Vikings Season Finale - Will I keep on watching or say goodbye?

I just watched the season finale of Vikings. I must say this season went by quickly. Seems like it just started and now it's done. This was one very interesting season.

**SPOILERS AHEAD***

The brunt of the season was spent in planning the trip to Paris. Ragnar is fascinated by the stories

Athelstan tells, and spends hours listening to him, and learning the best way to take the city. A jealous Floki watches and seethes.

Floki has always been a bit strange, admittedly, but it's generally been in a well-meaning, albeit intense way. He proved his loyalty last season when he "plotted" again Ragnar with King Horik (Donal Logue), but of course it turned out to have been a ploy. Still, he isn't too tightly wrapped, and that becomes more and more evident in his growing jealousy of Athelstan.








His obsession with Ragnar, and his hatred of Athelstan, finally drives him over the edge. Declaring

that the gods wish him to make a great offering, he kills Athelstan, thinking his troubles will be over. But Ragnar is inconsolable at the loss of his friend, and Floki has actually gained nothing.
Ragnar says nothing, but I suspected he felt the truth.

The Viking assault on Paris, although well-planned, is not successful, and the Frankish manage to fend them off, although the Vikings refuse to be defeated. The Frankish ruler is a grandson of the great emperor Charlemagne, although a pale imitation of him. His daughter Gisla is stronger than he is. Before they head to paris, Ragnar's brother Rollo consults the seer, unhappy over the death of Sigi, and learns that he will be very happy with what happens in Paris. Rollo can't see that yet.


Rollo has always been something of a loose cannon himself, and has conspired against his brother before, with the late Earl. He is very  jealous of Ragnar and he perceives him as always getting what he wants, having things come easily to him. At the end of the season, jumping ahead, the main Viking force departs, leaving Rollo and a few others to maintain a presence. An envoy arrives from Emperor Charles, who wishes to make an ally of him, offering his daughter Gisla's hand in marriage, along with lands in the north, and the title of duke. All he has to do in return is to fight against Ragnar when he returns. Hmmm, wonder what Rollo will do?

Okay, back to where I was. As I said, the first fight was unsuccessful, but Ragnar did not give up. He

attacks again, with better resulsts. The two sides negotiate, and the Frankish send treasure to the Vikings. Ragnar has another request - he goes to see Count Odo and requests that he be baptized so he can see his friend in the Christian heaven when he dies. Although reluctant, they agree, and Floki and Rollo arrrive just in time to see him baptized, which only serves to add fuel to Floki's rage.





The Vikings, having received their loot, are supposed to leave, but a month later they are still there, and Count Odo is dispatched to find out why. Bjord, Ragnar's son, explains that his father is too ill to move. Odo requests to see, and is taken to Ragnar's side, where Ragnar makes a last request - to be given a Christian burial. Odo gives in.  Ragnar is so ill that those who knows him best have come to make their farewells, from the opposite side of the ship which Floki has constructed, baring their souls to him. When the time comes, the Vikings place him into a wooden box and carry him to the city, to where the court is.

But surprise, surprise, all is not as it seems, and a very alive Ragnar breaks out of the box, takes the princess Gisla hostage, and he and his fellow Vikings exit the city, only to admit their fellows, who loot with abandon. Finally, he releases her, and they depart.

When I thought Ragnar had died, I'd determined not to watch the new season, and I was very upset. But now he's alive, of course I'll watch. For how long, I don't know. He may yet be dying, but he has unfinished business - the last thing he says is to Floki, telling him he knows he killed Athelstan. Something will surely come of that next season, right?

So for now I'm going to watch the new season. But if at any time Ragnar dies, it's all over. I'm still pissed about Athelstan, and the fact he never knew he had a son, who will grow up to be Alfred the Great. Requiescat in pace, Athelstan.

It will be interesting to watch next season as Bjorn's place as the group's leader-to-be is more clearly defined. What of Ragnar's wife, Aslaugh - he knows she slept with another man, can he live with that and with the result of any pregnancy? Will he avenge Athelstan's death and make Floki suffer? Will Bjorn and his wife reconcile?  Stay tuned for next season!

On another slightly different note, while writing this blog post, I discovered that there is a whole lot of Ragnar/Athelstan fanfiction out there! Definite food for thought!

Travis Fimmel makes history sexy!

I started watching Vikings from the beginning, mostly because of Travis Fimmel. Frankly, I was skeptical that the History Channel could pull off an actual TV show that was entertaining, as well as historical and informative. I was wrong. Vikings is great, and I've come to love it. It recently began its third season, so let's take a look at what's going on.  *SPOILERS AHEAD*****

There is a whole lot going on this season. Ragnar takes the gang back to Wessex, where Ecbert "persuades" him to help with the cause of Mercia. Lagertha busies herself with the new settlement, and Floki is becoming increasingly jealous of Athelstan's influence over Ragnar. ****MORE SPOILERS*** Nothing is ever what it seems. Ecbert seems friendly and makes overtures to Lagertha, which are accepted and returned, and his daughter-in-law, Juliet, is very interested in Athelstan. He resists at first, but finally gives in and makes love to her. Back home, the women of Ragnar, Floki and Rollo have the same dream about a stranger - and he arrives (played by the same guy who plays the ratcatcher in The Strain). He seduces Ragnar's Princess, and while she's busy fornicating, she leaves her children to Sigi to watch. Tragedy ensues when Sigi follows her two sons onto a frozen pond. They fall through, she rescues them, then drowns. Aethelwulf, Ecbert's son, discovers his wife's infidelity when he returns home, and once the child is born, they start to mutilate her horribly, beginning with one ear, to make her name the father. Under such duress, she gives them Athelstan's name, and Ecbert stops the proceedings, understanding her thrall for him. They name the child Alfred. Ragnar decides he wants to attack Paris and Athelstan gives him a lot of intel on the island/city. A jealous Floki decides a sacrifice is needed, so he kills Athelstan. They are poised to attack the city now, and I think Ragnar knows what Floki did, so that should be interesting. Also, Bjorn's girlfriend was mutilated in battle and thinks she's too hideous for him. She has their daughter, whom they need Sigi. Told you, a lot going on, can't wait to see what happens in Paris.

Dig is a new series on USA, which stars Jason Isaacs, whom you should remember as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, as well as Awake, and Peter Pan, and much more. I've watched a few episodes, and I haven't decided yet how much I like it. I'm basically watching it for Jason.   **SPOILERS AHEAD**  Basically, Jason plays an FBI agent who's transferred to Jerusalem and while investigating a murder discovers a strange end of days type conspiracy. He's also dealing with the death of his daughter. Also in this is the girl who played Claire in Six Feet Under, Lauren Ambrose. Jason is good as always, just not sure if it has what it takes to make it. For the most part, USA doesn't have good shows. The exception to that rule is Sirens, which is hilarious, so we'll have to just wait and see, I guess.

Also back for a new season is The Following. **SPOILERS AHEAD*** So far, we haven't seen a lot of Joe Carroll. The action is centering around the cray-cray remaining twin, Mark Gray, and his equally cray-cray followers. Mark is having people killed and leaving bizarre messages that Ryan hardy lies and he needs to confess the truth, the truth being that the FBI executed his mother, Lily Gray. Maybe strictly speaking they did, but she deserved it. Mark is all kinds of bananas - he placed a mirror on top of a suit of clothes, and talks to it as if it's his brother, Luke. The bad thing is - it talks back. Or Mark hears it that way. Of course, he supplies the voice. Ryan has a new girlfriend, a nice doctor, while his niece Max has a nice boyfriend who is also FBI. But she and Mike get it on one night, and he accidentally discovers that, and I'm waiting for that to explode all over everyone. Another storyline concerns the man who mentored Joe, who is awaiting trial, and manages to walk on a technicality. This could be an interesting season, but without Joe being more involved, I don't see it going much further. And he's due to be executed soon. So, we'll see.

Gotta stop there, my cat wants to eat. More another time.

Have a great day!

Highs and lows - separating the good from the bad

If I wanted to be evil, I'd tell you something like guess what? I just got signed with Random House for a six novel contract! And then follow it up with April fools!

But I won't, because that would be silly. Plus, when it happens, I want to be believed, not have everyone put it down to a trick or joke or something. So I'll just move on and talk about other stuff, because Random House hasn't signed me. Yet.  *grins*

There's a great new series on History Channel that I look forward to every week. It airs on Sunday nights

but I record it and watch it Monday mornings. It's called Vikings and stars that gorgeous blond Travis Fimmel. I always thought Travis was hot, but he's matured into a very good-looking man. He plays a Viking named Ragnar, married with two children, and he has a brother Rollo (standing to his right, in the picture). He lives in a village presided over by their chieftain, the Earl, played by Gabriel Byrne. The Earl is not a nice man. He tells them where to raid, and takes his share of their booty. But when Ragnar says they should go west, rather than east, the Earl says it can't be done and won't listen. So Ragnar has his friend Floki build him a boat, assembles a crew, and heads west, proving the Earl wrong by sailing to England. They raid a monastery, bring back the spoils, including some monks as slaves, but the Earl confiscates most of it. Ragnar ends up with one of the monks, Athelstan, as his slave. Athelstan speaks their language, having traveled some. I really really enjoy this show. It's doesn't sugarcoat the Vikings, it presents them as they were, and I definitely recommend it, even if some claim there are historical inaccuracies. Floki is played by Gustaf Skarsgard and yes, he's one of those Skarsgards, brother of Alexander and son of Stellan. Great pedigree, and Floki is a very interesting character.

Recently, A&E premiered Bates Motel, a series which looks at the life of the young Norman Bates, of Psycho fame. I was confused as to why they updated the time frame of the series, since Psycho was in the early 60's, and I assumed this would take place before that. But they moved it to modern terms, perhaps thinking the audience wouldn't connect if they didn't. I watched two episodes and decided I couldn't connect, not for that reason but because I didn't find it particularly interesting (if you watched Deadwood, Dan shows up in the first episode as a former owner of the motel). So I've already stopped watching it. Ditto with Cult. I watched that basically for Robert Knepper, but after two episodes even he can't keep me watching. The main character is played by the actor who played Alaric in Vampire Diaries, and this is also a CW offering. Note to self: Stop watching the CW, it never ends well.

Hannibal premieres Thursday night on NBC, and we'll be watching, and hoping. I have to say I'll be really critical if they don't do this right, since I am a huge fan of the books and the movies and won't tolerate anything second-rate or half-assed. The previews aren't enough to tell me what it's really like, so we'll just have to see. I'm still unhappy with them over what they did to Awake and Do No Harm.

Grimm is back on Friday and doing well. I love this series so much!  *SPOILERS AHEAD*** Nick found out about Juliet and the Captain, and Rosalie is helping everyone to get back to where they were. Juliet is having hallucinations as her memory returns, and Monroe accidetnally let it slip about the trailer, so she insisted on going there. Meanwhile, the Royal Family is trying to get the key and things are really heating up.



Once Upon a Time is leading up to the season finale. ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** Mary Margaret is torn

apart by her part in the death of Cora, Neal's fiance is in town and she is not what she appears to be - she knows about the magic in the town, even though she pretends not to. She knew August from before and she is involved with Owen, who is searching for his father. August was changed back to a real boy, but unfortunately he was unable to warn about her. I'd love to see Hatter come back, but I suspect Sebastian Stan is busy filming the new Captain America.  I wonder if Bucky will show up in the Avengers films at some point?

Not much going on with the cooking shows - still watching Chopped and Restaurant Impossible. Chopped All Stars starts soon. Watching Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen. Oh yes, new season of Hell's Kitchen started. ***SPOILERS**** There was a very obnoxious woman named Gina who had a puppet she annoyed the others with. I was hoping she'd get sent off by Chef Ramsey, but she didn't. However, she did just up and quit one day, next best thing. Usual fights and stupidities and yelling from Gordon. So far entertaining.


That's about it for now, back to my writing. I'm finishing Trapped in Time for eXtasy, and I want to work on more Stan and Ollie.

Have a great day!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie