Anyone else out there watch Game of Thrones? I seem to hear a lot about it, but I rarely watch shows on premium channels because I'm not used to having them.
We recently switched from cable to satellite because our cable company told us something different every time we called for help during our move ("yes you can have cable a both places" then "no, as soon as you activated at your new how we cut off your old house" and "yes it's a free self install" then later a bill for $119? for new service installation). We got tired of the half-truths and just opted to switch to an new company. I sure that won't be headache free either, but it seems we are addicted to TV so we've got to have some fix.
When I was single I just used whatever that thing is were shows already aired are automatically saved -- it's one network, I think, but it's the one with all the forensic shows. So on my weekend binge of a couple glasses of wine, pizza and an evening of TV I would go out and watch one series all the way through -- whatever 4 or 5 shows had accumulated since I last watched. One weekend it was CSI:Miami, another was CSI:NY, the next Numb3rs, etc. And sometimes Becca and I would swap DVDs for other shows like Bones. I liked it because you could watch a whole series in a row and see the storyline unfold without the annoying weeklong lapse between them. Like reading a couple of chapters in a book but in a passive, more visual way. But about the time I moved in with Iggy, I had basically caught up on all the DVDs and they'd replaced my favorite character on CSI:NY and CSI:Miami seemed like all bikinis and soap opera drama so I was looking for new distractions.
Iggy and I have established a routine of recording shows and watching them as a "wind-down" in the evening. I switched to some of the comedies he likes (Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother) and probably eliminated from his list the shows I didn't feel like getting caught up on (Weeds or Entourage). At any rate we both have a couple of shows that we don't watch together but for the most part we have some joint shows we watch in the evenings. Summer is a slow time for shows I have come to realize. I have been sucked into the reality show vortex, much to my chagrin, and we watch Big Brother. Sometimes I will consent to watching cooking reality shows but mostly I hate the yelling and I get sad when they send home someone I am rooting for, so I mostly avoid them. I love Storage Wars and Pawn Stars, but they're a little formulaic, I guess, because I feel like I've seen the episode even when I know we're watching a new one.
Which brings me back to Game of Thrones. I had been hearing about it and was starting to feel a little left out. We discovered that we can see season 1 from the equivalent of "on demand" for satellite. So we watched the first one and I was hooked on the storyline. But 2 beheadings and a couple battles where guts spill out all over the place and what seemed like an excessive amount of sex even for an adult cable show that's not a porn network had me wondering if I was cut out to watch this show. And also wondering what the script looks like...during the "wedding scene" does it say "Man 1 engages in gratuitous but very fake fucking from behind with Woman A. Man 2 pulls him away and takes over, while Man 1 pretends to reel from the force before..."? And who do you write the choreography for both fighting/fucking?
Anyways...I kept thinking about the story. I was bummed that the 10-year-old boy probably died, wondered if, by some Hollywood miracle, he survived, wondered if his family figured out he was pushed out the window instead of falling. I wasn't quite sure I understood the blond woman/man (not the white-haired brother/sister). I thought they were brother/sister but then they get caught ... getting it on (I've probably over-used the other word). And I thought she was the queen...of the one guy who asked Ned to be his right hand man. I can't remember half the names yet and I would probably have a hard time spelling them anyways. Iggy and I were talking about the plot and he'd read a plot summary somewhere - turns out the blond chick is the queen and she is having an affair with her brother. Which is good, I guess, because it means I wasn't quite as befuddled as I thought I was. The summary also said they were twins -- oh, ok, good to know, and I probably did miss that clue during the show.
So I decided I'd give the show one more try. Season 1, Episode 2 didn't have as much of the beheadings/gut-spilling/fucking but at the end they have to kill an innocent and very cute dog. So I'm sitting there with tears streaming down my face thinking of the irony that cable networks will show humans being gutted and beheaded but won't show them stabbing a dog to kill it. I don't really understand that. But the episode did clear up a few things and we turned on the closed captioning so I can start to remember names.
Episode 3 was even milder -- did anyone even die? I don't remember...
But the plot continues to captivate me, so I guess I'm hooked now, for better or for worse. I don't really understand my attraction to the show just yet but at least it really does live up to the hype (so far) of being captivating. I feel a little guilty for spending my time thinking (and blogging) about it. Most of my other shows, I just watch and as soon as they're over I am done thinking about them.
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