OFFICIAL VIKING Season 5 thread Premier Date NOV 29th.

VIKINGS Season 5 TRAILER Comic Con (2017) History Series

Can't wait.

Link back to the multi-season Classic DL thread

Bishop Heahmund (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is the wrath of God.

From the trailers, it looks like we're getting bad English Actor JRM. I hate it when he goes into this mode--did he not learn anything from the Tudors?

JRM decided to go with one facial expression for all 20 episodes of Season 5.

I don't like the great Rollo with Roman Polanski's rat faced daughter.

New Season starts this Wednesday Nov 29th with a two hour episode at 8 PM Eastern time on the History Channel in the US.

There are some of last seasons episodes starting at 3 PM -- to 7 PM

at 8 PM there is a special episode entitled "The Saga of Lagertha" about of course Lagertha.

at 9 PM the new season starts with a 2 hour episode.

Needs lots of Clive Standen ass displayed prominently.

R8 have you been watching Taken on NBC? Clive is in it and therefore his role in Vikings has been reduced.

Excited but I will be recording and watching Survivor.

It's not the same without Ragnar. But I will watch it religiously!

history.com shows it the next day

Meh, started watching because of J Rhys Meyers but there's not enough of him.

Ivar is beautiful! I would be all over that lunatic, boneless legs or not. His upper body is perfect.

Well I finally got around to watching this seasons first episode, maybe it is the lost of Ragnar, no Rollo, and very little of Bjorn, but I didn't find it as interesting as other seasons.

Man the violence and blood, they seem to be doing even more of it. I want to like these people but they are all such horrible horrible people.

I will keep watching it, because I just normally love this type of historical show, but I am not loving the new people the way I loved the older cast.

If you like this type of historical show right after Viking this Wednesday Dec 6th there is a new weekly show named Knightfall, about the Templer Knights that looks good.

I love American TV, we can watch every second of extreme violence but god forbid, we see sex or a naked person.

I dont know if you get a different version in the states, but it is a Canadian and Irish production and there is sometimes nudity on ours.

R18, yes, in the US, we get the censored version. So we get all the violence but none of the nudity.

That scene with JRM's bishop with the woman kneeling in the church--I wonder if a following sex scene was cut? The jump to the next scene seemed weird.

Interesting scenario posed in this episode: who do you think Ragnar would've sided with re the Saxons? Would he want to fight, like Ivar or make peace, like Ubbe/Hvitserk?

Very violent latest episode Ivar's winning. Not liking that.

Why does it seem like JRM is acting in a completely different production? Everyone waits for him to finish his lines and then they go back to doing Vikings.

I love JRM but what the hell is he doing here? It appears like he showed up purely for the paychecks and can barely be bothered to integrate into the show. I hope it gets better....

Vikings looks like a good show. I have never seen it but it is available on amazon prime. I gotta watch.

I like JRM all bloodied and chained up.

Oh, Halfden - he didn't seem that upset that the person he was given as a bedmate was not a woman.

Ragnar would have wanted to reach an accommodation especially if he respected his enemy. But he would not have gone about it as foolishly as his two sons did.

I want Ivar to die so badly.

R27, they're filming season 6 now and Ivar is in it--so you'll have to suffer at least another season after this one. As far as I can tell, JRM's only in season 5 so get ready for Bishop Heahmund getting offed in the most spectacular way.

Man that "special" way they have of executing their enemies, like the way they killed King Aella the fat guy who killed Ragnar?Where they slice open his back and expose his lungs and busted his rib cage and spread it like angel wings and call it the "blood eagle" was just gross and brutal and barbaric. And historically accurate. I do't like Ivar either I want him dead. If they want to stay true to History, the one who lives longest in history is Bjorn Ironsides the explorer. And Ragnar's brother was a real person. He is the Ancestor of William the Conqueror who invades England and he and his Normans" conquer the Saxons. I'm enjoying the series even if the other two brothers are sort of ciphers to me.

I looked it up and there seems to be no historical record of the death of Ivar. I could be wrong, but it seems like he sort of fades into history and no one really knows what happened to him.

[quote]it seems like he sort of fades into history and no one really knows what happened to him.

Boneless people have a way of doing that.

If you do a Google search for Ivar the Boneless they list his birth in 794 and death in 873 that would mean he lives to the ripe old age of around 79.

Born: 794 AD

Died: 873 AD, England, United Kingdom

R4 I loved young JRM with his androgyny & weird kooky humour & his soft beautiful Corkonian lilt. This grimdark faux-English version with his muscles & monotone just seems like a sad bot taking his place. Is he doing AA or something?

R33, JRM said he macho-ed up because all he got was the fey pretty thing roles. No shame in trying to grow artistically but the push to be both an action guy and the faux RADA actor persona was a total mish-mash. I realize he's going to be offered a lot of English roles but the deep gravitas speaking voice is just so pretentious. Even worse, it's boring! He so focused on being Serious RADA actor, he's completely monotone. His Vikings output so far is so one-note.

Maybe I'm giving him too much credit--but I just think he can so much more interesting. At least he's an intrepid actor, I do give him credit for that. He's co-starring in a Harald Zwart movie set in Norway and he plays a Nazi and speaks German through out.

From his spectacular and sad public melt-downs, JRM's more likely doing the binge-drinking and short detox stints routine. Don't think long-term sobriety and JRM are acquaintainted.

No-one warned me that Adam Copeland (aka professional wrestling legend Edge) was going to feature in this season, so I spent his first episode totally agog. I was a big WWF/WWE fan as a kid and very into VIKINGS now, so this was a trip for me.

Copeland doesn’t have much to do but he looks & sounds the part so far as Kjetill, a defector from Kattegat & disciple of Floki.

JRM promoting said Norwegian movie on TV with Harald Zwart. JRM actually looks pretty good here--nowadays he photographs as a walking corpse but looks alright in motion. Pity, he sounds more English than Irish even when he's not on set.

R34 Jonathan had at least couple of notable roles in his youth that had nothing to do with his pretty face, so it’s utter nonsense if that’s what he really believes. And why did he want to chase the blockbuster roles, anyway? The money’s better, yes, but what’s the point if the pressure & stifling constraints of such will eat you alive? He would have done better financially & artistically by working with his unique quirks to carve out his own niche. Easier said than done I’m sure, but....

True that JRM is (or at least, has been) more intelligent & sensitive an actor than we’re seeing currently. What a pity to dull his natural mind & soul with substances.

R37, preaching to the choir here. But yeah, whatever artistic and career path he chose--all of it is moot since his addictions have fucked him up anyway.

Whatever. He's trying to keep it together. He has a wife and baby now and she seems strong and supportive. He's still on Vikings. In fact Ivar has him and wants him to fight Lagurtha. Ivar told Harald he'd be an ally, but you just know Ivar is going to kill Harald.

R39, sorry if our slightly OTP discussion about JRM seems a bit harsh. My irrational but remitting fandom of him always hopes the best for him, but it's tempered by the inevitably of another public meltdown splashed across the Daily Mail. I would love to eat crow as he goes from strength to strength.

Ivar and Heahmund had a moment in the last episode, where they were eye-fucking each other just like Ragnar and Athelstan used to do. A girl can dream, but because of their extreme differences in religious beliefs, I can't see their relationship turning into a bromance.

In one of the earlier episodes this season, Ivar has a naked women on his lap and decides to have a chat with her instead of taking advantage. Is that significant?

Then again, the last thing Ivar said to poor sweet Sigurd before hatcheting him was a dig about him being gay so perhaps not.

Is Gustaf Skarsgård still on the show? He’s the only reason I watched as many episodes as I did.

R42 - Last season it was shown that Ivar's junk doesn't work, which is why he didn't do anything with that slave girl.

That bondage scene between Björn & the Sami Princess was so gratuitous. Why was that necessary for us to see at such length? I feel for Torvi, but it’s cool to see she kept her place at Lagertha’s War Council Table even after she & Björn separated. Björn is sweet to Guthrum for not being Blood.

I like how Heahmund appealed to Ivar’s cynicism & curious nature; will he do the impossible and manage to convert The Boneless One to Xtianity?

Whenever Albert starts whimpering in prayer to his ‘Father’ I never know who he’s addressing each time between Ecbert, Aethalstan & actual God. Just me?

I feel really sorry for King Athelwulf. Eckbert treated like shit and was a terrible father even stealing his wife. His wife has an adulterous relationship with a fucking priest and bears a son by him, Albert. And Athelwulf raises the kid and treats him kindly. Now he's fighting the Vikings and getting his ass kicked. Life is hard.

I want to know what's going to happen to Astrid, now that she's pregnant after being raped by four guys. That was kind of awful. And Floki. Bless him. He's discovered Iceland? Or Greenland? I thin Iceland because it's not so far away as Greenland would've been.

In the war to come I fear we've seen the last of Lagurtha. I really like her. But if she dies I want her to die in battle not be executed by Ivar who is slime. Smart, cunning slime.

It's a good thing Bjorn knows a little bit of how Ivar thinks, because that devious bastard will out think Bjorn and win unless Bjorn gets inside his head. I miss Ragnar but I must say the series holds up well with the current cast. It's also pretty historically accurate give or take some dramatic license.

So these Vikings essentially Danes, or Norwegians? will eventually be the Saxons? And Rollo's people will be the Normans. He is a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror who invaded in 1066. And Alfred becomes Alfred the Great. One of the first British Kings who actually had a united kingdom. I love history and I love it when something like Vikings is well done.

Its a little contrived how Bishop Heahmund is getting passed around from the Saxons to the Vikings - now it's Lagetha's turn with him. I love this show but hate that they have to find ways to cram in some sexytimes for the foreign audiences. Just like they threw in that bizarre scene where Lagetha "raped" Harald Finehair. I bet big money that Heahmund and Lagetha hook up soon, just because.

R47, you may have discovered something there. I'd never considered Laegurtha hooking up with the Bishop. I had her pegged as hot for Astrid. I still think when push comes to shove Astrid will be with her. She's already forewarned her abut Ivar/Harald's invasion.

I don't usually watch the preview but I think I saw a shot of Lagetha leaning forward to kiss Heahmund. Let's hope I saw it wrong.

Hirst and Winnick have all but said Heahmund and Lagertha will become romantically entwined.

R47, you are correct--Heahmund is more a plot device than a real character. And as a JRM fan, it's disappointing. But I have always pegged Hirst a fucking hack. I could only abide 2 seasons of The Tudors before bailing. Even my love for JRM couldn't get me to finish that series.

There's nothing in Vikings for JRM and he's playing down to the quality. And he's back to doing his stupid Batman voice. Why does Ivar take Heahmund prisoner? Because the producers didn't hire JRM for 20 episodes so he can hang out with the Saxons while the action is taking place with the Vikings. Why does the great warrior get captured...again in battle...because the producers want JRM to be in a love/lust story with the series' biggest female star. Yadda, yadda. There's no there there.

This episode was disappointing and is making me miss the good old days of the show when Ragnar was around and the writing was on a higher level. One thing I'm not loving is that the showrunner is dead set on making Lagetha/Heahmund a thing and did it in the most unbelievable way - he just pledges himself to this woman who he considers a heathen and she accepts the overtures from this (sort of) prisoner. He is not compelling, like Athelstan was, so whatever makes him attractive to Ivar and Lagetha is lost on me.

I liked Athelwulf, so him dying from a bee sting seems like a bad joke. Rollo sending troops to assist in his nephews civil war - who saw that coming?

r17, so true. US television is fucked up. The Walking Dead will show a little boy get eaten alive by zombies and a beloved character have his head bashed in and his eyeball pop out, but they are oh-so-careful not to show even a bare butt crack.

MAybe Laegurtha likes the BIshop because he reminds her of Athelstan and the good times. WTF ever. I'm just glad Bjoorn isn't dead. he's my guy/. Oh, and who's the girl who is going crazy bad mouthing Laegurtha and scaring the kids? She wants her hubby to kill Bjorn and Lagurtha and take over?

Young Alfred looks kinda girly (nttawwt). And poor crazy Flokster. Everything is going tits up for him

Crazy-eyes Floki may be the last one standing, right?

I'm with the camp rooting for JRM to keep it up and keep working. His work on the whole run of The Tudors (Showtime, well worth watching) was very good, and he is a better actor than he gets credit for being.

I miss Ragnar, too, but the struggle among his sons and former wife is interesting enough to keep me.

R55, but JRM is completely shit in Vikings. Episode 9 with all the forced showmance with Lagertha was abysmal. I was embarrassed for JRM and sorry he had to say those lousy lines. I blame Hirst's lackluster writing primarily but JRM's a pro and he hasn't risen above the shit show. I thought he was good at being redneck bad in Roots, but he's completely lost at sea in Vikings.

I am intrigued and slightly disappointing by the lack of actual sex scenes with JRM. The bishop was advertised as a randypants but 9 episodes in and we haven't seen a single thing. Even a kiss? The couple of scenes where the Bishop is about sin--the scene cuts and everything left to the imagination. I wonder if JRM is done with stripping off onscreen? Remember the days when he would drop his pants willy nilly?

I'm kind of oddly attracted to sickly, nerdy, yet handsome Alfred. Where have I seen him before?

I was rolling at the final scene of that last episode when sounds of the walls of Floki’s warring disciples linger over images of Alfred’s coronation, and Alfred is looking around in confusion at the English serfs like, “uh, do you guys hear screaming?”.

The kid playing Alfred looks far too facially modern for the period imo, like a Dalmatian hipster or a member of One Direction. The lad playing Aethelred looks like a knockoff Jeremy Renner. The woman playing tbeir mother is pretty but she can’t act.

[quote]Remember the days when he would drop his pants willy nilly?

I never found his willy to be particularly nilly.

i will watch with JRM in it...luv him

but the other guy, ex model/tarzan, etc, does nothing foor me: creepy phobe that he is.

Don't know how many of you caught this but the upcoming episode on Jan 24 will be the last episode for a while. Vikings is weird in that they split their season with a pause in the middle of the season. So the episode this Wed will be the mid season finale. I don't have a date for the series to start again, normally it is a couple of months.

^^^ nothing weird at all. Other cable shows do/did it. major crimes, suits, shadowcunters

Wow. HUGE battle with poetic death scenes galore.

And a surprise entrance in the last shot!

I get pissed when there's an obvious departure from history. I expect this to not be exactly accurate. Right?It's a version of events. A fictionalized version mixing real characters with prototypes. But historically, they've been pretty true to the history of the British storyline with Eckbert and Athelwulf, etc. Of course I have no idea whether Athelwulf 's wife had an affair with Eckbert or the fictional composite Athelstan. But in history, Alfred did not become king over his half brother. Athelred was king first, died in battle and then Alfred was crowned. The actress who plays Alfred's mother has the "crazy eyes."

I think the thing with Floki will turn out alright. The guy who was fighting him and undermining him may come around to be his ally. Or not.

As for the "surprise" at the end of the mid season finale, I'm going to have to go back and check, because they're really stretching things. One thing is certain. I do not want Ivar to win out. I'm Team Bjorn all the way. I did enjoy the Crazy Mad blonde who was babysitting the kids. She's as mad as they come. I don't want Ivar to have the satisfaction of killing Laegurtha. I want her to retire and let Bjorn handle things. I do have to wonder if this whole series ends with some big battle with Alfred. They could just keep going, because there is so much story to tell with Bjorn, and Alfred and a couple other storylines and I love that they included the colonization of Iceland. Surprised that didn't happen earlier in time.

This last episode was very well done. The scene with Harald and his brother singing to one another, and the scene with Astrid & Laegurtha were exceptional. The Series has really been a revelation in terms of how well done it is. Since I'm a Game of Thrones fanatic, Vikings has helped me get through the "dry spells" so I hope it's around for a few more seasons.

Last night's episode was certainly better than #9, I liked the non-linear approach to the epic battle.

I still can't get over how bad JRM is in the series though. Is he beyond direction? How can the directors watch dailies and allow JRM to have his head so far up his ass. JRM in Vikings seems to be an actor who believes all the yes-people in his life who tell him what an AWESOME ACTOR he is. I love JRM, I think he can be good but he really needs a firm director to rein in his worst excesses.

Oh, stop. He doesn't have that big a role, and he's doing fine with it. Whatever.

'Vikings' Season 5, Episode 10 Review: A Bad Midseason Finale To A Bad Season

I have liked this season pretty much until this mid-season finale, this episode I hated much like the above review. Maybe because so many people I would have liked to die in the battle lived and people I would have liked to live died.

I completely don't get why Rollo would send troops to help nephews he hardly knew to fight against Bjorn and Lagertha.

I absolutely love this show, but sure not the mid-season finale.

An interview with Vikings creator and writer Michael Hirst, he has written all the seasons of Vikings. He gives some explanations to the final episode and some looks into the coming season.

Well I liked the way the episode was structured and I thought it was very well done. I'm not an Ivar fan. Team Bjorn all the way, and no one better mess with Laegurtha. I do not want Ivar to kill her. Because you know he'd do it brutally, execution style. He's insane.