Vikings VII: We'll always have Paris [SPOILERS]

[jarl the climber]

They're clearly setting up Rollo/Princess vs Odo imo

I've actually sort of liked how they've handled Rollo's arc in France so far. I'd be disappointed if he throws the Princess some dick and thats enough to keep her happy. I think she is going to expect him to become a real christian, dress differently, trim the beard and drive him up the fucking wall in general.

As afar as Odo goes, I'm still laughing about his chamber of horrors. I was sort of suprised he was willing whip the noble woman, her husband might not care or know if she sleeps around, he might notice the welt marks on her ass however, that might be an issue. Clearly Odo will continue to be an antagonist.

[Corvinus85]

I expect Odo to use that room of his for some actual torture.

I also wonder about the warriors that remained with Rollo. How are they viewing this new alliance. If Rollo is smart (that is if Hirst is smart) he will make sure all of those warriors get spouses. That's how you settle people.

[jarl the climber]

I expect Odo to use that room of his for some actual torture.

I also wonder about the warriors that remained with Rollo. How are they viewing this new alliance. If Rollo is smart (that is if Hirst is smart) he will make sure all of those warriors get spouses. That's how you settle people.

Well they made Rollo a Duke and gave him lands, which will provide income and probably some chests of gold so I think he can probably keep his men happy and if he shares some of the wealth. Well off men can usually find lovers and wives so that will take care of itself in the long run.

[Ser Wun Wun]

It's amazing to me how much this show has matured over the years. After the first season, I would have never thought that this show was capable of something as fantastic as that entire Paris sequence was this season. I am more excited for the next season of this than any other show on television now. I especially can't wait to see what Rollo gets up to in Paris, I've always liked his character. Glad to see things are going well for him finally.

[Alia of the knife]

:lol:

But seriously, kuddos to miss Polanski for the delivery of that speech !

And kuddos to all the actors mastering speeches in foreign dead languages !

:)

[Alia of the knife]

I expect Odo to use that room of his for some actual torture.

I also wonder about the warriors that remained with Rollo. How are they viewing this new alliance. If Rollo is smart (that is if Hirst is smart) he will make sure all of those warriors get spouses. That's how you settle people.

In history, that's exactly what happened.

They intermarried with Christian French women and became some of the heads of Rollos Norman Houses and aristocracy.

[Wmarshal]

Loved the season as a whole

-Ragnar always bringing the charm, I never once hated his performance. Even when he was acting like Athelstan was the second coming and his was the right way.

-Aethelwulf went from being meh to a good character to me, him realizing his dad is trying to kill him and the dinner scene makes me think he ogt something cooking for Ecbert.

-Bjorn proved his abilities and truly grew as a character. From a strong hearted boy to battle hardened warrior.

-Rollo showed he dreams have grown and strives to meet them. But after a season of him working with Ragnar very well, they better not just have betray him.

-Loved Lagertha, for a mom of two and probably near late thirties, she is still the warrior woman of the show and matron of farmers.

-I get the last ep alot. People need to remember Ragnar wasn't just tricking the Franks, but all of his lords. He was never serious of joining Athelstan. Reason why? My money was to see just how much his men are against Christians(and on the petty side fuck with Floki one more time) as well as show how great a leader Bjorn is by giving him charge of the ploy without the others invloved.

- The Princess of Paris is the true ruler of Paris, I loved her character first time she showed up, with more balls then any man in the room with her.

Now the bad

-Wessx. This season the place dragged this season that could have been the best down. Ecbert traded all his brain cells for what adds up to nothing. THe out right cry that Alfred was a bastard means everyone knows it and he may as well call his the house of Northumberia. There was no reason to do this and it was so dumb. And lets look at the fact Ecbert for someone fell in love with a guy who did nothing for him or showed no reall emotional investment in him, and completely shitted on his die for him if needs him to son for no reason, let that sink in.

-Earl what is face and prince of shit were so pointless. They should have no men. Ragnar spent a whole season wiping out Horik and BOrg's men and the Earl's warrior are not even with him, but with Lagertha. Ragnar had no reason to give terms to them. If really didn't want Lagertha to rule just send Bjorn to capture it.

-I don't know Hirst's daughter, so i can't say it is her fault. But Hirst flexed to the max to give her screen time. Her character had NO reason to reappear. But she does and it is so forced. Bjorn was a prince of Danes and great warrior, he could not find anyone hotter, or less involved with prince bieber, giving him scene time too?

-Charles the dumbass went above and beyond to show he was a failed ruler. He is a king of Franks, after he pushed the Vikings back the first time he sohuld have admittedly recalled his bannermen who were away. And why did he give the Vikings a month to leave?

These four reasons point bother me to the max, but I still like the season.

[jarl the climber]

Now the bad

-Wessx. This season the place dragged this season that could have been the best down. Ecbert traded all his brain cells for what adds up to nothing. THe out right cry that Alfred was a bastard means everyone knows it and he may as well call his the house of Northumberia. There was no reason to do this and it was so dumb. And lets look at the fact Ecbert for someone fell in love with a guy who did nothing for him or showed no reall emotional investment in him, and completely shitted on his die for him if needs him to son for no reason, let that sink in.

-Earl what is face and prince of shit were so pointless. They should have no men. Ragnar spent a whole season wiping out Horik and BOrg's men and the Earl's warrior are not even with him, but with Lagertha. Ragnar had no reason to give terms to them. If really didn't want Lagertha to rule just send Bjorn to capture it.

-I don't know Hirst's daughter, so i can't say it is her fault. But Hirst flexed to the max to give her screen time. Her character had NO reason to reappear. But she does and it is so forced. Bjorn was a prince of Danes and great warrior, he could not find anyone hotter, or less involved with prince bieber, giving him scene time too?

-Charles the dumbass went above and beyond to show he was a failed ruler. He is a king of Franks, after he pushed the Vikings back the first time he sohuld have admittedly recalled his bannermen who were away. And why did he give the Vikings a month to leave?

These four reasons point bother me to the max, but I still like the season.

I agree with your first point. Unless you have some sort of delusional fixation with Athelstan you can't really comprehend what Egbert is thinking.

As far as Kalf and Horiks son, I can see why they are a problem for Ragnar. He should have killed Horiks son when he had the chance, whether he was left with any sort of wealth or lands isn't clear. Kalf on the other hand did have some support from the noble families, Lagertha wouldn't remarry. Sure she is a noted warrior and maybe some of the warriors will follow her but a civil war, with Viking against Viking is something else. Ragnar didn't want that, whether he could win or not wasn't really the question, he didn't want ot be diverted from Paris or even take the chance of a civil war. As long as he got the men and ships he didn't care who was Jarl. Also if Lagertha could settle the issue by marrying Kalf then thats what she should do. Ragnar can't fight a war because his ex wife refuses to remarry.

I'm not sure why they brought back Jarl Borgs wife. It wasn't clear to me what happened to her. Clearly whe wasn't killed but once agian it wasn't made clear whether she inherited Borgs property or seat or whether that would be inherited by his unborn child. Obviously she married Erlendur and I suppose he is defending her rights. Of course Erlendur doesn't really seem to care for her beyond her wealth so her forming an attachment with Bjorn makes sense and could be important later.

The impression I am under with Charles is that like Ragnar his title is a little bit empty in of itself. Ragnar can ask for the Jarls to sail to Paris with him but he can't really command them. They follow him because of his reputation as a warrior and because his raids are profitable and the men come home laden with spoils. He has also shown some mercy to the people who have gone against him and would rather unite the Vikings against the Christian kingdoms rather than overthrowing the Jarls and putting his favorites in charge.

Charles on the other hand seems a weakling. The Lords probably don't respect him, he is certianly not a Charlamagne. His daughter could have married but she has refused to do this. Its not clear why but its likely because her Father is weak and she feels that these suitors want to use her claim to usurp her Father. Maybe if she had married her husbands family would have supported the Emperor, it would have also created a pretext to bring troops into the city and remove him. Its one thing for the Princess to rule over the city when her Father is not there, out of necessity, but for her do that when he is actually there is really bad. The only reason Odo helped is that he is the weakest one of the Lords who hopes to remove her Father. He hoped to improve his situation by defending Paris. The rest of Charles Lords wanted the Vikings to sack Paris, kill Charles hopefully, then leave. Then they come in and pick up the peices without having degrade their armies fighting the Northmen. Its also possible that Odo would have tried to assasinate Charles if had come to the gates to inspire the troops as Odo asked him to. So Charles is weak but not stupid and he plays off this.

[dooog]

Not terrible but not a great finale either. Much like the season as a whole, it had some good and some awful

The Trojan horse coffin was a nonsense. It didn't fool anyone watching so the scenes with Lagertha, Rollo and Floki talking to Ragnar's corpse were redundant for the most part. And nobody looks inside the coffin at all?! come on.

The most bizarre part for the episode imo, even more so than Odo's creepy bachelor pad, was the offer from the Emperor to Rollo. Here were have an Emperor who considers the vikings as savages who after getting their gold break their deal by staying. Then they go one better / worse by taking advantage of french goodwill and feigning the death of their king? and not for the sake of sacking the city or kidnapping persons of interest, but just for a bit more loot. In spite of all that the Emperor immediately decides to give his daughter away and enter into a pact with savage invaders that clearly cannot be trusted.

Rollo's scene at the end made up for so much though, I actually burst out laughing :)

[PetyrPunkinhead]

I agree that this series has steadily improved over the years. Season three and the Paris raid was some of the best TV I've seen this side of GOT.

The Trojan horse coffin was a nonsense. It didn't fool anyone watching so the scenes with Lagertha, Rollo and Floki talking to Ragnar's corpse were redundant for the most part. And nobody looks inside the coffin at all?! come on.

Yeah, from an audience member's perspective I agree the "death" of Ragnar schtick was obvious but it still made for a great scene when he burst out of that coffin in the church.

However, from Ragnar's perspective, it did make sense Ragnar would keep those closest to him in the dark in hopes they would confess something to him while he was in his coffin. I also agree those coffin scenes were fairly redundant in terms of character insights but they were overall well written monologues, especially Floki's.

[Wmarshal]

I agree with your first point. Unless you have some sort of delusional fixation with Athelstan you can't really comprehend what Egbert is thinking.

As far as Kalf and Horiks son, I can see why they are a problem for Ragnar. He should have killed Horiks son when he had the chance, whether he was left with any sort of wealth or lands isn't clear. Kalf on the other hand did have some support from the noble families, Lagertha wouldn't remarry. Sure she is a noted warrior and maybe some of the warriors will follow her but a civil war, with Viking against Viking is something else. Ragnar didn't want that, whether he could win or not wasn't really the question, he didn't want ot be diverted from Paris or even take the chance of a civil war. As long as he got the men and ships he didn't care who was Jarl. Also if Lagertha could settle the issue by marrying Kalf then thats what she should do. Ragnar can't fight a war because his ex wife refuses to remarry.

I'm not sure why they brought back Jarl Borgs wife. It wasn't clear to me what happened to her. Clearly whe wasn't killed but once agian it wasn't made clear whether she inherited Borgs property or seat or whether that would be inherited by his unborn child. Obviously she married Erlendur and I suppose he is defending her rights. Of course Erlendur doesn't really seem to care for her beyond her wealth so her forming an attachment with Bjorn makes sense and could be important later.

The impression I am under with Charles is that like Ragnar his title is a little bit empty in of itself. Ragnar can ask for the Jarls to sail to Paris with him but he can't really command them. They follow him because of his reputation as a warrior and because his raids are profitable and the men come home laden with spoils. He has also shown some mercy to the people who have gone against him and would rather unite the Vikings against the Christian kingdoms rather than overthrowing the Jarls and putting his favorites in charge.

Charles on the other hand seems a weakling. The Lords probably don't respect him, he is certianly not a Charlamagne. His daughter could have married but she has refused to do this. Its not clear why but its likely because her Father is weak and she feels that these suitors want to use her claim to usurp her Father. Maybe if she had married her husbands family would have supported the Emperor, it would have also created a pretext to bring troops into the city and remove him. Its one thing for the Princess to rule over the city when her Father is not there, out of necessity, but for her do that when he is actually there is really bad. The only reason Odo helped is that he is the weakest one of the Lords who hopes to remove her Father. He hoped to improve his situation by defending Paris. The rest of Charles Lords wanted the Vikings to sack Paris, kill Charles hopefully, then leave. Then they come in and pick up the peices without having degrade their armies fighting the Northmen. Its also possible that Odo would have tried to assasinate Charles if had come to the gates to inspire the troops as Odo asked him to. So Charles is weak but not stupid and he plays off this.

Horik may have had lands, but we still got a whole season watching his men die, first the civil war, then by Ecbert, then by Ragnar's hand. Him being able to call anything reasonable host is quiet a stretch. As to Kalf, we saw no hint of the fighting force of the land that followed her went to join him when word of him taking the title, even his creepy supporter notice they would fight for her, all that remains are old men who are in fact the young strong men kin, them backing Kalf with that fact makes his rise all the more ass pully. Ragnar could have easily attacked his house as soon as he got their or offer a proper fight between him and Lagertha for the title.

As to Borg's wife, she may have got lands, though i assume Jarlship is not inherited.

Charles provide they were but men, calling them to aid in removing them post victory would have gained some support.

[The Fallen]

Hopefully not. Hopefully Ragnar will see that this is a good way for his people to have land and prosperity, and he goes back to England to teach Ecbert a lesson.

That would work. Ragnar defeats Ecbert and Aethelwulf, but eventually meets his demise. Then Bjorn, Ivar and the rest exact their revenge. Only to have Alfred defeat them. With Rollo conquering England once and for all.

[Jack Bauer 24]

That would work. Ragnar defeats Ecbert and Aethelwulf, but eventually meets his demise. Then Bjorn, Ivar and the rest exact their revenge. Only to have Alfred defeat them. With Rollo conquering England once and for all.

They would have to recast Rollo though. A time jump that would make Ivar old enough would be too massive not to recast him.

[wolverine]

They would have to recast Rollo though. A time jump that would make Ivar old enough would be too massive not to recast him.

Why? They seem perfectly capable of aging up people for lots of roles nowadays. Just dying his beard/hair gray would make him look 60+ already.

I actually really enjoyed this season. Were there things I didn't like? Of course, but I think this was as good as the other seasons and certain aspects were much better.

[Daeric]

The major problem if they are trying to keep it historically accurate to a degree, everyone in the current time would be long dead before the Normans take England.

[Florina Laufeyson]

What a season! A lot of twists and turns and it was a thumping good time.

The ploy with Ragnar was something i expected to happen. Especially when he came to Bjorn about it. Ragnar's attitude is basically "what do i have to lose?" Cuz lets be real, he really is gonna die. Not before meeting some snakes however. The confessions were really touching. Lagertha's was especially emotional because she basically said she still loves him more than just her king. Rollo's was interesting and how he has basically come to terms with everything. It marked his development as a character. He was letting go of a lot of rancor and bitterness he had. I dont think he was relieved in believing Ragnar dead. I think he was just clearing the air cuz he just didnt feel like he could say these things to Ragnar's living face. There seemed to be an almost relieved face when Rollo saw Ragnar alive.

Floki's on the other hand...This is an amazing piece of monologue. And it was particularly revealing to those who had struggled with understanding Floki this season. I knew this is what Floki would say, but its still interesting to hear him say it. Floki let his envy and bitterness about Athelstan, Christianity, and his own role known. He believed Ragnar dead and the idea of him being in a Christian heaven is just too much for him to stomach. He blurts out how he felt betrayed. His reaction to Ragnar not being dead was one of surprise and a little bit of fear. But also relief because Ragnar was not in some Christian heaven, unreachable, and with Athelstan. The final scene where Ragnar tells him "You killed Athelstan" and the cold anger and hurt in Ragnar's face was really great. Floki's solid, unflinching stare directly in Ragnar's eyes with what looked like a very slow nod and acknowledgement was just wonderful. Floki knows now, that his failure in Paris was orchestrated by Ragnar, not the gods. Their relationship is going to be very interesting from now on and it makes me all angry that i gotta wait a whole year to see how it plays out. :tantrum: GIVE ALL THE EMMYS TO TRAVIS FIMMEL AND GUSTAF SKARSGARD! btw, loved the Laguz rune on Floki's forehead. I hope that becomes a full on thing with him.

Rollo's scene with Gisla was hilarious. Shes all "this guy is such a pig blah blah" and hes like "Hi there." Oh man. I cant wait to see these two be a thing. Like, its gonna so much fun to have Rollo interact with the Franks. Odo's chamber of ancient BDSM felt really unnecessary, but yeah i feel like its there to show us that he does more than just kinks in that shit.

Things i didnt like? Yeah i didnt love the Wessex parts much when the rest of the cast wasnt involved. Ecbert is becoming a very difficult character to reconcile tbh. Like, im all for tricksy antagonists and stuff but this guy's flow is just so choppy. Its not really the actor either, as much as the writing. I do love me some Kwenthrith though. I feel like Judith is kinda lacking outside specific scenes.

Kalf and Horik's Son are dead weight and i feel like the payoff wont be that amazing in the long run. But we shall see... This was a great season imo!

[Jack Bauer 24]

Well, that was a disappointing episode. I can't believe that we have been waiting all that time just to get to this resolution. This season has been the weakest by far imo, despite some great moments and one really awesome battle. Such a shame, this show could do so much better. Let's start with the - sadly short - summation of what I thought was really great in this episode.

Bjorn looked positively kingly when he commanded the man to enter the city. Great to see that Ludwig can rise to the occassion when he isn't given shitty material like that asinine love triangle he was stuck with this season. The funeral sequence was also great. It's nice to get a look at the funeral customs of the two religions. The absence of Wessex was a godsend, the entire time I was just dreading the inevitable drop in, so I'm glad we didn't see anything of Court Melodrama.

Now the long list of what was just bad this episode. Let's start by bringing our hatchets down on all those stupid scenes in the French court. This was Hirst in full Tudor schlock mode. Just attrociously bad. L'Histoire d'Odo especially, how I cringed at that part. It's an utter waste of time, I don't care for the character and making him into a BDSM fan is just so cliched. That scene was there for a reason though. Two actually.

First of all their is Hirsts anti-christian bias. Hirst just can't abide normal, sane, competent people to object against the destruction brought on by the Vikings. He has to show that these people just deserve to be cast down. That's why every single Christian antagonist is either a whimpering fool (Charles, Kwenthrith's brother, Aelle to some extent) or has some sort of weird sexual fetish (Ecbert wants to fuck his daughter-in-law, Odo is a sadist and Kwenthrith's uncle loved raping his niece). All the while, the Vikings own attrocities are played down to a ludicrous extent (we saw nothing at all of the Vikings rampage to Paris). A far cry from season one where the Vikings were actually shown to be - you know - like actual Vikings. Don't get me wrong, I get that a little protagonist bias is a good thing and carries us a long way, but this is just taking on ridiculous proportions.

Secondly, I think it's quite clear Odo is being set-up as a villain for next season. We have a weakling for an emperor, whose only daughter will be wed to a Viking barbarian. All the while our not so galant defender (who was trying to marry the emperor's only heir) is left unchecked in the city. He'll usurp the throne next season out of spite or alternatively he'll make Charles his puppet and then he'll start fucking shit up for Rollo. Cue Rollo and Gisla bonding over their shared struggle against the fiend. Such a cliche, but it's better than the alternative of Rollo reverting back to his tired old ways of resenting Ragnar like in season one. I hope Hirst has the sense to steer clear of such a big character recession, Rollo has been very interesting this season and going back to the same old "Rollo-wants-to-screw-Ragnar-over-because-reasons" would be so boring.

The other scenes in Paris were also terrible. Just not as bad as Histoire d'Odo. Princess Polanski, so far the only semi-interesting character to surface from this dungheap of a storyline (despite the annoying accent) was completely stripped of all her agency this episode. The show introduces her as a formidable women and spends all its time in Paris building her up and then finally she's sold of to Rollo by her weakling of a father, just like that. And the only thing she can do is make an empty threats. Such a waste of that character and her chemistry with Rollo. Clive Standen's goufy hello was nice as a stand alone scene, but in the bigger picture it was just a terrible way to handle that storyline.

It would have been much better, way more interesting and more consistent if Princess Polanski had taken on a far more proactive role here. She should have been the Pope Leo I to Ragnar/Rollo's Athilla the Hun, bartering with her hand to stop the sack after the Vikings got inside. The show could even have kept the hostage situation, but instead of having Ragnar forgetting to be a Viking and releasing her, she could have cut him with a dagger to free herself (similar to the daggers she handed out in episode 8). That, together with her appearance on the ramparts during the battle could have won the respect of the Vikings and give her the necessary streetcred to negotiate with Ragnar.

The Vikings themselves were also handled abysmally. The reveal of Ragnar's ploy was even dumber than last year (I loved season two, but the whole end to the conflict between Ragnar and Horik was one of the worst parts of that season). Just like last year with the Floki reveal, we all saw Ragnar faking his death coming. However, what made this even lazzier was the execution of the plot (aside from Bjorn's hand gesture and the funeral procession). I mean seriously, 'I win'? What the actual fuck kind of dialogue is that to go with that revelation?

And those Frankish guards must have been stoned, because they were so terribly slow to react (even worse than those guards that guarded the gate during Lagertha's stealth mission). It would have been so much better if Ragnar had to carve his way out of the city, those Franks are just idiots letting their city be sacked like that. Another thing that baffled me was the fact that Ragnar just let the Princess go... Again what the fuck, she's such a valuable hostage, why give her up? Do you even Viking anymore Ragnar? I also found the way they shot the reveal and subsequent escape pretty lazy. It's hard to put my finger on it, but it was just very plain, dry and matter-of-fact-like. Just overall very uninspired.

It was also a big mistake to leave his loved ones out of his schemes. That Ragnar doesn't trust Erlendur Bieber or that stupid looking son of a cow that stole Lagertha's earldom I get. I also get that he would leave Floki out since he's still pissed at him, but Rollo and Lagertha? Why in seven hells aren't they there instead of those random guys? I get that in real history, you wouldn't risk all your leaders in such a risky ploy, but in this series it would have been so much beter to see Rollo and Lagertha kick ass alongside Ragnar. Also, just imagine Floki's raction when Ragnar jumps out of that crate while he's not in on the plan (while say Rollo and Lagerth are). Seeing Skarsgard acting that out would have been epic.

Handling it that way would also have avoided the coffin scenes. Aside from Lagertha's monologue, the lines were just bad. Heck, even with Lagertha I felt cheated out of an actual conversation between her and Ragnar (when she looked in his tent earlier in the episode, I was actually looking forward to a bit of romance there). Rollo and Floki's parts were just so lazy and on the nose. Where was the emotion, the complexity? Does Hirst really need Fimmel to tell him how to write actually good things (e.g. the Gyda scene last season which were inserted because Fimmel insisted)?

Another thing I absolutely hated about this season is the way Hirst crammed in so many storylines, while giving us actually zero resolutions on anything. Literally, there hasn't been any satisfying pay-off for the things Hirst set-up to last all through this season. Erlendur Bieber and Earl son of a cow are still here, as bland and annoying as ever. Bjorn's love triangle ended up doing nothing (except giving more screentime to Hirst's other daughter). Harbard put his Gungnir in Aslaug and proved Gods are real and then he just disappeared. Ecbert screwed the Vikings over and plans on invading Mercia, but Ragnar doesn't respond. Kwentrith has a son by Ragnar (or so she says) and doesn't do shit to get in touch with him. Rollo gets a prophecy and only in the very end does it come back (with fucking voice-over no less, god that was grating).

Ragnar gives Bjorn a speech about power, but we don't really see anything happen aside from Bjorn waving his arms in a badass way. I agree with those that feel like it would have been much better if Bjorn had come up with the plan to invade Paris. At least someone aside from Ragnar would be shown to have half a brain then. Plus it would have avoided the problems of the superobvious reveal we had now.

Of course, you might say that the Paris storyline had a pay-off, since the Vikings raided Paris. However, they aren't even remotely done with the place. It all felt like a tie-over just to get Rollo the Duke of Normandy in place and introduce some new stupid villains for them to slaughter next season.

And the ending of this season, oh Lord the end. Are we still not done with fucking Athelstan? I swear, I was neither for nor against the character at the start of the season and now I hate him with a passion (think Mel Gibson's PotC intense). I mean he's been dead for 5 or 6 episodes and he's still ruining this show. Why did they need such a cheap cliffhanger there at the end. Just kill Floki already, the fury of a patient man is boring me to tears.

My goodness you just shit on Hirst like no other!

[The Fallen]

I guess this is my wrap-up, so to speak.

I enjoyed the season, just not as much as S2. Like everyone else, the scenes in Wessex, once our Vikings were gone, just got weirder and ridiculous. As you guys have mentioned, I don't see what Ecbert's son has done to displease him. He's successfully carried out all of the tasks asked of him by his father. And again, I don't get Ecbert's fascination with Athelstan (nor Ragnar's). And now he's starting an affair with his son's wife? They've turned Ecbert from funny and eccentric to annoying.

With regards to Kalf, he could've played the exact same role minus the betrayal and it would've made more sense to me. They set it up for their to be war between Kalf and our guys and instead he was just welcomed as part of the family. If revenge wasn't happening this season they should have just saved Kalf's betrayal of Lagertha for next season.

Rollo was bad ass this season. He matured, became a voice of reason, and returned to his old ass-kicking form. The same goes for Bjorn, in terms of maturation.

And of course, Paris was great. I liked the realistic waiting-around-before-attacking as well as them being thrown back several times before succeeding.

[Crazydog7]

As stupid as parts of this show can be it is at least watchable. I really wish the history channel did more scripted TV like this instead of Ice Road Truckers or watching people work in a pawn shop.

[Veltigar]

My goodness you just shit on Hirst like no other!

Only because someone has to. Although, it wouldn't surprise me by now if it turned out that getting shit on is one of Hirsts particular fetishes. The man is responsible for the Tudors after all.

As stupid as parts of this show can be it is at least watchable. I really wish the history channel did more scripted TV like this instead of Ice Road Truckers or watching people work in a pawn shop.

Meh, it's certainly better than IRT or PS, but some of the Wessex scenes from the second half of season three were very far from what I would call watchable.

With regards to Kalf, he could've played the exact same role minus the betrayal and it would've made more sense to me. They set it up for their to be war between Kalf and our guys and instead he was just welcomed as part of the family. If revenge wasn't happening this season they should have just saved Kalf's betrayal of Lagertha for next season.

Yeah, I think that would be better to. And recast the character, because the actor portraying him now is just a terrible fit for this show.