I actually watched this series twice. First time when it was coming out and the second time binge watched just now which gave me a new perspective.
First seasons are amazing! I'm not going into whole historical accuracy, which is obviously not. The casting is great for all major characters up to season 5. The story is compelling and at the beginning you can't get enough. Loved how the setting improved from season to season from a small village to a large town. The final season seriously drops the ball so it was difficult for me to finish it, but it's a matter of persistence.
The whole Rus storyline is stupid to say the least. Rus never attack Scandinavia in a global scale back than. The main villain is ridiculous as well as his death. Rus soldiers look like a Mongolian horde and they obviously never had female regiments dressed like assassins from Assassins Creed video games.
The year was 2020 and "girl power in movies" was on the rise, so they greatly exaggerated in that matter, so what was organic and worked in the earlier seasons, became annoying and unbearable towards the end with ridiculous characters and plotlines as the true "progressive" message of modern times.
The end of many beloved characters felt forced aside from Bjorn and Lagertha. The whole idea of "we have it too good here, so let's raid for the sake of it" didn't really work back than. It was about plundering and conquest. Ivar and Harald final raid was not presented as such.
During the series they really forgot to age characters properly. For example Ragnar was in his 50's when he died, yet according to wiki, Lagertha died in the age of 50+ many years later. Torvi looks almost the same throughout the series, though she's suppose to around 60, after 4 husbands and 4 kids. They really forgot about her. Many more examples like that.
In any case the series is great up to the end of season 4 (and to some degree season 5), so it's highly advised to check it out.
First seasons are amazing! I'm not going into whole historical accuracy, which is obviously not. The casting is great for all major characters up to season 5. The story is compelling and at the beginning you can't get enough. Loved how the setting improved from season to season from a small village to a large town. The final season seriously drops the ball so it was difficult for me to finish it, but it's a matter of persistence.
The whole Rus storyline is stupid to say the least. Rus never attack Scandinavia in a global scale back than. The main villain is ridiculous as well as his death. Rus soldiers look like a Mongolian horde and they obviously never had female regiments dressed like assassins from Assassins Creed video games.
The year was 2020 and "girl power in movies" was on the rise, so they greatly exaggerated in that matter, so what was organic and worked in the earlier seasons, became annoying and unbearable towards the end with ridiculous characters and plotlines as the true "progressive" message of modern times.
The end of many beloved characters felt forced aside from Bjorn and Lagertha. The whole idea of "we have it too good here, so let's raid for the sake of it" didn't really work back than. It was about plundering and conquest. Ivar and Harald final raid was not presented as such.
During the series they really forgot to age characters properly. For example Ragnar was in his 50's when he died, yet according to wiki, Lagertha died in the age of 50+ many years later. Torvi looks almost the same throughout the series, though she's suppose to around 60, after 4 husbands and 4 kids. They really forgot about her. Many more examples like that.
In any case the series is great up to the end of season 4 (and to some degree season 5), so it's highly advised to check it out.