THE MORNING LIST
It is better, in this back-to-school week, not to be allergic to dragon scale or killer whale breath: the landscape of the series is drawn by the confrontation between two preludes to the great sagas ofheroic fantasy. On the one hand the family turpitudes of the Targaryen clan, on the other, the heroic quests in Middle-earth.
If you have no idea what it’s all regarding, better rewatch some of the great series from the summer – Irma Vep or Only Murders in the Building.
“House of the Dragon”: nest of vipers and eggs of chimeras
Set almost two centuries before the events related in Game of Thrones, lthe adventures of House of the Dragon bring followers of George RR Martin’s saga back to familiar ground: to the fortress of King’s Landing, where an aging ruler tries to settle his estate, above a nest of dragons.
The first two episodes have exposed enough turpitude – sexual predation, sadism under the guise of chivalry, trade in bodies and allegiances – for us to be reassured: the inhabitants of the land of Westeros (of which King’s Landing is the capital) remain true to their mission to assure the rest of humanity that there is always worse. A little less spectacular than it had become Game of Thrones, the series exudes a toxic atmosphere that leaves a severe hangover.
« House of the Dragon », series created by Ryan J. Condal and George RR Martin, with Paddy Considine, Emma d’Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Milly Alcock, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint (USA, 2022, 10 × 60 minutes). About OCSan episode every Monday at 3 a.m. since August 22.
“Off season”: the commissioner is a good mother
The work carried out by Marina Hands throughout the six episodes of Out of season is spectacular. In the role of Sterenn Peiry, captain of the Swiss police, she is placed from the first sequence in a difficult dilemma: should she arrest her son or cover up the crime he has apparently committed? Maternal love or police duty?
The dilemma is not new, but the first twists of the story give hope for a moral ambiguity which is generally lacking in French detective fiction. And then these twists get carried away until it’s hard to follow them, between implausibilities and clichés. Despite the efforts of the main interpreter who knows what tragedian means, despite the irruption of a French colleague who has come to lend a hand (Sofiane Zermani), Out of season stays away from the peaks that form its background.
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