Well, that was... interesting. Spent much more time with symbolism than I expected for a first episode.
I guess because it's HBO they could afford to be much more guarded about what the show is about and not throw out an obvious hook on the pilot. I imagine people would be fucking baffled if this was on a network, or even basic cable, since it's almost self-contained in a way, without any apparent threads to follow to the next episode.
Pretty compelling performances, though. Another proof that Peter Berg is better off doing intense real people drama than action movies.
The bit about Shaq and Busey made me laugh.