The spinoff to HBO’s megahit Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, is doing very well. Not only did 10 million people tune into the premiere, 10.2 million people stuck around this past Sunday for the second episode. And the overall numbers keep growing because we don’t all watch TV at the same time anymore—HBO says that the first episode is closing in on 25 million viewers, which means it at least has the potential to match the original, one of the last collectively watched television shows of our time. It’s already been renewed for a second season.
Also, though: It’s not very good? The second episode really dragged. Some people I know had predicted a fall off in viewership because there is simply no good reason to watch this show. I will offer up myself as an example of the problem: I like the series not at all, but I feel pretty sure I’m going to watch the third episode on Sunday. Help!
What’s so bad about House of the Dragon? There’s no one to root for, even by this perpetually grim world’s standards. (The only person we could possibly root for feels like a trap because of what happened to Daenerys. Not falling for that again!) All of the storylines about women feel decidedly male in outlook. I had to literally hide my face during the entire C-section scene (I am not good with blood), but even with that it weirdly felt on the nose for the Game of Thrones spinoff: Of course the king would sacrifice his wife for a male heir? In words that I have found myself repeating quite a lot lately, it was shocking but not surprising.
In the lead up to this week’s Sunday night episode, I noticed the New York Times somewhat smugly re-promoting an essay it ran for the premiere: “How About We Just Don’t Watch the ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel?” I related to this piece so much that I read it when it came out, before watching the first episode of the prequel, and then I read it again, before watching the second episode of the prequel. I am the target audience of this piece, and yet, here I am, still watching the boring dragon show!
Why am I doing this? I don’t know—what’s your excuse? It’s nice to have a routine, especially on Sunday nights? My partner likes Game of Thrones. Maybe it will get better? It’s useful to know about, because I work at a magazine that covers culture, and this is somehow the culture we as a society of have picked! I will probably keep watching the dragon show, if only to see if it will get any better, or to marvel at it as it gets worse and worse.
These ratings for a show that no one I know really likes are some kind of testament to our moment. At least I am not alone.
