Even having read the books it is difficult for me to remember some of the characters. Almost like a damn crossword puzzle. But shit, I think Mr Red hit on something when he said if Tryrion wasn't in this he'd be out. I think he's got a point. Give m somebody interesting and stick with them. He's probably the most interesting character to me.

My biggest concern when I heard HBO was taking this on was exactly this...in a number of series it takes a few episodes to establish the characters to a point that viewers pick their favorites and decide who they loathe, etc...in the case of these books, it's going to take two seasons just to establish all the characters to a point that people get a feel for them and their story line...and people who haven't read the books are not going to be sympathetic to this, as they have no vested interest going in aside from "oooh swords and dragons and tits, sweet".

I have my personal favorites, in terms of the books, and Tyrion is one of them, but he is also definitely stealing the show in the series. Part of this is I think Dinklage is an ace choice and a great actor, but also his story line has more meat to it right off the bat than a lot of the other characters. You can immediately empathize with the Tyrion character, being the unwanted freak son who has to survive by his wits and who loves whores and wine and talking shit...the rest of the characters, in my opinion, lack this sort of immediate engagement for viewers, and not really through a fault of the show's producers (though I certainly have my complaints, as does anyone who has read the books, probably). Characters like Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, Davos Seaworth...the surface has barely been scratched and it won't be until next season that most of their story lines fall into sync and viewers might start to appreciate the bigger picture and the smaller players. And the 'threat beyond the wall' is a pretty significant storyline as well, but even that point is developing very slowly, despite the heavy handed treatment in the screenplay.

So I hope that Tyrion and Arya can continue to carry the on-the-fence viewers until shit starts coming together...I'll be disappointed if the series gets canceled before at least a 4th season.

All my complaints about the show, and I have more than a couple, still pale in comparison to my appreciation for the all the things I feel they are doing right, and the fact that it's being done at all.

Harrenhal was cool.

Shadow baby was cheesy, though I'm not sure it's possible to make that scene not cheesy.

Joffrey's still an asshole.

Convinced even further that I totally misread Margaery.

Kept wondering when they'd tone down the show. Still wondering.

Davos is still cool.

Tyrion should be king.

Looking forward to Arya murdering everyone.

Can't wait for next week.

I can't see how people can complain about the Night's Watch story thread being unrelated when Dany's arc moves like a fucking snail to find it's way to the main story. Even in the books. At least the shit beyond the Wall happens in the same fucking continent as the rest of the story.

Yeah, but Daenerys has dragons. And boobs.

I'm finding, here and among friends and family watching the show, that people's most and least favorite story lines are all over the map.

Not sure how much bias there is in the fact that my favorites in the show are the same as they were in the books (Tyrion and Arya)...at least relative to the timeline so far.

My wife doesn't care about Dany's story at all and is most interested in the stuff beyond the Wall.

I'm equally vested in both, not bothered by them at all.

In the show, the weird focus on that whore, and Littlefinger's overabundance of screen time in general, are my biggest peeves in terms of wasting time.

And really, that thread has gotten a miniscule amount of air time this season. The bulk of it was "written" in the last season which featured DROGO (the aforementioned missing bad-ass element), Dany's crazy brother and fucking witches inflicting black plagues upon victims. As a whole, the story above the wall has only featured a zombie or two, some incest and a bunch of scenes with dudes just freezing their nuts off.

Peter Dinklage has to be the greatest dwarf actor of all time though, right? Sure, the sample size is pretty small, but I can't think of another role that was done as credibly as what we've seen in this serial. Of course, he was given a rich script/role, but a lesser actor could have really bungled this. You know, you really DO think this guy is from nobility, yet has risen above his pampered circumstance with real feelings and empathy toward the common person because of his affliction.

But yeah, I'm already invested in the series and look forward to the remaining six shows this season, but mostly because of Tyrion/Dinklage. I look forward to other interesting characters and bad-assery emerging eventually. Until then, I'll continue griping as I feel is warranted.

The NY Times (I believe) did a pretty solid interview/feature on him before season 2 kicked off. He's a smart, determined actor and has had to survive on a whole lot of nothing because he didn't want to do just "dwarf roles." He's made his career choices based on what's good as an actor, not what's going to put food on the table. Sounds like a smart, smart dude. Probably digs Fu Manchu too.

Not entirely implausible...he's friends with the dude who directed "Anvil!"

Thanks for the tip on the interview...good read.

Ha.

Damn, that's pretty good.

I think that the scene with Arya and Tywin was one of the strongest this season.

yeah, Arya's story, in the book and especially in the TV series, is the one I am most emotionally vested in....Tyrion is a badass and I love his screen time, but with Arya there is more suspense.

which admittedly is a little ridiculous since I know what's going to happen, but let that be a testament to the quality of the scenes.

+1

As in the books, I find myself wishing the story lines involving the Night's Watch and Daenerys would pick up the pace a bit...they're both pivotal, yet slow as molasses even by Martin's standard...no such complaints re: Tyrion, the Greyjoys and Arya though...hell, the Greyjoy depiction in the show has been better, IMO, than in the book...thus far anyway.

Yeah, but as far as the books go, (I don't watch the series), even Tyrion's plot gets bogged down horrendously in the latest book. It's almost comical how slow things move for him in A Dance With Dragons.

In fact, every single character literally goes nowhere fast. For a series that's supposed to be concluded in two more books, I see no way on earth how it all can get resolved with the snail's pace that the narrative moves.

I haven't read Dance yet but I was pondering that same thing...I figure the result will be one of three things (or possibly a combination):

1. shit gets rushed into a climax, leaving some story lines dangling and questions unanswered and a general lack of depth.

2. two more books gets turned into 3 (probably finished by someone else because at this rate Martin won't live to finish it...hell, I might not fucking live to finish it.)

3. a lot of POV characters are going to die....this is entirely plausible given the likely battle(s) brewing and Martin's penchant for killing people off.

I think it'll be this.

Who cares about loose ends if everyone is dead...

There's a quote from Martin from awhile ago where he was asked if he knew how the series ended. He said the final scene would be (paraphrasing) someone standing in a (snowy, I believe) field with a lot of graves.

I hope HBO learned its lesson from rushing its Rome series a few years back...the stellar first season was expensive as fuck, and the show suffered for it during its rushed final run.

^^ I they're being pretty clever with their cost cutting tactics. At least, as far as I can tell. I notice the beach in Dragonstone is used for at least three other locations.

^ Good eye for detail!...they have been good about pinching pennies it seems...that said, their treatment of the upcoming battle royale and the clashes with the wildlings should be interesting.

Quite a few deviations from the book developing, but most make sense to me given time/budget constraints.

Only minor complaint I have at this point is Ygritte looks...less wild..than I expected.

Plenty of deviations. But I think it's coming together. Again, I think the strongest scenes have been between Tywin and Arya. Even though I've read the books (and I have a fair idea of what's going to happen) those scenes are the ones that have me at the edge of my seat.

The riot scene was a nice touch. Though more hitting of Joffery would've been appreciated.

^ I don't know...Tyrion gotta helluva smack in on Joffrey...ha!...aside from the oft-discussed story lines, I'm glad the Hound got to show off his badassery during the riot scene...and the Winterfell siege scenes had me scrambling for the book to double check my memory, although I liked how they handled Rodrik's death even if it was a far cry from the book...I was also surprised at how normal Ygritte looked, but, then again, Roose Bolton isn't exactly how I envisioned him either...all in all, I'm still enjoying the ride...looking forward to seeing Drogon put his talents to work against the Undying...not sure how that will play out though as he accompanied Daenerys into the House of the Undying in the book, if my memory serves me correct.

Yeah. Not quite impressed with their choice in Bolton. I don't mind his look, but he seems to be out of breath most of the time and he's too loud. This last episode was the only time when he actually did/said something (recommend how his bastard son would be 'honored' to defend Winterfell) important. Outside of that he seems to be just Commander Exposition to replace Greatjon Umber.