TV Quote of the Day (‘Game of Thrones,’ on Power, ‘A Shadow on the Wall’)

“Power is a curious thing, my lord…Power resides where men believe it resides. It’s a trick, a shadow on the wall. And, a very small man can cast a very large shadow.” —Lord Varys (played by Conleth Hill), in Game of Thrones, Season 2, Episode 3, “What Is Dead May Never Die,” original air date Apr. 15, 2012, teleplay by Bryan Cogman, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire," directed by Alik Sakharov

TV Quote of the Day (‘Game of Thrones,’ In Which Olenna Takes the Measure of Cirsei)

"I wonder if you’re the worst person I’ve ever met. At a certain age, it’s hard to recall, but the truly vile do stand out through the years." — Queen of Thorns Olenna Tyrell (played by Diana Rigg), to Cirsei Lannister, in Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 7, “The Broken Man,” original air date June 5, 2016, teleplay by Bryan Cogman, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire," directed by directed by Mark Mylod

TV Quote of the Day (‘Game of Thrones,’ on How Olenna Survived ‘A Great Many Clever Men’)

"I’ve known a great many clever men. I’ve outlived them all. You know why? I ignored them."— Queen of Thorns Olenna Tyrell (played by Diana Rigg), in Game of Thrones, Season 7, Episode 2, “Stormborn,” original air date July 23, 2017, teleplay by Bryan Cogman, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire," directed by Mark Mylod

Quote of the Day (Andy Simmons, Imagining an Airbnb Review of the ‘Game of Thrones’ Red Keep)

“If you can get past the beheadings, poisonings, pillaging, and spotty Wi-Fi, then this is a fun place. I swear, after every battle, the wine flows and people make out. So much better than the Sandals Resort in Jamaica!” —Andy Simmons, “Here’s What Airbnb Reviews Would Look Like for Fictional Places,” Yahoo!Sports, May 23, 2018

TV Quote of the Day (‘Game of Thrones,’ As Tyrion Explains Why He Reads So Much)

Jon Snow [played by Kit Harington]: “Why do you read so much?”

Tyrion Lannister [played by Peter Dinklage]: “Look at me and tell me what you see.”

Jon: “Is this a trick?”

Tyrion: “What you see is a dwarf. If I had been born a peasant, they might have left me out in the woods to die. Alas, I was born a Lannister of Casterly Rock. Things are expected of me. My father was the Hand of the King for twenty years.”

Jon: “Until your brother killed that king.”

Tyrion: “Yes. Until my brother killed him. Life is full of these little ironies. My sister married the new king, and my repulsive nephew will be king after him. I must do my part for the honor of my house; wouldn't you agree? But how? Well, my brother has his sword, and I have my mind. And a mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone. That's why I read so much, Jon Snow.”—Game of Thrones, Season 1, Episode 2, “The Kingsroad,” original air date Apr. 24, 2011, teleplay by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, adapted from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, directed by Timothy Van Patten

Over the years, I’ve heard some variant on Jon Snow’s question hundreds of times. I wish I had been as ready with a response--and as eloquent--as Tyrion Lannister. 

On the other hand, I'm glad I never belonged to a family like his...

TV Quote of the Day (‘Game of Thrones,’ on How ‘Chaos is a Ladder’)

Lord Varys [played by Conleth Hill]: “But what do we have left, once we abandon the lie? Chaos? A gaping pit waiting to swallow us all.”

Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish [played by Aidan Gillen]: “Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb. They refuse, they cling to the realm or the gods or love. Illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.”— Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 6, “The Climb,” original air date May 5, 2013, teleplay by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, based on  A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, directed by Alik Sakharov

Throughout 12 years of Catholic school, I was told repeatedly that confession is good for the soul. So, when it comes to my viewing habits, here goes mine: I have not been a Game of Thrones fan. In fact, this year I have not even been a watcher.  I have elected not to include HBO in my already-swollen monthly cable bill.

This past winter, with curiosity getting the better of me, I finally rented a DVD package of Season 1 from an area library. I got through the pilot episode, “Winter Is Coming,” and quickly surmised the elements it had in common with a prior HBO hit series, The Sopranos: main characters who were, at best, morally ambiguous; envelope-pushing sex and nudity; power struggles marked by deceit and double-crosses; and eruptions of over-the-top violence that might (or might not) spring from that infighting. 

Most of all, there were a lot of unusual, tongue-tying named characters and places. How could I understand the plots without learning these names? And how could I learn that without devoting serious time to binge-watching, and/or reducing my time for blogging? The decision not to watch seemed practically made for me.

But a close relative of mine swears that the show is must-see TV; I have been fascinated by some of the punchier dialogue from the series that has made its way into the popular press; and the closing episode of this season was garnering even greater attention for the show than usual. This past week, while on vacation and staying in an accommodation with HBO, I decided to catch a repeat of this closing episode.

Somewhere in this great land, someone has missed that hour and some minutes, so I won’t be providing spoilers. But I will say that the master manipulator  in the above quote features prominently in the proceedings—and, especially after a Maureen Dowd column last month from the New York Times that likened this fictitious individual to real-life counterparts on the national stage today, my interest was piqued.

Additionally, this character possessed a nickname similar to that of the man dubbed a “short-fingered vulgarian” by the magazine Spy in the late 1980s. We will see soon whether  current events begin to resemble even more this TV series on the tumult caused by access to power.

TV Quote of the Day (‘The Avengers,’ on Diana Rigg, aka ‘Mrs. Peel’)

Z. Z. von Schnerk (played by Kenneth J. Warren), a whip-wielding, egomaniacal German film director with more than a passing resemblance to Erich von Stroheim, addressing spy Emma Peel (played by Diana Rigg): “You are a woman of courage, beauty and of action. A woman who could become desperate yet remain strong, become confused yet remain intelligent, who could fight back yet remain feminine.”-- The Avengers: Season 5, Episode 11, “Epic,” air date April 14, 1967, teleplay by Brian Clemens, directed by James Hill

In the same episode of the sly and stylish British intelligence spoof of the 1960s from which the above quote comes, Emma Peel approaches another character: “I’ve come here to appeal to you, Mr. Kirby.”

“You certainly do that,” he responded. Millions of fans worldwide chuckled, and heartily agreed.

This has been quite a week for Diana Rigg. Not only did this grand Dame (an honor conferred by Queen Elizabeth nearly 20 years ago, sort of the equivalent of knighthood for men) celebrate her 75^th birthday today, but her fans also toasted her Emmy nomination as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in her role as Lady Olenna Tyrell in the HBO series Game of Thrones—46 years after her first Emmy nod as Emma Peel. All in all, it’s a double occasion, requiring an additional post on Rigg besides the one I wrote last year.

Whatever else happens in this competition, Dame Diana has already achieved a triumph over the restrictions placed by age on actresses beyond the ingenue stage, not to mention the slings and arrows of outrageous critics. Prominent among the latter: New York Magazine’s jaundiced John Simon, who noted of her appearance (while in her thirties) in a play's nude scene that she was “built like a brick basilica with insufficient flying buttresses.”

Once she got over the shock of the criticism, Rigg put the drubbing to good use by compiling an anthology of the worst theatrical reviews, No Turn Unstoned. Others, however, were left to wonder what Simon might have been smoking to come out with a line like that in the first place.

Rigg, as Mrs. Peel, appealed abundantly to both sexes. Women saw in her an early symbol of empowerment, someone on an equal footing with partner John Steed. (She would not be one of those heroines forever in need of rescue from villains.) As for guys—well, they couldn’t get enough of her sinuous athletic wear, not to mention that iconic black leather wardrobe.

(The latter, as recounted in Robin Dougherty’s 1999 Salon article on Peel, was something of a happy accident.  The show’s designers called her wardrobe “fighting suits,” envisioning these for the very practical reason that they needed something that wouldn’t tear when she went into her exertions against assorted baddies. A happy byproduct was that Rigg looked great in them.)

Rigg’s work extends far beyond Emma Peel or Lady Olenna. James Bond fans will recall that she got 007 to the altar in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (and died for her trouble). Also onscreen, she had a terrific supporting role as a young woman who took up with suicidal, middle-aged hospital administrator George C. Scott in Paddy Chayefsky’s The Hospital. 

On TV, she won an Emmy for her role as Mrs. Danvers in a 1997 PBS adaptation of Rebecca, hosted Masterpiece Mystery from 1989 to 2004, and, back in the ‘70s, briefly had her own sitcom. Onstage, Simon notwithstanding, she produced especially terrific work, whether in Shakespeare (both virtuous Cordelia and villainous Regan in different productions of King Lear) or Sondheim (Follies).

Rigg need not take a back seat to her extraordinary contemporaries Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave. Intelligence and class always find a way.