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So I finished watching season 2 of Game of Thrones and fuck I just don't get why people love this show. No, it's not terrible but God damn what's with all the love for this show? I could talk about problems with that show all day, (and I might) but if I was one of the first people to see it, I would not expect people would like this show, let alone love it. So please someone tell me what's up with this?
+2 
In a nutshell, it brings a level of scale and production value to a Fantasy series that has never been attempted on TV before, which lets it tell a vastly more nuanced and elaborate story than a more traditional fantasy series like LOTR. I can understand it not being your cup of tea necessarily, but you have to admire that this show is even able to exist.
Like, this thing should be completely un-filmable, and by god they've found a way to do it. Show me another show with large-scale army battles, elaborate sets and dozens of locations spread across 2 continents, with near flawless VFX work throughout. This, while also juggling over 3 dozen characters, and about 10 different sub-plots, keeping actors on schedule when some characters vanish from the story for episodes (or even seasons) at a time, and dealing with both animals and child actors.
I rewatched season 2 on Blu-ray and I was stunned by just the level of craft in the production design alone. Something like LOTR relies a lot on just giant landscapes, while Game of Thrones is all about intricately detailed rooms. It's crazy to just take a look at the amount of random, immaculately designed stuff lying around in the background of a given scene.
It's the Wire in a fully realized fantasy universe, that's the appeal, that's why people go crazy for it.
+3
I think Bullet3 makes some valid points but it's popularity is probably just because of the tits. 
Ha HA! Slowly, my hatred of this show spreads to others!!
Yeah. Thrones doesn't do anything for me either. I might watch season 3... but meh.
I think that Game of Thrones is just extraordinary. I mean, there's never been a show even remotely like it before. The scope is unprecedented. The acting (for the most part) is great, and so are the characters. The plot is unpredictable and yet believable. It's deserving of all the praise it gets. This is a show that should never have worked. The fact that it does even a little bit makes it special.
If I had one complaint, it's that the show is probably too focused on plot. But hey, when you're adapting from such massive books, that's to be expected. It may not have the depth of a show like Breaking Bad, but that show isn't going for the epic scale that Game of Thrones is.
I've heard mention of the depth of Breaking Bad but how is that show deep? Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad show, but it's so overrated. It's not even the best thing on TV now, let alone in the last 5 years.
I've heard mention of the depth of Breaking Bad but how is that show deep? Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad show, but it's so overrated. It's not even the best thing on TV now, let alone in the last 5 years.
It's the depth of the characters that make Breaking Bad so resonant, and yes, the best thing on TV right now. Everyone on the show has multiple specificities to their personality, and they're explained through their actions, not through dialogue. I'm so tired of movies and tv shows introducing characters by having someone verbally lay out all of their character traits and why the person has those traits. Hell, even Game of Thrones does this on occasion.
I could go into a whole Breaking Bad rant, but that's for another thread. It's a fascinating, well-written character study.
So I finished watching season 2 of Game of Thrones and fuck I just don't get why people love this show. No, it's not terrible but God damn what's with all the love for this show? I could talk about problems with that show all day, (and I might) but if I was one of the first people to see it, I would not expect people would like this show, let alone love it. So please someone tell me what's up with this?
I'm with you, sir.
While I can agree with bullet3 as to the technical aspects of the show, it doesn't make it interesting or enjoyable for me to watch. Granted, my familiarity with the show is only with the pilot of season 1, but I'm sorry-these are terrible people in the middle of some nasty business that I do not want to be part of.
Its not hatred so much as I am done with distopian worlds. Not to derail the thread, but Battlestar Galatica hit me the same way, though that was later on in the show.
Breaking Bad is MacBeth, but better.
Made it through a season of Breaking Bad. Meh. It didnt really interest me. The pilot of Game of Thrones was the same for me.
Maybe i only enjoy animated shows. Oh well.
I got to the start of season 4 and just stopped watching. Still haven't gone back. Have no real urge to either.
Yeah, I'm half way through season 3 and I've no motivation to continue. I'm just not really enjoying watching it, you know. It doesn't make me smile with happiness, it doesn't make me punch the air, it doesn't make me gape in astonishment, it doesn't make me shake my head in disbelief at a story turn.
I can see what people like about it, but it's sort of not really doing anything for me. I liked what they've done with the brother-in-love DEA agent, but I'm surprised by just how bored I am of the main characters. Self-destructive characters aren't endearing.
I will just say that the back half of Season 4, and the entirety of Season 5 ramp things up like crazy and the show becomes amazing, but I can understand not "enjoying" it. It can hit the same problem for people that House of Cards does, where the characters are such bad people and the material is so grim that it's just depressing to watch.
Enough Breaking Bad talk in this thread.
Saniss: i might sometime. Maybe.
Breaking Bad for me, kinda feels like is someone saw a grimy concrete wall, and said, let's make a tv show based on that.
For the first little bit it's kind of interesting, cause you get to look at how disgusting the wall is, and there's kind of a cool piece of graffiti in the corner. But after a while, you're still just staring at a grey wall with some gunk on it, and nothing else is going on.
It's not that I don't enjoy grim, or unlikable, self destructive characters, actually I freaking love shows that can do that. It's just that after a while, the entire show feels like it's on a loop, nothing really changes, the characters are just bad people in the same way they were bad people before, living in the same grim situations going through the same grim loops episode after episode and they expect us to still be fascinated by how dark and grimy the wall is, without actually changing anything. It's pointless.
To bring it back on point, Game of Thrones does the opposite. The characters are unlikable and, self destructive sometimes, yeah. But at least it's entertaining to watch, and those characters actually do things that impact the story in a forward direction, and aren't just spinning their wheels being dark and grim.
Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2013-03-14 01:24:40)
Totally disagree BDA. The development of the characters is what makes BB great. Actually you just described basically how I feel about Mad Men. Hardly any plot or character development, just boring people doing boring things. That's the question I'd like to ask. Why do people love Mad Men? I can maybe understand the critical acclaim, but why it has such a fan following is beyond me. What about that show is entertaining? Breaking Bad is well-written, well-directed, and well-acted, but it's also really entertaining and interesting. I watched the first season of Mad Men and I couldn't care less about any of the characters. Nothing to latch onto with any of them.
Last edited by Doctor Submarine (2013-03-14 02:17:35)
That's one of the best things about Game of Thrones actually, the series deceptively starts off as a semi-traditional fantasy story, with clear characters the audience categorizes as "good guys" and "bad guys", then proceeds to gradually reveal and grow them until the categories are flipped. One of the things I'm most looking forward to in Season 3 is seeing how some of the villains from Season 1 redeem themselves and become heroic protagonists.
That's one of the best things about Game of Thrones actually, the series deceptively starts off as a semi-traditional fantasy story, with clear characters the audience categorizes as "good guys" and "bad guys", then proceeds to gradually reveal and grow them until the categories are flipped. One of the things I'm most looking forward to in Season 3 is seeing how some of the villains from Season 1 redeem themselves and become heroic protagonists.
Yeah, reading the books I was shocked at how much my opinions of characters shifted. One character in particular (no spoilers) went from being someone I hated with a passion to becoming one of my favorite characters in the entire series.
That's one of the best things about Game of Thrones actually, the series deceptively starts off as a semi-traditional fantasy story, with clear characters the audience categorizes as "good guys" and "bad guys", then proceeds to gradually reveal and grow them until the categories are flipped. One of the things I'm most looking forward to in Season 3 is seeing how some of the villains from Season 1 redeem themselves and become heroic protagonists.
Maybe I should try to read the books first because my initial experience with the pilot left me pretty much unsympathetic with any of the characters so I didn't really get in to it.
But, I am glad that it exists and that fantasy TV series do well
I would suggest giving it 2-3 episodes before you give up. I originally had a similar feeling, pilot didn't really grab me and I didn't bother following up, but I fell in love when I gave it another shot a few months later.
Basically, I'm a fan of the show because I was a fan of the books. I was already invested in the world and the characters, and now I get to see them take on physical form. The anticipation for season 3 isn't "I wonder what will happen" but "how will they portray this scene/that character".
I can't really know if I would have enjoyed the show if I hadn't read the books first, but I think it says something that I've been able to forgive them for the changes they've made. Mostly.
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