Game of Thrones is no longer fun

In season two of Game of Thrones there is a very formative battle to the entire plot of the show, "The Battle of the Blackwater." The capitol of Westeros is invaded by a would-be king and his army. There's plenty more to describe the situation and the players, but truth be told none that matters. In fact, it so doesn't matter that one of the b-level reoccurring characters gives up the ghost of importance to the whole story mid-battle.

Sandor Clegane, better known as "The Hound," is a member of the Kings guard and one of the most decorated, respected warriors in the show. He's relatively fearless and few could best him in combat. The Battle of the Blackwater may be the first time we see him in true combat and for fans of gory action, the battle does not disappoint. At one point The Hound is so in the zone he slices a man in half (I'd share a gif, but I've evolved beyond reveling in these things). The strange thing is this should be a glorious moment for The Hound, he's off his leash and given carte blanche to savage his foes. And for a while he does, but then something happens. He just quits. He sees the horrors of war and how pointless it all is. There's no glory, the victories are not really his, and little defines the "right" from the "wrong" on the battlefield. So what does he do... he quits.

For years I heard about the greatness of Game of Thrones. It seemed like the entire world was in agreement that it was the greatest show on television. As a cord cutter I couldn't personally vouch for it, so for years I just tabled it accepting that I would catch up on DVD somewhere down the line.

Then one weekend when my wife was out of town I decided to rent all of season one and two on DVD and binge the show over the course of three days in my basement. It was glorious. Immediately I was taken by the dialogue, the politics, the characters, the scale- you name it, I loved it. But as great as #GoT was, my cord cutter status was not about to falter in favor of subscribing to cable, let alone premium cable. So I waited patiently for season 3 to come to DVD, then a year later for season 4 to be released as well. I could have watched the show as it happen through less-than-legal means, but that's never been my style.

The DVD dance was bittersweet. Bitter because I was a year behind the crowd, sweet because all mysteries and cliffhangers came with immediate relief. But then HBO did something funny, it got with the program and released its standalone streaming service HBO Now. I could finally watch #GoT the same time as the rest of the world, as it aired. So season six hits and I stream episode one (not great), then episode two (a slight improvement), but something was off...

This show which was so fun to watch at a binging pace has become a slog. The scale is no longer impressive, it is annoying. The characters are not interesting, their limited screen time is un-fulfilling. The politics are not compelling but stalling. The dialogue is... well this I still enjoy a lot. About the only thing that has improved is the action and that's not due to choreography or blocking, but because it means something is happening. In seasons one through four I loathed long action pieces, I wanted to get back to deliciously, deceitful interpersonal elements. 58 minutes of watchers battling free folk? No thank you, send me back to Tyrion or Cersei.

The best analogy to sum up the current state of the show I need look no further than my own academic achievements in high school; a procrastinating, waste of potential. Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, The Stark Family; these characters were endearing when their stories whizzed by during a binge, but when consumed by way of week-by-week drip delivery, they are infuriating.

Maybe these issues have been present since the beginning and the sprawling, over-stuffed nature of the show has always been a failing. If so, I never really noticed it. Binging smooths over the edge of underdeveloped characters, abandoned story lines, and aimless plots. Seeing these frayed ends now is this problem enough to make me stop watching? Unlikely. I mean I watched Entourage for years after it devolved into a glitzy skin show. Game of Thrones is still a production wonder; a shining example of what's possible in television production, and it has the potential to reach an unparalleled climax in action and plot convergence.

With only 2.5 seasons of Game of Thrones left, I will watch it to the bitter end and probably in real time as well. Unlike The Hound, who saw the pointlessness of it all and walked away, I see Game of Thrones for what it is; #GoT is not the best thing to ride down a coax cable, but damn if it isn't impossibly impressive. At this point, I'm part of the water cooler crowd who finds just enough in each episodes run time to hold me over. Still it's odd to think how much more satisfying the dragons, blizzard zombies, and backstabbing was when I was one of the binge watching stragglers.