Title: TV Series Review: Vikings Season 1-3
Author: MG Thabo
Recovered Author: MG Thabo
Published Date: 2016-02-18
Original URL: https://geeknode.co.za/2016/02/tv-series-review-vikings-season-1-3
Wayback URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20170917155513id_/http://www.geeknode.co.za/2016/02/tv-series-review-vikings-season-1-3/
Recovery Confidence: high

- Genre Action, Adventure, Based on a True Story
- Director Johan Renck
- Producer Octagon Films, Take 5 Productions
- Actors Travis Fimmel, Clive Standen, Katheryn Winnick
- Where we got our copy ShowMax
- Reviewed on ShowMax
- Available on ShowMax

- MG Thabo

- 2 years ago

- 5 0

This will be a spoiler free review of the entire series up until the 3rd season.

The reputation of the Vikings lives in relative infamy. They were very primitive people that relied on many old ways of life and thanks to them worshiping the old Norse Gods, their moral compasses were a little on the more debatable side. They were fearsome warriors and their entire way of life was dictated by that code. Their principle means of getting wealth was by going on extended raids where they killed people and took the loot for themselves. Hardly the most agreeable lifestyle, but that was just how things turned out. Their existence marks a turbulent time in human history as well where kingdoms were just starting to flourish and more Christian ways were heavily enforced.

Usually a review of a TV series isn’t followed by a very crappily done history lesson, but this is important for the purposes of reviewing Vikings, a TV show that funnily enough airs on the History channel. It takes many real elements from Viking folklore and transfers it into picture. Many of the events that you see in the show come from documented tales from the Viking era and if you look hard enough, you will find the very tales that the show drew inspiration from. Of course, those accounts aren’t the honest 100% truth, but they’re still accurately based on commonly accepted lore.

The show principally follows Ragnar Lothbrok, a great Viking warrior and king that actually ruled back in that time and whose reputation stretched far and wide. If you read his story, you will actually find many key points that the show reaches and you can even spoil the show a bit for yourself if you do. The show follows his quick rise to power from a simple farmer all the way to fame and glory and it shows the various impasses that he reaches. While Ragnar is the “protagonist” of the show, there are various other memorable characters along the way. Floki, Ragnar’s trusty and eclectic side-kick. Lagertha, Ragnar’s wife and a fearsome warrior herself. Rollo, Ragnar’s older brother that has some of his own internal conflicts about his brother’s power.

The narrative of the show is probably its biggest strong point. The show features frequent shocking moments, huge revelations and incredibly tense moments. The story is told wonderfully with the characters being the most important driving force.

Travis Fimmel gives us a very convincing Ragnar with his almost cheeky confidence and instant likability while also being an incredibly fearsome warrior. It’s very easy to latch onto Ragnar and cheer him on throughout all of the seasons even if there are some moments where this relationship comes into question. Floki, played by Gustav Skarsgård, acts as the comic relief and Ragnar’s mischievous counsel and the character’s attitude and demeanor just begs you to love him. Lagertha, played by Katheryn Winnick, is the epitome of a strong and confident female character. She doesn’t fall into any tropes and it is brilliant to see her in action and her story unfold. Those are only the central cast members, there are a variety of really strong performances and characters that appear throughout the show that you will love and hate with ferocious passion.

The narrative hits many notes along its journey. Betrayal, love, jealousy, hatred, violence, family, death, peace, sadness, it’s all there. The whole show is a rollercoaster ride of tension as you witness the situations that our unlikely heroes are in. There’s even some supernatural elements present which is strange considering this is a historically accurate depiction of the Vikings, but it falls well within the overall theme. The thing about the story is that it is very grounded. Everything that happens feels very human and realistic, that you don’t often see in other narratives of this type. It follows one overarching narrative and doesn’t split into multiple threads for different characters. There’s a distinct focus throughout the entire experience which is welcome since it holds your attention in one place and doesn’t let go.

With the story having a strong focus on the actual history of the Vikings, there’s a lot of factual information that you can observe and learn. Things such as the Norse gods, what their roles were and how the Vikings worshiped them, all the way to Christianity during that era. It is fascinating to observe and it was particularly exciting to witness all of the traditions that they went through such as their various rituals and worshiping methods. Along with being entertained, you will also learn a thing or two about Vikings and the era that surrounds everything.

Something jarring that needs to be mentioned is how fast the story moves. I am used to there being a big setup for a big event that happens in the future that usually takes the show about 5 episodes to reach the conclusion of. In this show, all of that can happen in one episode. The buildup, the actual event and then the payoff in one fell swoop. The show isn’t afraid to jump forward a bunch of years while being in the same season and things happen really quick. Even with this said, however, the pacing of the show leaves something to be desired. It feels slow at places and sometimes it takes a while to get to its point. This can make the viewing experience a bit laboured and throughout the seasons, I felt a bit fatigued by it all and not too keen to binge everything too readily. It is entirely possible that you might become a bit bored at places because of this and it takes something significant away from the otherwise stellar viewing experience.

Of course, the show has to have some violence and sex. The Vikings are obviously some of the most fearsome warriors out there so there is going to be some fighting. But, contrasting how you would think it will be, the violence and the sex is very undersold. There are some gratuitous violence scenes with a ton of blood and a ton of fighting, but it’s not really that gore focused than something like Game of Thrones. There’s a lot of violent imagery, but it never feels too much or done in a way just to shock or surprise you. The sex is almost entirely censored where you will see little to no nudity and the sex scenes are relatively modest by comparison. It almost feels too tame considering the subject matter, but it’s also a very strong point in the show’s favour because the focus isn’t being put exclusively on those features. There’s definitely some gory stuff though, don’t worry about that. The show has made me cringe in sympathy pain on more than one occasion.

The show’s locations are mainly focused on frigid Scandinavian landscapes. Huge snowy mountains, buildings with distinct Viking architecture and so on. Later on in future seasons it also moves to other distinct areas, but the landscapes never really blow you away in terms of their overall scope. They mainly focus on conveying a very particular mood and atmosphere and for the most part they succeed wonderfully. You feel like you are in a humble Pagan hamlet or a countryside and it all feels very believable. The costume design and the look of the characters need to give special credit as everything looks extremely believable and well thought out. This is as close to actual Vikings that we’re going to get and thank goodness they didn’t use helmets with pointy horns on them (which was never a thing by the way).

The show gets progressively better as the seasons go on. Each one follows a particular trajectory and overall goal, but each one is better than the previous one. The show grows much more intense in future seasons when there’s a lot more to lose and a lot of things have happened already. The 3rd season in particular had me hooked to my TV, at the edge of my seat and in a whirlwind of emotions.

The sound design is also spectacular with them heavily using the Scandinavian band Wardruna to produce the soundtrack. Wardruna is a group that focuses on accurately producing old Viking chants with everything that goes along with that. The pulsing drums, the deep and minor focused vocal work all sung in their original dialects. It lends a lot to the already ongoing believably and they couldn’t have made a better choice. Fun fact, the lead singer of the group is from an infamous Black Metal band who tortures people in his house. You don’t get more Viking than that. Besides Wardruna, they’ve made special considerations to make most of the music period accurate and, more importantly, made everything fit to what is going on on screen.

In conclusion, Vikings is very much worth the watch. It features very strong characters, great acting, fantastic narrative, great technical considerations and combat choreography. It falters a bit in the pacing department at times and there are some slight niggles in some of the acting that can be found. It’s not perfect, but it made a damn good effort to be.

You can find all three season available for streaming right now on ShowMax.

This will be a spoiler free review of the entire series up until the 3rd season. The reputation of the Vikings lives in relative infamy. They were very primitive people that relied on many old ways of life and thanks to them worshiping the old Norse Gods, their moral compasses were a little on the more debatable side. They were fearsome warriors and their entire way of life was dictated by that code. Their principle means of getting wealth was by going on extended raids where they killed people and took the loot for themselves. Hardly the most agreeable lifestyle, but that was just how things turned out. Their existence marks a turbulent time in human history as well where kingdoms were just starting to flourish and more Christian ways were heavily enforced. Usually a review of a TV series isn't followed by a very crappily done history lesson, but this is important for the purposes of reviewing Vikings, a TV show that funnily enough airs on the History channel. It takes many real elements from Viking folklore and transfers it into picture. Many of the events that you see in the show come from documented tales from the Viking era and if you look hard enough, you will find the very tales that the show drew inspiration from. Of course, those accounts aren't the honest 100% truth, but they're still accurately based on commonly accepted lore. The show principally follows Ragnar Lothbrok, a great Viking warrior and king that actually ruled back in that time and whose reputation stretched far and wide. If you read his story, you will actually find many key points that the show reaches and you can even spoil the show a bit for yourself if you do. The show follows his quick rise to power from a simple farmer all the way to fame and glory and it shows the various impasses that he reaches. While Ragnar is the "protagonist" of the show, there are various other memorable characters along the way. Floki, Ragnar's trusty and eclectic side-kick. Lagertha, Ragnar's wife and a fearsome warrior herself. Rollo, Ragnar's older brother that has some of his own internal conflicts about his brother's power. The narrative of the show is probably its biggest strong point. The show features frequent shocking moments, huge revelations and incredibly tense moments. The story is told wonderfully with the characters being the most important driving force. Travis Fimmel gives us a very convincing Ragnar with his almost cheeky confidence and instant likability while also being an incredibly fearsome warrior. It's very easy to latch onto Ragnar and cheer him on throughout all of the seasons even if there are some moments where this relationship comes into question. Floki, played by Gustav Skarsgård, acts as the comic relief and Ragnar's mischievous counsel and the character's attitude and demeanor just begs you to love him. Lagertha, played by Katheryn Winnick, is the epitome of a strong and confident female character. She doesn't fall into…

TV Series Review: Vikings Season 1-3

TV Series Review: Vikings Season 1-3

2016-02-18

MG Thabo

Worth The Watch

Total - 9

90
9

Vikings is a stellar watch from season 1 all the way to season 3. It brings along a very compelling and rich story inspired by real life Viking events that will have you enthralled. Along with all of that it also features great combat scenes, memorable characters as well as great sound and visual design. There's some problems with the pacing, but otherwise it is well worth your time. Watch it!

User Rating: 4.85 ( 1 votes)

9

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MG Thabo

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Marko has played way too many games, listened to way too many metal albums and is probably taller than you. He is a qualified language and communication practitioner and likes to write about the good things in gaming.

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featured · history channel · review · season 1 · season 2 · season 3 · travis fimmel · TV Series · tv series reviews · viking · vikings · vikings review

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