History

I’m a fan of Ocean’s Eleven. Ocean’s Thirteen, too, though we shan’t discuss the muddled wreck that was Ocean’s Twelve; and besides, that’s besides the point. The point is, both of these hustle films were required to con the audience by disguising their primary twist as part of their very makeup. But when a novel shortlisted for the Man Booker employs such a twist with no particular narrative reasoning, or a piece of long form television does the same, it comes as a bit of a slap in the face.

Ragnar — who is so ill-inclined to violent acts unless they serve a purpose — opens tonight’s offering by killing and skinning a rat. It’s our first look at the new gears he’ll be settling into; those being of a political ingenuity which is new for the age. Still, the insistence upon drawing in mythological aspects mar the otherwise crystalline set up of Ragnar’s major rivalries and other minor character conflicts: what is the point of investing ourselves in the bruises or pitstops our heroes must grapple with, should their paths already be preordained? The animals which populate the screen tonight don’t fall into either categories of frustratingly explicit or string-pulling metaphor, however: they at least serve as easily-understood doubles for some of the onscreen cast.

Vikings, at times — for all its being flush with textured, moody detail and vividly drawn battle scenes — feels like a backdrop to Fimmel’s considerable gravitas. That subtly-shifting set of vocal inflections, coupled with (as always) the odd light in his eyes has been what’s kept me coming back during some of the show’s more bawdry scenes.