A series of series

So, my latest obsession, Game of Thrones, has finally ended its first season. If you haven’t gotten on the bandwagon yet, I guarantee it’s a helluva ride. The series has been described as The Sopranos in Middle-earth, but I’d throw in a little Harry Potter in the mix, though I don’t think Game of Thrones is for children.

I’m currently nursing my withdrawal by reading the first of planned seven books. It’s around 800 pages long, but, much like the series, every single page is engaging. I suggest you read the book too, but perhaps you’d prefer to read it after you finish watching the series.

While I’m finding that the series is more or less faithful to the book, HBO still had to make some minor adjustments to adapt Game of Thrones for TV. There are changes in the ages of the characters, for example. In the book, the children are younger. For example, Daenerys Targaryen is 13 when she marries Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo. And, yes, they consummate their marriage on their wedding night. In the series, she is 16.

In fact, if I’m not mistaken, everyone is younger in the series. George R. R. Martin described Ned Stark as 35. If Sean Bean is 35 in the series, then I’m 23!

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You’ll have to forgive my obsession. I don’t think I’ve felt this way about a film or TV adaptation since Harry Potter. I haven’t even read Dexter, because I heard that the series isn’t faithful to the written page.

I honestly can’t wait until Season 2. And I wish the HBO gods would complete all seven books in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.

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Speaking of Dexter, the teaser trailer of Dexter Season 6 was released recently by Showtime. You can find it online. There’s four months to go before Season 6 premieres, but things are looking exciting already. Online spoilers say that Season 6 brings back the old Dexter we got hooked on, not the softer serial killer who fell in love with Lumen (played by Julia Stiles).

What I liked about the Dexter Morgan, especially in the first seasons, is that he was a good, but incapable-of-feeling serial killer, who murdered only the bad guys. He was something different, an anti-hero who was totally in his mind, unable to connect to his own heart and incapable of relating to other people and their feelings.

Remember that early scene in Season 5 after Rita died and he had to tell the children? He wore a Mickey Mouse hat, and, at a loss for words, told the kids, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Classic Dexter.

But with Lumen, he just wasn’t the same guy at all. Sure, I was happy for him, but he wasn’t the same guy that hooked me and, I have to confess, I was worried about where the people behind the show would take it.

Apparently, I wasn’t alone. The teaser for Season 6 seems to tell us that he would be back to his old ways: “You know me,” he says in his trademark Dexter voice, “We’ve been through a lot together. I’ve always found it easiest to be honest with you. So I wanted to be the first to tell you: I’m feeling like my old self again. Renewed. Recharged. Refocused. With nothing to stop me from being… me.”

I’m hoping it would start to feel like Season 1 again, with several minor serial killers in the mix and just a small hint of baggage. So far, all I’ve heard is that Colin Hanks, Mos Def and Edward James Olmos would be guest stars. Another new cast member is Aimee Garcia, who will play Agent Batista’s younger sister—and Dexter’s new nanny.

Things are looking up already.

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