Submitted by Artistic-Toe-8803 t3_116zseb in television
Everyone by now knows how terribly received the final season of GoT was by fans and critics alike, and so people who've never seen GoT will usually steer clear as a result. But I still encourage people to watch it, bc I believe the first 4 seasons are the greatest 4 season stretch of anything, ever, and that show completely changed my perception of what a TV show could be. You could truly never tell a story like this in the format of film, even ones like Dr. Strangelove >!where literally everyone dies!< can never have the sense of character develipment and true stakes, utter suspense in that literally anything could happen to any character. There's no plot armor, nothing that makes anybody untouchable, etc. Now, personally I didn't think season 5 was as bad as everyone else seems to, I loved season 6, and didn't hate 7 as much as most (although it did feel like it was worse in the final 2-3 eps than the first 3-4 or so). But 8 was absolutely every bit of the incorrigible disaster that everyone and their mother has been calling it since it aired. Despite all this, I still think pretty much anyone who hasn't seen the show should watch the first 4 seasons, they're just that insanely good imo.
The only other majorly popular show (which is also renowned to have fallen off terribly) that I hear the same sentiments about, is Dexter. Nobody suggests to watch TWD nowadays due to how bad it got after season 1, same goes for basically every CW show ever made (many have terrible 1st seasons as well nowadays but the Flash, Arrow, Riverdale, etc at least started pretty well), Supernatural, True Blood, etc.
It's interesting that Dexter lasted the same amount of seasons as what most seem to view as top tier TV, so I'm curious if it was every bit as good as early GoT (or even better maybe?). If that's the case, I may watch it despite how much it apparently falls off
admiralvic t1_j99g8a5 wrote
I'd say you're comparing apples and oranges.
While it's probably not the best term, I would consider Dexter a "fun" show. I'm not watching it because Dexter is playing 4D chess as he attempts to captures the criminal, avoid the police, aid them in a way that does not raise suspicion/get them to follow him, and manage to make it all work while trying to be normal.
Instead, Dexter is working with one of the least competent police forces on film, who wouldn't catch Dexter if he was wearing a shirt that said "I kill the Ice Truck Killer." There are some solid storylines, like season two when he is suspected by a single cop, and everything about Trinity showing Dexter he could potentially have it all are good, they really don't change the fact the series is filled with contrived plot points, and things often work because the narrative needs them to. It's the type of mindless excitement that is enjoyable, even if I wouldn't say season one Dexter is legitimately better than season one Westworld.