You know that feeling when you have so much to say, and yet you don’t even know where to start? That’s what I’m feeling as I’m writing this, thinking back to the epic television series that ended more than a year ago.
Game of Thrones was the most imaginative, complex, unique and original TV shows I had ever seen. And they ruined it. We explored the amazing fantasy world through the first few seasons. The storylines and character arcs were built up. The concepts and locations came to life. The foreshadowing. The visual symbolism. And then… a trainwreck. There’s a meme that went around after the final season (season 8) aired of a drawing of a horse that begins at the rear with amazing detail, shading and tone. The drawing continues with slightly less detail in the middle, and then finally finishing off with the horse’s head looking like it was literally drawn by a five-year-old [1]. It pretty much hits the nail on the head when it comes to representing visually what the series Game of Thrones looks like as a whole. Beginning was amazing, middle good, but then the ending was just like the homework that you do ten minutes before the class. Actually the middle — and by middle I mean seasons 4, 5 and 6 — was pretty good, too. Seasons 4 and 5 were excellent, actually. I also enjoyed season 6 when it came out but seasons 7 and 8 just made season 6 look bad.
“I never watched Game of Thrones. What exactly are you talking about? Why were people so up in arms when that show ended?” Well, I’ll tell you. Imagine I started telling you a bedtime story. I told you a little bit each night as I tucked you in — I know that’s creepy, but come on, work with me here — and it was the best story you’d ever heard. It was complex and had lots of different characters each with their own goals that they were trying to achieve and things they were trying to do. And then, many years later, as I was getting to the end of the story, I just said “Oh, and then so-and-so woke up and it was all a dream. All of it. Yep. Alright, goodnight.” Wouldn’t you be like, “But what about that character who was trying to get better at judo so she could fulfill her dying father’s wish? Or that other character who ran away from home but went on an adventure through the country to find the hidden money? Or that family that was killed by that serial killer who is the brother of the president? Or the virus that was spreading through the country? What about all of that? How does that end?”
And I turned to you and just said, “I already told you. That’s the end of the story.”
How would you feel? That is how I — and many, many others — feel about Game of Thrones.
Alright, let’s have a palette cleanser with a quick list of six shows that might be worth watching.
