So, after all the screaming and shouting and threats and pain–I mean on Facebook and blogs, not in Westeros–I finally got around to Season 5 of Game of Thrones and it was…Not Bad. It was a little slow, a bit dull in spots, but had a pretty good final two episodes, so I give it a “not bad.”
What it wasn’t was frightening, edgy, shocking, or controversial. People and news writers having a slow day liked to whine and complain how this season somehow did something that hadn’t been done before. Nope. Or just did some “edgy” things too often. Definitely nope. Why people don’t want fictional bad guys to do bad things is beyond me. The complaints and “suggestions” have been amusing to read. (The funniest comment I ran into was one that was upset that Sansa Stark had not suddenly transformed into an action hero, grabbed a weapon, and killed a far stronger individual in a non-combat situation–That wouldn’t have violated the character or the society or the story at all; I can only guess someone suggesting that has never read a book…or lived in the world.)
Now if you wish to claim all of Game of Thrones pushes the envelop, I’ll go with that. Not my envelop, but I can see how it might push someone else’s. But Season 5? No, this was a tame season. Less blood. Far less gore in general. Less sex. Less nudity. Less oppression and cruelty. Not a single head was crushed with eyes gouged out and blood spraying everywhere (now that was a season that pushed things). Really, for the first 6 episodes, almost nothing of any kind happened. Characters lounged around a lot. They discussed politics and the snow. A few unpleasant things happened here and there, but nothing that deserved much conversation.
The one thing of note for the Season was how safe it all seemed–cinematically. The camera avoided the unpleasant when it should have grabbed it and shoved it down our throats. We should be made to feel uneasy from what is on screen, not from whatever baggage we bring to the viewing.
I sound pretty negative, but starting about three-quarters of the way through the seventh episode, things picked up. Finally people (and non-people) started stabbing each other. Finally the plot progressed. It would have been better not to have so many non-event episodes, but the activity in the final eps made Season 5 one of the weaker seasons, but still acceptable TV.
We also got a few nice character deaths (I’ll skip names). Nothing nearly as satisfying as Season 4 supplied, but still, a few happy little deaths. There is talk online (as there always is) that one of the deaths will be reversed. That would be unfortunate as he was an annoying character and his death makes Westeros’s sun shine a little brighter, but I do understand the speculation. Too much time was spent on a mystery connected to the character. Killing him makes all that time wasted–not a good thing for a TV series, or a book. Unless Martin and co have another way to make the mystery relevant, there is a structural problem if the character is not resurrected, and a general problem if he is.