This show is really exciting, even when you more or less know what's coming. Which is actually quite a trick, especially given that the sheer number of pieces (characters) in motion means that you rarely get to spend more than a few minutes with any one or group of them at a time, and often only the once per episode at that. And yet it's gripping, even stirring - blessed with any number of narrative punches with which it can punctuate its events (often, to great effect, with the closing scene of an episode - like the loss of Jaime's hand) and an array of memorable characters who do spring to life on screen even if some, like Beric Dondarrion or the Unsullied this season, aren't exactly as I'd imagined them from the books, and also effective in its use of the possibilities and limitations of the tv medium to get the most out of all of that...and while the tv series is fast catching up to the books, there's still a lot to come and at least one great major character to arrive in season 4 - assuming that the Dornish make their appearance.
(season 1 + rewatch; season 2)
(season 1 + rewatch; season 2)
