So I succesfully avoided major spoilers about the show and could binge watch this since the complete Box set came out in early December. The first season was a bit overwhelming, what with all the houses and characters thrown at you. As you may be able to tell, I have not read the source material. Not sure who of the cast had read it beforehand either. So bare that in mind.
Now the line Winter is coming is something everyone associates with the show, I just never expected this to come up so early in the show. What is surprising, at least during the first seasons of the show, is how many supposedly main characters fail to survive. This keeps the viewers on their tows. Towards the end of the show this gets a bit watered down. Not sure how much influence the original author had there (he had only written material for the first 6 seasons of the show, the rest was made up).
Having said that, you can feel a drop in quality. And while I have friend who thought the second season was boring (it's a bit of a travelling show and things get stretched quite a bit), if he continued to watch, he might feel even worse with the last seasons. Even though they are shorter (episode wise, not time wise per episode), they feel stretched even more.
Also the conclusion (no worries, I'm not telling) is anticlimatic to say the least. It feels bad and the continuity errors are just thrown aside. So if not for the epic battles and the actors, who are all really amazing in this, I might have gone farther down with my vote. Then again, if it wasn't for the last season specifically, I might have given it a 10 too ... A prequel show has been axed for now (not sure if the bad reviews and or numbers for the last season played a role), but I would watch it. This achieved overall something that "The Reign" could not: combine violence, fantasy and nudity into something mature/adult that works for men and women watching
Now the line Winter is coming is something everyone associates with the show, I just never expected this to come up so early in the show. What is surprising, at least during the first seasons of the show, is how many supposedly main characters fail to survive. This keeps the viewers on their tows. Towards the end of the show this gets a bit watered down. Not sure how much influence the original author had there (he had only written material for the first 6 seasons of the show, the rest was made up).
Having said that, you can feel a drop in quality. And while I have friend who thought the second season was boring (it's a bit of a travelling show and things get stretched quite a bit), if he continued to watch, he might feel even worse with the last seasons. Even though they are shorter (episode wise, not time wise per episode), they feel stretched even more.
Also the conclusion (no worries, I'm not telling) is anticlimatic to say the least. It feels bad and the continuity errors are just thrown aside. So if not for the epic battles and the actors, who are all really amazing in this, I might have gone farther down with my vote. Then again, if it wasn't for the last season specifically, I might have given it a 10 too ... A prequel show has been axed for now (not sure if the bad reviews and or numbers for the last season played a role), but I would watch it. This achieved overall something that "The Reign" could not: combine violence, fantasy and nudity into something mature/adult that works for men and women watching