Jensen Supplemental 4

    Alright, let's keep these critical juices flowing here with:

ROUND 2: GAME OF THRONES' FALL FROM GRACE

    This post's hitting me right in the feels, as it's hard to talk about a show that wasted five years of my life, but I'll do my best.

    Like many unfortunate souls, I fell hard for HBO's Game of Thrones series. I caught up halfway through season 4, read most of the books, and did my time lurking through the depths of the Internet to try and find out any hints or spoilers relating to the ultimate conclusion. It was a long and arduous road, yet I still stood by when things began to head downhill. I recall even defending certain moments in the show which, when I look back now in retrospect, I am ashamed of. How... how could something which so enamored the general population go from being the biggest show on television to a social taboo to even speak of?

    The most glaring downfall of the later seasons of GoT is the writing. As is commonly known, the author of the series George R.R. Martin, had only completed four of the books by the time the show reached the end of season 4. This caused the creators of the show (I will not deign to name them) to fly by the seat of their pants and begin writing the story on their own around season 5. I know, "the author is dead" and all that, but it extremely difficult for two writers to take over a series consisting of characters and plot lines developed by the original author over the course of decades and attempt to keep things up to the standards. It was an impossible task with a predictable outcome, which was only made worse through the actions of my second point...

    Social media. The ultimate hype-beast. Once the show gained its immense popularity, things were in motion that could not be undone. The quantity of content present on the Internet relating to the show was incalculable, from advertisements and special features to fan theories and memes. The show created its own hype-bubble and essentially doomed itself, for how could it live up to the standards the Internet had set for it? No amount of money, writing teams, special effects, or acting skill could satisfy the hungry beast of social media, which was ultimately left starving after season 8, episode 6. 

    But don't worry, the show made SO MUCH money that the entertainment industry will continue to create GoT-centered content and torture the injured beast until it succumbs. Who's excited for House of the Dragon?!