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HBO 'Game of Thrones' a top 2011 drama contender, some thoughts

By April MacIntyre Jun 21, 2011, 5:16 GMT

Who does rise in power are the women: Queen Cersei (Lena Headey), Lady Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).

The HBO and George R.R. Martin high fantasy effort, "Game of Thrones" ended on such a heart-stopping bang, that the critics who slagged this as "boy fiction patronizingly turned out to reach the population’s other half" should be made to eat their words.

For the record, again, I am no fan of high fantasy. I watched "Lord of the Rings" solely to spy on Viggo Mortensen. "Camelot" on Starz put me to sleep after James Purefoy (King Lot) was killed off in episode two. The Arthurian legends were best served up by Monty Python in my eyes.

So when I received the first six episodes of this series, I was not anticipating losing two days of marathon watching to keep with the story.

Peter Dinklage! Kit Harington! Lena Headey! Sean Bean! And so many newer actors I was unfamiliar with. Woven together with great skill (casting is a true art, as much as editing or cinematography) that I was pulled right into this make believe world normally I wouldn't have cared less about.

HBO's "Game of Thrones" took us on a journey with the seven noble families of the Westeros in an ancient blood feud struggle to win control of the medieval Iron Throne.

In the process, three principle alpha males were killed off: Lord Eddard Stark (Sean Bean), King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) and Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa).

Who does rise in power are the women: Queen Cersei (Lena Headey), Lady Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).

The latter female is the barn burner (literally) of the series, as Daenerys emerges from the funeral pyre of her beloved Khal, with her three priceless artifacts, dragon's eggs, hatched and clinging to their "mother."

Smartly written, paced perfectly and full of adult and real situations for a fantasy, this series matched FX biker drama "Sons of Anarchy" for making fierce women the engine of the story. Even the lowly whores have a strong voice and compelling place in Martin's pointed prose.