By Ethan Harmon
Over the last few years, Game of Thrones has grown into one of the most watched shows on TV. The fan-base has exponentially grown and, when a season is airing, it is the only thing talked about. “Dude, did you see the last episode? It was f***ed up!” Yes, messed up and totally melodramatic. Though the craze will continue to spread until the show finally ends (most likely with the deaths of many main characters), for some – myself included – the last season did not feel as epic, which is a very bad feeling to have with this show.
Of course, the show is very well written and (mostly) finds a good balance of character moments for each episode. But the last season became less and less interesting with each passing episode. Sure, watching dragons burn a slave-trader to death and seeing Tyrion manipulate his way through King’s Landing are highlights, but what of the rest of the season? Focus was always shifted to characters that played little part in the grand scheme of things, and many interactions were dull and yawn-worthy.
And the shocking “twists” were disappointing. Jamie gets his hand cut off? Yeah, “neat.” It was a moment that was so out-of-nowhere it had little impact. And the Red Wedding? I’m sorry to say that it was not a great moment. Of course Rob was going to get the short end of the stick. Within the context of the story, and Rob’s situation, he should have known better than to trust an old man who had a history of doing horrible things to people. So, why should it be a surprise that he massacred Rob and his army? And the show did not focus too much on Rob until his demise, so by the time his story met a grim end, the emotional attachment and investment in the character was basically nil.
At this point, it just seems annoying to keep watching a show that puts all of its resources and time into trying to create a crazy, messed-up, “look at the bad things that happen to these people” type twist at the end of each season. Sure, they might not do this for every season, but that has been the case so far.
And what the hell is up with the random magic and zombies? And now there are people who are psychic? One guy can bring people back from the dead? Constant phallic abuse? Yeah, if the next season does not do something to pull me back in, then I will be calling it quits. And I do not think I’m the only one who is beginning to feel this way.
