Vikings Season 3 Review

Check out my reviews for season 1, which I enjoyed, and Season 2, which I found weak and uninteresting.

Season 3 was a bit uneven. The first half felt like it belonged more with Season 2 and was filled with pointless and unending relationship drama and then the second half was much better with the show, in my opinion, finding its stride again and some of the magic that made it so great at the start of season 1. Episode 6 is titled Born Again and in my opinion, from Episode 7 onward it is the show that it born again.


SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

So the first half focused on England and the Viking relationship with King Ecbert and Princess Kewntrith and it got so ridiculous that I don't think there was a single character who hadn't cheated on their spouse or slept with some other main character for absolutely no reason. It was so dumb and just so overloaded with this stuff that I almost quit the show. We didn't even have any interesting new Viking raids at this point as they were all too busy being mercenaries for Kwentrith and, as Floki put it, dying for some King they didn't care about on some land that they didn't care about. When Floki is the most logical character you know something's seriously wrong with the show. The only saving grace at this point was the mini story we got in Kattegat with Aslaug, Helga, and Siggy.

The three women are cooperating and trying to hold it together while everyone else is away on the raid. They all have the same dream or vision of this stranger and then he shows up in the town and they don't know if they should trust him or not, etc. As a mini story it worked well and had tension and some actual stakes that we cared about in that this character seemed up to no good and was gaining access to the ruling hall of Kattegat where the children were being raised, essentially. And yes, even this side story didn't escape from the dumb relationship drama as Aslaug ended up sleeping with someone other than Ragnar. But to be honest, I never liked Aslaug or her relationship with Ragnar so my care levels were zero at this point. I just enjoyed Siggy and Helga's roles in this whole thing. Maybe I shouldn't spoil too much. Anyway, this was the only redeeming part of the first half of season 3.

Finally, the relationship nonsense ended and Ragnar and Lagertha and the other Vikings went back to Kattegat to take a breather and plan their next raid. And that's when the show got better again, in my opinion. The entire attempt to invade Paris, plots battles and all, felt much more like season 1 and was much more interesting and entertaining to watch. The Parisians seemed so unprepared for this, and I actually did enjoy the storylines from inside Paris with the princess Gisla and the Emperor. The battle scenes with all the fortifications and siege machinery and stuff were great as well.

By the end of the season I felt that it was a satisfying ending and I am excited to watch season 4 in hopes that it will be good.