Be Excellent To Each Other

Yep, that's what I know him from. Thanks.
I hate that wee prince. Their whole family are pretty annoying, except for the Imp, who's awesome.

Peter Dinklage is an awesome actor. If you haven't seen it, seek out The Station Agent.

I'm enjoying this more than I expected to. Peter Dinklage, Ned Stark's youngest daughter and Sean Bean doing his Sean Bean Schtick are all massively entertaining.

It's a long way from being perfect, though. OH MY GOD SO MUCH EXPOSITION. Fairly irritated by the continuing shorthand of someone being fat as an indicator of weak moral character as well, but this show's hardly alone in that.

Is the only case where that could be true not the king though? I woud say there are plenty of characters with weak moral character in the show and the two that spring straight to the top of my head aren't fat.

I also find the aforementioned politician bloke from the Wire (Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish), woman-who-married-pseudo-Genghis-Khan (Dany Targaryen), and disgraced-westerner-played-by-bloke-from-Doctor-Who (Ser Jorah Mormont) great to watch too, and with intriguing histories and interesting arcs ahead of them. There's stories I'm less into, like the whole Wall guardians story (why the hell don't they wear hats, by the way?), but overall I'm really enjoying it.

Oh, and the doddery old bloke on the King's Council is interesting too. I'm sure he knows more than he's letting on.

Great credits sequence too.

The three fat characters in the series I can think of are the king, the spymaster and the guy they've just introduced in episode 4 who really is the ne plus ultra of the trope. But yeah, it's probably fair comment that there are more dodgy people in this series than most.

The three fat characters in the series I can think of are the king, the spymaster and the guy they've just introduced in episode 4 who really is the ne plus ultra of the trope. But yeah, it's probably fair comment that there are more dodgy people in this series than most.[/quoteI've not seen last nights episode yet, I forgot there had been one on! I'll look forward to watching that tonight
I'm enjoying the wall story, if only because overtime someone says winter is coming, Jen gets all freaked out and mutters along with them, before turning to me Ames rating she can't wait for winter looking forward to seeing the scary bastards.

It's ok I have watched a few episodes, i'll stick with it for a while.

Really quickly, because it's off topic, but the LOTR books are rubbish.

Carry on!

A glorious film.

P.S. I have nothing to say about Game of wotsit since I've never seen it, but just had to post to big up The Station Agent.

Just watched to E5, its a good show.

Not sure why HBO feel the need to have tits and arse in almost every episode though.

Maybe thats why its a premium channel

I'm still really enjoying this.

Episode 7: The Game Is On! I can see things getting very messy now, even messier than before.

Incidentally I noticed on Wiki that screenplay for episode 8 has been written by the author of the books, the only episode of the 10. Perhaps because he's the only one that can handle the incoming shitstorm.

Certainly in the excessive nudity stakes!

Interested now.

Unless you mean Sean's Bean.

Still really enjoying it.

As an avid reader of the first three books (didn't read the 4th as I couldn't be arsed to wait 7 years for it), I must watch this.

Stupid Virgin not carrying Sky Atlantic.

Queer as folk is where I know him from.

ALSO: This is pretty great. I've been wanting to read the books for ages now, they're on THE LIST. The series is meant to be very close to the books, with GRRM even writing 1 episode a season. So maybe I won't have to bother? But I downloaded the whole thing over the weekend and watched them with the GF. Annoyingly, I must have downloaded Ep7 an hour after it was put up for downloading, or something, so now I have to wait a week. I CANNOT WAIT. I must know what happens to the gammy legged Seen-been.


On-topic-off-topicness: Brandon Sanderson, author of best books ever and something to do with the wheel of time but I haven't read that so I don't care, once wrote an article on his site about 'HATING' Tolkein.

GRRM has written the next episode I believe

Yup. It's got a number of annoying flaws but I'm having such a generally good time that I can forgive it with not much more than a reproachful "REALLY, Game Of Thrones?" in the moment. The last two episodes have both been dynamite, to the point that I barely noticed that neither of my two favourite characters had appeared in Episode 7.

In the sixth episode, did anyone else spot that

I certainly didn't. My wife, on the other hand...

The imp is by far my favorite character

Sublime: http://arrestedwesteros.tumblr.com/

(spoilers)

He's my favourite character in the books.

I still haven't bloody watched this. I assume I'll be waiting for the DVD boxset

I like it, but I do think there is starting to be too much nakedness....Also, it's a bit sick and pervy. I find it uncomfortable viewing, at times.

It's based on a set of fantasy novels. Fantasy novels tend, by and large, to be sick and pervy. GoT in particular has a lot of sex and unpleasantness in it. Sometimes not even at the same time.

Also "too much" nakedness? I don't recognise this as a concept.

The faux-lesbian scene in this weeks episode was well past the line of good taste and into "for the sake of it" territory, IMO.

Who and who? I don't recall any faux lesbianism until book 3 or 4.

The scene was:


(this is a very minor spoiler, with no significant plot details)

Ah, I see.

Well, I tend to agree with you then. Why would they even be doing that?

See: Fantasy novel.

Heh - the irony given that I'd made the same comment.

Still, even within the bounds of the fantasy novel, they tend to at least have a thin reason for things. Two prozzies aren't start going to lex it up with each other unless they're being paid.

Shrug, you're the expert mate

Heh.

Hang on... you didn't mean on fantasy novels, did you?

Yeah, it's this sort of thing that gets on my nerves. See also: the Dothraki, and the previously mentioned Fat People = Useless And/Or Morally Bankrupt idiocy. Like I said, in general I'm finding it really entertaining but there's enough stupid exploitative reactionary shit (and enough WALLS OF EXPOSITION) to stop me wholehartedly loving it.

Just torrent it?

In fairness, in a medieval type setting the fat chaps are quite likely to be the indolent greedy ones, as a whole (see: any member of the clergy). Also, isn't it only the evil eunuch council adviser spy chap who's fat?

Also also, to be fair, most historical type dramas on telly these days have a fair bit of sexy sexy see The Tudors, Rome etc.

Also also also: the WALLS OF EXPOSITION would be annoying in a book, of course, but the lack of a narrator in the telly series means that I'd fully expect some explanation from the characters as to who is who and what the fuck's going on. The books are fucking huge, and the setting is vast and detailed, so I'm not in the least bit surprised

[/quote]
I don't want to go to jail.

I don't mind the Dothraki portrayal. It's true they are a thinly veiled version of the Mongols, but I like how the leader bloke is clearly very taken with the queen woman and open-minded about her challenging their traditions.

I just watch some of it and think "Wow, whoever wrote this had real issues." They only seem to do it doggy style, whether they're simulating rape or 'love making' and it's all quite demeaning and there doesn't seem to be any actual need for the constantly aggressive nature of the sex scenes. They're all at it with their brothers and sisters and whilst I get that some of it is about keeping bloodlines pure and that some of it is a major part of the plot, The sex is used far to much as a means of portraying power in the show and it is getting to be be off-putting.


It's a shame because everything else about it is good, I like the characters and the relationships between them. I'd probably FF the sex scenes but Ramsea would probably cry

No, Flis means Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen. Although there was a throwaway line from Cersai which mitigated flis's point a little:

Yeah, it's definitely going for a Deadwood-esque commentary on how sex and sexuality are used to oppress women, but unlike Deadwood it's trying to have its cake and eat it by making the sex scenes titilating for the viewer (as well as repeatedly using sexy-sexy time to EXPOSITION DUMP all over the screen).

My issue with the Dothraki isn't the characters or the obvious Ghengis Khan parallel (blimey, if I had a problem with thinly-veiled metaphor or parallel I wouldn't last long in the fantasy/sci-fi genre!), it's the fact that it's the only place you're seeing non-white characters in the series and they're playing straight to the trope of non-Western people as savages who're "Closer To The Land" than people in more "civilised" cultures. It's tired and cliché and mildly offensive.

If you liken the 7 kingdoms to Europe, then it makes sense no?

They wouldn't have been many non whites in Europe in the Medieval Times!

Malc

Also the lesbian scene was to "teach" the prostitute from Winterfell how to fuck properly.




Only a spoiler if you haven't seen the last episode on sky atlantic

MAlc

Re: Dothraki

I haven't really seen any race contetations involving the way their society is portrayed, I viewed it more as a society in which to the alpha male go the spoils and everyone else picks the scraps up (see the issue about the ponytails). I reasoned to myself that the reason the other kingdoms were afraid of them is that they represented the way of life that they have so struggled to move from. I suppose representing the wilder side of things which the civilised rulers of the kingdoms were keen to avoid as best they could, given that none of the kings have seemed to be particularly good at fighting. This ties in with the "north of the wall" issues they have, and not wanting to cross it, and keeping the seven kingdoms together.

You're missing the point on both fronts, Malc. For one, there were plenty of non-white advanced societies in the world; the Egyptians were building pyramids when the Europeans were still trying not to starve to death. There's no reason Game of Thrones couldn't draw on that stuff for a change and give the Dothraki some knowledge or tech that the Westeros folk don't understand. For example, the stirrup was invented in Asia and the Romans had no knowledge of it; it didn't arrive in Europe until Asians imported the design hundreds of years later.

For two, your explanation of the plot in that scene (which I've already acknowledged in an early post) in no way justifies the overdone lingering shots of naked flesh and female-tennis-player grunting soundtrack.

Honestly, I think that sort of thing is self-justifying. /teenager

I did think it was a crap scene, but it did make sense in explaining the sort of man that he is. I just thought it was badly done.

As for the Dothraki, if you take them as Mongols pushing West across Europe, then it does make sense.

Yeah, there are other races that could have been used, but if that's what the author/producer wanted to convey they wouldn't choose to use them.

How many non-Europeans have attacked Northern Europe through History? (I'm excluding the Moors attacking Spain/Portugal here)

Malc

vikings. They came in boats, not hordes.

They're European.

Malc