HBO(CHICAGO) — (SPOILERS AHEAD) There are potentially as many weekly Game of Thrones viewing parties, big and small, around the world as there are fans. But one of the biggest — and best-known, thanks to the tremendously entertaining reaction videos posted on YouTube — happens at The Burlington bar, located in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.
So what did the die-hard regulars there — dozens of people packed into two rooms — think of Sunday night’s Game of Thrones series finale? The majority of them, super fans that they are, thought it did the trick.
“It was definitely a good episode, it was actually great,” said Tommy Doss, who’s been a regular at The Burlington’s Game of Thrones viewing parties since season four. “I think they ended it all in a good way.”
Fan Justine Krueger was surprised by how many people survived. “I did think more people were going to die this episode,” she said. “Was a little surprised that they didn’t, but Sansa got a crown, which is truly all I wanted because she’s the best character.”
Not everyone was happy, though. “It was more of an epilogue than an episode, you know what I mean?” said Eric Lee.
“The emotional high point was a dog? The last part of the episode was a sitcom? That was kind of a bummer,” said Nathan Thompson, referring to Jon Snow’s reunion with his direwolf, Ghost, and the banter around the council table, led by Tyrion Lannister as Hand of the King to new King Bran the Broken.
Love it or hate it, you can be certain record numbers of people will have watched the Game of Thrones finale. The penultimate episode, “The Bells,” earned a season high 18.4 million total viewers across all platforms, and the finale’s sure to be higher.
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