Game of Thrones: Going Strong after 6 Seasons
I finished watching season 6 of Game of Thrones over the weekend. I'm impressed with how strong it continues to be. In fact it seems to get better every season. Moreover, every episode is compelling.
This is a high standard even among highly acclaimed shows. For example, The Sopranos was great overall but dragged multiple times in seasons 4-6. Several episodes were, frankly, dull- and one or two had me asking, " Has this show jumped the shark?" I toughed through the weak episodes because I expected/hoped the payoff at the end would be worth it.
With Game of Thrones the only tough thing is pacing myself. It's so tempting to click "Next Episode" each time and stay up half the night... and I I don't really want to stay up half the night! I've limited myself to generally 2 episodes per sitting. Having finished season 6 I'm itching to dive in to the last 2 seasons- which are kind of partial seasons, at 13 episodes combined.
Several seasons ago it wasn't clear that I'd get to this point. Not only was there the chance of a mid-series slump like with The Sopranos, but after I watched season 1 I felt put off by Game of Throne's themes of evil routinely triumphing over good because good is stupid and clueless, and gratuitous sex. I took a 6 month break before being ready to start season 2. But season 2 redeemed what was wrong with season 1, and every season since then has been great.
This is a high standard even among highly acclaimed shows. For example, The Sopranos was great overall but dragged multiple times in seasons 4-6. Several episodes were, frankly, dull- and one or two had me asking, " Has this show jumped the shark?" I toughed through the weak episodes because I expected/hoped the payoff at the end would be worth it.
With Game of Thrones the only tough thing is pacing myself. It's so tempting to click "Next Episode" each time and stay up half the night... and I I don't really want to stay up half the night! I've limited myself to generally 2 episodes per sitting. Having finished season 6 I'm itching to dive in to the last 2 seasons- which are kind of partial seasons, at 13 episodes combined.
Several seasons ago it wasn't clear that I'd get to this point. Not only was there the chance of a mid-series slump like with The Sopranos, but after I watched season 1 I felt put off by Game of Throne's themes of evil routinely triumphing over good because good is stupid and clueless, and gratuitous sex. I took a 6 month break before being ready to start season 2. But season 2 redeemed what was wrong with season 1, and every season since then has been great.