Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 31, 2018 22:31:11 GMT
Well, we got episode 10 of Season 5 (‘Moments of Vision’) here last night.
**spoilers below**
There was definitely ‘choppiness’ going on throughout the episode – and I don’t just mean with swords. While I appreciate that they attempted to tell this episode in a non-linear fashion for something 'different', it did lead to moments of “What? Huh? What’s going on?” at times. I did like that we got to see what each character was doing before the battle...but some of those ‘vision’ sequences were rather bizarre.
They offed quite a few characters in this episode - the blonde brother, Not-Bjorn’s child, Not-Torvi – though none of these characters really mattered to me. And while I didn’t hate Astrid, I’m not going to particularly miss her either. Though I did think her and Lagertha’s final scene together was a good one. Lagertha certainly made short work of taking her out. I’m sure she will miss ‘sexytimes’ with Astrid (since, after Ragnar, there really hasn’t been a decent guy for her. It was a bit odd that all she needed before she said, "Now I can die." was a kiss from Bishop Heahmund).
I was so worried for Lagertha throughout the entire episode (as I have been for most of this season thus far and will likely continue to be until she meets whatever fate Hirst has in store for her), but especially when she was holding the dying Astrid, every time she’d pause in the middle of battle, and at the end of the episode.
I still don’t care about what’s going on in Flokiland. Everything he said about himself failing his new community was true, but as far as him sacrificing himself goes...I’ll believe that when I see it. This storyline has definitely felt 'detached' from the rest, and it being filled with mostly characters I don’t know/care about means it’s not particularly interesting for me.
The battle scenes were quite gruesome in parts (though I still think the previous episode has it beat in the ‘gruesome injuries/deaths’ department – unless some stuff was cut from the version of episode 10 that I saw). Ivar truly is the worst – and not in a ‘good’ way. Him telling Lagertha not to be a ‘coward’ and to come fight him - when he was far away, safe, and didn’t do one bit of fighting - just showed that *he* is the actual coward. Lagertha was right in the thick of things, fighting, while he just sat back and watched, yet he has the gall to call her a ‘coward’? Shut up, Ivar.
And it seems he can get around on those leg braces with no trouble at all (no longer even needing the crutch). So he really doesn’t warrant the name ‘Ivar the Boneless’, since he’s walking around like every other person now. And of course his plot armour is so strong that not a single arrow hits him despite the fact that he should’ve resembled a pincushion. Just watched the trailer of the next episode which you provided the link for, HirundoRustica – and all I can say is...Ivar has become completely ridiculous now. That crazy makeup? I think someone else put it best: he’s too ‘try-hard’ now. I know he’s got his fans (their love for him seems scarier than Ivar himself), but at this point...I think the Seer's line about how the mad might inherit the earth is looking more and more likely to proven true.
Speaking of the Eyeless One...I’m surprised he didn’t toss Margrethe out on her arse as soon as she turned up. I can’t imagine how anyone stands her. She always seems to have this stupid look on her face, and I’m glad that the Seer said he didn’t ‘think’ she was mad, he knew that she was. The biggest crime of this episode is that Margrethe still lives! WHY didn’t you run her through, Torvi? She should’ve been offed many episodes ago. If she manages to outlive Lagertha...that'll be just too much.
If that trailer is to be believed regarding Lagertha...I think that might be the cutting off point with this show for me. I think I’d prefer what I read somewhere else - that after what the Seer said about a son of Ragnar being the one to kill her, it winds up being Bjorn doing a mercy killing for her because she’s just become so drained like Ragnar was at the end (plus he’d rather give her a merciful death than let Ivar get a hold of her). Obviously, my main hope would be that Lagertha would just go off to live out the rest of her life somewhere else (perhaps meeting up with Þórunn so they could be awesome together)...but I doubt that’s going to happen.
I think the next episode really will determine whether I continue with this show or not. It all depends on the treatment of Lagertha. Without Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick is the star of this show as far as I’m concerned, and there’s really no one I give two figs about enough to continue with the show if she’s not around.
While it was interesting to see Rollo at the end, it would’ve been at least somewhat of a surprise had they not included his name in the opening credits.
And as for Lagertha going all Daenerys Targaryen in the hair department at the end...she certainly rocks that look (and hopefully it will silence some of those complaining about her not looking her age).
This first half of Season 5 has been rather ‘hit & miss’ for me, though still not as painful as the first half of Season 4 was (Druggie Ragnar still has yet to be beaten for ‘low point’ in the series, imho). Michael Hirst had better not screw over the character of Lagertha (or Katheryn Winnick, for that matter) in the next episode. At this point, I don’t think it would be hard to bid farewell to the show if they unceremoniously off her. Both the character and actress deserve better.
**spoilers below**
There was definitely ‘choppiness’ going on throughout the episode – and I don’t just mean with swords. While I appreciate that they attempted to tell this episode in a non-linear fashion for something 'different', it did lead to moments of “What? Huh? What’s going on?” at times. I did like that we got to see what each character was doing before the battle...but some of those ‘vision’ sequences were rather bizarre.
They offed quite a few characters in this episode - the blonde brother, Not-Bjorn’s child, Not-Torvi – though none of these characters really mattered to me. And while I didn’t hate Astrid, I’m not going to particularly miss her either. Though I did think her and Lagertha’s final scene together was a good one. Lagertha certainly made short work of taking her out. I’m sure she will miss ‘sexytimes’ with Astrid (since, after Ragnar, there really hasn’t been a decent guy for her. It was a bit odd that all she needed before she said, "Now I can die." was a kiss from Bishop Heahmund).
I was so worried for Lagertha throughout the entire episode (as I have been for most of this season thus far and will likely continue to be until she meets whatever fate Hirst has in store for her), but especially when she was holding the dying Astrid, every time she’d pause in the middle of battle, and at the end of the episode.
I still don’t care about what’s going on in Flokiland. Everything he said about himself failing his new community was true, but as far as him sacrificing himself goes...I’ll believe that when I see it. This storyline has definitely felt 'detached' from the rest, and it being filled with mostly characters I don’t know/care about means it’s not particularly interesting for me.
The battle scenes were quite gruesome in parts (though I still think the previous episode has it beat in the ‘gruesome injuries/deaths’ department – unless some stuff was cut from the version of episode 10 that I saw). Ivar truly is the worst – and not in a ‘good’ way. Him telling Lagertha not to be a ‘coward’ and to come fight him - when he was far away, safe, and didn’t do one bit of fighting - just showed that *he* is the actual coward. Lagertha was right in the thick of things, fighting, while he just sat back and watched, yet he has the gall to call her a ‘coward’? Shut up, Ivar.
And it seems he can get around on those leg braces with no trouble at all (no longer even needing the crutch). So he really doesn’t warrant the name ‘Ivar the Boneless’, since he’s walking around like every other person now. And of course his plot armour is so strong that not a single arrow hits him despite the fact that he should’ve resembled a pincushion. Just watched the trailer of the next episode which you provided the link for, HirundoRustica – and all I can say is...Ivar has become completely ridiculous now. That crazy makeup? I think someone else put it best: he’s too ‘try-hard’ now. I know he’s got his fans (their love for him seems scarier than Ivar himself), but at this point...I think the Seer's line about how the mad might inherit the earth is looking more and more likely to proven true.
Speaking of the Eyeless One...I’m surprised he didn’t toss Margrethe out on her arse as soon as she turned up. I can’t imagine how anyone stands her. She always seems to have this stupid look on her face, and I’m glad that the Seer said he didn’t ‘think’ she was mad, he knew that she was. The biggest crime of this episode is that Margrethe still lives! WHY didn’t you run her through, Torvi? She should’ve been offed many episodes ago. If she manages to outlive Lagertha...that'll be just too much.
If that trailer is to be believed regarding Lagertha...I think that might be the cutting off point with this show for me. I think I’d prefer what I read somewhere else - that after what the Seer said about a son of Ragnar being the one to kill her, it winds up being Bjorn doing a mercy killing for her because she’s just become so drained like Ragnar was at the end (plus he’d rather give her a merciful death than let Ivar get a hold of her). Obviously, my main hope would be that Lagertha would just go off to live out the rest of her life somewhere else (perhaps meeting up with Þórunn so they could be awesome together)...but I doubt that’s going to happen.
I think the next episode really will determine whether I continue with this show or not. It all depends on the treatment of Lagertha. Without Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick is the star of this show as far as I’m concerned, and there’s really no one I give two figs about enough to continue with the show if she’s not around.
While it was interesting to see Rollo at the end, it would’ve been at least somewhat of a surprise had they not included his name in the opening credits.
And as for Lagertha going all Daenerys Targaryen in the hair department at the end...she certainly rocks that look (and hopefully it will silence some of those complaining about her not looking her age).
This first half of Season 5 has been rather ‘hit & miss’ for me, though still not as painful as the first half of Season 4 was (Druggie Ragnar still has yet to be beaten for ‘low point’ in the series, imho). Michael Hirst had better not screw over the character of Lagertha (or Katheryn Winnick, for that matter) in the next episode. At this point, I don’t think it would be hard to bid farewell to the show if they unceremoniously off her. Both the character and actress deserve better.