Here's What's Wrong With 'Game of Thrones' Right Now

The Unwritten Path

It used to be a problem that Game of Thrones the TV series was too loyal to creator George R.R. Martin's source books, with long scenes of dialogue, and even longer stretches of character positioning and stage setting, without enough significant action.

However, now that Game of Thrones has progressed past Martin's written manuscripts, it's also become increasingly clear that the book's influence on the show created a particular flavor that's now missing.

The story flow of Martin's books might've been slow and at times meandering, but it also had the idiosyncrasies and creative distinctions that made Game of Thrones something unique. Without that unique creative foundation under the show, what we've been left with, is...

A Fan-Service Agenda

Without being able to rely on the organic flow of independent creative work (the books), Game of Thrones, the TV show, has become a series of fan-service moments. While these moments are gratifying in the moment, it's also put the show in the same dread place where so many pop-culture hit shows find themselves: it's too self-aware.

For an example of this, look no further than the season 7 premiere ending, which saw Daenerys Targaryen arrive at Dragonstone. The scene doesn't mean much for the episode - certainly not a fitting finish for an episode - yet it's treated with the grandeur of a major occurrence, simply due to its fan-service payoff.

The rest of season 7 has been little better in this regard, as most of the season has been built around one fan-service character meeting or another. Jon and Daenerys; Arya and Sansa; Bran, Arya, and Sansa; Jamie and Tyrion; Jon's raiding party beyond the wall - while watching these character interactions has been fun, they're also somewhat hollow, as they've helped create the show's biggest problem:

Too Many Contrivances

The consensus criticism that fans have been increasingly vocal about is that Game of Thrones feels like it now has too many convenient contrivances, in the name of satisfying fans and bringing the story to a rapid conclusion.

First, there's the aforementioned reunions and new character interactions, that have mostly felt intended to give fans a nerdgasm thrill (see: Jon and Daenerys' budding romance). Sure, there have been some really great and unexpected moments (see: The Hound and Tormund Giantsbane) but most of it feels like wholesale fan wish fulfillment.

However, there's no denying that time has been the biggest contrivance of the season - something that even the director of season 7's penultimate episode, "Beyond The Wall" had to admit. Journeys that used to take a week or a season not get traversed in just a couple of scenes; and some big saves (like Dany's dragon air strike against The White Walkers) just so articicially convenient and hopeful that it's hard to believe they occurred in Game of Thrones.

The season 7 finale, "The Dragon and The Wolf" will bring the series' biggest meet up of characters, ever (The Lannisters, Targaryen(s), and The North). That premise provides opportunity that Game of Thrones could either end season 7 by breaking from this current narrative slump (with some major unexpected twists that hew closer to the original flavor of the books); or, we could see a full-tilt into a final season that's full of more thin, fan-service contrivances, meant to wrap the story up, neat and clean.

We'll see when Game of Thrones airs its season 7 finale, "The Dragon and The Wolf" this Sunday @ 9/8c on HBO.