Abaddon

That's absolutely fair. I think Ran's previous response, which gives several concrete examples that for the critics at least this doesn't seem to be the case, is very germane to this concern. In fact, I would say that there are some critics who are fans of the books (Mo Ryan, most notably) who are more critical of the series than the average non-reader critic seems to be. In general, again from the critical response, it seems like on average the non-readers are just as hooked as the readers are. Regarding the "average" fan (not a critic), I know your own personal experience is that the non-readers are struggling. I can only say that I think this varies widely and that based on the non-reader forums out there as well as my own personal experience, there are a ton of non-readers that are very engaged. Based on the continuing "good" (subjective) ratings and the fact that the audience seems to be sticking around, I think the show response is at this time strong enough to suggest the series can go longer than two seasons. Personally, I am very curious what happens when as I suspect that will turn some people off. But I think even those turned off will be compelled to see the first season out, and it ends with such a bang that I can't imagine people who watched it all the way through bailing on the second season. Anyway, thanks for the thoughtful reply, I do understand where you are coming from, but I think there is ample evidence to suggest that for those non-readers that are not having the show click for them, there are many more that are.

Looking at the ratings, in which every episode has a handful of people rating them a one or a two, it's pretty clear to me that there is some ranking deflation. Right? And if you're going to look at the "best episode ever" posts you need to note that most of those folks do NOT think every episode is "best ever" but actually have episodes they like more than others. For example, I rated the episodes so far an 8, a 9, a 6, and a 9. OBVIOUSLY these ratings are subjective. There are folks who posted their ratings and gave Ep3 a 9 or 10 and gave Ep4 a 7, which is the complete opposite of my reaction. Because, you know, these are subjective opinions. But you are telling me my ratings (by proxy, since you are speaking to the group) are "inflated". That's insulting, and what in fact you are really saying is "I don't think it's as good as the consensus here". WHICH IS FINE. But by saying the ratings are "inflated", you're also effectively stating that you somehow have a truer measure as to the absolute worth of the adaptation, where other people's are biased, again, away from some sort of absolute truth to which you alone are privy. Which is a little pompous, and again, insulting. As for "most of my friends who are non-readers are confused and disillusioned" that isn't my experience at all. So, your mileage may vary. Extrapolating one small sample size (yours or mine) to the whole is not statistically sound. Just my $0.02 and change.

As far as my own rating, I would give this a 9. Probably the best episode for me so far, but I am expecting bigger and better things as the story starts opening up again. For the record, my ratings so far were 8, 9, 6, and now 9. (The '6' was maybe a little harsh... I might up it to a 7 on further reflection... but it was easily the most disappointing episode for me so far, so I felt it was appropriate to distance it from the 1st episode by more than one point, and will probably keep it there). About the only real gripe I have (one obviously shared with many others) is that the Hand's Tourney looked very good but way too poorly attended. Really, they're spending all of this gold on the purse, but only 20 people show up? Disappointing. I understand why, and it didn't ruin the episode or anything, but a really grand Tourney would have taken this one easily to a 10 for me. I've been excited each week for the next episode with the exception of this weeks, due to my disappointment with last week's. So that's another indication that it has been the outlier for me so far. The story is really going to explode starting next week and continuing all of the way through the end, and I can't wait!

I think you're missing that a lot of people understand it's incredibly challenging to translate something to the screen from a book (particularly one written with a POV structure) and they are doing a great job. While the experience is (naturally) distilled from the book, I firmly believe that if one watches the show, they are getting a great experience (my spouse would agree... I was out of town last week and she re-watched the 3rd episode without me). They can then go to the book and flesh out back-story without many contradictions at all. I also think the new scenes have for the most part been very well done, giving us glimpses of character interaction we could never see in the book, and in a very believable way. I am VERY pleased how well those are coming off so far as they really underscore how well the show creators understand the characters. Of course, there are a minority of cases where I don't like the changes, but overall, well done D&D. So yeah, if it's not working for you, that's too bad. But I think people here are being honest, and I think it's a bit cheeky to suggest there's "ratings inflation" going on, when you're part of the "ratings deflation" crew just as much (I personally think both characterizations are silly; we're all just giving our honest opinions here).

I gave it a 6. (For comparison, I gave 1 an 8 and 2 a 9). Might be a little over-harsh and I might adjust it upwards one on rewatch, but it just didn't do it for me this week. I should add I liked the Dothraki arc for the first time, and I liked the Wall. Despite some nice high points the Kings Landing stuff just felt disjointed and off although without watching it again I can't really say why.