game of Thrones, Season 1

As I wrote on my post about George R.R. Martin's book, I finally got around to watching the HBO series, Game of Thrones, finishing the first season a few nights ago. I wasn't enthralled with the book, determining I won't read the succeeding books, but I was with the show, which is excellent television, another example of this golden renaissance of the boob tube.

What the series is able to do is smooth out the fan-boy stuff and get down to brass tacks. The plot is the same, as labyrinthine as ever, with enough characters to keep both sides of the Atlantic employed. What's different is it has a keener edge. This is like Tolkien combined with Shakespeare's history plays. The maneuvering is easier to watch, and easier to enjoy.

I won't get too involved with plot summary, as it would take me all night. The island of Westeros has seven kingdoms, but are ruled by one sovereign, who sits on the iron throne, forged from swords. We start with King Robert on the throne (Mark Addy, in full on Henry VIII mode). He trusts Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) of the House of Winterfell, but Stark realizes that Addy's wife's family, the rich and sleazy Lannisters, want to put their son Joffrey on the throne, even though he is the product of an incestuous relationship between the Queen (Lena Headey, wearing a perpetual scowl) and her twin brother Jamie (the too handsome Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). That's just scratching the surface, as there are numerous other subplots, including something mysterious going on beyond the massive wall in the north, to an army of Mongol-like warriors, led by the Targaryens, children of the "Mad King," killed by Jamie Lannister, who want the throne back.

Of course, a lot of the credit goes to Martin, who has cribbed a little from British history but created a world that is every bit as interesting as Middle Earth. I loved the detail, such as the rituals of the Night Watch, the monastic order that keeps watch at the wall. The same for the Dothraki, who are the warriors led by Khal Drogo, who has married Daenerys Targaryen (played fetchingly by Emilia Clarke). A lot of this is difficult to keep track of, but seeing it all play out was easier than reading and flipping back to the appendix.

Special credit is to be given for some of the peripheral characters and their performers. Peter Dinklage, as the "imp," Tyrion Lannister, is not peripheral--in fact he may well be the anchor of the cast. Tyrion is the character of a lifetime, and for an actor of Dinklage's stature it may well be a dream come true. He never speaks a line that isn't charming or cunning. The scenes in which he is imprisoned in the Eyrie (held by the bat-shit crazy Lady Arrys, Kate Dickie) are riveting.

I'd also like to single out the characters who maneuver through the king's court like eels. One is Aiden Gillen as Littlefinger, the other Conleth Hill, as Varys, the eunuch called the "spider." The actions of these two give the piece a Shakespearean vibe, sort of like the Wars of the Roses plays, where life was a giant chess game.

And this all is a game, though a deadly one. As Headey says to Stark, "You win or you die." And lots of people die, and the camera doesn't stint in the bloodshed. But the show is leavened with terrific humor (mostly from Dinklage) and great power. The first season ends with Clarke, naked, emerging from a fire with baby dragons crawling on her. That's a wow finish. I'll keep up with this series.