I AM THE DRAGON'S DAUGHTER, AND I SWEAR TO YOU THAT THOSE WHO WOULD HARM YOU WILL DIE SCREAMING: A bold statement from Matt Zoller Seitz, but I think he's right: "This was the best first season of a cable series, and surely the best first season finale, since "Deadwood" back in 2004."
As someone who came into Game of Thrones as a complete novice (and generally anti-fantasy at that), I was blown away by this season. No, I didn't quite follow who everyone was (thank you, Internet recappers), and I do rue the amount of spoilers that did leak into my consciousness over the past few months, but this was just damn gripping television.
(Heck, why limit himself to cable-only? Season one of Lost comes close, but not showing us the next scene of what's in the hatch was a regrettable error.)
I'll offer two other first seasons of recent vintage for discussion--Mad Men and Good Wife, and going just a touch older, that first season of Friday Night Lights is still pretty perfect. Breaking Bad might be in the discussion if they hadn't gotten seriously shortened by the writers' strike.
ReplyDeleteI'll also argue that the first 13 episodes of Glee (the part written and shot before the show began to air) work pretty damn perfectly as a first season, with the back 9 adequate, but beginning to show the problems the show has continued to have--excessive number of characters, overreliance on Sue, theme/tribute episodes, whiplash-inducing character reboots, etc.
ReplyDeleteBreaking Bad is a better example of a show that took a huge leap in quality between its first and second seasons (along with Parks & Rec, Chuck and perhaps Sons of Anarchy.)
ReplyDeleteGlee? Uh ...
ReplyDeleteIs the full season available on HBO On Demand? Mr. Cosmo watched the whole thing, and I decided not to watch. Apparently this was a mistake that I should rectify.
ReplyDeleteIt's on HBO Go. I don't know if that's the same thing as On Demand.
ReplyDeleteVeronica Mars had a damn fine first season - one I never thought it quite lived up to again.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm pretty sure you'd like it.
ReplyDeleteI'll submit Season One of Battlestar Galactica.
ReplyDeleteAnd having just rewatched the mini-series, I say it's a perfect bookend with the finale - the first 20 minutes are tonally off and fairly regrettable, just like the last 20 minutes of the finale.
Justified season 2 was better than season 1, but the first season finale belongs in the conversation.
ReplyDeleteUm, how about The Killing? (I kid, I kid!!!)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as someone who gave Game of Thrones a try, but then gave up when I fell asleep during the third episode, I'm now wondering if I should have given it more of a try. (And I also say this as someone who abandoned Fringe after watching the pilot, but now I'm COMPLETELY hooked on it as I near the end of season 1 on blu-ray.)
I second Matt on Mad Men's first season: the show really took off brilliantly after the "basket of kisses" incident in, I believe, the 6th episode. And "The Wheel" remains a spectacularly brilliant season finale.
I would also include Breaking Bad's strike-truncated first season. Yes, the show improved in its second and third seasons -- but the second and third seasons are some of the best TV I have ever seen. That takes nothing away from how good the brief first season actually was.
And I'll second Watts on Veronica Mars. I think the second season has a lot to recommend in it, but man. That first season was something special. (THAT is how you make a whodunit, Veena Sud!)
It's much more low fantasy than Eddings (which I know the Cosmos have an abiding love for), but shares the same epic qualities.
ReplyDeleteI think so. But report back. I don't have HBO, but may sign up for one month to watch this whole series then cancel.
ReplyDeleteIt's on HBO On Demand for now, and I'm assuming it will remain on HBO Go (the internet service) for the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteVeronica Mars is pretty much a perfect first season, as mentioned above by Watts and randy. I don't think I know anyone who watched it and didn't immediately start raving. Same goes for FNL, as that first season finale would have been just as satisfying as a series finale (but oh am I so glad it was not). I think the first season of Mad Men is my least favorite, but I was on pain killers watching it after getting my wisdom teeth out, so that probably deserves a re-watch.
ReplyDeleteGame of Thrones was tremendous, although I do think the finale was a step back in the stuff happening department I should have realized it was HBO and they love to get the best stuff out in the penultimate episode and then have more resolution in the finale.
I'm with Kim -- didn't watch it and now regret that. I'll have to OnDemand or ToGo it.
ReplyDeleteAlias season one. But I do love GoT.
ReplyDeleteI was debating with myself about Alias earlier. But it's been so long I couldn't remember if I was mixing up parts of Season 1 and Season 2.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch "live," but unlike some above, I don't regret that at all. I find that with many of these wonderfully dense HBO shows, I do better when I can watch a few eps over the course of a few days. It helps me get the momentum up, so that I can keep reasonably well aware of who's who and what's happening. I watched the first seasons of The Sopranos and The Wire that way, and look forward to watching GofT On Demand in the coming weeks. (Of course, watching after the fact deprives me of the joy of following along here, but maybe next season.)
ReplyDeleteTHough season 2 was close, but slower starting.
ReplyDeleteI don't think leaving the hatch until the opening of season 2 was an error, but that may just be because the opening of season 2, with the introduction of Desmond is one of the best season openers I've ever seen.
ReplyDelete