SPOILER ALERT. A number of characters meet their ends in this episode. One death, at least, has been anticipated for some time. One is a total surprise, so if you haven’t seen this episode yet, read on at your peril. (And now you can’t resist, can you?) The Reckoning has elements of King Lear, Richard […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 19, On The Eve
Before I recap events in Vikings Episode 19, On The Eve, in which Ivar and Co. land in Repton, and King Ecbert sends his son, Prince Æthelwulf , to fight them, let’s have a look at the historical timeline: King Ecbert died in 839. King Ecbert’s son, Æthelwulf, died in 858. Ivar the Boneless and […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 18, Revenge
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. I mean, really. In Revenge, Vikings series creator/writer Michael Hirst takes a walk on the dark, disgusting side and forces us to go with him. Thanks a lot. So if you are not into equating ritual human sacrifice with sexual penetration, or you are not eager to watch a graphic depiction of […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 17, The Great Army
The underlying theme of this week’s episode of Vikings appears to be ‘Vengeance and the Alpha Male’. The women are around, to be sure, but in this episode they are mere ciphers – items to be acquired (Margrethe and Tanaruz), threatened (Lagertha), vilified (Judith) or put to whatever use the men see fit (Astrid in […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 16, Crossings
The title this week seems to refer to three different kinds of CROSSINGS. The first would be the journey that Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) and company take, crossing a wide expanse of sea to reach the Mediterranean. The second might be a reference to double crossing, as Bjorn’s companions Harald (Peter Franzén) and Halfdan (Jasper Pääkkönen) […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 15, All His Angels
Spoiler Alert! Reader Beware. As the episode opens, King Ecbert (Linus Roache) has decided to deliver his ‘frenemy’ Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) into the hands of King Aella, who will very happily kill the viking leader. Tormented by guilt at this decision, Ecbert agrees to Ragnar’s request to speak alone with his son before Ecbert sends Ivar back […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 14, The Uncertain Hour Before the Morning
The action this week swings between Kattegat and Wessex, and the face-offs between Lagertha/Aslaug and Ragnar/Ecbert that we have all been eagerly anticipating. Kudos to the actors, whose expressions convey a wide range of emotions – doubt, fear, anxiety, understanding, astonishment, suspicion. For a show that glories in sweeping battle scenes, this episode is dialogue-rich […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 13, Two Journeys
In this episode Lagertha starts a war, Rollo goes swimming, and Ragnar takes Ivar on a road trip. In Hedeby Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) is plotting with her girlfriends to take back Kattegat, but Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith) and Sigurd (David Lindström), unlike their brothers, have opted to hang out at home and protect the town […]