I can’t think of a pop culture institution that has lost its goodwill and relevance faster than HBO’s “Game of Thrones”, a fantasy series adapted from a series of books by television novelist and screenwriter George RR Martin. If you can’t remember what happened, or if you’ve just never watched the series, look no further than the Rotten Tomatoes score: after seven consecutive seasons between 90 and 97% (” Certified Fresh, â€the site’s highest rating), the disastrous eighth season dropped to just 55% (“ Rotten â€).
Fans largely blamed showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss: Once the series reached the end of the still-incomplete novel series, they failed to write any successful arcs for the sprawling storylines and dozens of characters. (although, in their defense, Martin himself has not proven that this is even possible). So whoever HBO exploits the upcoming “Dunk & Egg” prequel, which tells the story of the protagonist (antagonist?) Ancestor of Daenerys Targaryen, has their work cut out for them.
Fortunately, the writer they found is Stephen Conrad, creator of the Amazon Prime show “Patriot” – arguably the best series you haven’t watched, and quite possibly the best series of the period of the platform. form (the pilot episode is available to watch for free to non-Prime members).
“Patriot” is about John Tavner (Michael Dorman, “The Invisible Man”), a trained CIA agent tasked with one of the most boring jobs possible: going undercover at a piping company, traveling to Luxembourg and delivering a bag of money and hopefully influence an election. The problem? He suffers from a complex post-traumatic stress disorder, due to both years of torture and the accidental death of an innocent person at work, which he deals with by compulsively performing folk songs that are teeming with sensitive state secrets. Oh – and every one of her “coworkers” at the pipe company – led by Leslie Claret (Kurtwood Smith, “RoboCop”, “That 70’s Show”) – is an utterly ridiculous person who takes herself so seriously that she frieze to be neurotic. A highlight is a character who painstakingly explains, in agonizing detail, why his sexual addiction is whipped with Twizzlers.
Then there’s Ed Tavner (Michael Chernus, “Spider-Man: Homecomingâ€), a US congressman who insists on going through “Cool Rickâ€. It is quite another thing, however.
The area where “Patriot” shines, and the reason it gives me hope in Conrad’s ability to make “Dunk & Egg” something truly worth watching, is the way which he takes utterly ridiculous situations and presents them in a serious and believable way without ever winking at the audience – he trusts you, always knows that if you watch you’re in the joke. It also proved Conrad’s ability to create a totally unique tone, as I’m still not sure if “Patriot†is a dark comedy or just a total farce. All I know is that he features some of the most intricate writing and subtle acting performances I’ve ever seen on TV.
Also many, many long scenes of dialogue in front of the urinals of the men.
Seasons 1 and 2 of “Patriot” are now streaming on Amazon Prime.
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