I'm a huge fan of the books and I've been following the show since before it was a show (back when Martin sold HBO an option to produce a pilot, I think) in like 2007. So, Sunday was a big night. I was very pleased with the result... especially the final scene. With the season two pickup that came today, I'm looking forward to another 20 or so episodes (and hopefully a lot more after that). From all the advance reviews I read, the first two episodes were considered on the slow side -- very dialogue-heavy with a lot of exposition, introductions, and setup -- but from there it really gets going. Episodes 5 and 6 are supposed to be big. And any reader of the first book knows that there's some huge stuff to come. I encourage all you newcomers to the story to stick with it for at least a few more weeks. Invader3K, I think you'll find that you will change your mind on your "clichéd" classification!