Kaka

The creators obviously want to explain a lot in the next ten episodes, because this narrative mess will hardly satisfy the fans of the series. Instead of a bloody carnage, we have a chronologically scattered almost battle again, where it's not clear whether it's the real deal or just someone's imagination. Thus, surrealistic dreamlike images collide with interesting panoramas like in Troy, but on the ground they lack both verve and better editing.

Forty minutes to wait for the final five, which kind of hints at the way the second half of the sixth season is likely to go, which, with the exception of one episode, is actually quite boring.

Apart from Bjorn's rage and one blatant infidelity, this episode is actually pretty pointless. Like one of many. Moreover, the group is splitting up quite incomprehensibly. Basically, we're just waiting for Russia to show up.

A tribute piece to one of the best TV characters of all time. Well deserved, but perhaps too long and overly poetic.

A clear return to the roots. It's as if the Vikings from season three came flying in. Although the finale is a bit predictable, it's still emotionally powerful and the concept fits together just fine. An excellent duel between Lagertha and a bandit and of course the vote for the King of Norway. Thoroughbred, thrilling and probably the best episode of the last series in a long time. If they cut it down to ten episodes, with every other as good as this one, fans would cheer.

The story is not moving forward in any significant way, it is currently in the phase of a quagmire of sorts. The Freydis doppelganger is interesting, we can enjoy that the writers can actually let their creative intellect loose at will. The vote for the king could also be a good supporting storyline for upcoming episodes. Hvitserk, however, deserves to die.

The series has absolutely lost its grip and almost all of the reasons to like it. The main characters are unused and difficult to work with, the secondary characters are redundant and too much to work with. The tension and unpredictability are gone. They’ve moved from Norway to the whole world and that doesn’t benefit the episodes. The same goes for this one, which lasts 50 minutes but nothing really happens in it, except for the whole Lagertha situation, which is contrived from the beginning just so something can happen aside from the main line.

The misery continues with shoddy sets in Russia, poor makeup work, and annoying supporting characters. I miss gold old Kattegatt and Ragnar vs Rollo. Fortunately, at least there’s some action by the end.

In the shadow of the brutal carnage of the first three seasons. The actors are stagnant and the script and scenes in Russia are downright annoying. Likewise with the several WTF characters that sometimes turn the show into almost a parody. Also, the make-up work is awful, especially with Lagertha. They do need to get better.

The production design is good overall, but the scenes from Rus are not what we probably expected. They feel contrived and unrealistic, a plot in the style of “only so something can happen”. The Nordic storyline is a lot more entertaining. Lagertha and Bjorn are keeping Vikings literally above water.