Just a note for those who may be following "Game Of Thrones" on HBO, or wherever you get it. Mild spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet, but I just had to rap about how magnificent Peter Dinklage was in the latest episode, "The Laws of Gods and Men."
As some critics have already noted, this episode is pretty much a shoe-in to be the one that Mr. Dinklage will submit as his "Emmy nomination reel" when time comes to do so. I hope it will win him an Emmy to go with the Golden Globe award he won in 2012. In the time since, he has risen from "Supporting Role" to "top billed" on the series, and with good reason. While Cersei Lannister may be the most hated character (although I personally lean more towards Ramsay Snow in that regard), Tyrion is by far the most loved. He has the most "star power," and reputedly has the one of the biggest groupie statuses as well, in a series known for its incredibly handsome hunks. And he's a dwarf. That's a big thing to transcend, both in the plot of this epic work, and in real life. In this episode, standing in the dock on trial for his life, we watch Tyrion deal with a series of disappointments and betrayals that would sink a man twice his size and reduce him to helpless depression and surrender. Instead, he rises to the occasion, and to the full measure of his 4'5" (1.35 m) stature and delivers one of the great courtroom speeches ever delivered onscreen. In it, as Tyrion rails about what it's felt like to be on trial for being a dwarf his whole life, and the occasional anger he feels about this, we can *feel* Peter Dinklage's similar railing, and anger. But Dinklage transcended that trial and that anger, and now is near the top of the acting hierarchy. Good for him. And hopefully good for Tyrion in the coming episodes, too. I haven't read the books, so what happens to him is still a mystery to me. I look forward to it being resolved, but hopefully not before a few more speeches like this one.
