Game of Thrones 101: Winter is Coming

Beware! Spoilers! This is going to be hard to talk about thematically. I've read the book four times, so it's hard to extricate my feelings about the story from my assessment of the show, and my assessment of the show from my admiration of many of the cast. SO. I guess I'll bullet point some things:

• Winter is Coming: Starting the episode with the prelude, out past the Wall, was perfect. It's eerie and alien and terrifying, and it feels completely separate from everything else that happens in the episode. This is a story that gets told across three continents, almost, and they manage to emphasize those differences quite well.
• Transitioning from page to screen: For the most part, I think they did pretty well with this. Game of Thrones is a dense book, and there are a billion characters and, yeah, games layered into it. I think they simplified it as much as they could, and to be more explicit would require the king to grip Ned's shoulders and wail, I am so unhappy with my life right now! but he practically did that anyway. I think anybody who's vaguely interested in fantasy and/or medieval-type entertainment should be able to follow along all right for now--the relationship and character tropes start out pretty simply, even though they build and twist over time. Well, they probably could have explained who Theon was. That would have been handy.
• The Starks: Sean Bean is a pretty effin' brilliant Ned Stark, and their Catelyn is a nice match with him. I like how they alternate between steel coldness and rough-hewn warmth--steady as thousand-year oaks, they are. Robb and Jon have a nice tension, and even though Theon wasn't really identified or explained, he added a nice counterpoint to emphasize Jon's bastard status. Because WOW, Robb and Jon look a lot alike. Bran and Arya are precocious and whip-quick. The introduction to them is rather ridiculous (ARYA IS A TOMBOY. BRAN LIKES CLIMBING AGAINST A GREEN SCREEN), but that's fine. They've got lovely, expressive faces. Is this Sansa truly supposed to be thirteen? She looks a bit older. In any case, she's just as insufferable on screen as she is on the page, so well done, show.
• The Lannisters: Cersei and Jaime and Tyrion are PERFECT. I'm impressed with Cersei (Lena Headey is sublime), as she managed to convey a lot of emotion while standing completely still. I like the way they interact most of the time. Even though they have varying levels of affection and/or contempt for each other, there's an informality between them that shows they've been working together for decades. They're casual with each other in a way nobody else is--even the Stark kids. I am predisposed to like Tyrion, and I already love Peter Dinklage, so. While the dude who plays Jaime is smokin', I am half-and-half on him so far--his confrontation with Ned was ACE, but I didn't care for his delivery of, "The things I do for love." Sigh.
• The Baratheons: King Robert is less of a joke than I expected, which is good--I want to have some idea why folks would accept him as king. He's still a bit imposing, even when he's drunk and gropey. I wanted to punch Joffrey in the face as soon as I saw him. Well done, show.
• Across the Narrow Sea: I wanted to punch Viserys in the face as soon as I saw him. Well done, show. I have mixed feelings about Daenerys. I think the way she plays so many moments numbly is perfect, mostly because it will be good for her arc. HOWEVER, I always read her marriage to Khal Drogo as reluctant but, er, not tear-filled at the end there. That is, the book had a very definite moment of consent between Drogo and Daenerys, and their weird, discomforting scene on the cliffs overlooking the sea was so very, very ick. I mean, realistic, and it makes the parallel between Drogo/Daenerys and Joffrey/Sansa more obvious (there was one deliberate cut from one to the other), but siggggh. DROGO GAVE HER A PONY. And there was that lovely line from the book, "Tell Khal Drogo he has given me the wind," and then he smiles at her, and we didn't get that here. Welcome back to my television, Jason Momoa! Here's hoping you're not as creepily imposing in the next episode! Ser Jorah and Illyrio both came off much more complimentary on the screen than I first envisioned in the book. I'm happy about that.
• You're watching HBO: I wouldn't call the sex scenes excessive, since they were in the book and all. Even Daenerys being all naked was...okay, the hot tub was, I think, an addition, but it also worked out well thematically (Daenerys is impervious to heat, LOL). Violence-wise, I knew when beheadings and stabbings were coming. I covered my eyes.

All in all, I'm extremely happy with the show so far. I have a couple of reservations about the way things were played (as noted above), but they're things I'm willing to roll with, interpretation-wise.