Vikings - final season just dropped on Amazon Prime(NOT airing on History Channel) - spoilers

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1

The entire season, not week-to-week release, has dropped on Amazon Prime streaming in the US.

I’m kind of shocked, but it has actually worked out for my wife and me. We have Amazon Prime, but those who do not have it are going to be furious that they can not legally see the episodes. I would predict massive pirating by those who do not have Amazon Prime and to be honest, I don’t really blame them.

Creator and sole writer of the show says they did not ask him and it surprised him, too.

Anyway, this thread is to discuss the final season, which dropped in its entirety today and to discuss the way it was released.

My wife and I will begin watching today.

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Note: History Channel, not A&E. I had a brain fart. I blame Quarantine!

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Corrected title

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Is it any good? I tried to keep watching after Ragnar got offed, but, IMHO, it went down hill, and I stopped mid season 5. Do I need to go back and finish that before starting S6?

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I’d say that it has gone a bit up and down since Ragnar died, but the last 10 were really solid, in fact the last 20 episodes were really good.

It did dip a bit at first, but his sons have ended up being really interesting and while no one can replace Ragnar, Bjorn has been good.

I would go back to when Ragnar died and start up again there.

6

Just watched the first episode and I think I can say it was the best individual episode of TV in 2020. I have no idea what they will do for 9 more episodes, but it felt like a proper finale.

Amazing.

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The only way I’ll watch again is if Ivar dies slowly and painfully. I stopped watching the show because I hated him so much.

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No, he is still going.

9

Just informed my Step Dad about this. He was relieved. Apparently, America can go be found now?

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Maybe they’re saving that for the series finale then. One hopes.

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I can let you know when I get there, if you like.

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You’re a champ. :trophy:

13

OK, just finished the show.

Ivar dies in the final episode. Stabbed repeatedly and dies while saying, “I’m afraid!” over and over.

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Finally, some good news! I’ll have to watch that episode then.

15

Resurrecting to share my musings as I’m on episode 5 now, and it’s been a slog the whole way through. Too many storylines, not enough story.

Someone upthread hopes Ivar dies “slowly and painfully.” Me? The problem with Ivar isn’t that he is a ruthless killer who deserves to get what’s coming to him, but true justice eludes him. No, the problem with Ivar is I don’t care what is coming to him. Or any of the other characters. Not because I never cared, but because the series has become too diffuse. None of it is compelling.

It gives me the same impression one gets from a bad horror movie, the kind where in the middle the characters split up to investigate “the evil” or whatever. It doesn’t so much advance the plot as pad the runtime by letting each character then eat up 5 minutes of screen time on their side quest, maybe culminating in a jump scare or “spooky vision” to make you feel like the time wasn’t wasted and something happened, but really the writers just couldn’t come up with a way to draw 45 minutes of story to feature length.

And so we have season 6 of Vikings.

16

Okay, so I got through the season. Final impressions….

I could almost describe season 6 as 10 episodes of great television crammed into 20 episodes, but then I think that would give not enough credit to some of it, and far too much to the rest. More like 20 episodes of great television cut down and gutted to ten, then filled in with 10 episodes of crap, like stuffing, to get the season back up to 20 episodes.

They should have killed Ivar off at the end of season 5. Or very very very early in Season 6. Everything with the Rus was garbage. Everything with the English was tacked on. His storyline was pointless and stupid and uninteresting. They should have focused the final season on Ubbe, and we could have gotten still all the good moments of the season, to include those with Bjorn and Lagertha and Floki, and the westward travels. Oh, and all that stuff with Erik? Also garbage.

There are some good moments and it wasn’t as bad as Game of Thrones season 8 (specifically in that it doesn’t ruin what came before—Ragnar’s plot line still had a perfectly cromulent ending which is by no means undone), but there is too much in this last season that is just filler. Most of it having to do with Ivar and that other brother I don’t even care about.