Vikings - Season 2 Review
This review of Season 2 of Vikings is spoiler-free, but there will be spoilers for Season 1!
Ahh, finally! Season 1 of Vikings was some of my favorite television I've watched recently out of pure enjoyment! The spectacle of the combat and the outstanding characters made Vikings stand out from some of the other shows I watched even if the story was rather bland. After taking some time to check into other shows, and seeing Season 1 of The Last Kingdom, I felt it was finally a good time to return to Vikings. Season 2 of the show promised to jump ahead a few years and continue Ragnar's journey. My excitement about Season 2 actually stemmed from wanting to see how the story between Lagertha and Ragnar played out, without realizing the addition of a new actor playing their son Bjorn. Needless to say, I underestimated just how good Season 2 could be so let's get right into it!
Season 2 of Vikings begins almost immediately after Season 1 with the conflict of Jarl Borg and King Horik over who should rule. This immediate drop into the story was excellent as it also allowed a brief period of time for viewers to regather themselves if they had been out of the show for a bit of time. The conflict revolving around Rollo's betrayal, for the most part, ends early, as to fit with the time jump, but there are still pieces that play through the season. Along with this, there is a growing sense of doubt in Ragnar's people over whether he can be trusted to rule. This is the major arc of the season, along with the intermingling of issues with the Saxon people of Northumbria and Wessex. Truthfully, I didn't expect the story to really get that much better than the first season, but I was totally wrong. I can't go too deep into spoiler territory but the show manages to do some incredible things with the season and I enjoyed it much more than Season 1's story.
Let's get back to talking about the characters! Floki for me is the standout of the season, getting much more material to chew on and making the most of it with his crazy attitude. Gustaf Skarsgard absolutely kills the role of Floki and all of his little ticks. He is a man who is out for himself even though he appears to be carefree. He and Ragnar's relationship becomes strained throughout the season, and this allows more time to get into his psyche overall. Speaking of Ragnar, Travis Fimmel is as good as he always is. Ragnar Lothbrook remains to be one of my favorite characters in recent memory. He has a pride and cockiness to him that some of the others do not and it allows him to lead calmly. The depth and emotion that Ragnar experiences may be subtle physically, but Fimmel allows you to feel those emotions through Ragnar's actions.
Two new characters that add quite a bit to the show's overall greatness are an older Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig), who becomes a character all on his own; and King Ecbert (Linus Roache), the King of Wessex. Ludwig takes Bjorn in a completely new direction with him finding his own love interest and continuing to tackle the battle over who he should support, his mother or his father. Ludwig is up to the task of making Bjorn more resonant with fans and I'm excited to see more of him moving forward, especially after the future prophecies about him that came out in Season 1. Ecbert is a major part of the season, being the main antagonist and enemy of the vikings in England. He has a secondary agenda that is kept secret toward the end of the season, but his stance as a leader is clearly noted, with anyone who comes into contact having an heir of fear surrounding them. With the season ending on a strong note between him and Ragnar, I hope for the best for their relationship moving forward.
Season 2 of Vikings took the good premiere season and made it so much better. Seeing Ragnar's goal of becoming King come with multiple different points of conflict allowed the story to flesh out and show more of History's excellent fighting choreography. Truthfully, even with an improved story, Vikings is still at its best in those frantic battle sequences and quiet character moments with major characters like Ragnar and Floki. The future of Vikings is bright, and with the show continuing to push towards a larger scale battle between the vikings and English, I hope we see an even larger focus on that in Season 3. If you haven't checked out Vikings, now is the time!
