Summary: Amy goes into labour as New York gets thrown into a city-wide blackout. Charles tries to get Jake back tot he precinct for the birth. Terry and Holt get trapped in an elevator.
The Good: The cast really carries this episode. The storylines are very familiar in this episode, borrowing from several sitcom tropes at once with a lot of simplistic jokes. But what makes them work is the cast who are terrific in this episode. Amy in labour shouldn't be as funny as it is, but it's a ton of fun to watch. Charles and Jake trying to get back to her is surprisingly funny because of the many guest performances that brighten the episode up with great laughs. Rosa is also really fun as she is grossed out by birth, and Terry and Holt's dance is hilarious. All the storylines are consistently fun, making for what is probably the season's most consistently enjoyable episode. The Bad: This isn't without flaws though. While funny, the episode never threatens to make me laugh hard and is a bit forgettable as a result, which is a shame for a season finale. Furthermore, even though the cast saved this episode from being bad, it doesn't mean that reusing sitcom tropes isn't a problem with this episode. The storylines and jokes were very predictable and that hurt the episode. Best Moment: Terry and Holt performing the "Salt and Pepper" dance routine in front of Amy and Rosa. Character of the Episode: Amy. Conclusion: This finale was a consistently fun watch, and while it doesn't threaten doing anything mind-blowingly hilarious, it's a funny and exciting episode to end off the season. Season 7 ended up being another solid but unspectacular season. Being so short, this season got to have only the best episode concepts being showcased, leading to no episode feeling like they didn't belong in the season. And lots of episodes had outstanding storylines that featured some of the show's best content. But in the side storylines, the show almost always faltered. It's clear to me that the writers are running out of ideas since they are reusing ideas from previous seasons, making references, and sacrificing character consistency to make jokes. What this means is that while the A-story in an episode was often good, it would be let down by silly and stupid B and C storylines more often than not. This is a season that had great ideas, but the show feels like it's approaching its natural endpoint and that shows in the decline of quality in certain episodes. I still think this was an entertaining season, but the longevity of the show is working against it. Score: 68
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Summary: Holt and Kevin get Jake's help when Cheddar gets kidnapped. Charles and Terry try to start up a bone broth business. Rosa helps Amy in an attempt to win her a stroller.
The Good: The A-plot is a ton of fun with a lot of really good ideas. Centering the story around Cheddar is fun and it allows us to see Kevin and Holt in a unique new mood, which makes for a lot of fresh laughs. There are also some excellent comedic ideas here like Jake impersonating Kevin, Kevin being unable to walk through the park and Holt's epic John Wick parody sequence. I've also really enjoyed the season's running joke of Jake being unable to beat Wario. The side stories have some funny moments throughout. The Bad: The side stories have fun moments but both ultimately fall flat. Terry and Charles' storyline has more laughs, but it has the air of filler. The jokes are all nothing special and feature the show treading familiar ground the entire time. The Rosa/Amy story is poor. It's an okay idea, but in execution it fails badly. Teddy's return is terrible and does absolutely nothing new with the character. He's a caricature of who he used to be, and having him come back with the same character flaws with the same stupid jokes is painful to watch. Best Moment: "What you need is an umbrella cause there's a s*** storm gonna rain down on you, punk." Character of the Episode: Holt. Conclusion: This episode had an outstanding A-story, but the side stories really let the episode down and prevented it from being as good as it could have been. This is still a good episode, but it's one with ups and downs. Score: 65 Summary: This year's Halloween heist ends up spanning multiple holidays.
The Good: Another season goes by, and we get another awesome Halloween episode. Once more, the show proves that it still isn't running out of ideas and things can still get more and more ridiculous. The planning, interactions, cameos from Bill, twists, and all of the other Halloween staples are still hilarious and make this episode an absolute blast. There's enough innovation to make this one feel unique though. The trips to the vet are a blast and bring in several great lines, the gag with Jake's therapist being fake is genuinely hilarious and as things get more and more ridiculous, somehow the episode gets better and better. This was a ridiculous episode in all the best ways. The Bad: Some jokes are starting to get a bit stale since Holt, Jake and Amy have been bickering about who won the 5th heist for several seasons now. It's still funny, but it's starting to get repetitive. Best Moment: Jake's therapist being fake and both Amy and Rosa have been listening in on his therapy sessions. It's a fantastic joke with continuity from a previous storyline with a pretty twisted punchline with the therapist that Jake finally trusted being a fake. Character of the Episode: Rosa. Conclusion: It's a Halloween episode, so obviously it's another winner. This was more laughs, more creativity and more fun, and I absolutely loved it. I feel like I could watch episodes like these forever. Score: 81 Summary: Amy and Jake reveal that Amy's pregnant and they plan a gender reveal cake. Jake tries to connect his father and grandfather. Holt tutors Terry to help him master the flute. Rosa and Amy try to correct an important case they accidentally gave to Hitchcock and Scully.
The Good: There are plenty of good laughs here. The A-story with Jake, his father and his grandfather is really entertaining. The guest stars are a ton of fun but not at all overused. They provide a lot of good laughs, and their relationship with each other is very fun to watch. I also really enjoyed Charles' role in the story as he stole the show every time he showed up. The Terry and Holt story is over the top but it's a really funny parody of Whiplash. The Hitchcock/Scully story is decent fun as well. The episode has consistent laughs throughout and is easy to enjoy. The Bad: Two of the stories here feel repetitive. Hitchcock and Scully surprisingly being better than they look has been done before, as has Jake having concerns about fatherhood and his relationship with his father. Best Moment: Every time Holt called Terry the "garbage man". Character of the Episode: Charles. Conclusion: I didn't have much to say about this episode. It's just a good episode of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" with a few repetitive beats, nothing more, nothing less. Score: 67 Summary: After a glitter bomb explodes on Jake's desk, Holt calls in Dillman to determine who in the squad was responsible.
The Good: Doing a whodunnit was a lovely idea and it was really fun to watch. The show always excels when the characters are together for a single story and that remained true here. Watching Dillman come in with his ridiculous attention to detail and quiz everyone is a blast, and there are a lot of high quality interactions to enjoy in this episode. Dillman himself is incredibly entertaining, helped by the fact that he's played by the great J.K. Simmons. He commands the room in every scene and his interactions with Rosa and Jake in particular are really funny. The character's resolution was also really well done, and I appreciate that Dillman is shown to be human, and the conclusion with him losing some respect from Holt at the end of the episode was well done. I was also pleased that Charles was given the task force position. The show consistently leaves Charles behind when it comes to detective work so I'm happy to see him get some credit as he is long overdue some success. I also really laughed when Charles tried to offer his position to Jake over and over anyways. The Bad: Some things didn't quite work. I haven't been a fan of how everyone has been so hostile towards each other in this season and that trend continued to set up the whodunnit. Thankfully it went away afterwards, but I was really annoyed at first. Holt is starting to feel very phony with his jokes again. It feels like the character is being forced something "funny" to say in this episode and it makes Andre Braugher's line delivery fall flat when he's obviously only saying these things because the writers had to force jokes into the episode. Rosa's character continues to be sacrificed. Apparently she watches soap operas too. The idea of Rosa being surprisingly soft isn't funny anymore because it's no longer a surprise. Best Moment: Dillman reminding Jake that he's married to a know-it-all. Character of the Episode: Dillman. Conclusion: I really liked this episode. It had everyone together, had a unique premise, a great guest star, and some great jokes. The show unfortunately has had a lot of problems this season, and that continues here. But this time there's enough excellent stuff to comfortably overcome my qualms, and I can confidently say this this is a great episode, flaws and all. Score: 70 Summary: Jake meets with Doug Judy after learning he is getting married, and joins him for his bachelor party. Terry tries to make sure everything is prepared for Holt's return to the office. Amy frets over getting a new vending machine.
The Good: Jake and Doug still have a fun relationship. Some of the antics they get up to are quite fun, especially the reverse heist. I also like that the bachelor party was all set up by Doug to fool Jake, being consistent with the Pontiac Bandit episodes throughout the show. The Bad: But the Jake and Doug interactions feel very overdone by now. It's always them singing together, which isn't as funny as it used to be since we've seen it so many times. The rest of the story doesn't quite work either. The reverse heist was rushed, the ending twist was tacked on, and Trudy feels like she doesn't belong in the episode at all. There was too much going on here. The side stories were terrible. Holt's business card is one of the show's dumbest ideas. Are we seriously supposed to believe that Holt wouldn't keep the card with him if it's so important to him? Getting upset with Terry over throwing it away is juvenile and stupid. It's beneath the character of Holt to behave so childishly without an external reason to do so. Furthermore, the emotional weight of the business card is another dumb idea. There's no reason to believe that Holt needs to learn to hold his successes closer to his heart than his failures. It feels like a shallow attempt to add weight to this episode. If anything, Holt needs to learn to stop being such an ass when talking with Terry, who was in charge of the precinct this entire time. Speaking of which, it's a disappointment that nothing was done with the dynamic of Terry being in charge. Another issue is Rosa's role in the story. She gets the most laughs, but it always feels like she does not belong in this story and is just tacked on. The vending machine story is pure filler and there aren't even any funny ideas implemented. I did not laugh once. Also there's no reason to believe that Scully and Hitchcock would not know how to sneakily get food from the vending machine, and that Charles has to show them this trick. Finally, the show seems to have forgotten that Amy got pregnant since it isn't brought up at all in this episode. There is no continuity here at all. Best Moment: Jake posing as an ASMR streamer. Character of the Episode: Rosa. Conclusion: This was another really weak episode. This season started strong, but it has had some very poor efforts since then. The Jake/Doug storyline here was fine, but everything else was horrible and brought down the episode hard. Score: 48 Summary: The Nine-Nine receives news that Wuntch is dead and Holt is ecstatic, but learns that he has to host a memorial for her. Terry and Charles compete to see who gets tickets to the premier of Kwazy Kupcakes The Movie.
The Good: The Holt storyline was really well done. Wuntch's death is a surprise twist and the writers went all out to give the character a big farewell. And it did so by hammering in insult after insult from Holt, all of them witty, creative and funny. Better yet is Rosa's reactions which make the jokes land even better. These insults were the highlight of the character of Wuntch and her relationship with Holt, so I really enjoyed this story. I thought that the Adam twist as well as Holt's eventual speech were strong moments in the episode as well which played a key role in the story while also giving some laughs. The Bad: Unfortunately everything else about this episode was really bad. While Holt and Rosa were great in their storyline, Amy was a frustrating trope. I've always been annoyed by how sitcoms portray the mood changes caused by pregnancy, and the ones with Amy were unoriginal, unfunny and downright annoying at times. The B-story was one of the worst that "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has ever done. This show is usually so good at not selling out its characters for laughs, so what the hell happened here? Terry and Charles are both complete assholes here and don't even slightly resemble themselves. The boxing match was ridiculous stupidity, their interactions with Jake did not fit their relationship with him at all, and the conclusion with them essentially being rewarded for their awful behaviour was some of the worst writing I've seen on this show. It's frustrating because every time I would start enjoying the episode with the Holt storyline, my investment would be destroyed by how stupid this storyline was. It pains me to see good characters like Charles and Terry sabotaged like this, and for no good reason. Best Moment: Rosa claiming Wuntch's video could be a live stream and Holt's reaction to that. Holt and Rosa had many amusing interactions in this episode, and this was the best. Character of the Episode: Holt, though Rosa is a close second. Conclusion: With how good the Holt storyline was, this should be one of the best episode's of the show. But everything else was so atrocious, especially the Terry/Charles storyline, and that completely ruined this episode, turning it into a frustrating experience. Score: 55 Summary: Jake and Amy try different things to have a baby. Charles and Rosa try to find someone to buy their guinea pigs. Terry refuses to move Holt from his posting. Hitchcock tries to find the woman he met in a bar.
The Good: I really liked the A story of the episode. It doesn't always work to take a more serious turn in sitcoms but this was executed extremely well. The struggle for Jake and Amy is portrayed well and it is sad to see them gradually come to accept that they might not be able to have a baby. This is a very mature topic to explore and I think the show handled it tastefully while somehow maintaining lots of laughs throughout the episode to make sure things never feel too heavy. Moments like the guinea pig scare and the "Hitchcock way" made this story have the laughs it needed. The side stories were pretty solid as well. The focus on Hitchcock worked surprisingly well and his story is really funny, with one of the highlights being that magnificent cold open ("Hitchcock still sucks"). The other two stories are much emptier but they do their job of getting the laughs in. One of the episode's best jokes was Charles drinking from the guinea pig water bottle, which seemed like your typical silly sitcom moment. But the show explains that Terry believed it because it was Charles who did it, which was a really funny twist, integrating a sitcom trope into the story in a way that was really clever. The Bad: Holt and Terry's story is bland and doesn't have much to it at all. Holt is written pretty poorly here since he sounds like a caricature of himself saying lines that don't seem like things he would say. It feels like the writers tried to hard to come up with something funny for him. Charles and Rosa's story is ridiculous and I don't buy into the guinea pigs being kept secret for so long. Furthermore, Rosa being the "mushy one" of the squad was a poor joke that further destroys her character. Best Moment: I really enjoyed the montage in the middle of the episode. There were some funny jokes throughout and it was a pleasant surprise to see such good editing on a sitcom. Character of the Episode: Amy. Conclusion: This episode was better than it had any right to be. The mature subject matter was handled tastefully and there were plenty of great jokes throughout the episode. The side stories had some blemishes, but overall this was a consistent and funny episode. Score: 71 Summary: Jake and Rosa try to bring in Debbie after she steals cocaine from the evidence room. Amy and Holt have a contest to read through Debbie's journals.
The Good: Some jokes here were really strong. The cold open was fantastic as Debbie's nervous mannerisms were hilarious, leading up to the fantastic ending with the Hitchcock reveal, but the Nine-Nine already know that Debbie is guilty (see: Best Moment). Debbie has some fun moments as a loose cannon, and the episode definitely isn't lacking for any originality with this storyline. I also really liked the ending scene with Jake and Rosa agreeing to hide that they were beat up by Debbie, followed by Rosa taking the joke too far. The Bad: Much of this was executed poorly. Jake and Rosa's storyline doesn't work. I'm so frustrated with how the show continues to have these two feel so shallow with their motivations. I'm tired of Jake's mindset being determined by his troubled relationship with his parents and I'm tired of Rosa suddenly being able to sympathize when she connects to her relationship with her parents. It's shallow storytelling and I can't fathom why this show has done it so many times by now. I'm sick of seeing it. The handling of Debbie is awful as she completely betrays everything we learned about her this season. There is absolutely no way that the Debbie from "Manhunter" is involved with crime, and there's no way that a crime boss will be stupid enough to trust somebody like Debbie. It's completely implausible and it prevents me from ever getting into the storyline. You could say that it's all about the jokes so who cares about getting invested in the story, but if that's the case, then the show has no business making Debbie commit a serious crime while exploring morality through Jake and Rosa if it's only trying to be funny. This episode bites off more than it can chew with this storyline and the inconsistency of Debbie paired with the repetitiveness of Jake and Rosa really hurts this episode. I'm also stunned that Debbie's story to Holt in "Manhunter" about her twin never came up again. That was clearly the better story option but the show inexplicably chose to forget it. The B-story was weak. Charles sparked this change in Debbie yet that isn't mentioned at all and Charles is relegated to the sidelines in this episode. Holt and Amy's speed-reading is stupid and not at all funny. It's a silly gimmick that has no semblance in reality with how fast they are supposedly reading and memorizing, completely at odds with Jake and Rosa's lives being in danger when dealing with Debbie. Best Moment: The transition from Debbie's secret call in the women's room to Hitchcock saying "I know something but you can't ask how I know it" was fantastic. Better yet was that the squad already knew because of how suspicious Debbie was. It's a great one-two punch that really made me laugh. Character of the Episode: Debbie. Conclusion: This episode had an interesting premise and some funny jokes. But that's all the good I can say about it. The Jake/Rose conflict was shallow, unoriginal and frustrating, Debbie's character was completely destroyed and the Holt/Amy side story was incredibly dumb. All of this combined to make this one of the show's worst episodes yet. Score: 45 Summary: With Terry and Amy leaving the squad for a day, Jake decides to hold another Jimmy Jab Games to prove that he's still immature.
The Good: This season continues to celebrate past episodes of the show and nothing is more blatant than this one, bringing back a Nine-Nine tradition that hasn't been seen since season 2. The Jimmy Jabs are a good concept so I was happy to see them again, and the contest was a lot of fun, particularly with Hitchcock getting juiced by Scully's pills and Charles being an overly dramatic host. Debbie gets some good laughs and the ending with her is interesting. I wonder if she's about to make an effort to solve her sister's murder which was brought up a few episodes back. The Bad: This was a disappointment though. The games weren't as fun and before and I thought the character interactions were disappointing. Having Jake go to the immature Jake of the past was a decent idea (again playing off of how this season is celebrating the past) but it doesn't quite work and the laughs are bland. It feels like both the character and the show have moved past the point where revisiting this storyline is a good idea. The Holt/Rosa story was nothing special. I've been annoyed by how often the show goes to Rosa's more sensitive side and they do so here again. It hurts the plausibility of the character when they have revisited sad Rosa so many more times than with anyone else. The break-up with Jocelynn had no weight to it in the end. Holt's relationship with Rosa is nice to watch but it feels like treading familiar territory without enough innovation to really be special. I have reservations about the ending. It feels ridiculous that Charles can motivate Debbie to do something so drastically dangerous. Best Moment: Debbie calling herself anti-dextrous was a clever joke. Character of the Episode: Hitchcock. Conclusion: It was cool to see the Jimmy Jabs return, but the handling of them was disappointing and I was let down by the lack of memorable laughs in this episode. This season has delved into previously explored storylines with some surprisingly good results. Sadly, that wasn't the case here. This was fine but it should have been better. Score: 57 Summary: Jake tries to avoid telling Charles that he and Amy are trying to have a baby. Pimento returns with severe memory problems. The rest of the Nine-Nine attend a mandatory seminar that they all hate.
The Good: The joke quality is as good as ever. There are tons of laughs throughout the episode and I was thoroughly entertained the entire time. Pimento was used perfectly here. I've had my ups and downs with the character, but having him in one-off episodes like this works magnificently as the writers can include only the best jokes surrounding him. Most of Pimento's lines in this episode were hilarious and the interactions between him, Charles and Jake were a blast. The A-story was a bit familiar with somebody trying to kill Pimento, but thankfully the show never took itself too seriously here and told this story in a really unique way with Pimento's amnesia. I also really liked how Pimento's story was woven into the Jake/Charles story, making every second of this A-story feel meaningful and fun. The B-story with the seminar has its fun moments like Terry trying to soften up the squad for bad news. I also really loved the cold open showing Jake prank a sleeping Hitchcock once again. This season is really committing to references the earlier parts of the show. The Bad: Why are Jake and Charles somehow allowed to miss the seminar? This is such an obvious hole in that story. The seminar story also doesn't quite work because it forces the characters to be uncharacteristically awful to each other. It's a shame because this show is usually quite good at not selling out characters and their relationships with each other for cheap laughs and conflict. It happened in the Jake/Charles story as well. Jake and Charles' conflict feels repetitive, predictable and unnecessary. I don't buy into these two getting into such a big and dramatic fight. Furthermore, Charles' extreme investment in the Jake and Amy relationship has been a little weird for a while now, and it's odd that the resolution for the storyline isn't Charles choosing to be less intrusive on them. Just like how the show tries to justify Gina's selfishness, it also tries to justify Charles' creepy behaviour. Best Moment: The ending joke with Pimento finally watching Memento only to say it was "okay". The joke was perfectly executed and was a fantastic pay-off to the Finding Dory/Memento jokes throughout the episode. Character of the Episode: Pimento. Conclusion: This was a really funny episode which I thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately the story had some big flaws in it, but since the episode had such incredible jokes, I still think that this is a really good episode overall. Score: 69 Summary: Ragnar's group meets with Borg and Ragnar tries to orchestrate a deal. Ragnar is shown around the place and meets Aslaug who he has sex with. Bjorn is unhappy and gets Ragnar to stop. Floki meets with Horik who declares he will not compromise with Borg. Borg gets Rollo to join him against Ragnar. Ragnar returns to Aslaug in the night. At Kattegat, a sickness spreads through the camp killing Thyri and Gyda.
The Good: The negotiations were a lot of fun in this episode. Ragnar was his usual charismatic self and there was tension from the indirect dealings between Borg and Horik which looks to be heading into an exciting war next season. This episode was quiet and without much action but I appreciate that decision. I thought some character dynamics were well done. Ragnar's dilemma between staying loyal to Lagertha and pursuing the possibility of sons with Aslaug was poignant and it built up nicely to his choice at the end of the episode. Rollo finally choosing to turn on Ragnar was a long time coming but it was nice to finally see it happen, and his choice was nicely intercut with Ragnar's. I really like that the Seer was given a bit of a character detail as he expresses annoyance at always having to deliver news of sorrow. The Bad: Rollo's arc got too repetitive so his choice had me feeling more like "finally!" instead of trying to connect with the character. The sickness storyline at Kattegat wasn't built up well and fell pretty flat. None of the deaths had any impact and it felt like a waste of time. "Vikings" has never been particularly strong without any action. While I respect the choice to have no action, the show's characters are not strong enough yet to have a particularly good episode with no action. Best Moment: The final 5 minutes with Ragnar and Rollo making huge choices that will likely have massive consequences. Conclusion: This was a slow-paced, character-driven episode which was a surprise for the season finale. While it didn't play to the show's strengths, I thought the episode was still pretty good and ended with some critical moments for the story. I've written a review of season 1 already. Click here to read it for more thoughts on season 1. Score: 63 Summary: The Vikings go on a yearly pilgrimage to Uppsala. Ragnar intends to sacrifice Athelstan to the gods, and Athelstan slowly realizes what's happening. However, Athelstan is still holding on to Christian virtues so he can't be sacrificed. Leif volunteers to be sacrificed in his place. King Horik comes to Uppsala and meets with Ragnar. They form an alliance and Horik gets Ragnar to be his emissary to help prevent a conflict.
The Good: I liked the visual style of this episode and I thought that Athelstan's realization throughout the episode was well executed. The sacrifices at the end of the episode were also surprisingly affecting and powerful. I credit the expert cinematography and style for that. The introduction to King Horik was really well done and I was surprised and pleased with his unique portrayal. The Bad: The time jump to kick off this episode was really jarring, and once again I think it robbed the story of its weight. We never got to see Athelstan renounce Christianity and we never got to see Ragnar learn that his child died. These were huge moments for the characters that disappointingly happened off-screen. Athelstan was focused on a lot in this episode but since I didn't buy into him converting to the Vikings' culture at all (because the show didn't show this happen), his storyline fell flat for me. I just wasn't invested in his conflict or his fate. The sacrifice was a well shot sequence, but it's hurt by the fact that a side character who I didn't know at all was the one who died I didn't have any reaction to this at all. Best Moment: Athelstan's adherence to Christianity being discovered was an outstanding moment, well-acted and scary. Conclusion: This episode had some good moments but the time jumps skipping over crucial character development really hurt the show here. This episode feels awkward in its placement and none of the character moments landed the way they should have. It's a shame that the story was so dependent on these character moments, and since they failed, the episode was not very good. Score: 52 Summary: King Aelle sends his brother Aethelwulf with an attack party to fight the Vikings but the Vikings attack the camp during the night and take Aethelwulf hostage. Ragnar and a small party treat with the King and they come to a deal: Aelle gives them 200 pounds of gold for his brother's life. Aelle violates the deal and sends a party to attack the Viking camp but is defeated and Aethelwulf is killed. Aelle caves and gives the Vikings the gold but swears he will have revenge on Ragnar. Back in Kattegat, Lagertha miscarries.
The Good: This was a really well-paced, well-structured, intense and exciting episode that felt like a complete experience. The action was the best of the series with genuine suspense and tension since Aelle is a far greater threat than anything else the Vikings have taken on so far. But the story is told beautifully and the Vikings come across as devilish monsters with their fighting ability and comparatively barbaric nature. I really adored the scenes in the King's hall as they were dripping in intrigue and suspense. This episode was fantastic for Ragnar. I really grew attached to him in this episode as he comes off as a wild and unpredictable man with endless charm and charisma. This episode made me completely rethink Ragnar and appreciate his mysterious nature so much more than I did before. There were some small things I liked. I really enjoyed the way that the show subtly and effectively switches between the Vikings speaking English and Pagan between scenes to make it easier to follow along. I enjoyed the Floki/Rollo conflict and I thought that it provided some really nice character development for both of them. I love how religion is consistently being portrayed as important to the characters in this show. Lastly, I loved the ending of this episode as it feels ominous and exciting, building up a lot of anticipation for the next Viking excursion into Northumbria. The Bad: Lagertha's storyline feels tacked on and out of place. It has no impact to kill off a baby who was only introduced an episode ago. The time jumps in the previous episode definitely hurt the story. Best Moment: The scenes in the King's Hall were fascinating, highlighting the differences between the Englishmen and Vikings. Conclusion: This episode was all action and it made me really fall in love with the charm and charisma of Ragnar. It's no all-time great episode, but it's a great experience that is easily the best episode of the show so far. Score: 69 Summary: Haraldson agrees to Ragnar's challenge. They meet in combat and Ragnar is victorious, taking the position of Earl for himself. Haraldson is given a big funeral. Lagertha tells Ragnar she is pregnant. Rollo asks Siggy to marry him. Athelstan learns about Ragnarok. Ragnar returns to Northumbria for another raid.
The Good: This needed to happen. It was good that we finally got to see the tragedy of Haraldson's story before he died. The single combat was pretty well done, and Ragnar's ascent to Earl was an event that needed to happen. I enjoyed the Ragnarok sequence as it was the best and most stylistic look into Viking culture we have had so far. The Bad: This was another poorly structured episode. The climax was in the middle of the episode, and this episode had far too much clutter, making it by far the worst paced episode so far. The time jumps throughout the episode are incredibly jarring and it prevents us from fully enjoying what we are watching. Haraldson's story was a failure. His monologue was poorly written and unoriginal. We should have seen this story play out on screen instead of having the show attempt a sympathy monologue for Haraldson right before he died. I had no emotional reaction to his death. The character was boring and his fate was predictable. Rollo's release made no sense, why didn't Haraldson keep him? Siggy murdering the other Earl also makes no sense. Surely that should have consequences! Aelle's snake pit murder was ridiculous and it is laughable that he would wait months before murdering this man, who also happened to be the only person who has fought the Vikings before. It's a stupid move to kill him. Lastly, I was disappointed to see that the show skipped over the change in Ragnar's life now that he's an Earl. This should have been when we learned more about how leadership roles work in Viking culture. Instead that's deemed too boring for the show so we skip several months to a raid instead. Best Moment: The Ragnarok moment. Conclusion: This episode was extremely disappointing. Haraldson's storyline flopped, and the transition of Ragnar becoming Earl was rushed and had no substance to it. This episode was not handled well at all. Score: 48 Summary: Haraldson attacks Ragnar's village and nearly kills him. Ragnar escapes with his family and heals up at Floki's. Haraldson chooses to marry Thyri to another Earl. Rollo attends the wedding and Haraldson cuts a deal with him. Upset by Rollo's betrayal, Haraldson ends up capturing and torturing him. Torstein informs Ragnar of this and Ragnar decides to challenge Haraldson to single combat.
The Good: Haraldson's attack on the village is really intense and we get some strong action. It's also nice to see Ragnar get badly injured as it sells that he isn't an invincible protagonist. I liked the build-up to Ragnar's decision to challenge Haraldson at the end of the episode. The Bad: The structure of episodes in this season has been strange. The last two seasons have had climactic moments at the start of the episode rather than the end which creates an unnatural flow to the episode. Ragnar's escape was ridiculous and I can't buy at all that he would get away with those wounds. After making Ragnar look mortal, they give him all the plot armour in the world to get him to escape. Thyri's wedding didn't work at all. It was purely done for shock and for the plot, it had no impact on me. Best Moment: The start of the attack was surprisingly brutal and got me invested in the drama very quickly. Conclusion: This was an okay episode. The structure didn't work well but there was fine, unspectacular drama throughout the episode. Score: 58 Summary: The Vikings raid another town in Northumbria. Lagertha kills Knut when he tries to rape her. On their way back, the Vikings encounter a group of Englishmen waiting to fight them, and they murder them. One survivor returns to king Aelle, who is displeased. Upon returning, Haraldson puts Ragnar on trial for killing Knut. He tries to get Rollo to betray Ragnar and testify against him but Rollo doesn't do it.
The Good: The action was again the highlight here. It was intense and a whole lot of fun to see the Vikings murdering the frightened Englishmen who haven't seen anything like this before. I liked the conflict that was given to Rollo in this episode and there was weight to his decision since it was going to impact the story in a big way. The Bad: A lot of moments of poor writing hurt this episode. Ragnar not telling anyone his plan to attack when the Englishmen are in church was predictable and typical of boring television. He only hid this plan because the writers wanted the surprise. The action was flawed since it's hard to buy that the Englishmen were stupid enough to not go around the shield wall and just charge head-on. Athelstan has been given no development whatsoever so it's incredibly awkward to see him be so loyal to Ragnar and caring for his family. He was a slave an episode ago! Ragnar taking ownership for Knut's death is absurd. Why would they not plan out how to handle this before meeting with Haraldson? They could easily have said Knut died in battle without any questions asked. Furthermore, it's hard to believe Lagertha would be so against Knut raping an English woman. These are Vikings, rape is what they do. Rollo's conflict is hurt because we don't know how important brotherhood is to the Vikings. We would be able to understand his conflict more if we knew the importance of being loyal to your brother. The ending attack was awful. Not only is it completely unclear who was attacking, but we got a death scene for a complete nobody of a character. It was really poor. Plus, is there going to be no justice for this? Ragnar killed Knut and there was a trial, yet this attack can happen without any prompt and the society just accepts it? That's completely at odds with what was established before. Best Moment: Rollo choosing to side with Ragnar was a welcome surprise. Conclusion: This episode had fun action, but everything else that happened was nonsensical and the stakes were always unclear. This episode should have been much better. Score: 53 Summary: Ragnar returns to Kattegat and Haraldson confiscates all of the treasure he brought back. Ragnar keeps a monk, Athelstan, as a slave. Haraldson buries the treasure. Ragnar speaks with Haraldson who agrees to let him go back to England, but he has to take Knut with him. Lagertha goes as well. When they arrive in England, men of the king are waiting for them. A fight breaks out and the Vikings win.
The Good: I like how the characters are motivated in this episode. The Vikings were not moral, complex characters and that is depicted here. All of the characters are assholes motivated by simple things like greed, faith, and lust for power. The second voyage ended up being set up pretty well and the action scene at the end of the episode was a lot of fun to watch. The Bad: The show is already starting to feel repetitive with the raids since we already get to see another one only half an episode after the previous one finished. I was unhappy with Haraldson murdering the child for his own gain. The show seems to care more about brutality than fleshing out this character. I thought that the bond between Ragnar and Athelstan was very rushed, and as such I can't buy into Ragnar leaving him in charge of his children. Best Moment: The tense confrontation between the Englishmen and the Vikings which broke out into an epic action sequence. Conclusion: This was another simple and fun episode with some good action, though flaws are starting to pop up within the show. Score: 62 Summary: Ragnar's group sails west and they reach England where they raid a monastery, murdering most of the monks and taking the rest as slaves. Olafur informs Haraldson of Ragnar's intent to leave but is killed when Haraldson loses trust in him. Knut becomes Haraldson's spy in Olafur's place.
The Good: This is exactly what I wanted from the show. Showing the Vikings setting sail, going on the journey, and concluding with the raid of a holy village was exactly what I had hoped to get from this show. I enjoyed the little things like Floki's mannerisms, the sense of wonder when they finally reached land, and the remarkable brutality with which the Vikings murdered the monks. I'm also pleased that Ragnar isn't shown to be unusually sympathetic for a Viking; he's just as brutal as the rest and sees no problem with it. The Bad: Haraldson's storyline felt like a lot of senseless brutality and did not do much for the character. I thought that more details should have been acknowledged with the Viking voyage, such as food. I also think it's strange that nobody seems to think about what would happen to their families while they are gone and what would happen when they come back after disobeying the Earl's direct orders. Best Moment: The confrontation in the church which patiently turns into a massacre. Conclusion: This was a fun episode that gave me the action I wanted. There's nothing special about the show yet, but I'm having fun watching it. Score: 64 Intro: This is the first of my new shortened episode reviews. For more thoughts on the show, you can read by seasonal reviews. These episode-by-episode reviews will contain brief thoughts on each individual episode.
Summary: Ragnar's son Bjorn becomes a man at a Viking ceremony. Ragnar decides to sail west on his own despite not getting permission from the Earl. The Good: The most interesting aspect of the episode was the look into Viking culture. Things like the Viking events, the sun board and stone that Ragnar used and the focus on religion and gods was really interesting to watch. I also really liked that the show immediately tackled how justice worked in this world. The Bad: For a pilot, this wasn't very memorable. It didn't do anything horribly wrong, but it did nothing to grab my attention. The episode is slow and doesn't connect me to the characters very well. The premise of the show isn't deep enough for me to feel very excited about what's coming next. Best Moment: The suggestion of conflict between Ragnar and Haraldson. Conclusion: This episode was fine enough to watch and didn't do anything wrong, but it was far from a gripping pilot episode. Score: 60 Intro: This is the first of my new season-based review format. It will be structured very similar to my typical episode-by-episode reviews, just without a score at the end. For each individual episode I will be typing up much briefer reviews which will all be going up in the next few days.
The Good: Now that I'm at the end of the season, I can comfortably say that the main character is the strongest thing about this show. Ragnar Lothbrok is such a memorable, charismatic and exciting character to watch on screen. Admittedly, I was very off-put by him at first. I didn't ever fully understand his motives or intentions, so the character frustrated me for the first few episodes. But once I got more familiar with him, I realized that I had been expecting the wrong things from Ragnar. What I had thought was his biggest weakness was actually his biggest strength. With each episode, I grew to love Ragnar's wild unpredictability more and more, and I began to be thrilled by Ragnar's various mannerisms and spontaneous decision-making. The more I learned about Ragnar, the better it fit him. He's a character who is incredibly intelligent for his time, but he's also a big believer in fate and lets it guide his way in numerous moments, such as his decision to take on Athelstan as a slave. It makes no sense for him to make these choices, but that's precisely why he makes these decisions; they are a result of a gut feeling. I haven't seen a TV show present its main character as somebody outside of the audience's point of view. The show has never let us in on what Ragnar is thinking, and he consistently feels like an outside perspective to us despite being the character we are supposed to relate to the most. It's a very unconventional approach and it has no right being as fun and enjoyable to watch as it is. This has to be credited to Travis Fimmel's wonderful performance, as he really brings Ragnar's charisma and charm to life in a most engaging way, making every second with him utterly fascinating. Outside of Ragnar, things aren't quite as good but they still work. The side characters have nice variety to them, and the performances are consistent throughout the show. I enjoyed Floki's unhinged performance, which reminded me of the strange, yet oddly mesmerizing mannerisms of Jack Sparrow. Lagertha is another really solid character. I'm pleased to see that she isn't just a generic wife character, instead having a lot of toughness and inner strength which befits the Viking culture that we were introduced to. I also enjoyed other characters like Rollo and Athelstan for the character variety they provided, even though I thought their character arcs weren't very well done. The show wasn't primarily built around characters though. In fact, whenever the show slowed down and was reliant on its characters to provide the drama, it got substantially weaker. Where this show shines brightest is when there's plenty of action. Everyone watching this show knows what they want to see: Vikings doing Viking things like pillage and plunder while getting a unique look at their culture. And when the show is doing that, it's very entertaining. The best parts of the show came whenever the Vikings were off raiding in England, allowing us to see the characters do what they do best, while being portrayed as animalistic demons to the people of Northumbria. It's remarkably entertaining to see the Vikings destroying the English men, and it creates a very unique sense of emotional investment since the Vikings are doing horrible things from a moral perspective, yet they are still the heroes of this story. It ends up being a dissociative experience for the viewer who will find themselves rooting for things that typically aren't what they would believe to be morally correct. The action's unique, it's thrilling and it's memorable. It's what the show does best. As for the rest of the show, several little things are done well. The exploration of Viking culture is pretty accurate from what I can tell, and I really appreciate details like an explanation for how they were able to navigate the open seas to maintain a western course to land in England. I thought the set design, costumes, make-up, and overall presentation of the Vikings was really well done. Despite not actually being set in Scandinavia (the show was shot in Ireland), the setting felt like it belonged in Scandinavia due to some really inspired cinematography and camera work. The show was incredibly well put together and it's clear that there was a lot of effort put into making the show look impressive. The Bad: But the show isn't quite clicking yet. I'm having fun with it, but I'm not properly invested in the characters or the story. There was a distinct lack of an emotional investment in most of the episodes in the show, and the only times I was really engaged in what was happening was during the raids to England, which only happened in 2 episodes. I never got emotionally invested in what was happening on screen, even with Ragnar who I praised so heavily in "The Good". I enjoyed the character only on a very basic level, and the show never threatened to make me truly care about what's going on with him. And outside of Ragnar, the show didn't even come close to making me care about the story or characters. Nobody had that extra depth or likeability about them that made me care about their inner conflict and their fate. After 1 season, I'm still feeling indifferent to every one of these characters and that's a problem. I enjoy seeing them on screen and it passes the time well for me, but I simply don't care about what happens to them. The structure of the episodes did not help the show at all. The pacing of this show is downright terrible most of the time and there were numerous times when the show's surprise time-jumps really took me out of what was happening. The show somehow managed to jump through time at the worst points every time, and it often did not even signal that time had passed, and it was unclear how much time had passed. The only indicator we had was Athelstan's ever-changing hair, which is unreliable at best. There are numerous episodes that I thought were destroyed by having time jumps randomly in the middle. At times when the show should have been exploring the fall-out of key story moments, it instead opted to jump months into the future, leaving a bunch of interesting story beats unexplored and underdeveloped. I'll be addressing more specific examples of this in my episode-by-episode reviews. As I hinted at before, I thought that some of the side character storylines were very sloppily executed. One of the biggest flops of the season was the arc of Athelstan. There wasn't a single episode where I bought into the character's inner change because I never got to see it happen. The show would hint at these developments, but the character would end up growing off screen. As a result, I never bought into his transformation and whenever the show tried to center the drama around Athelstan, I could not bring myself to care about it. I felt disconnected with the character's journey because I didn't get to see any of it. Rollo was another poorly handled character. He had the most repetitive arc in the show, where every episode seemed to have Rollo reach a crossroads where he could stay by Ragnar's side or pursue his own future. And the conflict was the exact same every time, and in most cases the situations were almost exactly the same too. It became so dull to see the character make the same choice time and time again. The kicker came at the end of the season when Rollo finally chooses to turn on Ragnar. The problem is that there is nothing at all that convinces Rollo to make a different decision. There's no special build-up, no extra depth to the character being explored that highlights why Rollo chose differently. There's no drama to be had, no exploration of the character, no fascination regarding what has changed in his relationship with Ragnar to make Rollo want to turn against him. It's indicative of the fact that Rollo should have turned against Ragnar ages ago, and that it made no sense for the character to stay in Ragnar's shadow. There is nothing that Borg tells Rollo that he doesn't already know, so I found myself confused by why Rollo decided to abandon Ragnar now rather than before. It's not good storytelling. Haraldson's story was another disappointing one. The character was acted well and on paper it's a good story about a proud character whose flaws bring about his downfall. But in execution it is remarkably flat. It feels obvious that Ragnar will ultimately defeat Haraldson to take his position as Earl, so it's easy to dismiss Haraldson as a dead man as early as episode 2. As a result, it's hard to invest in the character knowing that he will likely die soon, and the ensuing conflict between him and Ragnar is about as predictable and uninspired as it gets. The character of Haraldson unfortunately isn't executed well either. The character's motivations are never expressed until the episode where he dies, making it difficult to invest in him and his plight. Furthermore, the way we learn more about him is so sloppy and uninspired: it's a simple monologue featuring clunky dialogue in a very basic attempt to make us feel for the character before he dies. The character of Haraldson never connected with me and I found his entire arc to be a pretty big waste of time in a season that could have used more time spent on the characters that would be surviving through to the end. Lastly, I thought that this show had a ton of missed potential in its individual storylines. There are plenty of episode's that had really promising stories on paper, but flopped spectacularly due to various reasons. Be it uninspired writing (Haraldson's death episode), wonky pacing (Ragnar becoming the Earl, time jumps in the middle of episodes early in the season), or poor execution of character arcs (Athelstan, Rollo), it felt like there were always several big problems that would ruin the story that the episode was trying to tell. The Unknown: I have a few questions going into season 2. Will Ragnar actually leave Lagertha? How will Bjorn react to this? Will there be strife between Lagertha and Aslaug? Where will this Ragnar vs Rollo conflict go? Will Ragnar remain loyal to King Horik? Who is going to win the conflict between Horik and Borg? How will Ragnar react to Rollo's betrayal? Will there be any fighting before Ragnar's party leaves Borg's encampment? Best Episodes: E02 The Wrath of the Northmen: This episode makes it because of the fantastic sequence of the Vikings murdering the monks remorselessly. It's a shocking sequence that makes you question if the people you are watching are worthy of being the good guys in this story. E07 A King's Ransom: This episode was excellent. It was action-packed and kickstarted a thrilling conflict between Ragnar and King Aelle. A really memorable and fun episode overall. Worst Episodes: E04 Trial: This episode embodied all of the frustrating character arcs of the show, including Haraldson's predictability, Rollo's repetitiveness and Athelstan's disjointedness. At least the episode had some good action. E06 Burial of the Dead: Another frustrating episode with countless time jumps that provided the predictable (and thus completely unsatisfying) conclusion of Haraldson's arc. Character of the Season: Ragnar. Conclusion: I came into this show with low expectations. I just wanted to see Vikings be Vikings. And for the most part, that's all I got. The show had some pleasant surprises like the uniqueness of Ragnar, but for the most part it was what I expected. Flat character drama surrounding some pretty cool action sequences. I did enjoy a few parts of the show and I thought it was visually impressive, but the show failed in executing a lot of the character drama it attempted and that really hurt its quality. This first season was an okay start to the show. It was watchable, but very flawed and never got me really excited to watch more. I will hope that season 2 corrects some of these flaws, but I don't think that "Vikings" is a show that can ever be truly great. The potential just isn't there unfortunately. But for what it's worth, this is fine enough junk food television. Summary: The Nine-Nine get a new captain, Kim, who Jake and Holt immediately don't trust even though everyone else likes her. The Nine-Nine are invited to a party at Kim's house and Jake attempts to find proof that Kim is conspiring with Wuntch.
The Good: This episode seemed to be paying tribute to season 1 which I appreciate. The cold open was in the same location as the climax of the pilot episode in season 1, and the format of this episode was really similar to the season 1 formula with Jake screwing things up and learning a lesson by the end. It even paid homage to "The Party" by having the concept of a house party being disrupted by Jake's nosiness, even complete with a dog being locked away upstairs. I appreciated the nods to season 1 (the show does do a nice job of acknowledging past episodes from time to time) but what really made this stand out was what was new. Even though the formula was similar, enough was changed to really make this shine. This wasn't Jake screwing up out of immaturity, this is him screwing up for fear of yet another bad captain, and this time he actually has Holt's backing due to Holt's hilarious distress as he deals with having a new captain at the Nine-Nine. Plus the focused storyline allowed the characters to bounce off of each other really well, leading to a collection of fantastic jokes throughout the episode. This was a surprisingly funny episode. The utilization of the characters was so clever. I've already mentioned Jake and Holt, but I really liked Amy's chaperone role, Terry being terrified of the creepy ex-criminal guy (the perfectly reasonable explanation was amazing), and Charles becoming "badass Chuck" has to be one of the show's most fleshed out and memorable single-episode gimmicks its ever done due to the hilarity of the jokes and the logical explanation of why Charles is acting like this. This episode corrected a lot of the issues that "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has typically had trouble with without sacrificing any of its strengths, which is a really impressive feat. The Bad: Having so many similarities to season 1 does have its problems though. It feels like much of this episode is treading familiar ground, and even with the bits of innovation throughout the episode, a lot of the comedy was lessened by the fact that it all felt so familiar. Furthermore, it feels odd for the show to try so hard to reference previous seasons when this season isn't the final season of the show. This would have been more effective as a celebration of the show if it was coming to an end. Best Moment: There are plenty of jokes to choose from. I'll go with Holt using sneakers for their literal purpose (sneaking) and his anger at being exposed so easily. Character of the Episode: Charles. Conclusion: This was an excellent episode that highlights the best of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine". The joke quality and execution of the storylines was top-notch. Had this episode had more original ideas it could have been one of the show's very best. Even still, it's a damn good episode that gets season 7 off to a superb start. Score: 78 Summary: Jake is put in charge of a manhunt but struggles to have the spine to take command when a demoted Holt hopes to contribute. Amy is worried that she is pregnant and tells Rosa.
The Good: The 2 storylines here are both pretty fun. I'm glad to see that Holt's demotion is already having an impact on the show, and I'm hopeful that this is the type of change that the show won't simply lose interest in and undo in 2-3 episodes. Watching the dejected Holt interact with Jake and Charles is tremendous fun and the character dynamics with Jake pitying Holt and Holt being desperate to return to his position are pretty well done, leading to several strong jokes. Meanwhile, the Amy stuff is a solid side story with a purpose as it sets up for Amy and Jake trying to have a baby. There are some fun moments here with Amy's aggression and Terry amusingly bringing too much of his personal life into his job. Debbie is also a fantastic addition. I'd love to see more of the background characters coming to light, especially with how funny Debbie was here. The Bad: The episode doesn't feel like anything too special. The case itself is pretty boring with lots of familiar jokes between Jake and Charles. I also have a burning hate for whenever the criminals try to run away since I've seen it so many times in this show by now. Best Moment: Debbie revealing her backstory was entirely unexpected and served as a hilarious punchline for the character. Character of the Episode: I'll give it to Debbie honestly. She was wonderful. Conclusion: This was a really good episode to kick off the season. There's nothing too special here, but it's consistently entertaining all the way through with some really good jokes. Score: 69 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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