3 reasons to keep HBO subscription after the end of Game of Thrones

3 reasons to keep HBO subscription after the end of Game of Thrones

Written by: João Santos

As expected, the final episode of Game of Thrones, was released on Sunday, May 19th causing huge buzz on the internet. On Twitter, the hashtag #GameOfThronesFinale topped the list of most commented topics worldwide.

In addition to the bids for the end of the lane based on the books of George RR Martin, what was seen in the social network after the episode was a flood of complaints. The comments express huge disappointment of the fans with the mediocre script writing by David Benioff and David Weiss and poor character development, especially, regarding the fate of Daenerys and the questions that weren’t’ answered in the final season. The episode was a bittersweet taste for HBO: it was the worst rated episode so far but they secured their best ever TV ratings.

Anyway, one week later, we already had time to digest and think about what other series will we follow now that GoT has ended. If you had an HBO subscription, you probably are considering quitting it after the end of your beloved epic saga. However, consider waiting for a while, because we have 3 good reasons for you to hold your horses. Pay attention to these amazing 3 series.

1. Westworld
Westworld is not just a television classic show, but one of the most disturbing works science fiction we’ve seen. The television of the future will probably have a before and after Westworld. A new level of quality argument script and depth of characters has arrived, led by the legendary direction J. J. Abrams – author of Lost, Fringe and the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The complexity of ideas, the mixing of narratives and temporal layers are tremendous. The particularity of this story is that there will not be two equal perspectives for each episode, nor will two different people give the same importance to information that has been provided to us as true. Never has a television show tried to go so far in freedom, granted to interpretations of history, narrative, enigmas and ambiguity of the characters.

This series has raised questions about freedom, memory and consciousness, artificial intelligence, destiny, limits of human and technology, modern indifference, but especially about the perverse impiety and manipulation of reality, two aspects of contemporary society that will certainly be part of our future.

Do nudity and violence, when applied to machines, have the same impact as to human beings? With new technologies always evolving, what are the limit for a human to continue treating a machine as just a simple device?

These are some of the questions that Westworld will raise and maybe bring a debate between you and your friends, family or significant other. If this wasn’t enough to convince you just remember the cast has such names as Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Thandie Newton and much more. Westworld has already two seasons available and a 3rd one is coming in 2020 – with Aaron Paul and Vincent Cassel already confirmed to join! Plenty of time for you to get on track with the events!

2. Barry
A dark comedy TV show, that is like a mixture between Breaking Bad and The Disaster Artist, with a dark humor tone. The series follows a retired Marine, Barry Berkman, who becomes a hitman and gets deeply involved with the L.A. crime scene. A bit like Walter White in BB or Dexter, we follow a character with a tormented personality, who, even though is a criminal and a sociopath, ends up making us weirdly sympathize with him.

Bill Hader, the long running member of Saturday Night Live cast, is the creator and protagonist of this show, impersonating Barry himself. The series also has the legendary Stephen Root, Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg, but perhaps the breakout talent here is Anthony Carrigan as NoHo Hank, a kind of antihero, with a unique but hilarious personality.

Barry has already collected several Emmy Awards in its debut series, for lead (Hader) and supporting actor (Winkler) in a comedy series and has been for other 4 categories. It has a current rating of 8.2 in IMDB, which includes the two seasons launched so far. The 3rd season is already confirmed, and it is coming in March 2020!

3. Chernobyl
Since we’re all still in the underworld of “Game of Thrones”, the best way to heal it is to dive into another HBO drama. It’s not worth making big comparisons, because they are totally different projects, but “Chernobyl” is better ranked in the IMDb portal than GOT. Not only that, but Chernobyl has right now a rating of 9,7/10, which makes it even higher ranked than Breaking Bad!

Unfortunately, there is not enough feedback about the TV series yet, because there are only a few episodes released. It focusses on the last days before the nuclear disaster in 1986 in Ukraine, showing the accidental explosion that devastated Chernobyl, the city Pripyat and the effects on the population in the surrounding areas. The series will also show how it prevented the spread of radioactive materials throughout the rest of Europe.

Certainly, the story surrounding the Chernobyl incident is full of meander and will deserve to be presented with a refined political discussion. The only down point is that this is a miniseries, so it will only have 5 points – since it is inspired in a real event, they won’t be able to drag it for long anyway.

The series counts with Stellan Skarsgård, iconic Swedish actor from Good Will Hunting and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Jared Harris (Lost in Space, Lincoln) and Emily Watson (The Book Thief and The Theory of Everything). It was filmed in Vilnius, Lithuania. Worth the watch, especially if you are into history-based series.