Vikings - Série 5

The weakest season of the series unfortunately. The second half was a real mess where nothing much happened and for the first time in the series there were episodes in blue, which doesn't bode well. When I compare Vikings to Game of Thrones, where the first season was more intimate and now it's a big studio epic, I feel like Vikings hasn't gone anywhere with the budget, rather it's gone down and that's a bad sign. Fortunately the combo of Lagertha/Bjorn/Ubbe and the English Kingdom still entertains me enough to not dismiss the series. We'll see what the final season do. 65%. (31/01/2019)

The 5th series has a logically different atmosphere than the previous series, which described the life of Ragnar Lothbrok. Now we are a generation on, watching a civil war waged by his sons. The battle for Kattegat becomes one of the highlights, and the second half of the series is split between adventures in Wessex, Iceland, and the Viking heartland. There are still great shield-bearers and brave warriors, and one of the most interesting new characters is Bishop Heahmund, played by Hirst's favorite actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers (King Henry VIII from The Tudors). There’s a lot to think about, and it's very interesting to try to trace the sources that inspired Hirst's final scripts. I'm also glad we're not losing both of Hirst's daughters. Helga was great, but Torvi is an even more interesting character. (10/09/2020)

Hands down, the weakest season of the lot so far. This season makes it clear that this Viking saga is getting a bit too long and complicated. Instead of twenty episodes they should cut it down back to ten. There’s way too much screenwriting ballast and half of the twists are basically pointless. Tension is too much to ask for and so what is left are the decently executed battles, which, however, are not on such a level that the viewer would get drunk only on the refined visuals and be willing to forgive a simpler plot concept, as it was in Kingdom of Heaven or Gladiator. (26/01/2020)

Season 5 isn't even a shadow of what the Vikings used to be. Twenty episodes per season are obviously a number that is far beyond Michael Hirst’s capabilities. He has repeatedly resorted to artificially and unnecessarily stretching out the story. A prime example of that is Floki's Icelandic adventure, which only brought tedium to the series and a plot that dragged on like a slug doused with honey. The Conquest of Kattegat in the final episode only proved how the creators' abilities to bring a real battle to the screen have diminished. Those who remember The Last Ship episode will certainly agree with me. A huge disappointment. 3*- (01/04/2019)