I would have used this space to soapbox how excellent the Song of Ice and Fire book series is if HBO hadn’t made an impressive tribute of their own. Oh, and apparently “The Walking Dead” has yet to be canceled.

 

HBO’s 2nd season of “A Game of Thrones” is out and is shaping up to be even better than the 1st season, considering that accolade from all sources may be pushing them to their limits. Every aspect screams quality, from the clockwork intro with the rousing fanfare to the props to the quality actors and their expert interpretation of each and every character. Minor accomodations in the transition to live-action are seen in the ages of many of the children along with hair-color, but it is all too easy to be swept away with everything that entails. This is actually one of those media where the viewing doesn’t act as a replacement for the books to some, but actually an enhancement, since the books provide details and back story to an already intriguing plot.

The show has a high watermark to reach and story to cover, but it does so brilliantly. During the novels, my eyes glazed a little at the lengthy description of various banners and bannermen, as well as the meticulous listing of opulence and ornament, but this is appropriate to the timepiece the author has woven. He is actually one of the edgier writers out there and speaks in a modern voice that is simultaneously approachable and nostalgic. If that makes sense. The wait for each episode is maddening, despite my knowing EXACTLY where George R. R. Martin has taken the series. Well, at least up to book 5 of 7. Actually, come to think of it, I can’t fathom any conceivable closure to this series as it has deftly spiraled beyond comprehension. The amount of players in this “Game”, the likeable quasi-protagonists and even more likeable quasi-antagonists, are innumerable, as are the possibilities of what could happen as an Endgame to the Song. I’m rooting for everyone and no one at once!

I hope Martin knows what he’s doing, because the amount that I’ve emotionally invested in this thing is only slightly more than my curiosity. One thing I have to mention though: There is a HIGH content of violence and sexuality in the show, like, beyond what I expected from reading the sordid sequences. One hour-long episode in Season 2 had about four sex scenes, even a sex scene being peeped on by another sex scene (Inception-style Conception). Kids, don’t watch this with your parents. Parents, don’t watch this with your kids.

(Edit: Only 10 episodes for season 2? Are you kidding me? This thing BETTER have a budget all the way to the end! </bookwormrage> )

By comparison, The Walking Dead failed me in nearly all ways possible. The comics’ written story arch would probably have made for bad television anyway, especially with the author’s unfocused meandering, but I expected a lot more than what I got. Granted, they lost me after Season 1, but they still f’ed up most of what made the comics compelling. I never really appreciated how the crude black and white drawings (after comic 3) played such an integral role in the grim and gritty style of the series. The look, among other things, suffered with a live-action translation. As did the characters.

Looking back, much of the dialogue in the comic is a little stilted, almost compulsively expository, and would sound a little ridiculous if read aloud. In that manner, I suppose the show didn’t put me off, but the characters were still unapproachable and inexperienced. I’m glad they didn’t go with big-name actors, genuinely glad, as the glitz and glam could have easily outshined the “deep-south” mud veneer. But I would have liked a little more finesse in the character representations. I don’t feel like a single actor really “nailed it”, other than former “Boondock Saint” Norman Reedus…. (but he doesn’t count because his character was created for television).

Another thing. Why the slew of new characters? What partly made the comics so gripping is that they WERE a small band of survivors, not a horde of expendables. I know you need fodder for the “monster” of the series, but the comics by contrast were a quiet, introspective look at humanity (the “real” monster)…. with diseased zombies as a backdrop. It didn’t need an impetus, nor a goal. The goal was survival, but the commentary on the human condition seems to have been muddled, or in the very least overly-pushed, such as what I’ve dubbed the “Cholos con Abuelos” episode. I totally misread the “gangstas” in the beginning of that episode, but the transition from thug to caretaker wasn’t handled smoothly, barely believably. The morals were a little TOO overt for my liking. Not to mention that that incident didn’t happen in the comics, nor did a lot of stuff including the “cliffhanger” ending to season 1….

Explosions in an arbitrary laboratory? Really? The mystery of what has befallen mankind and how the outside world is doing or where the disease began are implicitly a driving force for seeing what comes next in the comics. In other words, less is more. Fancy CG computer displays and Michael Bay-esque pyrotechnics won’t be doing the books a service here. The good news is that I’ve heard rather positive things from fans of the series who hadn’t read the comics, so if you stay away from the source material you might be pleased with this mis-handled trainwreck of a television adaptation.

[Quick Edit: TWD’s gait is off-putting and “stumbly” coming out the gate but it quickly gains traction when it lurches back into familiar territory, specifically, when the group of fodder realigns with comic book canon. Season 3 is all so many hours of schlock and hokey “un”spiration from the Starting line, but it is that much closer to being watchable once the lumpy forehead of Rick’s actor isn’t so distracting and chunks of the unlikable  soap opera rejects are circulating in the exposed digestive tract of the show’s namesake. Plus in all honesty, the way the series treats the Governor’s story arch is tantalizingly more suspenseful and realistic than the 2D counterpart.]