Should I Check This Out - Vikings season 1

So straightaway as I tell you that I started this nine episode season quite a while ago and have only just finished it should say something about History Channel's Vikings. Unlike Game of Thrones or Homeland where I would wait with extreme anticipation until the next episode each week, Vikings, despite being made available in its entirety through on-demand services, didn't have me racing back to see what was going to happen next. That said there was still something that brought me back but this really is a roller coaster in terms of quality and pacing.

What has to be said though is that if you're a fan of Norse mythology and vikings, or just have an interest in that part of history, chances are you will lap this up the most but for others, things aren't quite that simple. Vikings follows Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), a vicious warrior who plans to go to England with the hopes of pillaging and finding fortune abroad, while his Earl (Gabriel Bryne) does not share his adventurous attitude for exploration. That's a pretty basic setup but from here the show follows Lothbrok as he travels abroad with his fellow vikings, his relationship with his family and his somewhat troubled relationship with his brother Rollo (Clive Standen). Action, history, drama; the perfect balance, but somehow the show never reaches its full potential with many lacklustre moments and strange directional choices that ruin the immersion to an interesting concept and to a generally unexplored genre.

What I think really hurts this series is that it's hard to route for characters who, in the second episode, attack Lindisfarne in England (a real event) and brutally kill unarmed priests, apart from one that Lothbrok chooses to spare. Immediately, this event makes all the characters unlikeable but there are signs of hope with the young priest Athelstan who could potentially pose as the audience's surrogate for the series where we might start to see these savages from a more redemptive perspective. And for some parts we do, that is until the show abandons him for most of the series and goes back to the vikings raiding villages and killing civilians. It just raises the question, why should we care? It's clear that creator Michael Hirst wanted Lothbrok to be an anti-hero of sorts, but to do that, a key villain is required. While several start to appear as the show progresses, most notably being the King of Northumbria, there is little for the audience to invest in. The vikings started the attacks and we're supposed to support them? The morals on this show regularly shift making for an uneven viewing experience.

Without spoiling anything, minor characters are killed off but we never knew who they were, and on one occasion, we are supposed to feel emotional for one character's sacrifice despite hardly knowing anything about them. However there are a couple who are used well, particularly an old man who hasn't been able to die in battle and wants to go to Valhalla. Had the minor characters been more clearly established, this would have created some sense of investment for the show. But this problem also carries on to the main characters who are severely underdeveloped with dodgy, underwritten character arcs.

That said the acting was generally good, with Fimmel easily adapting to whatever the script demanded as the story continued to change, even if there's little reason to sympathise with a man who leads expeditions that involve murdering civilians and mocking their religions. His portrayal of the legend was raw and complex, but almost to a fault as his actions later on in the show brought further distance between him and the audience. If anything, one of the most interesting characters is Rollo who, despite having the generic plot of fancying his brother's wife, actually develops, all be it rather messy with there being many times where his motives remain a paradox.

Something that bothered some fans of the period drama series Downton Abbey was the jump in time between episodes which often felt jarring and that it's only purpose was to get from A to B rather to develop the characters. Within a single episode, Vikings would jump forward by months on several instances which became annoying. On the penultimate episode, some characters appeared drastically different, while in other episodes, the jump in time skipped over the chance for the creators to make us like and actually care for them. In turn, this robs us of any payoff or sense of development that other shows do so well.

On a more positive note, Vikings generally looks great with many impressive visuals. Costumes, set design and the visual effects are generally on-par with that of Game of Thrones and Spartacus. There are also many bloody fight scenes that are satisfying to watch. One of the best moments midway through the show involves a confrontation between the vikings and Saxon soldiers as tensions start to rise before a fight breaks out. Even though I still found it hard to sympathise with vicious killers, the battle scenes between the two forces, particularly later on in the season, are great fun to watch as Lothbrok cuts his way through the enemy lines. The show is certainly at its strongest when examining what might have happened when different cultures collide.

Ultimately, I feel that the show's greatest weakness is that it tries to do too much within a single season, which takes away the focus on character development, instead feeling like the creators are just trying to push the show forward. That said, the final episode was generally solid, if somewhat too little, too late, setting up the next season by finally introducing some sense of change and development to make us wonder what will happen next.

Vikings is a mixed bag of a show that never quite settles on a particular moment. Fans of the subject matter will find a lot to enjoy here with the unromanticised depiction of the characters but outsiders may likely find it hard to engage with. While Vikings does pale in comparison to other shows, it does offer something completely different to everything else out there. Overall, the show has made me curious, and hopeful that season two will smoothen its rough edges and deliver a more engaging show as there is certainly potential in its subject matter.