US: Vikings - anyone else watching this ?

Hmm the last episode was a bad end to a very inconsistent first half of the season...
  1. Ivar is still damn annoying and his beserker younger brother unconvincing.
  2. The Floki storyline was already weak to start with and is now just plain ridiculous.
  3. Rhys Jones is overacting the Christian Priest part to the point where I want to slap him, his manner of speech is ridiculous.
  4. Jennie Jacques is this entire season overacting the part of Judith to the point of teary-eyed, shaky tedium.
  5. WTF is Rollo doing sending troops against Bjorn and Lagatha? I honestly thought that the French troops would turn around and start butchering Ivar's as part of some sneaky plan. This may have a historical angle but I didn't read up on it and I don't see how it is in his interests unless he wants to destroy the Vikings as a power for good.
  6. The directing and production of the finale just felt really off and disjointed, it didn't have the effect the director was intending with all of the flashbacks imo.
Anyway, I still like the show, it has moments of greatness and the battles are for the most part impressive and I am looking forward to the next part of the season and hoping that they fix this writing and get the show back on track.

Jonny2284 said:
I don't think I can take much more of this. Headmund, Ubbe and Bjorn can be interesting in small doses but nobody has enough to carry the show without Ragnar.
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Completely disagree, think the cast has more than enough clout to do it, the problem is the feel of the series has changed and the storyline/direction has gone belly up which has affected the previously solid atmosphere. I think Bjorn is awesome and has developed into a great and very strong character.

EDIT - Seems that critics also think the same... https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikka...ew-a-bad-ending-to-a-bad-season/#44241d9260e0

Forbes said:
I have a confession: I hated almost everything about the midseason finale of Vikings.

Season 5 has been getting worse and worse with each episode, and Wednesday night's, 'Moments of Vision,' topped things off by making no sense while trying its best to be artsy, profound and deep. It didn't work.

I hated all the flashbacks. The way the action kept cutting back to these memories characters have before the battle. I hated how artsy the show tried to make the battle, once again ditching any semblance of realism in favor of darma. I didn't mind the shots where suddenly it was just one or two characters alone on the battlefield. These moments added a haunting quality to the violence and chaos. But the battle itself was a disaster, every bit as stupid as each of this season's other battles.
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Yep, the artsy stuff sucked.

I hated that Halfdan was killed without even getting a proper character arc. "I don't want to kill you," Harald says, and then kills him anyways. None of this makes any sense, including Halfdan fighting against his brother. I could understand him not fighting against either Harald or Bjorn, but fighting Harald is just silly.
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Yup, Halfdan was turning into a very likable character and to have him freaking out on the battlefield and then hewn down by his brother in such ignominious fashion without even lifting his sword was just utterly bizzarre.

I hated how the French troops fought with the vikings, and that Rollo decided (off screen) to send his vassals to fight for nephews he barely knows against his own family. That he shows up briefly at the end with yet more troops does nothing to soften how much I hate this.
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As I said above, this makes no sense based on previous episodes.

I hate how Bjorn and Lagertha completely stomped on Ivar and Harald in the last battle and the finale makes it as though none of that ever happened. Ivar and Harald's army is bigger than ever. None of their men questioned their defeat or leadership. They come back with a godlike force that can't be beaten. Just because.
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This was a big "wtf" moment for me too. The majority of their army was slaughtered and all of a sudden then return with massive numbers? Massive continuation error.

I hate that Lagertha and her army didn't just go to Kattegat where they'd have a fortified city to give them an upper leg in the battle. Why build all those walls and towers and such if you have no intention of using them? They knew that Rollo might be sending troops against them, tilting the scales toward Ivar, but chose to meet him on an open field anyways.
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Also wondered this. They could have defended the city very effectively and caused a lot of initial casualties without taking any. Sloppy and lazy writing.

And I absolutely hated with a passion Lagertha suddenly going white-haired at the end. What a silly, hack piece of writing this entire episode was. Yes, I know, people can go white like that from shock, but Lagertha isn't just anyone. She's an experienced warrior who's seen more than her fair share of death and carnage and tragedy. Also, no it's not because she was actually old the whole time and now we see her that way, too. Bjorn was surprised to see her change. I suspect Heahmund will be, too.

Oh, and speaking of Heahmund, I just really despise the romance between the bishop and Lagertha and all the bad, cringey writing that encompasses it. What on earth is going on with the writing in this show? Does anybody know?
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Ditto on the above, awful writing and very annoying.
 
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Anybody else think this has taken a massive slide in quality?

Convoluted plot that I can't really see going anywhere. New random characters that seem thrown in. No sense of urgency or direction. Gore thrown in for effect.

Shame as thus far I've been a huge fan but the last 3 episodes have felt like a different show.
 
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