[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Ew, there’s incest in the show. That’s a big deterrent. Any show, no matter how well executed, is creepy to watch when inappropriate contact between blood relations is rigged to shocking plot points and driving motivations. The incest is not a quickie device — it seethes through the entire series.
Sex and nudity. For a lot of people, this is a major draw. But I find it tiresome because women are the ones who have to do most of the stripping down. The sex is very often staged with prostitutes, if not in a bordello itself. They’re throwaway moments, as far as I’m concerned.
Hacking and gore. People get scarred, maimed, and seriously perforated. They’re bleeding out and dying in undiluted agony. It’s logical since they live in a feudal world of swords and treachery, but it’s still not savory. Favorite characters are not immune to unseemly demises. I resented losing people over and over again.
Dragons! They exist and they do serious damage. There are other fantasy elements to the show — black magic and something alien and zombie-like on the edges of the human world and ominously threatening the future of everyone.
Peter Dinklage is awesome. His portrayal of the vertically-challenged imp born to an elitist, filthy rich, and diabolical family is the stuff rock stars are made of. Though it took some time to warm up to most of the cast and their characters, Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister was stellar from the start.
Keep your eye on the short girl. Maisie Williams plays Arya, the tomboyish youngest daughter of the Stark Family. I’m not completely convinced that the women on this show are as powerful as the hype makes them out to be. But Arya is undeniably admirable, and one can only hope that she survives to reach her full potential.
Sexiest guy. My vote is Jon Snow, played by Kit Harrington. His character is incest-free (can you believe I even have to make that distinction?), and he’s not the whoring kind of guy. He has soulful puppy eyes, and he’s unfalteringly heroic, despite getting kicked around for being the bastard son of a nobleman. His story, as one of the Black Watch (defenders of a very important Wall), is completely compelling.
Sexiest woman. Hands down, it’s Diana Rigg. Her role is supporting, and she doesn’t show up until Season 3 of the series, but she demonstrates that she hasn’t lost that effortlessly sexy mojo we know so well from her legendary days as Emma Peel on “The Avengers”. She’s older, she’s got her wrinkles, and she’s not stepping into a catsuit anymore, but she’s the real deal. Rigg isn’t the only dynamic elder, either. Charles Dance is spot-on deadly as the patriarch of the Lannister clan.
The final verdict. The show is an unforgettable piss-off. You lose favorite characters (don’t even get me started about the Red Wedding), and the good guys rarely have a good day. But the long-format storytelling can be mesmerizing. The cast is outrageously tragic, brilliantly ironic, devastatingly evil, breathtakingly heroic, and capable of anything — ANYTHING. “Game of Thrones” masterminds its own formula for success, and that makes for exciting television.
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