George R.R. Martin picks best finale “in history of television”
George R.R. Martin has named which television episode he considers as the best finale “in the history of television”.
The renowned author – most famed as the creator of the Game Of Thrones universe – took to his website to share a blog update with his fans, explaining which are his favourite television episodes over the past quarter of a century.
This was prompted after Vanity Fair published an article, naming a Game Of Thrones episode as one of the 25 episodes it considers to be “perfect” from the last 25 years.
The episode in question was the penultimate episode to the show’s second season, Blackwater, which aired in May 2012 and centred around the character Stannis Baratheon, as he leads his army into a battle to claim King’s Landing.
“I have never claimed to be perfect… but if the good folks at VANITY FAIR want to say so, who I am to argue,” the author wrote on his page, sharing a link to the complete list.
“Of course, they are not actually saying I am perfect. They are talking about Blackwater, one of the episodes I wrote for GAME OF THRONES,” he added, also citing that although it is the favourite of the four episodes he wrote, season four episode The Lion and the Rose is a close contender.
He continued, going on to explain how he agrees with many of the other choices listed in the article – namely The Suitcase from Mad Men, Ozymandias from Breaking Bad and The Pine Barrens from The Sopranos.
However, elsewhere in the post he went on to reveal that his all-time favourite episode was not mentioned in the list – the season finale of Six Feet Under.
“If I had to pick one episode that was even more perfect than all the others on the list, though, it would have to be the final episode of SIX FEET UNDER,” he wrote. “I liked that series well enough, though I cannot say I loved it as much as I loved ROME or DEADWOOD or FARGO or a few other shows missing from the list.
“But that last episode was far and away the best finale in the entire history of television,” he continued. “And I cannot imagine how anyone could possibly do better.”
In the blog update, he also expressed his admiration for various episodes of The Wire and Black Mirror, as well as saying he felt “very pleased and flattered” to have one of his creations listed among the others.
“No work of art is ever truly perfect, of course… but it is very gratifying to hear that maybe you achieved it, or at least came close,” he concluded. “There is always a next time, though… and regardless of how well (or poorly) one of my tales is received, I always want to do better the next time I sit down in front of the computer.”
Other series listed in the list included Friends, Arrested Development, Sex And The City, The Office and Succession.
In other George R. R. Martin news, earlier this year the writer confirmed that writing on the upcoming Thrones prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Night will stop for the “duration” of the ongoing writer’s strike in the US.
“No one wanted this — no writer with an ounce of sense, anyway — but the producers and the studios and the networks and the streamers gave us no choice,” he wrote on his blog. “I am not in LA, so I cannot walk a picket line as I did in 1988, but I want to go on the record with my full and complete and unequivocal support of my Guild.”
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
