Jack Attack Tuesday -Game of Thrones Is Testing My Patience
Jack Attack Tuesday
Game of Thrones Is Testing My Patience
I don’t think I’m alone in saying most of us were pretty shocked by this week’s Game of Thrones. Book readers and show watchers alike were pretty shocked to see that ***SPOILERS*** Stannis is, in fact, NOT the Mannis. At all. He’s kind of the anti-Mannis at this point. I’m not complaining about the writing not going in the direction the characters call for. In fact, I’m here to partially make the argument that this episode proves the show is going to stick to its guns. My whole thing though is that I think I’m getting to the point where watching this show seems more like sadism than entertainment.
I totally get it. Stannis, indoctrinated by religious fanaticism, sacrifices his only daughter to please the God he believes will bring him the Iron Throne. It makes sense on paper and is right in line with things the character has done in previous seasons. I think though, regardless of whether you’re into the books or the tv show (or a combination of the two) you have to admit this moment was brutal in a way the show hasn’t yet been. Sure, The Red Wedding was an ordeal and a horrible surprise and yes, the even earlier beheading of Ned Stark was also a shock, but Shireen Baratheon’s fate was much more deeply disturbing to me. This was someone that had absolutely no reason to die, yet she did in a horrible fashion. She was a survivor, coming out the other side of greyscale alive, yet she had to be put down for her horrible father’s wishes. It seems to me that Game of Thrones, at this point, is a test of patience. After five seasons and quite a lot of time spent on building up Stannis in the eyes of viewers as a justified and somewhat moral character they throw this in our face. Stannis murders children now. It’s too much for me. I don’t like that they went there at all. I don’t know what’s in store for the future, but this seemed like a push in the wrong direction. Things have been dark on this show before but I think the fact that something so horrible happened to an innocent child that really gets me. Funnily enough, this isn’t the first time this season I almost jumped the shark mid-episode. For instance…
I can tell you with relative certainty that had Gilly been raped before Sam saved her I would have turned the show off and not looked back. This was in an episode that followed the controversial Sansa wedding-night scene, which I know is a lot worse in the books (two wrongs don’t make a right here). I know this show has pushed the boundaries since its first episode but I’m starting to get a feeling that either Martin or the show runners are getting a sick and twisted delight out of what they can get away with. I’m not trying to use this article as a journal entry advocating for human rights but it sure seems like someone is getting off on destroying any hope these characters have at any moment.
I understand how stories work, and absolutely agree with the idea that the night MUST get darkest before the dawn. I’m all for playing on those tried-and-true beats to get to a satisfactory conclusion. All that being said, however, Thrones is just on the edge of watchable for me. Bad things happen, of course they do. The show depicts a hard world with a lot of morally-grey characters, but after around fifty hours watching things are starting to become just painful-for-painful’s-sake. I don’t think one aspect of the story has helped the good guys at any turn, and while I know there’s a certain element in the season finale next week that is somewhat satisfying, I don’t think this show is going to end well whatsoever. The story will have a conclusion, I have no doubt about that, but I can’t see any situation where any justifiably good character gets what they want in the end. There’s still a sliver of hope that I’m wrong and Martin does, in fact, have an incredible ending in store that suits the world and brings some nice finality to the proceedings, but with each episode approaching that end mark I grow more and more skeptical of it actually happening.
So what do you guys think? Are you still on board with the goings on no matter what? Are you not appreciating all the douche-chills you get from every other scene? Comment below and, as always, Binge On!
June 9, 2015 @ 1:31 pm
Jack I have to agree with you even though I am not quite as frustrated with the show as you are. I think you put into words something that has been eluding me for awhile and I could never quite put my finger on it. There are plenty of dark stories in the world, Game of Thrones is not unique in that aspect. There are plenty of brutal narratives that go places no one expected them to, I don’t think that is the issue. Also, we are only 5 seasons into what I believe is suppose to be an 8 seasons story…I think, so there are still many plot threads that need to be fully realized. That being said, I think the thing that is evading and frustring the viewers of huge show, ( not necessarily the books) is catharsis. Let’s face it, the show has NONE. We as viewers have never been given relief from the dark aspects of the story, every time it looks like there might be a meaningful ray of hope, it is ripped away. At first this makes for an exiting and unpredictable atmosphere, but if that becomes the norm, the thing you expect to happen, everything falls flat and you feel very empty. The show has gotten to such a dark place that I don’t think we even know what we want as viewers anymore. I mean how amazingly pumped was everyone after the Massacre at Hardhome? We were all so happy to have sigular moment of salvation, John blocks the fatal blow from the White Walker and in a moment of triumph reverses the flow of the fight and destroys his would be murderer. Epic. And very satisfying, but why? The whole scene just goes to show how unrealistic it is to assume that anyone can survive. From the point of view of John, the whole thing is a failure of immense proportion and thousands were slaughtered yet viewers were so exited for a character to actually DO something that didn’t end in their untimely death that I think we all kind of chalked it up to a win. I think as viewers we might even have gone so far as to have become like the characters we hate on the show. We rejoice in Joeffreys torturous death, we are relieved when Cerci is thrown into a dungeon, we await the hopefully brutal demise of Ramsey Snow. My point being that, are these the kind of Pavlovian responses we have been trained to have after years of abuse? Is that the point of the show? Are we suppose to find solice in the brutality instead of hoping for the best for these characters? And if that is the point, I don’t think it was meant to be when the show started. At least when Breaking Bad was revving up, we knew we were watching t Walter White become a villain, with GOT, it seems like we were being promised some sort of retribution for all the evil that we endured, but somewhere along the way the scales tipped and now is there really any way back? Is there any way to undo the damage and have characters we love actually get the revenge/peace/happy ending they deserve? That went on longer than intended but it’s just a thought that popped in my head after reading your article. I can see a lot of people not coming back to this show, especially if it ends with what I think it might this season. I don’t know how many more beloved character deaths the average viewer can actually take at this point so in my eyes they’ve kind of fucked themselves because who else can we lose and still give a shit about story?
June 9, 2015 @ 1:55 pm
I think I’m with you there Ryan and that’s where it’s getting difficult for me to justify continuing the story. I’ve been led on before by a show that doesn’t have an ending (Lost) and I remember how devastating that was. While I think Thrones has more of an edge and more substance, I’m starting to see scary similarities. Because now the focus is on Dany riding a dragon, which must mean that she’s going to fly to Westeros now, right? I mean what is she dicking around doing at this point? Also, now we are hoping Ramsay Snow gets killed, but I don’t think the showrunners or Martin really care about doing anything remotely close to what’s come before it. There’s a certain uniqueness and honor in that but I’m starting to feel like it’s sensationalism for its own sake. When The Wire was finished, you felt satisfied because you got the feeling that all the characters, from Bubs to McNulty, went to logical places that showed you their best and their worst. I can’t help but feel Game of Thrones is just about the worst in people, or why trying to be a good person is never the right thing to do, which to me is a little counterintuitive and disturbingly negative. All this being said, I can’t just stop at this point, but next week’s episode will be a huge litmus test for me. I’m hoping I swing back onto their side of the fence.
June 9, 2015 @ 6:02 pm
Lost can go fuck itself. Not to get off topic but you are so justified in your hate of that show. I was a huge huge fan of Lost too. I was basically like Trekkie level into that show and then I sat through the slow ass fucking that was the final season. no joke I totally dropped seeing Tomorrowland after I found out on the podcast Damon Lindelfuck wrote that shit. I can’t stand him-just admit you fucked up, pulled an ending out of your ass and we can all be happy you pretentious dick.
Anyway,
Ya Dany riding a dragon… So here is my problem with that. I can’t remember if you read the books or not so I won’t go into details, but I love the books. And other than Cersi’s capture, I have been looking forward to the fighting pits all season. After the awesomeness that was last weeks Hardhome episode I was really exited for the pits. Because it’s such a huge moment in the books and it plays very very well because it all builds to her flying away. I’m sorry but after seeing Stannis burn his daughter alive, how am I suppose to find any joy in Dany sort of escaping a faux life or death situation by slowly flying away on a dragon? Was it just me or was there no tension to that scene at all? It just felt so forced to me and EVERYONE saw it coming when it should have been a huge surprise.
I agree with your comparison to The Wire. It felt like those characters had all gotten to a place that was where they were suppose to be, for better or worse, no character arc felt cheap or left undone.
I don’t get the same frustration with the books as with the show because I think the books just feel more like an organic real world where bad things happen and you have to survive. The books feel like they are more about the land of Westeros and how these cycles of destruction keep unfolding over and over. Which is understandable since the books are huge and have the time to let those ideas unfold, it never feels cheap. While the show is a straight forward narrative about characters. And when those characters don’t have anything positive happen to them, it gets stale.
But I too have felt the Lost-esque chills in the show, especially this season. Hopefully there is some turning point coming soon.
June 9, 2015 @ 3:24 pm
I don’t feel as strongly against it as you do but I do agree that this season does seem to be feeling a lot darker for the sake of being darker and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Sansa’s wedding scene may lead into a character growth for her or more likely Theon but I think having it be rape is a little too easy and it doesn’t work into the path they seemed to be taking her at the end of season 4. Same with Gilly, there was already a connection between her and Sam, why did it have to be attempted rape to finally get them to bump uglies.
I think the problem is that this is the first season that hasn’t directly followed the books – although in IGN’s to be believed we have Martin himself to thank for the Baratheon Bonfire in this latest episode – and as such a lot of the established character traits have been weakened in the hopes that the showrunners can keep the audience (both book-readers and show-watchers) interested in what comes next.
For the record as a book reader I’m fine with most of the changes they’ve made, I just feel like there’s a certain lack of finesse to some of them. The only one I’m really fucked off about was having Barristan killed by a group of Eyes Wide Shut rejects.
June 9, 2015 @ 6:33 pm
Yes. The show does have to sort of redefine what it is about now that it is surpassing the source material. Sadly it seems like some aspects of the show that are brand new, i.e. Hardhome, they knock out of the park, but longer story arcs (Jamie in Dorne, Brianne in the North, Sansa,) all seem to lack any direction. In the old days of the show before I read the books, I had no idea where the show was going, but I was exited about it. I was curious where the characters where headed. There we’re a few weak story lines but the majority was riveting. Even after reading the books, it was fun to know where things were headed and see your favorite scenes visualized and be able to enjoy the changes they made as fun surprises. Now I can’t really tell you what story lines I am exited to see play out because most of them feel sort of, well, pointless. I’m honestly at a loss for why the show was so eager to jump past the books…
Yes, A Feast for Crows, is not as great as the rest of the books, but it does serve a purpose. So instead of trusting viewers and exploring those purposes the show skipped most of the that book and blew through A Dance with Dragons. Now maybe next season they retroactively bring in story elements from AFFC but here is the problem with that…you are now coming off what is pretty much agreed to be your weakest season and now you have to incorporate story elements into your next season from the weakest book.
I haven’t lost hope in the show and I am without a doubt in it til the end, but I think this season has really shown the weak points in the armor for Game of Thrones. Granted there’re is one more episode and they may pull something fantastic out of a hat to renew our faith, but let’s face it, as book readers we know there is a certain plot point that has been hinted at all season long that mostly likely has to play out in this last episode and I’m not sure the general fan base will be able to handle it. Honestly, I think the Season 5 Finale could be the beginning of the end…(unintentional Lost reference, but it is very timely).
June 9, 2015 @ 7:58 pm
If the night is darkest before the dawn then it must be like 1:00am in the GoT universe. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, the double D’s find ways to do so.
June 10, 2015 @ 9:17 am
You guys should … yeah, you should just stop watching. Now.