(Review updated after Season 6).
The story of Ragnar Lothbrok who, in the 9th century, rises from simple farmer to King of the Vikings. Along the way he deals with internal crises, family issues and foreign foes, and discovers a few new lands (and invades them, of course)...
Superb drama series, for nearly four seasons. Takes about three episodes to hit its stride and from then never slows down. After that it is a non-stop roller coaster ride of battle scenes, internal and external politics and relationship dramas, all with a large dollop of actual history thrown in. Admittedly, some of the history has been tweaked for dramatic effect, but the basic plot is reasonably accurate.
Some good humour too and solid performances.
The pinnacle was probably Season 2 where the mix between action and drama was perfectly balanced. Season 3, while still brilliant, edged more towards the action side. By Season 4A, the dial was firmly over on the action side, though the plot was still quite tight.
Season 4B was necessary from a closure point of view, and is reasonably emotional for that reason. However, the writing in this season becomes quite sloppy, with incongruous sequences of events and characters behaving inconsistently.
The other problem is that the season goes on for several episodes beyond its natural ending. I could see the logic to this - a sort of action and reaction effect and revenge theme - but with the main character gone and the only other character worth supporting (Lagertha) hardly featuring, there is nobody to root for.
What's worse, one of the new supposed "heroes", Ivar, is pretty obnoxious, something like a cross between Damien of the Omen and Kevin in We Need To Talk About Kevin. Very little engagement left from me, and I was left only watching for the battle scenes (which are very good, by the way).
And now, in a jumping the shark moment that lasts 40 episodes, we have Seasons 5 and 6. The show should have ended after Episode 15 of Season 4. Not that the remainder of S4 was bad, it just wasn't necessary or of the same quality that came before.
Season 5 was wholly unnecessary and, to crown it all, the writing gets quite weak and sloppy. Engagement is almost non-existent as there's no main characters to root for. Lagertha would be one to support but her screen time is limited and her character gets very one-dimensionally drawn in Season 5. Furthermore, direction becomes pretty much style over substance.
Season 6 was more of the same.
Ending the series after S4 E15 would have seen this series remembered very fondly and hailed as a dramatic masterpiece. Instead, Vikings joins the list of series that history will remember with less reverence.
Season ratings: S1 9/10, S2 10/10, S3 9/10, S4 8/10, S5&6 5/10.
The story of Ragnar Lothbrok who, in the 9th century, rises from simple farmer to King of the Vikings. Along the way he deals with internal crises, family issues and foreign foes, and discovers a few new lands (and invades them, of course)...
Superb drama series, for nearly four seasons. Takes about three episodes to hit its stride and from then never slows down. After that it is a non-stop roller coaster ride of battle scenes, internal and external politics and relationship dramas, all with a large dollop of actual history thrown in. Admittedly, some of the history has been tweaked for dramatic effect, but the basic plot is reasonably accurate.
Some good humour too and solid performances.
The pinnacle was probably Season 2 where the mix between action and drama was perfectly balanced. Season 3, while still brilliant, edged more towards the action side. By Season 4A, the dial was firmly over on the action side, though the plot was still quite tight.
Season 4B was necessary from a closure point of view, and is reasonably emotional for that reason. However, the writing in this season becomes quite sloppy, with incongruous sequences of events and characters behaving inconsistently.
The other problem is that the season goes on for several episodes beyond its natural ending. I could see the logic to this - a sort of action and reaction effect and revenge theme - but with the main character gone and the only other character worth supporting (Lagertha) hardly featuring, there is nobody to root for.
What's worse, one of the new supposed "heroes", Ivar, is pretty obnoxious, something like a cross between Damien of the Omen and Kevin in We Need To Talk About Kevin. Very little engagement left from me, and I was left only watching for the battle scenes (which are very good, by the way).
And now, in a jumping the shark moment that lasts 40 episodes, we have Seasons 5 and 6. The show should have ended after Episode 15 of Season 4. Not that the remainder of S4 was bad, it just wasn't necessary or of the same quality that came before.
Season 5 was wholly unnecessary and, to crown it all, the writing gets quite weak and sloppy. Engagement is almost non-existent as there's no main characters to root for. Lagertha would be one to support but her screen time is limited and her character gets very one-dimensionally drawn in Season 5. Furthermore, direction becomes pretty much style over substance.
Season 6 was more of the same.
Ending the series after S4 E15 would have seen this series remembered very fondly and hailed as a dramatic masterpiece. Instead, Vikings joins the list of series that history will remember with less reverence.
Season ratings: S1 9/10, S2 10/10, S3 9/10, S4 8/10, S5&6 5/10.