Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season
Blu-ray | DVD
CREATORS: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R. R. Martin (author)
DIRECTORS: Tim Van Patten, Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan, Alan Taylor
WRITERS: David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, George R. R. Martin
STARRING: Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, Jason Momoa, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Mark Addy, Michelle Fairley, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, Iain Glen, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Jack Gleeson, Sophie Turner, Richard Madden, Harry Lloyd, Alfie Allen, James Cosmo, Rory McCann, Julian Glover, Charles Dance, Donald Sumpter, Ron Donachie
HBO
RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2012

I’ve made it no secret how much of a fan of HBO’s original programming and similar shows I am…to the point of it being difficult for me personally to even watch regular network/cable TV shows not named The Walking Dead anymore. Two of my favorite current shows are on HBO, one being Boardwalk Empire and the other being, big surprise and SPOILER ALERT: Game of Thrones.

And while it’s silly of me to give away my feelings on the first season of the series so early in my review, allow me to tell you why I’m so googly-eyed over this wonderful, wonderful world.

Game of Thrones
Season One, Episode Ten – Fire & Blood
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Written by: David Beinoff and D.B. Weiss
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Sean Bean, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Issac Hempstead-Wright, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Conleth Hill, and Charles Dance

I hope everyone enjoyed the first episode of Season Two of Game of Thrones.

Confused? Let me explain.

“Fire and Blood” is in a unique position in that it feels more like the first episode of season two rather than the season one finale. The cliffhanger in “Baelor” felt more like a traditional finale, where the majority of this episode sets up our various players for the next round of the game.

Game Of Thrones
Season One, Episode Nine – Baelor
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Written by: David Beinoff and D.B. Weiss
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Sean Bean, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Issac Hempstead-Wright, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Conleth Hill

Game of Thrones has been a slow burn.

There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I much prefer shows that have a tendency to draw things out and build on previous episodes. All the best television series (The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad) do this and when done properly, the results can be astonishing. The latest episode, “Baelor,” was no exception to this rule. The stakes have slowly been rising over the past couple of weeks and it was time for the dominoes to begin to fall.

And boy do they fall.

Game of Thrones
Episode 1 (Winter is Coming) & 2 (The Kingsroad)
Directed by: Timothy Van Patten
Written by: David Beinoff and D.B. Weiss adapted from George R.R. Martin
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Sean Bean, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Issac Hempstead-Wright, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams

I’ve got a confession to make.

I haven’t read a single book in George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Fire and Ice series.

Unlike last year’s big literature-to-television adaptation, Walking Dead (of which I’ve read every issue), I wanted to go into Game of Thrones fresh, without any prior knowledge or expectations of the series. I wanted to see how a 694-page book would translate over to HBO. I’ve seen the big-screen adaptations of fan-favorite fantasy novels like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but I was interested in seeing how showrunners David Deinoff and D.B. Weiss would handle Martin’s material on a week-to-week basis without confusing the hell out of everyone.

So far, they’ve done an outstanding job.