Static Thoughts - Game of Thrones Season 6

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Edited by Robert Beach

And so another season of Game of Thrones comes to a close. In this year’s latest installment of everybody’s favorite fantasy soap opera, we learned secret origins, saw shocking resurrections, epic battles, and the demise of somewhere around half the remaining cast. While I came down very hard on season 5, I'm more inclined towards leniency on season 6. There are still problems, astronomical problems (if we’re being honest), but for the most part, I’ve more or less come to terms with the show Games of Thrones wants to be as we start the long slow march towards the final 15 episodes. 

Every work of art must be judged on some level by the intent of its creation, and it’s become fairly obvious that Game of Thrones just isn’t intended as a complex, character-driven thriller the way it was when the series started. Instead, the show has adopted a new identity that of shallow ‘girl power’ fantasy. I maintain that the show is broken in a lot of fundamental ways, but it does succeed on its own terms as being a power fantasy. 

Game of Thrones Season 6 Casting

Game of Thrones has a reached a seriously bizarre plight in its latest season.  Despite ratings for the show being very good and a lot of audiences enjoying the excellent action episode ‘Hardhome,’ the series has hit something of a brick wall in terms of cultural capital.  The biggest take away I’ve had from most folks over this last season is a sense of exhaustion over the show’s direction and tone, especially after the slew of very alienating “shocking moments” that punctuated this latest season.  What’s more this year just didn’t seem to have the same fanfare and clamor that accompanied previous seasons. 

Some people might argue it’s because of how dark this season’s big moments were but previous installments like the Red Wedding or the Death of Ned Stark were thoroughly dark and audiences still found them to be exciting and compelling.  Personally I think it has more to do with the audience and creators clashing but that’s an article I’ve already written.  Regardless HBO seems aware that change is in order for Game of Thrones season 6 so they’ve announced both Max Von Sydow and Ian McShane to the series.  In addition HBO execs have actually set a time limit on the show, saying that it will most likely not extend beyond 8 seasons.  

Static Thoughts - Game of Thrones S5

A little over two weeks ago HBO’s Game of Thrones concluded its 5^th season.  It was a very divisive season with an even more divisive conclusion; with a lot of folks I’ve talked to finding the season’s ending unsatisfying and alienating.  Personally I found the entire season to be rife with problems though they weren’t necessarily unique to this season of Game of Thrones.  More this season is just the time when the show’s many issues finally boiled over onto the surface, and I say that as a pretty dedicated fan.  However, even though I know exactly what it is I found so problematic and distasteful about this season of HBO’s hit fantasy show I can’t help but feel a strange sense of reservation in my dislike and wondering if the problem really is Game of Thrones or if it’s more on my end as a viewer. 

Panel Vision - Southern Bastards

Southern Bastards is one of the best comics currently being published.  Initially the comic was about Earl Tubb, a tired old man returning to his childhood home to see the ugly twisted thing it had grown into.  However, as the narrative has unfolded over the past 8 issues the focused has moved away from formula plot and stock archetypes and settled into a focus on ideas and themes.  I’ve talked multiple times previously about the value of placing emphasis on mood and theme rather than the strict mechanics of character and plot and there is no better example of this than Southern Bastards.