After Game of Thrones garnered 19 Emmy nominations, and accolades like “the greatest show on television” my wife succumbed to peer pressure and commenced binge-ing. She is now hooked.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, Game of Thrones is based on the novel series by George R.R. Martin. It’s a fantasy world similar to medieval Europe with all the warring nations, political intrigue, bawdiness, and dirtiness, with a couple of differences like real fire-breathing dragons and witches. It’s pretty awesome.

If you’re not caught up on Tivo yet, skip the rest of this post because it contains spoilers. (And get caught up for god’s sake.)

Getting my wife up to speed, I got to watch all four previous seasons again and explain things to her as we went a long. (Man, I wish someone was around to explain things to me the first time I watched the show.) Watching it a second time, I realized how dense the material is. Here’s a sample of a conversation we had.

“They’re talking about the sneaky guy,” I explain.

“The bald guy?”

“No, the other sneaky guy.”

There isn’t just one bad guy, but many subtle versions of characters and levels of malevolence. Sometimes it’s hard to sort through them. It’s so complicated and layered, it’s the only series where I actually bother to watch the recap.

And the plot lines are merciless. My wife kept hitting me when Ned lost his head. “They aren’t really going to kill him? They can’t kill him. Oh no, they’re going to kill him. Oh my god, they just killed Ned.” I went through the same process the first time I saw it.

Again I got hit at the now infamous Red Wedding. And again lots of hoping it wasn’t going to happen but then knowing it would.

By now the pattern has been set. Nobody’s safe. All characters, no matter how likeable or powerful, are fair game. I’m talking about you Tywin.

On top of all the great story lines and plot twists, is great dialogue, beautiful scenery, and stunning costumes. Even the theme song kicks ass. It’s just a great show. Certainly worth investing an hour a week.