Vikings is a binge-worthy series that centers around the story of Ragnar Lothbrok, a norseman who is fascinated by exploring and wants to go raiding West instead of East as usual so he can discover some new lands and see new things. The show has beautiful scenery and sets, some gripping character moments, and some tense plot moments. I enjoy learning about history, but I don't love reading non-fiction so Vikings was also fascinating to me because of the window into history that it provides.
Season 1 focuses on Ragnar's first raid West. We see him convince his brother and a carpenter named Floki that sailing west is possible. He has found a new method of navigation that will allow them to navigate on the open see, which is going to open up this new possibility of going West. The problem is that Earl Haraldson is the local ruler and he's the one in control of the direction they sail in and all the ships. They try to publicly humiliate him into agreeing to go West instead of East, but of course he refuses (and begins harboring a deep hatred for rebellious Ragnar as a result). They of course don't let this deter them, but go about building their own ship and set sail on their own. These first few episodes are fascinating and full of discovery. The viewer is discovering all kinds of things about their lifestyle and politics and at the same time they are discovering how to navigate and eventually discovering how unprepared the people of the British Isles (starting with Northumbria) are for their raids.
I loved the growing tension and hostility between Ragnar and his family/crew and the Earl. It made for some gripping moments where I really wanted to see him and his family get through the various dangers they were placed in. The show doesn't shy away from showing how brutal and violent the Viking raids were, but in those first few episodes we get the sense that Ragnar is different. That he's reasonable, that he's not really in it for the killing, but for the discovery and this makes him an excellent likable protagonist.
His relationship with his brother, and his initial insistence that they were all going to be equal on the raids, were also intriguing. I wish they had spent more time fleshing this angle out and slowly showing the development of Ragnar and Rollo's relationship and slowly growing the tension. This was a missed opportunity in my opinion, because there wasn't enough time spent on the relationship and then Rollo randomly started making drastic stupid decisions without enough buildup.
The second part also suffered a little bit from being directionless. We weren't really given a good enough reason why Ragnar would want to ally with King Horik and there didn't seem to be much pay-off for him for doing what King Horik wanted. The final couple of episodes are really just set-up for the next season and its conflicts, but I felt that they seemed a bit rushed and some of the new plot points introduced were a little bit random. Still, overall, the show was good and Season 1 is definitely worth watching.
In terms of other characters I also particularly enjoyed Lagertha's portrayal as a shield maiden and also a capable ruler when her husband was away. She went through a lot, but it wasn't more than she could handle and watching her through all these trials made her really grow on me. Siggy was also an interesting character. The first part made you hate her, but in the end she seemed a bit more sympathetic to me that the Earl and I found her interesting. Floki is hilarious and I honestly think he's one of the best parts of this show so far, not because I always agree with his opinions, but just because he has a unique character!
Highly recommend checking out this show if you haven't done so yet.
Read my season 2 review.
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