Vikings IX: The Bear Necessities [SPOILERS]

[Zorral]

ROAAARRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[Floke]

Bjorn's Bearly Bearable Bear Fight?
Otherwise I'm going with Adventures of the Gummy Bears. Crap, I still have VHS of that show.

EDIT: Me, the Bear, and the Ber-serker.
Still Can't Grow a Beard, Though.

[dbunting]

Unbearable likeness of Bjorn

[red snow]

44 minutes ago, Floke said:

Bjorn's Bearly Bearable Bear Fight?
 

Love it 5 words, 4 bear words and one sentence

[Astromech]

There were several posts in the last thread about the passage of time. Now the wikia pages for shows may not be the most reliable sources of information, but on Bjorn's page it lists his age in each season. http://vikings.wikia.com/wiki/Bjorn I never realized that apparently three years passed between the beginning and end of season 1. It makes sense in hindsight. The passage of time in between each season seems to be about right. Again, this is wikia info, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Buckwheat]

"Bears, Beards, and Betrayals"

Seems to sum up the show nicely, and who does not like alliterations?

[Veltigar]

I'll edit all those suggestion in the OP. Although, I have to say I'm dissapointed by the lack of support for 'Bjorn Bears Ass' from you guys  Not what I was expecting at all  

[Arkash]

Haha, those titles are awesome ! 

I was thinking of "The Athelstan Confusion" or "Rollost in Translation" but yours better ! ^^

Looking forward to next episode ! Not as much as Black Sails, but almost as much !

Btw, I think I'm in the minority really invested in Judith's character arc... I really wonder where she'll go from here, but I really liked the idea of her freedom being in art. And as soon as Ecberth is on my screen, I know I'm in for a treat !

Looking forward to Rollo finally being able to communicate with the Parisians... that will render the stroyline over there more interesting when he does !

[red snow]

On 08/03/2016 at 11:12 PM, Buckwheat said:

"Bears, Beards, and Beartrayals"

Seems to sum up the show nicely, and who does not like alliterations?

Slight edit there

3 hours ago, Arkash said:

Haha, those titles are awesome ! 

I was thinking of "The Athelstan Confusion" or "Rollost in Translation" but yours better ! ^^

 

Rollost in Translation is a great alternative to bear related ones.

3 hours ago, Arkash said:

Looking forward to Rollo finally being able to communicate with the Parisians... that will render the stroyline over there more interesting when he does !

Hopefully we can get some useful plot regarding what the hell Rollo is thinking once he can talk to them. Maybe less of the romcom too with him giving the princess a piece of his mind.

[dooog]

Decided to "cash in" and watch the 3 episodes of S4. Have to say i'm not too impressed so far, it's already evident that 20 episodes will be a noticeable stretch.

This feminism angle needs to end, just no. In fact, unless they're getting whooped by our Viking friends, these Saxons need to remove themselves from my screen altogether.  Also, would Athelstan please fuck off and stay dead - I actually cheered when Floki offed him last season, hopefully he stays gone for good now. For the most part, the Paris scenes are also dragging and the slapstick Rollo lols are already getting old.

The whole thing seems as if they've spread their core cast too thin. For instance when I see a scene beginning with Odo or with the saxon standing army playing war in the courtyard I audibly sigh, and that's pretty much makes up 50% of an episode.

I'll probably go back to it when the first 10 episodes have aired but i'm just not excited enough to tune in weekly anymore.

 

[Jack Bauer 24]

1 hour ago, dooog said:

Decided to "cash in" and watch the 3 episodes of S4. Have to say i'm not too impressed so far, it's already evident that 20 episodes will be a noticeable stretch.

This feminism angle needs to end, just no. In fact, unless they're getting whooped by our Viking friends, these Saxons need to remove themselves from my screen altogether.  Also, would Athelstan please fuck off and stay dead - I actually cheered when Floki offed him last season, hopefully he stays gone for good now. For the most part, the Paris scenes are also dragging and the slapstick Rollo lols are already getting old.

The whole thing seems as if they've spread their core cast too thin. For instance when I see a scene beginning with Odo or with the saxon standing army playing war in the courtyard I audibly sigh, and that's pretty much makes up 50% of an episode.

I'll probably go back to it when the first 10 episodes have aired but i'm just not excited enough to tune in weekly anymore.

 

Hirst is a hack plain and simple. The entire Rollo arc is face palm worthy. He's just comic relief now.

[Mladen]

The most important, title is incredible. Kudos to Veltigar and other contributors.

I just realized (I know I am slow, please bear with me) that Athelstan is Alfred's father (I mean "The Last Kingdom" Alfred). The fellow inherited his father's faith and love for hunky model-looking Vikings.

Bear v Ragnar's heir  It was a nice match. But we honestly need to discuss these latest attacks on bears. Hollywood's cruelty needs to end. 

[HexMachina]

3 minutes ago, Risto said:

The most important, title is incredible. Kudos to Veltigar and other contributors.

I just realized (I know I am slow, please bear with me) that Athelstan is Alfred's father (I mean "The Last Kingdom" Alfred). The fellow inherited his father's faith and love for hunky model-looking Vikings.

Bear v Ragnar's heir  It was a nice match. But we honestly need to discuss these latest attacks on bears. Hollywood's cruelty needs to end. 

*shudder* it's better for all our sakes if we just try to forget that little* slip up by Hirst.

 

*and by little I mean monumental cockup

[Alia of the knife]

I felt like they passed around the eight ball and I was left out. I'm going to need to watch this episode SEVERAL times before I know what just happened.

[Astromech]

The best episode so far this season. There were a lot of things I liked, mainly the story arcs being advanced a bit with some new intrigue.

While the fight between the berserker and Bjorn wasn't as good as I hoped (mainly for not being straightforward enough), I loved everything else about Bjorn's return: Lagertha's reaction, him calling out Erlandur and taking Torvi, Ragnar's "welcome" home, his evil eye for the new upstart king. Bjorn should be an entertaining character the rest of the season and seasons to come.

Rollo and Gisla, finally. "Happy Xmas".  All it took was a week to become fluent in her language. Good to see the Paris storyline move on slightly. I'll take it over the past few weeks of nothing.

Ragnar's trip. So Ido happened to have an ancient Chinese medicinal herb with her? I shouldn't think about it too hard.

Floki as tutor to Ivar. Yes! I'm expecting big things from you, Ivar. I got the impression Floki may succeed the Seer.

The Wessex storyline actually wasn't terrible this week. It helped adding back in King Aelle and Northumbria. The whole misogynist v. feminist camps is a bit lazy, but it beats watching Judith play Bob Ross again.

The contrast between Xmas and pagan yuletide. And having it shown without Athelstan being in the center of it. I love it when they add in scenes like this. I want more of it. It almost reminded of the episode with Leif's sacrifice.

The new upstart king/Aslaug's former suitor arriving in Kattegatt to throw in some new intrigue. Excellent.

 

 

[Jack Bauer 24]

Weird episode all around. So Rollo is fluent French now lol? Gisla has a huge character transformation because...sex? King Harald wants to usurp Ragar because...chicks? His arrival at the end was jarring. Yidu has all the ingredients for an ancient Chinese medical herb at her disposal?

[GrimTuesday]

Ok, first off, Chinese? Fucking Chinese? People are aware that there are other Asiatic people other than the Chinese, right? There are a wealth of Asiatic peoples to pick from, and they pick Chinese? Why is it that anytime a show or movie or book wants to introduce an "exotic" character, they are always fucking Chinese. Can we get a Mongel? How about one of the Turkic people of central Eurasia? No, we have to pick the furthest east group because fucking reasons. Seriously, fuck off with that shit. Fucking hell, why did she have to be fucking Chinese?

Now that I'm done voicing my extreme displeasure at that, it was an ok episode, nice to see king Aella acting like a character who actually belongs in that time period (seriously, I'm sure infidelity was a thing, but it was still highly taboo, but then again, we already burned that fucking bridge when Ecbert started the women's liberation movement 1000 early).

Beyond that, I liked the ending, even though it didn't make a ton of sense other than to provide even more tension between Ragnar and Aslung. Harald Fairhair was real, and would have been a contemporary to a theoretical historical Ragnar, but it doesn't change my opinion of it being dumb.

Paris can get fucked, it might be the worst plot the show has come up with (The historical Duke Rollo was a fucking mercenary, he likely didn't give two shits about the Franks except for them paying him and legitimizing his title and holdings). It's all just awful.

Highlight of this episode was Ragnar tripping balls.

All that bitching aside, I'm actually enjoying this season well enough.

[Ser Desmond Wine's Bane]

Hodge-podge of an episode.

Paris was meh.

Wessex was a mess. Only thing that made sense was Aelle's reaction to the inexplicable blatant actions of the others.

Berserker fight had a satisfying end but the fight itself was a mess.

Chinese woman attacked by pirates, that wouldn't 'dare', then sailed for 'weeks' before being sold to the Franks etc - just nonsense.of a magnitude that made it impossible for me to suspend disbelief.

I am glad they have made the introduction to Harald Tanglehair. The show had gone too far down the 'it was all about Ragnar' route and its good to have more historical rivals appear. The optics of how the introduction has been made appears a bit ham-fisted at first blush but I will withhold judgement for a while.

So much of this ep really felt like padding to justify the 20 ep expansion. 

[Corvinus85]

I'm not convinced Yidu is Chinese. Maybe I'm wrong, but that doesn't seem like a Chinese name to me. She just happens to know of Chinese drugs. Really, to me, the most ridiculous part, imo, was the was able to produce a Chinese drug with plants that grow in Scandinavia (or maybe the plants were imported just like her )

But that was the best part of another somewhat messy episode, where some plots advanced a little, others not at all. Also another good part of the episode was Aslaug bringing Ivarr to Floki. 

I'm glad that the Rollo-Gisla relationship did a 180, but something more still needs to happen there. Same with Wessex. I agree with others that Aella was the only realistic character there. 

Disappointed that Bjorn didn't show Erlendur his father's ring and then split his skull in two. At least Erlendur's face when Bjorn walked in was satisfying. And did I hear right, is Erlendur's son named Guthrum?

Bjorn's fight with the berserker seemed disappointing at first, until I remembered that Alexander Ludwig is also a big guy, and the berserker was only imposing against that little bitch Erlendur.

[Veltigar]

I don't know what it is with this season. Like, the writing overall is damn bad (even atrocious at times) and yet the whole season so far has been so atmospheric that I'm still into it. Heck, with the exception of the outright fail of Rollo killing his own men, I don't think I have been really pissed so far. I have to roll my eyes like every other minute, but I still enjoy watching it. Although, I frequently can't stop myself from thinking that this show could be like a gazillion times better with some relatively minor(ish) tweeks. 

First let me start with what I really liked. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but man, Travis Fimmel as Ragnar just keeps getting better. In fact this might be the best that he's ever been. Pretty much everything about this show is on point when he's on screen (the exception being that Chinese herbal medicine shit). He's a great actor and I seriously hope that his career will be succesful outside of Vikings (so here's hoping that Warcraft doesn't suck as bad as I think it's probably going to).

He also brings out the best in the other actors. Both the actress playing Aslaug and this new Chinese character were great. I really liked how yidu and he didn't immediately pork. I love how he's attracted to her alienness and how she's her own woman regardless of the shit that happened to her. The writing was also on point, Ragnar is so fucking hilariously funny. I love it.

I feel like Ragnar is also the only character for whom the extra screentime is warranted. I adored the Yule festivities. This show can be really memorable when it leans into that otherness and with Ragnar at the center, everything just clicks together. I hope they'll explore Viking culture even more, because that really is this show's greatest strength (next to Fimmel). 

Everything regarding Floki was awesome as well. I wonder what his convo with the seer was all about. I thought he was being singled out as the next seer, but I couldn't see that really, unless he doesn't need to be maimed severely, otherwise they wouldn't do that to one of their major characters I think. But we'll see.

Aslaug handing over Ivarr to Floki felt appropriate to the character. I do think Aslaug's hatred of christianity could be a little more developed, but the character has never been the focal point, so I get why the show uses shorthand and it works here. My heart broke a little for young Ivarr. He looks so innocent, but with Floki involved I have no problem in connecting him with the Ivarr from The Last Kingdom (the novels that is, he doesn't play a big role there, but Cromwell effectively conveys the dread people feel for Ivarr). 

I also wasn't that bothered with Wessex this week. Sure, Judith the proto-feminist is perhaps a bit weak, but I think it's more Ecbert whom I can't really stand anymore. Kwentrith was great and her developing relation with Aethelwulf is surprisingly sweet. The MVP of that storyline is Aelle though. I'm glad he's back and I still don't understand why the show decided to banish him to the background for so long (Probable answer, to give that fuckwit Athelstan a storyline). He's a very good straight man. As a foil, he made Judith's 'everywhere I'm encumbered' speech work and that's not an easy thing to do. I hope he stays with us for a while and that we can use some of that extra screentime to build him up a little.

Finally, I like to applaud the twist of bringing Harold Fairhair in the story. His appearance feels very promising. Especially since he seems to have history with Aslaug. The whole of Aslaug's arc for this season seems to revolve around her wanting to rule in for herself, but I couldn't see a way for the show to make her threat credible.

This Harold Fairhair though, if he indeed has history with her, can be what makes that threat credible. I also liked everything about the set-up they have done for that plotline this episode. The actor playing the new King looks great and he feels credible as a challenger. The actress playing Aslaug was on point, but the best thing was probably the visual storytelling.

The way Bjorn and Ragnar were on the outside, looking in at Harald (on Ragnar's throne) entertaining himself with Aslaug and the children told you everything you needed to know quite frankly. Viking has been really good with those kind of visual cues lately and I love it. 

Now let's take a look at the bad. Paris is awful. So Rollo learned French since last episode? How? it feels like we skipped three episodes. Not that I really mind that, because Paris has easily been the weakest element of this season, but this just showed why it's so awful. The writing is just horseshit.

He learns French and all of a sudden Princess Polanski can't wait to bone him? What the fuck? And what the hell was that softcore porn montage? Like, this is Vikings, not a run-of-the-mill romcom. Everything about this plotline is bad. I seriously hope that Rollo dies, but I sadly can't see that happening.

Another plotline that was a disappointment was Bjorn's development. It wasn't as bad as Paris, but I just expected more from this. Like, this is the second episode in a row where a big event involving his character is hyped and that subsequently turns out to be quite bad.

The fight choreography was mediocre. It didn't feel very threatening. The whole decision to have the berserker dude disappear and play hide and seek was just wrong. I get that that had to with the tone they were building, they wanted it to feel elegiac or dreamlike I think, but it just undercut the threat of the man.

I think they should have amped up the brutality quite frankly. They should have shot the fight in a way that emphasized the size of the mad bugger (that's harder to do since Ludwig is so big himself, but it should be  possible). The resolution was also quite lame. The fishhooks to the face was good, but this was a damn berserker he should have fought through it. I was waiting for the guy to just snatch that knife from his shoulder and keep on fighting. 

After that it got worse sadly. Bjorn going to Heddeby without calling someone out was a bad move. But it became a titanic fuck up when Hirst decided to use that underwhelming story beat to drag his daughter back into frame. It's this kind of nepotism that ruins everything in our society, from politicis to entertainment. I'm not a big fan of his other daughter, who plays Helga, in general I think other actresses could do more with her, but at least she's a thousand times better than this girl playing Torvi. I hope that she gets murdered soon, because I don't want Bjorn to drag dead weight around with him. To add insult to injury, there didn't seem to be a plan in place. Like, if Bjorn had gone to Heddeby and had called Torvi out as a way to ingeneer a fight between him and Erlandur I would have dug it, but this was just ridiculous. Ludwig has no chemistry with this deadeyed actress and her character doesn't have the slightest spark of life inside her. 

 

14 hours ago, Astromech said:

 

The new upstart king/Aslaug's former suitor arriving in Kattegatt to throw in some new intrigue. Excellent.

 

 

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who spotted that  Over at the AVclub no one seems to be supportive of that thesis. 

13 hours ago, GrimTuesday said:

Paris can get fucked, it might be the worst plot the show has come up with (The historical Duke Rollo was a fucking mercenary, he likely didn't give two shits about the Franks except for them paying him and legitimizing his title and holdings). It's all just awful.

Highlight of this episode was Ragnar tripping balls.

I agree on both accounts. Although I think that Wessex last season was even worse  

14 hours ago, Jack Bauer 24 said:

Weird episode all around. So Rollo is fluent French now lol? Gisla has a huge character transformation because...sex? 

Rollo has a magic pecker obviously. You wonder why he keeps fighting and backstabbing everyone, he just needs to fuck people literally and they'll eat out of his hand.