House of the Dragon 1.1-1.3: Drawing Me In

It's been almost a month since I posted any reviews here -- I've been busy expanding my alternate history story, It's Real Life, in a novel, and helping put together a radioplay of the story -- and I figured House of the Dragon would be a good series to resume my reviewing.  I saw the first three episodes, and I really enjoyed them.  Indeed, I liked them more than some of Game of Thrones.  Here are some non-spoiler reasons:

1.  The dragons are handled very well.  Their scorching fire is very effective and great to have on your side, but the dragon and especially its rider are not invincible.  They can even be hit by well-aimed arrows.  We saw some of this in Game of Thrones, but that action was in momentous battles, and in House of the Dragon it's just a fact of war.

2. I like the way the story just in the first few episodes jumps ahead a few years.  This seems like an excellent way to tell such a big story.

3. There a far fewer pieces and physical places in House of the Dragon so far than in Game of Thrones, and I like that, too.  There were times when GoT had so many moving pieces, the narrative was hard to follow.

4. House of the Dragon at times almost has a Walt Disney Cinderella-like quality -- look at that coach that carries the King in episode 1.3 -- and I sorta like that, too.

Now for some spoilers ...

5. Matt Smith's Daemon is a great character.  He's defeated in that joust in the first episode, but he comes back like gangbusters in the third episode.  True, he wouldn't have made it on his own, but he single-handedly wiped out enough of the bad guys to make it possible for the cavalry to come in and save the day.

6.  Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Alicent (Emily Carey)'s  stories are both a little obvious and predictable at this point, but they're well played and interesting enough to keep me watching.

7. Same for King Viserys (Paddy Considine), whom I didn't much like in the first episode, but he's growing on me, and could have the makings of a really pivotal, unpredictable character, after all.

So count me in as a fan, and I'll keep watching and reviewing.

Reckoning: Reckon It's Great

My wife and I just binged Reckoning, an outstanding psychological thriller about a serial killer and the detective bent on nabbing him that's been on Netflix since May.   The ten episodes are each little masterpieces in themselves, and there's more than enough room for a second season, which I'd put at the top of any list to watch.

Aden Young from Rectify plays Detective Mike Serrato.   In fact, Sertato is so much like Daniel Holden from Rectify that I could easily believe it's same character, a little older and a little less tormented.   Whether that's a limitation of the actor or not, I don't care.  Young does such a memorably effective job in both roles.

Serrato, as I said, is a little less tormented.  But not much.  He's vexed to the point of his own sanity about not catching this serial killer, played, also to perfection, by Sam Trammell from True Blood.  And indeed Trammell's Leo Doyle is the most difficult kind of serial killer to catch.  He doesn't want to be a serial killer.  He's constantly fighting his basest instinct.  He wants to let his victim go - he wants to save them, from himself - and sometimes he does.

The wives of these two men are complex characters, too - not just throwaway players, as wives of cops and killers often are in these kinds of stories.  Simone Kessell does a great job as Paige, a psychologist who can't rid her husband of his demons, as intelligent and empathetic and tough as she is.  And Laura Gordon is excellent as Leo's wife, but I can't tell you more about her story without giving a little too much away.

How good is Reckoning?  Even the kids are standouts, especially Pax (Leo's son) and Sam (Mike's younger daughter), well played by Ed Oxenbould and Milly Alcock.  And I'll also throw in a plaudit for Gloria Garayua as Cyd Ramos who is Mike's partner, and, like everyone else, gives more than you usually get from detective partners in these tales.  There in fact is not an off note in the acting, plot, or dialogue.   Back to what I said at the beginning - bring on a second season.