‘Game of Thrones’ returns, and not a moment too soon
Fans of the HBO series Game of Thrones don’t just love the show — they loooove the show. I should know; I’m one of them. (It was one of my Top 10 of 2012.) It’s the third-highest-rated series in HBO history, made even more significant considering how complex and challenging the storytelling is: More than 250 speaking parts with Middlearth-sounding names like Tywin and Tyrion, Daenerys and Sansa, with more intrigue than a Kardashian pregnancy and more sex than … well, the same. It’s a sweeping story of rivalries between factions on the fictional continent of Westeros — the Lannisters and the Starks and the Baratheons — but each season is only 10 episodes long. You’d be exhausted by more.
Now that Season 3 starts up this weekend, fans will have some English accents to glue them to the tube every Sunday other than Downton Abbey.
This season, though, gets off to a slow start. It’s not surprising — after killing off the leading characters by the end of Season 1 and fomenting a rebellion throughout Season 2, a breather was in order. We’re introduced to more new characters (including Diana Rigg as a sassy dowager and Ciaran Hinds as king of the north) before saying goodbye to old ones. And many of the old ones still hold their appeal, especially Emmy winner Peter Dinklage, pictured, as Tyrion Lannister, the wily dwarf (and sole likeable member of his clan), and Daenerys (Emilie Clarke), the mistress of dragons (we get to see the buggers fly around in the season premiere, though she’s not even in Episode 2). And let’s not forget hunky, brooding bastard Jon Snow. What’s missing so far is a bit more deliciousness and sex (they killed off the best gay character last season!), but we can wait. It’s all in the Game.
— Arnold Wayne Jones
Four stars. Premieres on HBO Sunday at 8 p.m.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 29, 2013,
