For the growing 'Game of Thrones' audience, HBO Go offers early access

HBO's "Game of Thrones" keeps gaining steam — as Rick Kissell of Variety noted, the medieval fantasy hit another series high for its most recent new episode Sunday, drawing 2.6 million viewers.

HBO is rewarding the fans who use new mobile platform HBO Go, which is free to HBO subscribers, with a special treat. After the sixth episode of the series airs Sunday, episode seven will immediately become available to HBO Goers. Those waiting to see it on TV won't get it until May 29.

Then, there are those of us who won't be watching it at all. Like my colleague Stuart Levine, I have given up on the series after it failed to overcome my initial misgivings. I was urged to hold out until Sunday's episode five, which has been widely said to be the best of the series to date, and — except for the occasional jolt of major violence (which I'm not actually dying to see) — I still found my eyes glazing over. Brian Lowry will remain the champion of the show at Variety.

Reading numerous pieces about the series online as the season has progressed, it's clear that it engages many its fans at a passionate level that I just don't think I can ever reach. The characters simply don't make me care enough about what happens to them. Sometimes you just don't connect. Things seem pretty exciting when you look at the 90-second recap above, but spread out over an hour, it just loses me.

The funny thing is that several people have compared the show to "The Wire," which I'm also watching on Sunday nights in rerun form on DirecTV. And in my mind, there's no comparison. Even as "The Wire" began and it wasn't clear what I was in for, I was drawn to it in a way that "Game of Thrones" hasn't been able to. And certainly, by episode five of "The Wire," rather than looking for an escape, I was all in.

But to each their own. I know what it's like to be head-over-heels about a TV show and not comprehend why others don't feel the same way. "Game of Thrones" looks primed for a long, healthy run on HBO, and I'm happy for its fans.