Vikings - Season 1 - Review (no spoilers)
I remember seeing ads for this show a long time ago and dismissing it as either yet another History channel made up 'docudrama' type show or perhaps another of their made up 'real' history type shows.... Either way, not anything I was really interested in seeing. Then about a month ago, a friend of mine asked me if I had seen this show Vikings and when I said no, he went on this huge raving rant on how it was so wickedly awesome that I had to drop everything and watch it... Yeah, it's not THAT good but it is most definitely not what I thought it was and it certainly is worth watching.
The show clocks in with 9 episodes that go about 45 minutes each without commercials and every single one has some really good stuff in it. The cast is a bunch of people I've never heard of/seen before with the exception of Gabriel Byrne... And he is the weakest actor on the show... And I think pretty highly of his acting so that should tell you just how good that part of the show is.
The visuals have a ton of money dumped into them, with great sweeping shots of the beautiful country, rivers, forests and mountains always being highlighted to great cinematic effect. The show is simply beautiful to watch, even when what is being shown is gruesome. Speaking of gruesome, the show being about vikings, does shy away just a bit from the graphic violence (though lots of it is implied). I don't mean is has no violence but a lot of the blood and guts is toned down from what is shown on a lot of other shows... Probably still not suitable for children but it won't make you throw up either.
The story kind of meanders a bit, a lot like the vikings themselves. There is a lot going on all the time, and some story lines are started and stopped and then picked up again later. I also find that tracking how much time is going by to be a bit difficult. In the end though, they don't drop the ball on anything major and it all seems very satisfying. The show tends to remind me a lot of Sons of Anarchy except that the vikings never have to worry about the law coming after them, just the other gangs.
I did find the show much more enjoyable with subtitles turned on... My hearing is not what it should be and accents are heavy so they helped me a lot.
Bottom line - Good action, great acting, above average writing and top notch visuals make this a must see for me when it returns for season 2. I like it 
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And being History channel, I would expect at least one marathon of it but I don't know when they might do it. I took a look at their website:
http://www.history.com/shows/vikings
But it only lists airings in the next two weeks... Which is weak. If I see anything as season 2 approaches, I'll do a heads up post... That, of course, points back to this for a little self promotion 
Response to Ohio Joe (Original post)