Summary: The Vikings fight Rollo’s forces and are soundly defeated. Ragnar decides to retreat and starts to lose his mind. Ecbert is given the crown of Mercia by Wigstan.
The Good: This was a really exciting episode with lots of action. The battle is brilliantly executed and is brutal. It’s very affecting to watch Rollo coldly order the destruction of the Viking forces. Seeing the heroes easily defeated was powerful and there were several great moments like Ragnar choosing to save Floki and Ragnar shouting to Rollo, reminding him that he saved him when nobody else would have. I thought that this defeat was necessary for the story, and it seems to have fractured Ragnar’s mind even more. I’m interested to see what’s next for Ragnar. The Wigstan/Ecbert scene was well written and it was satisfying to see Ecbert successfully take Mercia for himself. The Bad: Floki’s vision of Aslaug is strange and feels really out of place. Floki should be feeling grief over what happened to Helga, replacing that with a nonsensical vision of Floki having sex with Aslaug was a poor decision. The Unknown: Is Helga going to die? Is Ragnar’s retreat just an impulse or is this all just another plan he has already made? What the hell was that Floki vision scene? Is this part of his story of becoming the next seer? Does Wigstan have any ulterior motives for making Ecbert the king or is he earnest? Best Moment: Ragnar shouting at Rollo as he retreats. Character of the Episode: Ragnar. Conclusion: This was a climactic and exciting episode with some really great story beats. The best episode of the season so far. Score: 65
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Summary: Ragnar announces the Paris raid and they leave. On the way, Raganr has visions of the past. The Vikings see that Rollo has joined the Franks. Odo reveals his ambitions to Therese. Charles begs Rollo not to leave. Ecbert sends Aethelwulf and Alfred on a pilgrimage. Harbard returns to Kattegat.
The Good: Unlike the previous episodes this one has some forward momentum with the Vikings leaving for Paris and Rollo finalizing his preparations. The final scene where everyone sees what has become of Rollo is excellent, both because of Ragnar and Bjorn’s rage and because of the unyielding dedication on Rollo’s face. What makes this episode work is not the plot, but it’s Ragnar’s story. It’s becoming clear that Ragnar gets no joy from raiding anymore and that he just misses being a farmer. The vision he had of his old family was heartbreaking, and Travis Fimmel was incredibly captivating in his portrayal of Ragnar’s desire to go back to them. This season is telling a tremendous story with Ragnar, showing us that being king is not everything and that Ragnar now just longs for a simple life, one that he can never have again. The episode also does a magnificent job of showing us why Ragnar is doing drugs. He has nothing left, Athelstan and Gyda are dead, Bjorn grew up, Lagertha wants nothing to do with him, Floki hates him and Rollo betrayed him. Ragnar has nothing left, and this season looks to be setting up a really tragic conclusion for Ragnar. So far it has been tremendously captivating. The Bad: Despite how much I like Ragnar’s arc, Yidu is still strange to me. We don’t know what everyone else thinks of her or what they think about her interactions with Ragnar, which is problematic. It makes me confused about what the importance of the character is if everyone else ignores her existence. We also need to know what Ragnar’s people think of his current failings as a king but we are not shown it. Despite the slow pace of this season, key details like these have been ignored. And once again too much time is spent in Wessex and Paris. The pilgrimage means nothing to me so those scenes fall flat. Odo is given yet another sex dungeon scene which yet again pissed me off. I’m not enjoying Aslaug’s story this season. The character has inexplicably changed to become more evil and it hasn’t been done well. I’m not sure what to make of Harbard’s return yet, but I’m not too excited. The Unknown: Who is the blind man that will see Ragnar when he dies? Is it the seer? What will happen during Alfred’s pilgrimage? Why is Ecbert leading the army to Mercia? Does he have a plan? Is Lagertha actually pregnant or did she make it up? We know she won’t be giving birth to any more kids. Best Moment: Ragnar seeing a vision of the family he once had. One of the most powerful scenes of the entire show. Character of the Episode: Ragnar. Conclusion: This was a mixed episode. On one hand, it was mostly set-up and the side stories were terrible. But on the other hand, there is an outstanding story here with Ragnar and it has provided some of the show’s most compelling content so far. It’s difficult to score this one. Score: 60 Summary: Kalf marries Lagertha but she kills him. Ragnar and Yidu open up to each other. Bjorn learns Erlendur tried to kill him. Ivar kills another child when he gets upset.
The Good: This episode had some really good moments. The opening scene was really well done, Lagertha was lying to Kalf and she knew he was lying about Erlendur. Of course she was going to kill him. I also liked the foreshadowing with Kalf being targeted to start the episode. Ecbert’s prayer scene was outstanding and a reminder of how good this character is. If only everything around him was this compelling. Ragnar’s character has been handled really well this season. Paris changed him and I really enjoyed hearing him open up to Yidu, admitting his guilt. Ivar murdering another kid over nothing was as horrifying a moment as any that “Vikings” has given us. The Bad: The overall stories of the episode don’t work. Ragnar and Yidu’s scenes are stylistically shot but they are emotionally confused. I’m never sure what to feel when I see them together which is problematic when they get so many scenes. Kalf’s death was nicely set up but the moment completely fell flat since I never cared for the character. Lagertha has been relegated to a character who kills for revenge and does nothing else. She is being badly wasted on the show. The Wessex scenes outside of Ecbert were poor as usual. Emperor Charles is portrayed really well but it’s still hard to care about anything happening in Paris outside of Rollo’s arc. The Unknown: What’s the significance of Yidu being the daughter of an emperor? What are Harald and Halfdan’ intentions? Will they ally with Floki against Ragnar? Is Bjorn going to kill Erlendur now (please do it Bjorn)? What will happen to Hedeby following Kalf’s death? Will Charles be turned against Odo? Is Therese really Roland’s sister? Does that mean they are in an incestuous relationship? If they are, it feels entirely unnecessary. Best Moment: Ragnar admitting his guilt over his settlement’s destruction. It makes sense that this would be haunting him since everybody warned him this would happen but he thought that he knew better. Character of the Episode: Ragnar. Conclusion: This episode had some great moments but didn’t work as well as a whole. Score: 58 Summary: Ragnar gets closer to Yidu and they go on a drug trip together. Gisla comes around on Rollo and they become a close couple. Ecbert successfully drives a wedge between Aelle and Judith when Aelle comes to visit to discuss Mercia. Bjorn kills the berserker and takes Torvi to Kattegat. A new king, Harald, visits Kattegat.
The Good: Ragnar and Aslaug’s disdain for each other is a decent story, certainly much better than the melodrama from seasons 2 and 3. The Wessex storyline is still bland but Aelle’s presence makes it more bearable. Rollo and Gisla being heard while having sex was hilarious. Harald’s introduction at the end of the episode gives the season some much needed momentum. The Bad: Gisla coming around on Rollo so suddenly was absurd and not earned at all. The believability of Gisla was hurt badly in this episode by poor writing. Bjorn’s fight with the berserker sucked. It was shot well but made no sense logistically and got too ridiculous and gratuitously violent. Ragnar and Yidu’s storyline is weird and I’m not sure that I like it. Ragnar’s not curious enough about Yidu for my liking and I’m not invested in Yidu. The Yol celebration was cool to see but felt like a background detail without any heart. The Unknown: Is Floki the new seer now? Will Aelle turn on Kwenthrith because her son is Ragnar’s? What was the drug that Yidu gave Ragnar? Who is King Harald? What does he really want? How does he plan to achieve his goals? Also since when are there multiple kings? I still don’t know what being a king means in the context of the show. Best Moment: Harald’s introduction. Character of the Episode: Aelle. Conclusion: This episode wasn’t very interesting overall and had some poorly written moments. If not for Harald’s introduction, it would be a dud. Score: 53 Summary: Floki learns that Angrboda died. Ragnar and Ecbert have visions of Athelstan. Ecbert accepts he is dead. Ragnar decides to show mercy and cuts down Floki. Kalf and Erlendur send a berserker to kill Bjorn. Bjorn fights off a bear in the wild. Rollo tries to learn Old French.
The Good: Rollo’s scenes in Paris are a lot of fun. Watching him try and fail to assimilate is fresh, different, and really funny. Floki’s suffering in this episode was difficult to watch and really well done. His reaction to Angrboda’s death is really powerful and you can’t help but sympathize with him and Helga. I was relieved to see Ragnar free him. Bjorn’s storyline is really well done. Watching Bjorn tough it out is making me really attached to the character. The show is always better without dialogue, and it helps Bjorn a lot to give him a storyline away from the horrible romance stuff from the last two seasons. The visions of Athelstan were superb. I love the parallels between Ragnar and Ecbert, and they both received different, but equally significant messages from him. This episode was slower but it took time to explore the characters more, which “Vikings” typically doesn’t do. I really appreciated it. The Bad: Kalf and Erlendur still suck. It’s incredibly dumb of Erlendur to send an assassin with direct connection to him, and for a contrived reason. It’s blatantly obvious that Bjorn will survive, connect the dots and ultimately kill Erlendur to take Torvi for himself. It’s not that the story itself is bad, but the use of such unoriginal tropes makes it incredibly easy to know what happens next, making me appreciate the story less. Unfortunately Wessex is still terrible and I wasn’t invested in anything outside of Athelstan’s appearance. Ragnar desperately needs to return there to make things more interesting. The Odo/Therese/Roland story is one of the worst that the show has ever done. I just don’t care. The Unknown: Who is the girl Ragnar has been eyeing since episode 1? She’s Asian so I wonder if that’s what is fascinating Ragnar so much. Best Moment: Ragnar and Ecbert seeing Athelstan. This scene was shot tremendously well and had a lot of power to it. Character of the Episode: Bjorn. Conclusion: This was another slow episode, but it had enough strong character work to give it a solid emotional core. Unfortunately, not every story was given this emotional core. Score: 60 Summary: Helga frees Floki but he is captured and refuses to admit his wrongdoing. Ragnar sets up a torture for him. Floki’s daughter gets sick and dies. Judith gets Ecbert to teach her illumination. Aethelwulf rescues Kwenthrith and Magnus after they get captured by rebels. Rollo continues trying to fit in in Paris. Bjorn survives in the wild.
The Good: Ragnar’s judgement of Floki remains really compelling. He’s looking for an excuse to go easy on Floki, but Floki refuses to give it to him, frustrating Ragnar. Floki’s torture is quite creative. I like that this season is spending more time exploring Ragnar’s distaste for Aslaug after she ignored his kids to have sex with Harbard. The action scene in Mercia is well choreographed and fun to watch. Visually this is a really nice episode with some lovely shots following Bjorn and Floki. The Bad: This episode feels empty. There are too many storylines and not much is going on in them. The Wessex scenes still suck because they are completely uninteresting. I enjoy Ecbert but there’s not enough interesting stuff going on with him to justify so much time spent with him and Judith (who I do not enjoy at all). I dislike Aethelwulf and Kwenthrith so even though the action sequence was well executed, I was never invested. The Paris storyline is inching forwards so slowly and it’s pretty dull. I’m not liking these new characters being introduced with their own storylines. I don’t care about any of them, just show me more scenes with Rollo. This show is developing a problem of spending far too much time with characters that we don’t care about. I was engaged with the scenes involving Ragnar, Floki, Bjorn and Rollo, but all of the other scenes without them bored me to death. The Unknown: When will Helga tell Floki about his daughter’s death? Will Odo be deposed by Roland? Will I care? Best Moment: Ragnar lashing out at Aslaug after she tries to defend Floki. Character of the Episode: Ragnar. Conclusion: This was a nothing episode. Some storylines were good but too much time was wasted with uninteresting storylines that I couldn’t care less about. Score: 52 Summary: Bjorn arrests Floki while Ragnar is sick. Upon waking up Ragnar isn’t pleased about this. Bjorn decides to live on his own in the wilderness to prove himself. Lagertha and Kalf return to Hedeby where Kalf murders Einar and his supporters. Rollo allies with the Franks and kills the remaining Vikings camped outside Paris.
The Good: I like that this episode spent a lot of time on the Ragnar/Bjorn relationship. Bjorn is finally starting to become compelling as he takes on more of a leadership role to arrest Floki, but fails to have the foresight Ragnar wants him to have if he is to rule. Bjorn’s decision to go survive on his own to prove himself to Ragnar is excellent, and it shows us that even if Bjorn isn’t as smart as Ragnar, he intends to make up for it with grit and determination. I’m glad the show is finally spending time on this relationship. Floki’s arrest is a strong moment, and the brief scene between Ragnar and Floki was terrific, especially Ragnar understanding that Floki is hiding behind the gods excuse to hide his own jealousy. The death of Einar is the first good thing to come out of Hedeby. The Bad: I wish Bjorn had developed into his leadership role better in the last season. His arc would feel much smoother, and it would be easier to buy into his motives if they were set up earlier. Rollo’s decision to kill off his camp was played for shock value and that took away its impact. We know Rollo was unable to betray his friends with good conscience back in season 2, so we needed to see what has changed about his mindset that makes him capable of doing it without guilt this time. The Unknown: What were those visions in the opening scene about? Will Aslaug eventually rule? How will Ragnar deal with Floki? Will he kill him? Will Rollo have the conviction to fight against Ragnar this time? How long will it take for Ragnar to return to his full health? Will he ever be back to full health? He is getting old. Best Moment: Ragnar and Floki’s scene. Travis Fimmel is so immersive with everything he does. Character of the Episode: Ragnar. Conclusion: This was a solid premier. There’s nothing too exciting here but the story has been set up for season 4. Score: 60 Summary: Ragnar returns from Paris but he is changed. He starts doing drugs to cope with his pain. Eventually the Vikings return to Paris and learn that Rollo betrayed them and married Gisla. There is a battle and the Vikings are defeated. Ragnar vanishes for 10 years. Ecbert continues his machinations and becomes king of Wessex and Mercia, killing Kwenthrith. After 10 years, Ragnar returns with plans to go to England. His son Ivar accompanies him. Ecbert captures them both and frees Ivar, but Ragnar is given to Aelle and is killed. Bjorn sails to the Mediterranean but after hearing of Ragnar's death, he returns. The sons of Ragnar create a great army and attack England. Aelle is defeated and killed. Aethelwulf is defeated in battle and has to retreat. Ecbert gives himself up to the Vikings and dies. Ivar kills his brother Sigurd after an argument.
The Good: True to the first three seasons, Ragnar is the best part of this season. This season did a great job of portraying how the main characters have changed as they have aged, and the best example of this is Ragnar. In this season he is completely adrift, far from the charming cunning man that he was in previous seasons. Following Athelstan's death he has lost his purpose, and being a Viking doesn't give him the joy that it once did. The show does a tremendous job of showing us Ragnar's true desires: to return to his old family and to escape from his current reality with a wife he hates, and a destroyed settlement that he feels guilt about. This is a compelling idea that's much more complex than anything else that "Vikings" has done, and I think that it's executed magnificently. Travis Fimmel also adds a lot to this story. The dialogue in "Vikings" has always been bad but Fimmel does a tremendous job of not letting me notice it due to his electric performance. It cannot be understated how much Ragnar's presence improved the show, and it became immediately evident that there is not much more to "Vikings" once Ragnar was gone (see: The Bad). But while Ragnar was there, the stories were good. The first half of the season is spent building up to the return to Paris where a Ragnar vs Rollo battle awaits. This conflict is very engaging and it is built up really well. I've discussed how Ragnar's change was handled well, and I think that the show did a solid job of displaying how Ragnar's men felt alienated from him in the first half of the season. Ragnar's change had an effect on the story, and it was written pretty well. I think that this is a big reason for Ragnar's loss when he did battle Rollo, and that is really good storytelling. Ragnar lost because his heart wasn't in it anymore, and his men suffered the consequences of Ragnar's choices in this season. Alternatively we have Rollo who was a lot of fun in his new role as Duke of Normandy. There is a lot of humour in the Paris storyline which is a pleasant surprise. "Vikings" has never been a funny show, but it put in effort to make Rollo's antics entertaining to watch. I thought that Rollo's transformation was executed well enough, even if it wasn't particularly great, and I did buy into him sticking with the Franks during the battle. The season built up a lot to this confrontation between Ragnar and Rollo and I think that their confrontation delivered for the most part, and it was one of the most memorable parts of the season. But what really stood out about this season was what came next. The Ragnar vs Rollo story was good, but it became apparent that Ragnar's time on the show was coming to an end. And as Ragnar got closer and closer to his death, the quality of the show got better and better as it celebrated the characters and his relationships before his inevitable demise. The episodes leading up to Ragnar's death were not only the best of the season, but the best of the entire show. If there's one thing that this show has been lacking, it's emotional impact. Killing the main character of the show, the one character I actually care about, is bound to have a big impact on me. And thankfully, Ragnar's death was handled with the respect it deserved. After seeing Ragnar reduced to a shell of who he once was in season 4, I was worried that he would get a death that would not fit the character. However, what we got was damn near perfect. Ragnar's final invasion of England saw him resolve the tensions he had in his relationships with Ecbert, Floki, Bjorn and Lagertha while simultaneously grooming Ivar to take over after he's gone. But more than that, Ragnar resolved his own inner conflict at long last, accepting that the gods likely do not exist, and instead of spiting that fact, he makes his peace with it. In doing this, Ragnar is allowed to be himself one final time as he spends a night of contemplation with Ecbert before performing one final con to ensure that Ecbert does not get away with the destruction of the settlement. It's a brilliant final storyline for Ragnar and it is acted to perfection by Travis Fimmel and Linus Roache, the two best actors on this show. Ragnar's death itself was done perfectly, and I'll never forget the final visual of Ragnar's bright blue eye staring up at Ecbert from within the snake pit. The episode "All His Angels" is a striking and powerful piece of art, the likes of which I thought I would never see from a show like "Vikings". The achievement of that episode should not be overlooked, regardless of what I think about the rest of the season. Outside of Ragnar, this season had a few other good elements. As always, the action is awesome. If there's one thing that has been consistent since season 1, it's that. The writing and dialogue may be pretty bad at times, but the action is always excellent. Some characters were given decent storylines. Linus Roache gave some life to the bland Wessex storylines, and I enjoyed King Ecbert all the way until the end. Bjorn had his best season so far, likely because this one wasn't stuffed to the brom with terrible romance. I really enjoyed his time in the wilderness, and I maintain that "Vikings" is at its best when there is no dialogue. The question of what to do with Floki early in the season was really engaging, and his torture was horrifying to watch. The character writing was pretty strong early in season 4. Lastly, of all the new characters, Ivar is by far the best. Alex Hogh Anderson does a great job bringing the character to life and he has shown surprising depth. Ivar is a determined cripple, but also a scared boy, a genius tactician and a frightening psychopath. He's such a unique character and I hope that he is given more to do because he wasn't utilized well enough this season. The Bad: The Good was almost entirely about Ragnar, and I stand by the fact that everything with Ragnar was good. The problem comes when you realize that Ragnar's scenes are only about 30% of this season. In watching this show, I've learned that the creator Michael Hirst has some very major flaws in how he tells stories, and this badly hurt the show in every storyline outside of Ragnar's. Unfortunately, season 4 sees Hirst give in to all of his worst habits. These habits include dedicating far too much time to uninteresting storylines, failing to create interesting new characters, giving main characters with no direction a nonsensical storyline, turning to needless melodrama whenever possible, and spending far too much time making characters argue with each other instead of building relationships properly. Let's start with the decision to spend far too much time with uninteresting storylines. If you look back to my season 3 reviews, one of my complaints was how slow and plodding the scenes in Wessex were after the Vikings left. I criticized those scenes for not featuring interesting characters and for being painfully uninteresting. Unfortunately for season 4, just about every single episode continued this trend. This first half of the season is especially guilty of this as eight out of the ten episodes wasted time in Wessex for a needlessly complex story about Ecbert also becoming King of Mercia. I think that Michael Hirst finds these storylines far more interesting than we do because there is no reason for us to spend this much time on a storyline that is so far removed from the main plot and so unbelievably boring. Kwenthrith, Judith and Aethelwulf are horrible characters and spending time with them immediately put me to sleep. It badly hurts the quality of every episode in this season when a sizeable amount of time is wasted in Wessex, killing the episode's momentum. And there's more to this issue too! The politics in Paris were even more boring than the Wessex scenes because they didn't even feature Ecbert. Watching Roland, Therese and Odo make their moves was as tedious as watching paint dry, and every visit to Odo's preposterous sex dungeon made me want to turn the TV off. That Hirst chose to spend so much time on these storylines is baffling to me. This flaw extended to the final five episodes of the season too, but I'll discuss that more later. Another big failing of the show is its inability to create engaging new characters on a consistent basis. This has been a notable part of the previous seasons too, but the success of the early conceived characters like Ragnar, Rollo, Floki, Ecbert, Athelstan, etc. has disguised how bad this show has been at establishing new characters. But it has always done a terrible job. I can't think of a single character introduced since season 2 outside of Ecbert and Ivar that has been compelling. Everyone is either flat, boring or frustrating. The side characters introduced in Wessex and Paris are laughably bad, but the most egregious failure in characterization comes from the new additions to the main cast. The new sons of Ragnar are boring. There is nothing about Ubbe, Hvitserk and Sigurd that ever made me care about them. Just as bad is Harald and Halfdan who have been around for 15 episodes and yet I couldn't tell you a single thing about their personalities. The inclusion of these two new characters is a perplexing choice because they have done nothing and added nothing to the show ever since their arrival. The handling of the main characters this season has also been poor. Outside of Ragnar, Ecbert and Rollo, I dislike everyone far more than I did going into this season. Well also Bjorn, but the only reason I like him more now is because he was so awful in season 2 and 3. Season 4 Bjorn is only a minor improvement and I'm still not at all convinced by Alexander Ludwig's acting ability (or lack thereof). Besides, Bjorn's biggest storyline this season was also pretty bad. His conflict with Erlendur should have been resolved in 1 or 2 episodes, but it was stretched out until the ninth episode and it never became compelling. And yet, all of the other major characters somehow had storylines worse than this one. Floki is adrift for the entire season and the writers never seem to know what to do with him after Ragnar frees him from his torture. At one point he's joining Harald to turn on Ragnar but this is never explored. Then he is friends with Ragnar again and this decision is never explored. He's also apparently going to be the next Seer, but this storyline gets dropped as abruptly as it came up. And then finally, the show completely destroys the character of Floki by having him be fascinated by Islam. Floki simultaneously did everything and nothing this season, and the character's credibility was thrown off a cliff with how poorly he was written. Helga fared no better. She has never had much to do as a character herself, but killing the character would mean something. However, her story of wanting a child so badly that she desperately kidnaps an Islamic orphan girl was embarrassingly bad, and it made her death into a fittingly stupid moment to end a stupid storyline. Lagertha also has a terrible season. Her story with Kalf ends in the most bland and predictable way, and then Lagertha inexplicably decides that she despises Aslaug now and she takes over Kattegat. Nothing interesting was done with Lagertha this season and the show continually has her kill people in badass ways as an attempt to use the character well. This doesn't work and it makes Lagertha feel more like a badass woman trope rather than an actual character. This isn't helped by the fact that Lagertha surrounds herself with other shallow badass woman archetypes like Astrid and Torvi. Lagertha's murder of Aslaug has to be one of the season's weakest moments. Aslaug became almost comically evil this season and her death was as unsatisfying as it could possibly get. Lastly we get to Kwenthrith and Yidu, two poorly conceived characters who were given an unsatisfying storyline with deaths that had no impact on me. It's fascinating to me how badly this season handled every single character not named Ragnar, Ecbert or Rollo. The last of Hirst's troubling storytelling methods comes from his obsession with inserting melodrama into places where it does not belong. So much of this season was bogged down by meaningless melodrama. Much of the time we spent with the new sons of Ragnar was melodrama. It was either some stupid conflict over who gets to have sex with Margrethe or some generic arguing about who leads the great army. None of it had any depth. Worse were the scenes with Rollo and Gisla. All of their arguments had no depth to them whatsoever. As much as I enjoyed Rollo this season, his scenes with Gisla were pretty bad. This show has an obsession with characters cheating on each other and that being passed off for drama. Something like Bjorn having sex with Astrid for no reason is a perfect example of how this show inserts melodrama where it does not belong for no good reason. It's very frustrating to see the show refuse to commit to any interesting direction with its characters in favour of doing these cliched melodramatic scenes. But this season went beyond Michael Hirst in terms of being awful. The final five episodes of this season were so poorly done in every possible aspect that it's impossible to blame Michael Hirst's style of storytelling for their failure. These episodes were simply terrible. Believe me when I say that nothing about what happened in these episodes was satisfying. The sons of Ragnar are terrible, shallow characters and they do nothing but bicker for these five episodes. We learn nothing about them and so we don't care at all about their conflicts. Furthermore, instead of exploring these characters and the logistics of raising the great army, we spend far too much time in England with the English characters. In fact, if you don't count the battles I am certain that we spend more time with the Englishmen than the Vikings which is downright ridiculous. Once again, Hirst wastes so much of our time on the boring Wessex scenes instead of giving us what we actually want to see. Not focusing on our new characters after Ragnar's death was a stupid move and it ensured that we have no emotional connection with anything that happens now. This is a big reason why I've decided that I will drop the show now. There is no reason for me to keep watching, no characters that I want to see more of, no stories that I'm excited to watch. Everything interesting about the show is dead now, and these last 5 episodes indicate that all that is left is more melodrama, more empty action, and more shallow, simplistic character arcs. The show no longer has a story that is worth telling. Best Episodes: E07 The Profit and the Loss: This episode was helped by some excellent action as Ragnar and Rollo battle for the first time this season. Ragnar's brutal defeat is really dramatic and well done, and there are several genuinely tense and powerful moments in this episode. E10 The Last Ship: Another epic action sequence, and this one is the big climax of the first half of season 4 as Ragnar and Rollo directly fight each other. It's an exciting and fun action sequence. The episode also pulls out a great surprise by having a timeskip halfway through, setting up the second half of the season in a really unique and exciting way. E14 In the Uncertain Hour Before the Morning: This episode was highlighted by the fascinating conversations between Ragnar and Ecbert. In a lot of ways, this relationship was the emotional core of the entire series, and I'm so glad that it got an entire episode to itself. E15 All His Angels: The best episode of the whole show. Ragnar's death is a hugely powerful moment, and the entire episode masterfully builds up to it. This was a superbly directed episode that gets the most out of Ragnar's final episode. Worst Episodes: E08 Portage: This episode had 3 major deaths (Kwenthrith, Yidu, Odo) and none of them had any impact. This was such a flat episode. E17 The Great Army: This episode made it abundantly clear that "Vikings" can't survive without Ragnar. The story was flat and filled with melodrama the entire time. E18 Revenge: After another dull hour of boring melodrama, the revenge on Aelle was so rushed and unsatisfying that it ruined what should have been an emotional high point of the series. This episode was a poorly executed disaster. Character of the Season: Ragnar obviously. Nobody else comes close. Conclusion: This season was divided into 3 parts that I feel very differently about. The first half of the season was decent. It started fine enough and the Ragnar/Rollo stories were consistently entertaining all the way through. The issue was that everything else was really weak, particularly all of the other events in Wessex and Paris. However, this part of the show was still decent enough and I liked it about as much as season 3. The next 5 episodes would be the pinnacle of the whole show. Showing us such rich relationships between Ragnar and the rest of the cast was riveting and it made his death into an outstanding moment that provided the single greatest episode of the show to date. After the success of these episodes, I was optimistic again. But then it all came crumbling down as the final 5 episodes had very little that was worth watching and they're somehow even worse when you look back at them after finishing the season. This could have been a good season, and it definitely had the plot beats to be the best of the series so far. But the terrible execution of the story resulted in this being the worst season yet, one that completely dissolved any interest I had in continuing to watch this show. The season's average score is a 57 which I think is about right. There was some great stuff here, but there was so much bad stuff that there was no chance of this season getting a good score. And with that, I'm done watching "Vikings". Summary: In flashbacks, Juliet grows close to Goodwin and starts an affair with him. Ben isn't pleased and indirectly gets Goodwin killed by sending him to the tailies. On the island, Daniel and Charlotte disappear into the jungle. Jack and Juliet chase them down and Juliet is ordered to kill them by Harper at Ben's command. Juliet finds them at The Tempest but learns that they are trying to render a dangerous gas inert and doesn't kill them. Locke makes a deal with Ben and learns that Widmore is the owner of the freighter and is looking for the island. Ben is freed from his imprisonment.
The Good: The scenes between Locke and Ben are as good as ever. It's always a delight to see these two match up with each other, and it looks like Locke got the batter of this exchange (unless that's just what Ben wants him to think). It's so fascinating to watch Ben because it's clear that he has a lot more power than he lets on, and is likely already planning to escape. It will be interesting to see what his plan is. The Widmore reveal is exciting and was foreshadowed really nicely in the previous episode. I have a lot of questions about what role he has to play in the story (see: The Unknown). In the flashbacks, Ben was genuinely creepy. I completely understand why somebody with Ben's history would have such a disfigured perception of romance, and his attempts to please Juliet are unsettling. The story builds to an excellent moment where Ben declares "you're mine" to Juliet, illuminating some of his sociopathic tendencies. The Bad: The overarching story being told here about Juliet is really poor and doesn't work at all. The first issue is my own expectations. Juliet was one of the others so she should be a gateway to learning some really interesting things about them. And yet we have learned absolutely nothing from her about the others since she joined the flight 815 survivors. Nobody has even asked her any questions! When you consider that, it is a critical disappointment that this episode only explores her relationship with Ben and retcons a shallow relationship with Goodwin, and that's it. There is nothing else here to learn from her past and that's very disappointing. The retcon stands out sorely because Goodwin's body is found by Jin and Mr. Eko. So Ben learned that he died, and instead of having a funeral service for him like the others did for Colleen, they just left him there? That makes no sense at all! I'm sure Harper would have been pleased with her husband's body being left in the jungle. This plot hole accentuates that this entire story was retconned in. Furthermore, I'm annoyed that the writers decided to revisit Goodwin, a character and story that did not have much left to it, instead of examining the others through Juliet's perspective. It's a very disappointing choice, and it resulted in a storyline that was very sloppily executed. The island story is no better. Daniel and Charlotte take off with murky intentions, but I never lost my trust in them. It was a poor decision to have an episode questioning Charlotte and Daniel's morality immediately after we saw Daniel go out of his way to save Desmond's life. Obviously he has good intentions, so I was never worried about what he was going to do. Additionally, this entire story is filler. It is never set up before that Daniel and Charlotte would want to render the gas at The Tempest inert, so this storyline comes right out of nowhere. The only thing this accomplishes is that it answers the question of where the gas that the others used to kill the Dharma Initiative came from. Creating an entire storyline about that is frustrating. This episode also gives into Lost's worst habit of characters withholding information for no reasons. There's no reason that Daniel and Charlotte couldn't have simply told Jack that they had to go to The Tempest to stop Ben from getting to the gas. They leave in secret purely for the sake of drama. There's also no reason for Juliet to not share with Jack that she was ordered to kill Daniel and Charlotte. Just tell him Juliet! There's absolutely no reason that she keeps it a secret, and it frustrates me to no end. I hate it when TV show's build their storylines off of simple miscommunication. Why on Earth does Juliet blindly accept Ben's orders? She has no reason to trust him! It's done in an effort to parallel Juliet's struggles in the past to her present, but since we have no reason for her to trust Ben in the present, it's hard to believe that she would make the same mistake and trust him again. Furthermore, Ben's plan is truly perplexing. Why would he order Juliet to kill Daniel and Charlotte if he could have any of the others do it instead? Plus, how did Harper manage to find Juliet in the middle of the woods? That's an extraordinary amount of luck. Kate's involvement in this episode is useless. She adds nothing to the story and her scenes are only used to fill time and create fake drama. Speaking of drama, the climax of the episode does a woeful job of it. The conflicts in this episode are really stupid, so to make up for it, the show attempted to put in some action and a countdown timer to make some tension. It did not work. And the timer was the dumbest thing I've ever seen. In what world would you have to risk death to everyone on the island to render the gas inert? That was only there to cheaply create some fake suspense. The Unknown: What are Widmore's goals? Ben says he doesn't know why Widmore is trying to come to the island but I do not believe him. Widmore has a target on Ben, so they definitely know each other. What is Widmore's history with Ben? How does he know about the island? Could he have somehow been connected to the Dharma Initiative? What are his intentions? Best Moment: The Widmore reveal was great for the plot and was a really engaging scene. Character of the Episode: Ben. Conclusion: After an extraordinary episode, "Lost' follows it up with a stinker. This was a really poor episode that failed to tell a compelling story. There were some good parts to it, but the overall episode fell into the worst trappings of "Lost" in an attempt to manufacture drama for a storyline that never should have made it through the writer's room. Score: 47 Summary: Frank, Desmond and Sayid leave the island but Desmond gets confused as his consciousness starts jumping from his past to the present. Desmond thinks he's in 1996 and is problematic when Frank lands on the boat. Desmond is taken to the doctor and finds Minkowski, who is in the same predicament. Sayid calls the island and talks to Daniel who helps Desmond by telling him to meet his past self in 1996. Desmond goes to Oxford and meets Daniel who tells him that he needs to connect with a constant in both timelines, who Desmond decides is Penny. In the past Desmond tries to find Penny so that he can get her number to call her. Sayid fixes the sabotaged comms on the boat and gets Desmond a call. Minkowski dies due to the difficulty of his consciousness jumps. Desmond calls Penny and corrects his consciousness. Desmond and Penny promise to find each other.
The Good: Formula break episodes are where "Lost" really gets to shine. This is another example of that. The idea for this episode is incredibly creative, and the show goes all-out when putting this to the screen. Following Desmond's consciousness as it goes back and forth from past to present makes for a surreal experience like no other on television. There is hardly any moment in this episode that shifts the focus away from Desmond, immersing us with his plight perfectly. The editing is really clever, and the transitions between past and present perfectly encapsulate the jarring disorientation that Desmond feels when his brain snaps between time periods. The episode also does a brilliant job of showing us little things to highlight Desmond's confusion when this happens, such as his reaction to clean up his nosebleed or his reaction to look for the numbers he had just written down on his hand. The writing is really strong, and the writers impressively manage to present this complex, confusing narrative in a way that makes sense for the viewers. This episode once again tackles the narrative cesspool that is time travel, and it does so in such a unique way. The episode slowly dishes out information about what is happening to Desmond, allowing us to easily follow along with what's going on, giving us information as Desmond finds out more information. Daniel in particular is used wonderfully here. Jeremy Davies' performance as twitchy, awkward Daniel Faraday is gripping to watch and adds extra depth and intrigue to the scenes with Daniel, furthering the mysteries of what happened to this physicist that resulted in the mentally impaired state he is in on the island (see: The Unknown). Developing this mystery alongside giving us information about what's happening to Desmond elevates these scenes from being simple exposition. Furthermore, the episode has really big stakes when we learn that Desmond's life is on the line, and Henry Ian Cusick portrays Desmond's desperation beautifully. Despite the confusing nature of time travel, the episode succeeds by giving us simplified explanations and keeping the drama rooted in its characters. The time-travel drama of this episode is certainly engaging, but what makes it special is how the emotional heart of Desmond's story is never lost. By the end of the episode it's clear that this episode was all about the relationship between Desmond and Penny, and the two of them share their best moment together on that phone call at the end of the episode (see: Best Moment). The episode wonderfully builds up to this moment, and once it happens, it is perfect. The editing of this scene is utterly spectacular and the show gets everything picture-perfect to make this one of the most emotional and beautiful scenes of the show so far. This moment works as a perfect climax for the episode, both emotionally and as a conclusion to the time travel story. This episode also serves as our introduction to the freighter. We finally get to meet the rest of the crew, and there are some curious new characters that we meet here, like Keamy and the doctor. Plus it seems like there's more going on here than what meets the eye with the sabotaged communications, and the mysterious captain who we have not met yet. These are all the reasons from a storytelling perspective that this episode is excellent. But to relegate this episode to just that would be a disservice to how incredible of an experience this was. Saying what's good about this episode is difficult because no words are able to capture how beautifully every aspect of this episode comes together as a television experience. It's a unique and amazingly engrossing experience unlike anything else you will find on television. This episode also introduced the idea of television episodes deviating from a linear story and becoming more bold and experimental in style. I firmly believe that the success of this episode gave the green light for many more incredible experimental episodes of television like "International Assassin" from "The Leftovers", "If-Then-Else" from "Person of Interest" and "The View From Halfway Down" from "BoJack Horseman". The impact that this episode had on television was huge, and even now after I've watched this episode countless times over the years, it still holds up as one of the all-time best. The Bad: I have a few nitpicks. It's hard to believe that Desmond made it all the way to Oxford without jumping back a single time. Additionally, the power source running out so quickly for Desmond has been a trope for this show. Batteries seem to have a ridiculously low life span in the world of "Lost". The Unknown: This episode raises so many fascinating questions that are huge for the show as a whole. Is the island located in a sort of different time vortex from the rest of the world? Surely there's some reason for the time discrepancy that happened with Frank's arrival on the boat happening far later than it should have. The show has done well building up this mystery this season. Did Desmond experience these side effects because of his exposure to electromagnetism when the hatch imploded? What other effects will the exposure to electromagnetism have on Desmond? We already know that he had the time travel experience back in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and he also had the visions of Charlie's death. Speaking of which, is Desmond still getting these visions? He hasn't had any this season. Was it prolonged exposure to radiation that caused Dan's current mental state? We see him taking improper precautions in the flashback, perhaps this is why his brain is fried in the present day. Also, is the island healing Daniel's brain? Who left the door open for Sayid and Desmond to escape? Was it Frank? Or perhaps somebody else? We know that Ben has a man on the freighter. Who is it? Could it be the captain? The scene with Widmore is really interesting. We see him bidding on a journal from the Black Rock. Does he know about the Black Rock and the island? Why does he want this journal? I also noticed that the journal was property of Tovard Hanso, likely an ancestor of Alvar Hanso of the Hanso Foundation we hear mentioned by the Dharma Initiative. Was the Black Rock how the Hanso Foundation learned about the island? How did this happen? These details are really fascinating to learn about and they suggest that the writers do have a good idea of how all of the mysteries connect together. Apparently Daniel has written that Desmond is now his constant. What is the significance of this? Is this something that Daniel actually forgot about? We know it's possible because of his frayed mental state. Or more interestingly, is this a case where Desmond's experience actually rewrote time? I wonder if this will prove to be significant. Best Moment: Desmond and Penny's phone call. We're so invested in this relationship by now that seeing them finally contact each other in the present day is amazingly cathartic. The performances are brilliant, and it's clear that these two are just so happy to be in each other's presence. Add on some terrific filming choices, the editing between past and present Desmond, and the beautiful music, and this sequence is genuinely moving. The promises they make to each other are heartbreaking to watch, and Desmond's resolved thank you to Sayid afterwards is a great human moment. This show always goes the extra mile to make these characters feel more real and understandable. Character of the Episode: Desmond of course. Conclusion: This was a masterful episode. Not only was it a perfect execution of a creative concept, but it also had the emotional heart of the best episodes of "Lost". And on top of that, the episode came together perfectly to create one of the greatest viewing experiences you can get from a TV show, paving the way for many more outstanding experimental TV episodes in the future. This is the best episode of "Lost" and one of the greatest episodes of television ever made. Score: 92 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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