Christmas in July

Game of Thrones is exciting and untethered

There is a harmony to new episodes of “Game of Thrones” and “Twin Peaks” airing on the same night. Cultural zeitgeist, sure, but also the shared obsession of both shows becomes a badge of honor for adherents.

For 25 years “Peaks” fans have been waiting for a (proper) conclusion. “Thrones” fans know that feeling all too well. Show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have left writer George R.R. Martin behind, taking decades-long fans of the books, and everyone else, to the edge of the world. This season is shorter. And the last will be shorter still.

We collectively mark time by these stories. I had a totally different life and home for the premiere of “Thrones” in 2011. As with any epic journey, real or imagined, chances are you’re watching these new episodes with a different group of people than you started watching with. Still, we remain a society, celebrating winter every summer.

Soon the reunions will end.

But on July 16, the customary re-watch of the previous season’s finale before the current premiere was largely drowned out by the excitement of giddy commentary, silenced by moments like Arya slitting Walder Frey’s throat, Tommen’s suicide, or Cersei killing the shit out of every short-term enemy she had in a glorious blast of emerald wildfire. We calmed down for the main event, ready for Santa.

The reunion is treated like a holiday feast. Themed food like artisanal pork shoulder tacos, masterpiece-bite blood-and-guts spaghetti ragù, and a Southwest-style chorizo chili named after Theon Greyjoy (you have to slice the sausages open to extract the meat), are some of the homemade joys devoured between equally curated booze. In the off-season of “Thrones”  we order out for “Desi Wokking Dead” night. 

If you’re a fan of the show you know what this episode is—a reminder of where all the pieces lie on the board and the hints to their next moves. Arya is still bent on vengeance. Cersei and Jamie’s children are dead. Daenerys plots her takeover of the Seven Kingdoms. John and Sansa prepare for the armies of the Night’s King. The Hound finds religion.

The pace is quicker than ever, now that the show is untethered from the books. Nobody knows where it’s going, but we’re getting there fast.

For more from Joe, read his review of Netflix’s “GLOW.”