Vikings (2013/History)

[Ophiucha]

Not technically fantasy, but given the roots of the genre, I'm curious if anyone else is watching Vikings over on History. It's about the legendary hero Ragnar Lodbrok and his wife Lagertha - both characters I adore. The usual Viking pillaging and heathenism ensues, with a bit of a Game of Thrones-inspired aesthetic and some decent characters. The story is pretty simplistic, but it's pretty good for the History channel. Plus, I'm a little in love with the monk character, Athelstan.

 

[Alexandra]

Tis good to see the History Channel broadcasting history instead of cheap, mass-produced pseudo-reality TV shows such as Pawn Stars and Swamp People (rolls eyes). I'm enjoying Vikings.

 

[Ophiucha]

It's a sad state of affairs when the History Channel has more shows about aliens than the SyFy channel.

 

[FatCat]

Couldn't help myself

 

[camradio]

I saw a preview for it and it looked interesting. Is it any good?

 

[Ophiucha]

I like it so far. The characters are really enjoyable and it has enough going for it in terms of story to keep it interesting. It hasn't been too shy about mentioning some of the darker aspects of the whole Viking pillaging thing, either. At the very least it's given me something to do this month before Game of Thrones starts up again. Definitely not perfect, but it's better than any other TV show I have seen about Vikings. (Though not as good as the manga Vinland Saga, if the period/culture interests you. That one is brutal, but damn good.)

 

[PlotHolio]

My dad swears by Swamp People and Duck Dynasty. I will check this out since Vikings are awesome.

 

[AlexanderKira]

I am quite enjoying Vikings, but I do believe it is trying to do a little bit of Game of Thrones (With the whole intrigue, backstabbing thing with the Earl). I enjoy Ragnar's brother Rollo, it does seem like they are trying to make him seem like the bad guy, with the whole rape stuff, and the hitting on his brother's wife. But it was part of Viking culture, rape and all that. I just don't get why the Earl is out to get everyone.

 

[Telcontar]

Definitely interested in checking this out at some point. I'm hoping it'll end up on Netflix. Anyone know how they're doing for historical veracity? (Or at least... legend veracity?)

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

Vikings is on my "maybe" list. Which means I'm content to wait for a couple of seasons and see if it ends up being worth going back to consume, or if I can safely ignore it. I've got way too much to do to spend a lot of time watching TV (we don't even have cable), so I really cherry-pick what I'm going to watch.

If Vikings ends up getting rave reviews later on (one of those series which starts out decent and develops into something amazing) I'll definitely check it out.

 

[Ophiucha]

In terms of legend/history, it's definitely not aiming for rigid accuracy, but it's not horned helmets levels of artistic license. It romanticizes a few elements of the history and shies away from touchier topics, though only in the 'this has to be allowed on our channel' kind of way, but it doesn't feel like it's just set in some strange pseudo!Norway like most of the old Viking action movies were. The myths of Ragnar Lodbrok as a person/character are limited enough that they aren't taking too many liberties yet, but I'll be interested to see how things go given which characters are popular and where in the timeline they decided to start the series.

 

[Ophiucha]

Resurrecting this thread because we're a few weeks away (February 27th) from the season 2 premier. A lot of great shows this upcoming season - between Game of Thrones and Hannibal, I don't know if I'll find the time to watch this until the summer, but the trailer looks promising and I did really enjoy the first season despite some iffy choices in the finale.

 

[TrustMeImRudy]

FLOKI NO!

I loved the show. As for the trailer...why is the battle shirts versus skins xD

 

[SM-Dreamer]

Wife and I are very much enjoying this series, I like most of the characters. Am thinking Ragnar is acting the idiot regarding his women, but ah well.