TV Retrospective: "Game of Thrones" - Season 6

Scene from Game of Thrones

There was a hurdle following Game of Thrones in 2015. For starters, it was the point where the series caught up with the George R.R. Martin source material. It was also its first Emmy win for Best Drama, and also was at a divisive point where many were wondering if fan favorite Jon Snow was actually dead. Season six had a lot to live up to, especially as the spoiler culture became weary now that book readers and casual fans were on the same page. What resulted from these exciting times for HBO's biggest series to date is one of the most harrowing and impressive batch of episodes to date, or at least since the death of King Joffrey several seasons ago. It revitalized interest in the show and turned juvenile characters into heartbreaking favorites. It was everything that fantasy TV could be and more, and thankfully it restored any doubt that the show was losing its edge as it nears the end of its run. It may be getting bigger and harder to control, but it thankfully is still able to deliver the moments that count.

One of the main issues for casual fans is remembering the massive cast. It becomes increasingly difficult with each passing year and the promise of more, more, more. This year had quite the number of new faces to compensate for the growing amount of casualties - including several important figures in last night's finale. It's a show that would seem impossible to have intimate moments for, yet it has managed to deliver on occasion witty lines of dialogue such as "I drink and I know things." or the far more famous and heartbreaking "Hold the door." It's a world where almost anything can happen and its occasional parallel to the 2016 American presidential election - coincidental or not - only adds a certain gravitas to the overall experience of watching the show. It's relevant not because of its familiar gore and sex, but because it managed to build on the past five seasons and deliver something that brings to an end the second part of this series presumptive three act structure. Winter is upon us, and now it's time to see what comes next.

If it has become increasingly difficult to remember everyone's name, it is impressive to note how many moments have made an impact. The show has always strove not on inspired story shifts, but on character moments that add a deeper emphasis to the show's overall atmosphere. In the case of this season, almost every episode has brought a moment that is surely to add its place into the pop culture lexicon and see people reenacting scenes at Comic Con. It also helps that these moments are some of the series' best and most fun to talk about, at least since The Purple Wedding that saw the show's most reviling yet engrossing character die and make the show's eternal struggle to find another antagonist worthy of a season-long arc. There was Tommen, but even he was no match for the sniveling Joffrey. 

Even if he was occasionally at times too much of a Looney Tunes villain, Ramsay Bolton was the jolt that the show needed to feel intimidating. Beyond the dragons and introduction of time travel, the show needed a character so despicable that it warranted an iconic death. While Ramsay's wasn't nearly as memorable as Hodor's several episodes prior, it added the perverse gratification that the show often has in choosing who lives, who dies, who tells the story. While fan favorites like Arya managed to waste most of their plot over this season, Ramsay didn't stop spicing up the chaos. While "The Battle of the Bastards" is an iconic episode and one that shows how TV can shoot an entire episode based around war, it had a deeper impact thanks to a deeper understanding of characters - specifically in the controversial Jon Snow plot where he rose from the dead - and gave some a redemptive moment of bravery.

At this point the show's appeal isn't in its faithfulness to fantasy. It's not even in how predictable its use of violence and sex can be. It's about how existential the conflicts inside characters weary from several seasons of peril now feel. There's a long seeded hatred in several characters that only loyal fans will feel gratified with. The faith that some can disappear for whole seasons is another nice touch, adding weight to the immersive nature of the world. The return of The Hound and Bran feel important because it suggests that everything is building towards its inevitable end game. After all, winter is coming and it's only going to be time before the fate is decided. It's all a matter of who you trust in this game, and sometimes it ends horribly in the wrong hands.

Still, the show's biggest success is that it continues to make fantasy into one of the most accessible and memorable genres on TV. It would be difficult for viewers, as casual as they can be, to not remember the big moments. Jon Snow lives; Hodor dies; Daenerys survives fire; The Battle of the Bastards; almost everything in the final episode. It's all reflective of the value of what TV can do with the right resources. There may be far better series that show acting or plot devices used to better extents, but Game of Thrones somehow condenses it in a way that makes social media a valuable tool for embracing geek fandom. It is the thing that has made the show so integral to every year, and what will make it impossible to match when it says farewell. Not even The Walking Dead has the same longevity in both critical and audience opinions.

The question now that things have been once again brought to an end, where do things go for the series? It's hard to really say, especially as the finale is a reminder of how fickle a character's life on this show can be. Still, it doesn't matter where things end up. All that matters is that it continues to bring exciting and vital moments that give the show its overall edge. It may not be the best written or directed, but it sure makes the most of showing why TV as a medium is in a supposed "golden age." That alone makes it a tough competition no matter what genre or level of acting you mention.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5