I classify horror movies and post-apocalyptic shows like The Walking Dead as "bad things happen to good people for no reason other than plotline." I can only w

I classify horror movies and post-apocalyptic shows like The Walking Dead as "bad things happen to good people for no reason other than plotline." I can only watch so much of that before it wears me out because there are no surprises and nothing beyond temporary respite for the characters. As you say, it requires viewers be really invested to watch everyone die, but if anyone can do it George R.R. Martin can. The old joke is if people bother him enough about the next Game of Thrones book it'll just be 1,000 pages of snow blowing across graves. When he's done with the series I'm not sure how many characters, readers or viewers will be left. Even so he's the only author I can point to who can create compelling enough content that people may stay to the end. I'll never watch another Walking Dead or Leftovers because I just don't care enough about the characters, but George will probably manage to drag me to the end of GoT. Damn you, George.