Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Episodes: 10
Duration: 42 minutes (per episode)
Vikings: Season 6, Volume 1 (DVD) – Series Review
Since season 4 of Vikings, the seasons have always been split into two volumes. While this may create the impression that the series does have fewer seasons, with the 10 episodes for each volume, they are just individual seasons, especially considering how much time there is between the release of the first and second volumes. Nonetheless, season 6 is Vikings’ final stop, but to postpone the inevitable a bit longer, we’ll have a look at Volume 1 first, before the actual closing arc in Volume 2.
Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) has become the new king of Kattegat after repelling Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen) and his troops. Many of the ‘rebels’ are now dead, and the surviving ones are being banned by Bjorn himself. While he wishes to rule Kattegat with the counsel of his family, they all seem to have enough of war and reigning Kattegat, as they all want to start or finish their own private journeys. Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) wishes to settle down and become a simple farmer, enjoying the last years of her life. Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith) and Torvi (Georgia Hirst) want to undergo a big journey to explore the world. Sadly, this journey is cut short, when Bjorn decides to free king Harald (Peter Franzén) from captivity.
While Torvi and Ubber temporarily govern Kattegat, the settlement where Lagertha resides is attacked by the banished rebels. Losses are heavy, and with Torvi’s children under her care, things get quite risky.
In the meantime we see Ivar travel further and further away from Kattegat, eventually being spotted by the Kievan Rus, who seem to have heard of his conquests. He then comes into contact with prince Oleg (Danila Kozlovsky), who is extremely brutal against those who oppose him. While it initially seems Ivar will be another body to add to the slaughterhouse, Oleg deems him useful for his invasion of Scandinavia.
The flow is somewhat the same as the previous seasons, where a Volume already feels like a full season, with the necessary cliffhanger at the end. Vikings is not a quick series, but it does get to the point and does not add too much filler content to the mix. You’ll see proper character evolution, many battles with the necessary gore, new problems, and of course, new enemies on the horizon. You’ll never feel bored during this series, and it’s impressive that during its sixth season there is still not a single boring moment to be found.
In terms of acting, not much has changed compared to season 5. All the main cast members are still present, with some getting more time in the limelight than others. We see a few new additions to the cast, and these are mainly handled by Danila Kozlovsky and Oran Glynn O’Donnovan. Kozlovsky plays the brutish Kievan Rus prince. He basically feels like the new Ivar, a character you somewhat grow to hate the further the season progresses. Under his care falls Igor, the actual heir to the throne, who is then played by O’Donnovan. While remaining fairly mute for a few episodes, this young actor grows into his role, and does so quite nicely. At first, the young boy seems to be somewhat estranged from the world, and this actually sets a proper tone. He later ‘grows up’, albeit not in the proper direction.
The Blu-ray version of Season 6, Volume 1, contains a few special features. While most of them consist of commentaries and deleted scenes, there is also a nice feature revolving around the character of Lagertha. Even though the features present are nice, they feel a bit low in quantity and quality compared to earlier physical releases of the series.
Conclusion
Vikings is still going strong and this penultimate physical release does not disappoint either. While, even now, we still miss Ragnar, his successors do a great job at keeping us entertained. We have to give credit where credit is due, as the female characters in this series feel extremely strong and are very naturally embedded in the series, without the ‘girl-power’ format that is being shoved down your throat in recent other series. We are most definitely looking forward to the last ten episodes of this season, which will also be the conclusion of the series.
Vikings: Season 6, Volume 1 (DVD) – Series Review,
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[…] Rus invaders. As we want to keep spoilers to a minimum for this box set, we do advise checking out our review of Season 6, Volume 1 in case you still have to see the entire sixth […]