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Over the last few years, cable television has seen a resurgence of historically-inspired dramas. They run a gamut of styles, from Encore’s Spartacus to HBO’s labyrinthine fantasy, Game of Thrones. Recently, the History Channel took a break from documentaries and pseudo-scientific alien conspiracy theories to carve out their own niche in the genre of dirty people chopping each other to bits with swords and axes. Going north for inspiration, Vikings retells the adventures of legendary Norse chieftan Ragnar Lothbrok. While the historical accuracy of the series may be questionable, it’s fertile territory for a great hack-and-slash adventure.
The story picks up with Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) as a farmer living with his wife, the shieldmaiden Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), under the rule of Earl Haraldson (Gabriel Byrne). After the Earl decrees that his warriors will raid the Baltic states to the east, Ragnar puts together a crew of his own and sails west toward the unknown, winding up in what would one day become Great Britain.
Show creator and screenwriter Michael Hirst already has a solid pedigree working with this kind of material, having helmed The Tudors and produced The Borgias for Showtime, as well as writing the features Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. The attention to detail that made those projects work carries over here. From the gorgeous location shoots in Ireland to the handmade clothes and materials, it’s easy to get lost in Hirst’s vision of a time and place that remains shrouded in history. Scholars may rightfully nitpick over details, but there’s no denying that this is compelling material for dramatization.
It helps that Hirst is working with a surprisingly good cast. Fimmel has an icy charisma that perfectly suits the ambitious and quietly fierce Ragnar, while Winnick literally matches him punch-for-punch as his warrior wife. There are a number of excellent supporting characters as well, especially the twitchy ship-builder Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård) and captive British monk Athelstan (George Blagden).
Of course, when it comes to a show about rampaging Vikings, the battle sequences are going to be vital to the project’s success. The stunt team does some fine work, but some viewers may be disappointed by how few and far between these moments come. There’s also an issue with pacing, as a major antagonist bows out early and drains some of the tension from the back half of the season. Despite these occasional missteps, though, there’s enough forward momentum to keep most of the audience going.
Vikings doesn’t swing for the epic fences the way Game of Thrones does or indulge in soap opera hanky-panky the way The Tudors did, but it occupies an enjoyable middle ground of historical detail and bloody adventure. For a group that’s largely been portrayed as savage thugs, there’s a depth of character and culture here that’s well worth a visit.
Blu-ray Review:
The first season of Vikings arrives in an excellent three-disc package with extended versions of each episode, commentaries for the first and last episode of the season, and a number of special features worth watching. There are deleted scenes, three making-of featurettes that total out at a little over an hour, and a pair of interactive guides to the locations and weaponry seen in the series. For a series that relies on historical detail, even when they’re playing a bit fast and loose with it, these are welcome additions.
