A Game of Throne: Season Two, Episode One ("The North Remembers")

Unlike last year, I have been eagerly anticipating the second season of HBO's Game of Thrones.  Now that it's here, I have some of those same mixed feelings that made season one slightly uneven.  Yet, it doesn't seem to matter much anymore.  I will watch this show until the end, even if the characters turn into giant rabbits with swords.

The first episode of the second season is a transition episode.  It's one of those "hey, here's where we've been, and here's what everyone has been up to since we left."  That means, more or less, we're inundated with a lot of information, new characters, and so on, just so we'll get a sense of

A Game of Thrones: Episode Seven ("You Win or You Die")

It's a sad thing that I have to post a review for Episode Seven so late in the week.  More pressing concerns prevented me from getting to it, I'm afraid, such as yesterday's USPS insanity.  I refuse to review anything with anger on the mind, or to do anything remotely productive, such as writing fiction, editing The World in the Satin Bag, or similar things.  When I get upset, I tend to make a lot of mistakes.  Dumb mistakes.  But things have cooled over now and I feel I can review "You Win or You Die" fairly.

The seventh episode in HBO's adaptation of GRRM's A Game of Thrones is yet another episode that suffers from poor writing and excess scenes and nudity, but it is also an episode that partially masks these flaws with some of the best acting all season and a renewed influx of dramatic tension.  The political turmoils that have plagued the characters for so long are finally cracking the pot they've been boiling in.  Eddard Stark has solved the mystery of his son's injury and the former Hand's death and must wrestle with that knowledge and the potential consequences which might arise if it's to be shared.  Daenerys, now free of her brother's fury, must contend with assassins and

A Game of Thrones: Episode Six ("A Golden Crown")

HBO's A Game of Thrones is back on high form again with the sixth episode.  Dropping a number of the extra narratives lobbed at us in "The Wolf," "A Golden Crown" is much more measured, suspenseful, and emotional.  Here we finally see Daenerys extricate herself from her horrible past, rising to her rightful place among the Dothraki (her opening scene is a brilliant foreshadow of what is to come).  Likewise, Bran's dreams (the same ones from the previous episode which I thought were so creepy) are beginning to expand, somewhat more slowly than in the book, suggesting there might be more for Bran that we've already been given (these scenes have to be foreshadowing something, in my opinion).  And then there's Tyrion, Catelyn, and the now-injured

A Game of Thrones: Episode Five ("The Wolf and the Lion")

As I mentioned in my review of Episode Four, the narrative of HBO's A Game of Thrones has been slowly threatening to come unhinged.  Scenes have been added that I feel detract from the most important characters, leaving a small void in their stories.  "The Wolf and the Lion," unfortunately, does more of the same, but to even worse degrees.

Episode Five is, thus far, the only poor episode this season.  While there is much to love about the episode (Arya chasing cats; more of the tournament; more of Eddard Stark and the mysteries of King's Landing; the Eyrie (sort of); and many sword battles and gruesome deaths), its greatest flaws lie in its addition of scenes which have no direct bearing on the story-lines that matter.  I'll only talk at length about the worst of them, but there are easily fifteen minutes of unnecessary nonsense in this episode, all of which take away from some of the more interesting aspects of this stretch of A Game of Thrones.  The Eyrie, for example, gets crapped on, with less than five minutes

A Game of Thrones: Episode Four ("Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things")

Something about three-eyed crows creeps me out.  But I suppose that's the point of the opening of episode four:  creepiness.  In a way, "Cripples" mirrors "Winter is Coming" with its opening scene, presenting something which feels and appears like a strange nightmare, but which doesn't have a direct tie to the episode at hand (at least, not one which is available to a cursory viewer).  The impact of this scene will likely be felt later, much as the introduction to "Winter is Coming" will reverberate through future episodes.

"Cripples" is a curious episode, split, for the most part, between the mystery that has occupied the Starks throughout the series and Jon Snow's travails at the Wall.  The most interesting remains the first, while the latter acts as a kind of (dark) comedic relief with the introduction of the pathetic

A Game of Thrones: Episode Three ("Lord Snow")

"Lord Snow" is not a relief episode.  "Winter is Coming" and "The Kingsroad" were episodes devoted to producing tension, introducing all the major conflicts that would drive the series and tossing in a number of cliffhangers and "holy crap" moments to keep the audience glued to the screen.  Instead, "Lord Snow" is an episode that draws that tension out, like pouring lemon juice into a wound.  Now, things must move at a more measured pace.  We may know the answers to what is going on, but the Starks are only speculating -- they must find their way to the truth and navigate the slimy world of kings and queens, lords, and court politics.  At the Wall, Jon Snow must come to terms with his disillusionment about the Wall and the Night's Watch.  And across the Narrow Sea,

A Game of Thrones: Episode Two ("The Kingsroad")

When I initially began watching HBO's adaptation of A Game of Thrones, I was very interested, but not blown away.  That feeling fell to the wayside with "The Kingsroad" (and, as I remarked in my review of "Winter is Coming," much of what I had issues with seemed to dim upon a second viewing).

The second episode of A Game of Thrones is one of the most emotional, which is probably why my feeling about the series changed.  The rocky relationships hinted at in "Winter is Coming" are drawn out in full, given the full emotional impact we've been waiting for.  Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark) is superb here, her eyes and face speaking volumes and filling the void where her limited

A Game of Thrones: Episode One ("Winter is Coming")

I've been cautiously anticipating the HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones for a while.  My ex and one of my friends tried to get me to read the first book in the series, but for whatever reason I couldn't get into it.  That negative experience, however, didn't shake my anticipation, in part because HBO had previously adapted two historical products (Band of Brothers and The Pacific), both of which became two of my favorite TV shows of all time (granted, those shows are based on real-world events).  Needless to say:  HBO has a track record of producing good stuff.

Episode One ("Winter is Coming") has the toughest job of any episode in the series.  It not only has to set the foundations for the tone of the entire series, but it also has to establish the relevant characters, plot points, and so on which will remain central to the progression of the story.  "Winter is Coming" does so in expert fashion, opening with a creepy prologue in the woods beyond

Show Review: Sanctuary (the pilot episode)

I decided on a whim today to watch the pilot episode of Sanctuary itself because I absolutely, positively hate commercials, and particularly hate the commercials on the Sci (online rather than on Sci FiFi channel). I've heard a little bit about the show and was curious, although I probably should have been reading instead. Regardless, I have some thoughts.

My overall impression of the show is that it feels very much like the kind of show that shows up on a cable/satellite network station and then gets cancelled at the end of its first series. Perhaps that sounds harsh, but there are a lot of things that feel wrong about the pilot episode and particularly that cry of poorly devised genre. My issues with the pilot also stem from my issues with the Sci Fi channel in general. So, I guess I'll just dig in.

First, the premise reads like a TV version of Hellboy, which isn't necessarily bad, but certainly will be noticeable to people who are fans of Hellboy. The problem with Sanctuary is that it lacks the funding that Hellboy received to make that film a much more visually appealing creation: meaning that Sanctuary lacks the visuals to make it an outstanding show. There are too many times when you are fully aware of the CGI, which immediately pulls me out of the show itself. One of the things I think has destroyed modern television and film is this reliance on CGI, but a complete lack of attention paid to the actual details behind it. My rule has always been the following:

Unless you can make it look real, don't use it.

Sanctuary falls prey to many of the problems that exist within Sci Fi Channel's original content: poor CGI. This is incredibly depressing when you look at shows like Battlestar Galactica found within the first Mortal issues. None whatsoever. They could have removed half the (the new incarnation) and see what Sci Fi is actually capable of for a limited budget. True, you are aware of the CGI in BSG, but because it's done well overall you're much more willing to let it go as being a limiting factor of TV. But Sanctuary relies on its CGI to even work, whereas BSG does not. All the creatures (well, almost all of them) either have to be puppets or CGed critters, and it is really obvious when those creatures are CG. There is a mermaid in the pilot and she looks so obviously fake that it bugged me every time I saw her. The CGI quality here is not that far from the CGIKombat movie, and if you remember the CGI in that film, you'll know that that's not good at all. Even when the CGI looks good it's flawed by crappy green/blue screen techniques where the people don't look like they are actually a part of the environment around them (this is particularly annoying when they're inside of the mansion and it makes you wonder why it was so hard for the producers to hunt down a nice mansion where they could film). I realize that TV shows don't have a lot of funding, but if you're going to use CGI, make it look good, or don't use it at all. There really is no reason for the entire pilot to be mired by CGICGI to make the stuff that had to be CGed look even better. And this is very consistent within the Sci Fi Channel's attempt to reach their market. No wonder the station has issues being taken seriously even by fans (and I will make a claim here that any time Sci Fi wants to be taken with a grain of salt when it creates its own scifi/horror movies, then they should cast Bruce Campbell in every part, because only then will anyone watch and be willing to let all the issues in the production slide...because Bruce rules).

Additionally there are issues with casting. The daughter, Ashley, comes off forced and cliche--oh no, yet another leather-clad blonde girl who runs around fighting people and shooting guns...yippee. The main character, Will, is okay, but it feels a little Soap Opera-ish, and Amanda Tapping as Dr. Magnus is perhaps the strongest role, although even her performance is a mixed bag. Even the bad guy, John, isn't perfect, although he really creeped me out and felt like a British version of Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty from Blade Runner. Did anyone else see that similarity?

There 's a complete lack of atmosphere too, let alone conflict. True, there is conflict, but it's poorly done within an hour an a half of actual show. The overall issue is getting Will to join up with Dr. Magnus to deal with all the nifty unknown tidbits of the world (the sort of hidden and unknown aspect of Hellboy's world of monsters and demons and what not). And that part gets resolved, but at the same time we're told a lot of things about Dr. Magnus, which should have been a feature drawn out over the first season rather than developed and answered all at once, and her relationship to her daughter and John. In fact, the whole pilot was trying to do so much all at once it just felt like a bad movie. The atmosphere tries to be dark and gritty, somewhat noir in approach, but it fails to do that because of its poor production quality and limited sets (which is probably due to it being a TV show instead of a movie). The sets that exist don't feel very lived in, but more like temporary creations that lack the personal touch that we might have seen in Lord of the Rings--and before anyone goes off on me for making a comparison between a movie like LOTR and a TV show, you can still create character and atmosphere with cheap props on a TV show in the same manner as was done with expensive props in LOTR, so there.

In the end, I just don't see this as being a show worth watching. Maybe 10 years ago it would have been a fascinating show, but right now it feels tired. The best moment of the whole episode for me was when the girl who plays Dualla from Battlestar Galactica has a brief one minute moment. That made me happy, but the rest of it was worth forgetting. Maybe this show will get better--most shows do after their pilot episode, like Sliders and even the Simpsons--but I'm not sure if I'm willing to waste another hour to find out. I'm not very enthused at this particular moment.

Anyone else see it or have opinions?