Game of Thrones - The James Bond series of TV

(Obligatory spoiler alert)

I read Game of Thrones, the book by George R. R. Martin (GRRM), back in 2010. Cersei Lannister's famous "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die." to Ned Stark is an all time favourite quote of mine. But, sadly, the book isn't. I hate it as I love it, I hate GRRM for having made my life hell by killing Ned Stark off. It was with a sad heart that I ended the first book in the 'A Song of Ice And Fire' (ASOIAF) series. What a beautiful book, how beautifully grey, how so unforgiving of the good men, how so unforgiving of the bad men, how so unforgiving of humans in general, how so unforgiving of any living being in general, I would argue with my friends who were hell bent on finishing the series. As to me, I somehow finished Clash of Kings (ASOIAF #2), but Storm of Swords (ASOIAF #3) was just too much for me. I stopped after a few pages, something I hardly do to any book, let alone a series I hate as much as I love, and went right off to Wikipedia to catch up on the story. Reading about the Red Wedding even on Wiki was too much for my tender heart and many are the nights I have spent brooding over the losses of the Stark family, because of Ned Stark, that honourable fool. 

I was never a TV series person, so when HBO made GoT into a TV series (that all my friends again raved about), it took me many years and some serious encouragement from Internet memes to get to the series. 

To be honest, I have enjoyed the TV series - even after they started making their own story up as Mr. GRIM (sorry GRRM) is terribly behind schedule on the books. It is great TV, and when characters you like die on TV, they don't really die. Remember, they still are alive in the books since you haven't got around to reading those parts yet (reading about deaths on Wiki doesn't count). The dragons look amazing, Dany turns out in great costumes, Cersei walks about with her lovely sneer as if she was born with it, Tyrion gives out punch dialogues,  Jaime has grown up to be more of a man and handsome as ever, and Jon Snow... ummm.... well... Jon Snow looks good, nothing more, nothing less. And, after actually visiting Dubrovnik (where the King's Landing scenes are filmed), it is kind of exciting to keep seeing the place on screen again and again.

But, of late, the book snob has been waking up and kicking around, feeling really sorry for the book fans who have been subjected to this tripe on TV. 

1. Did the last few episodes of the last season (S7) feel like "Mission Impossible" and "James Bond" in one to you? They certainly did, to me. The only solace is, for a change, we have a lady rescuing all the menfolk after they take stupid decisions and get stuck in the middle of nowhere. That feels empowering. 
2. The whole idea behind ASOIAF is the grey - who you think is right isn't always right, who you think is a villain isn't always a villain. There are times you start empathising with the guy who threw a 7 year old kid off the walls of the window for having witnessed his incest. And, that's not because he looks good or because he has suddenly turned over a new leaf and performed some good deeds on screen. It's because you learn to empathise more with the character. For a book to be able to do that is where its victory lies. And, I can't blame TV, it is difficult to bring these nuances out on screen in detail. Then we will need billions in budget and many decades of screening, and TV fans might not even be interested in such attention to detail.
3. A good book ties up its loose ends, not in a hurry, as if it is a budget package tossed through India post, but like a beautiful present wrapped up in the choicest of gilded gift paper, hand delivered by the most professional of handsome people. That's what GRIM does. Which is his boon and bane. Which is why he is lagging so terribly behind, much to the wrath of his now-lost-hope fans. And the TV series is on the other end. "Oh, the Night King needs a dragon. Let's do these a, b, c nonsensical things and he will have a dragon", seems to be the name of the game.
4. I can understand that TV comes with certain liberties, like racing timelines, whirring ravens, flying peoples across continents etc. but it does irk me that enough focus hasn't been given to the detailing of the costumes. Why is Jon Snow wearing heavy winter clothing down South in King's Landing? Is it because he is strapped for cash, because sister (cousin) Sansa used up all the money to procure rice and grains for the long winter?
5. And, that whole pandering to the audience is driving me nuts. It is almost like every week's story is written after looking up a few internet memes, fan theories and fan fantasies about who should be having sex with one another. GoT started off, true to its mastermind GRIM, a series where anyone can get killed anytime. Now, it is a series full of James Bonds who don't get killed, only the sidekicks get killed as some collateral damage under dragon fire. 

HBO, you are almost tempting me to get back to the books. The only thing stopping me now is, there is a >90% chance that GRIM will kill himself off (due to old age) before he finishes the books and he might leave some specific instruction to steam roll the drafts left behind, like Terry Pratchett did. And, then, where will I be? 

This keeps me happy, seeing mindless TV, looking up random memes, speaking in GoT code words and irking the non-GoT world, and not getting emotionally invested in the characters and their lives. 

Will the makers of the series ensure the Night King kills off all the living peoples in Westeros by end of S8, if, for nothing else, but to stay true to GRIM's grim outlook towards life?

House of Cards: Season 5, Episode 1 - Homecoming of terror

Alert: If you haven't watched the previous seasons of HoC, this review will contain spoilers that you may want to avoid.

"Watch out for each other and watch each other, to keep us all safe and sound," says Claire Underwood in a chilling message addressing the nation. Thus begins the first episode of season 5, aptly titled 'Homecoming of Terror'.

The Underwoods' problems are far from over, even though a full year has gone by between Seasons 4 and 5. To recap, by the end of Season 4, Tom Hammerschmidt writes a Herald article detailing Frank Underwood's murky journey from being Congressional Whip to becoming POTUS, radicalised domestic terrorists execute an American citizen on national television and Conway steadily gains ground in an election that seems almost over for the Underwoods. 

The Season 5 pilot is off to a promising start, befitting of its title, with Frank turning up the rhetoric in the House, for war against terror. It is quite a scene out there, as Frank derails the House agenda in order to push his own, much reminiscent of the Frank from seasons past, only louder, larger and more dramatic than ever before.

However, the episode does sag in between. Claire defends Frank about the Herald article in what seems to be a very defensive interview, while Hannah, the perfect wife and mother of that promising Republican candidate goofs up even though it turns out favourable for Conway. As Tom Yates puts the viewer to sleep with some unnecessary appearances and boring dialogues in his sleepy voice, Macallan and LeAnn have a heart to heart that leads nowhere. For a few minutes, it feels like the director owed one each to all the characters and hence had to figure out a dialogue or two for each of them. Except, except, for that one meeting on policy decision between Cathy Durant and the POTUS, which seems to have been picked straight off the real world.

As we get into the last 15 minutes of the episode, the set-up gets craftier and more intricate. Terror can be manufactured on home ground, especially when it is the necessary condition to regain and hold on to immeasurable power. Some of these scenes towards the end are unreal, and send a shiver down the spine, of how possible and probable it is to create stories that can be fed to people in order to dial up the fear in their hearts. 

While there seems very little chance of a second innings for the POTUS, the stage is set for the Underwoods to fight this battle like none other they have fought before, using the considerable resources at their disposal. As Claire and Frank sign off, the viewer knows that this is going to be one riveting season of twists and turns, and perhaps, it isn't yet time for the deck of cards to come crashing down.

Overall, it is an episode worth watching, of a season worth the year long wait!

Frank Underwood is coming to India with the television premiere of House Of Cards Season 5 on Saturday, 3rd June, 5 PM onwards, only on Zee Café! For more details, check out the Zee Cafe Facebook page here.

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