Week 3 of “House of the Dragon” — I really wish it were called “House of Dragons” — showed a ratings fall off for the HBO blockbuster.
Linear ratings on HBO Prime — the cable channel, not streaming or beaming in from other worlds — fell by at least 500,000 viewers to 1,750,000. That’s over two showings between 9 and 11 pm.
I think a lot of viewers, like me, are starting to tire of the “woke” talk, the utter lack of sex or a sense of humor. “HOD” is all plot, and a lot of violence. Blood is spurting everywhere. But none of the predecessors to the Game of Thrones gang is having any fun. What’s the point?
Fans of “GoT” will tell you that the initial seasons bordered on soft core porn. You can find the clips all over YouTube. The original Westerosians drank and screwed and were pretty hearty. Dragons were not their main concern. They also laughed a lot. Some of the episodes were so scandalous, when they were over, you were left agog. Did they really do that on a TV show?
“HOD” is very tame. It’s about royal succession, and only that as far I can tell. Epsiode 3 had a time jump so we missed the wedding of Viserys to his young bride and the birth of their first child. I thought I’d fallen asleep and missed an episode. Alicent Hightower was already pregnant with her second child! What? And they’ve written Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) as a cypher. She has no interest in the guys around her (or even the girls). It’s hard to root for her when she doesn’t seem to care one way or another about anything.
The saving grace of “HOD” is the production. It’s gorgeous to look at. The production design is subtle and stunning. So we keep watching, hoping something will happen soon.
