Game of Thrones- Turning Point
Tonight is a big episode of the Game of Thrones. More
accurately for me, it better be. For 4 episodes this season, I have felt a
variety of emotions about Game of Thrones, including distracted, misled, repetitive,
but most importantly of all those, disinterested. This is probably blasphemy
for some ardent Game of Thrones novel and TV series supporters, but it’s like I’m
watching a TV show that has ADHD, having a hard time concentrating. It’s almost
like the writers/producers are writing about Robb Stark and suddenly they come
up with this great thought about Tyrion Lannister and flip to a scene about
him, then another one about Sansa, then another about Aria, then suddenly to
Bran, and then we finally, finally get to the episode I really care about,
which is……..Danerys. Unfortuantely I have to say, if this show was all about
Danerysus’s rise to power and march to her rightful spot atop the Iron Throne,
and then sometimes threw us a bone with Robb Stark and comedic relief from
Tyrion, it’d be a much better show. Now there’s just way too much characters to
keep track of and that I don’t really care about.
And also the nude scenes are a little lacking.
I do have to admit that the music is still right on. Just
epic. Feels like the balance of the world as a whole is in the balance.
So in conclusion, I have decided that tonight, the new
episode of Game of Thrones will either be my last episode or the first episode
in a long line of great episodes to come….I have to make “The Decision” either way
by the end of the episode. Otherwise I’m taking my viewing talents to another
show.
My reluctance to show loyalty to Game of Thrones is
multifaceted. Ironically, Game of Thrones itself usually puts on display reasons
why we shouldn’t trust anyone: See “Eduard Stark.” More pertinently, I’ve been
fooled by TV shows before and been disappointed. 7 seasons of LOST left me
feeling empty inside when the last episode of the last season, promised to be
the one where “answers will be given,” gave a copout ending that left me
feeling like I had been the tail end of a pyramid scheme, that the payoff was
about 1/1000 of what the hook was. “Heroes” comes to mind where I had to
physically stop watching the show about halfway through Season 3 because it was
just going nowhere. (The consensus is that Heroes had about 80% of a very good
season 1, then flunked its season finale and never recovered from there). Other
shows come to mind but certainly Heroes and LOST are the prime examples of my
generation. The flip side (not including comedies, of course, which are usually
steadily pretty good except for the painfully stretched “The Office,”) are Breaking
Bad, which arguably maybe having its best season as its last, The Wire (always
good), among others. However, those shows never had any signs of letting up,
unlike LOST or Heroes where there was definitely a let-up but my mind just was
hoping (against hope) that it would get hope. My experience has been that once
enough warning signs pop up like 1.) themes are repeated, 2.) characters
starting acting out of character, 3.) whole plot lines become unbearable, and
4.) other people are experiencing the same symptoms, that it’s probably a sign
to stop watching the show (stop taking Viagara immediately if effects last
longer than 4 hours).
Here’s a show worth watching: The Chicago Bulls. The Baby
Bulls (ok, not so Baby anymore) are the team with the most heart in the league
and make up for talent with determination and hard-nosed play. In a game they
had no business being in, with their star player out for the season, their
second-best player hobbling around with plantar facilitis, and coming off a win
just 36 hours ago (a stunningly quick turnaround to have to recover from), they
defeated the Nets in triple OT in what has easily been “the game” of the NBA
playoffs so far. (Much better than the embarrassing loss my friends and I
witnessed at the Staples Center in Lakers v. Spurs Game 3). The Bulls just
never gave up, even after being down 17 or so in various stretches of the 4th
quarter and 14 with about 3 minutes left to go. The Bulls (and in this case
Nate Robinson) just found a way to win. They’re not just a good team, they’re a
great team to watch. They play the right way, they don’t blame their teammates
if something goes wrong, they’re well coached, they play great defense, they
help out, and they’re not the most talented team. It’s exactly the kind of
teams I LOVE to play on and can relate to: players that haven’t been given the
most God-given gifts but don’t complain about it, instead playing even harder
to taken down those who are more talented.
Now up 3-1 (big turning point was the aforementioned Game 4), I suspect the Bulls will lose Game 5 just from
general fatigue (although I wouldn’t bet against them) but get geared up at home
in a series-clinching Game 6, at which point they’ll have quite a challenge in
the defending champion, well-rested Miami Heat. I know, however, that they won’t
quit, but neither will I: They’re one show that I won’t be giving up on, regardless
of the result.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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