magdalene

Hey, the last two episodes of the season leaked and being a regular visitor on tumblr I managed to get thorougly spoiled. I was annoyed and glad in equal measure about this as there is at least one thing I preferred to be spoiled early on rather than have it sprung on me. Be careful out there!

I didn't like the character but I thought she was hardly pointless. She got Ragnar addicted to drugs and his later killing of her wasn't exactly his most shining moment. One could say she was the mechanism that made Ragnar change for the worse.

Two days after I saw King Aelle meet his fate on Vikings I saw the actor playing him on this cozy mystery series "The Coroner" in a role that couldn't be any more different from Aelle. It was a very startling and strange viewing experience. I almost slid off the couch in surprise.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKdEG4ZgbGh/?taken-by=ferdiawalshpeelo So in this picture we have the actors for recast and aged up Alfred, Judith, Aethelwulf and I think the actor on the left plays Aethelwulf's son Aethelred (?).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHVRF4Tjz_M/?taken-by=moe_dunford Moe Dunford and a bunch of Vikings. Dunfords instagram is well worth visiting, some nice Vikings behinds the scenes stuff and you could do worse than look at his cheerful smile. Obviously while there are no outright spoilers from some of the pictures you can clue in easily who is filming what with whom and when. So caution spoiler phobes.

http://www.showbizjunkies.com/news/travis-fimmel-wyatt-earp-anthology/ Looks like Travis Fimmel is going to be on the History Channel again....

The Ubbe, Margerethe and the brother menage a trois makes no sense because sons are important to Viking males - especially for Ubbe who hasn't had any sons yet. He would want his first son to be his for sure. Harald seems the kind of guy restraining orders were invented for.

http://ew.com/tv/2017/01/18/vikings-revenge-aelle-michael-hirst/ Hirst talks about the episode "Revenge".

My favorite scene was the one between Aethelwulf and Ecbert. I can't understand human sacrifice and don't want to understand it. I don't get the two brothers sharing Ubbe's bride, but they asked Margarethe and she chose - so more power to her. I disliked Aelle but had to look away at his being tortured to death by blood eagle. But the emotions between Aethelwulf and Ecbert I understood. I felt so bad for Aethelwulf. Oh, Ecbert, you manipulated and lied all your life to get things your way. Couldn't you have lied to your son and told him the words he so needed to hear from you in that moment?

The big battle Bjorn has really dropped in my estimation since he decided to get with Astrid. I am siding with Torvi.

I really don't care for the human sacrifice scenes on the show. I know it it was done by the Vikings and other cultures like the Aztecs did it too. But this is when these people and their culture is the most alien, the most abhorrent to me.

Aethelwulf fighting to save Kwentrith and her son from the tower was awesome and it was a superbly filmed action sequence. Also, the actor who plays him is a good actor and has done some interesting stuff besides Vikings. And he seems a cool guy in real life and is well liked on set. These things do influence me when it comes to a character. But yeah, I did hate Aethelwulf for the raid on the Vikings settlers - though what choice did he have ordered to do it by his father the king? I still miss Kwentrith, sigh. I really liked the actor playing that fire cracker. Sometimes I wonder what the younger generation of Vikings like Ivar and Ubbe would make of Kwentrith...

You should check the media thread - the show has been renewed for a second season.

Was the show always this pretentious and up it's own ass? I seem to remember enjoying it during its first series. Call me demanding but when I watch a drama in the mystery genre I want to see an actual coherent mystery and not some avantgarde mess with delusions of grandeur. If this is the end, good riddance.

http://deadline.com/2017/01/good-behavior-renewed-season-2-tnt-tca-1201886518/ This article goes into the ratings. You can see why this was renewed considering how people watch TV content these days.

I don't have the link right now but the show has been renewed for a second season. More episodes are coming in the fall.

http://ew.com/tv/2017/01/11/vikings-the-great-army-michael-hirst/ Hirst talks about the current episode.

You don't have to spoiler tag stuff in the spoiler thread. Yes, this guy ruled England for a little while but he has nothing to do with the generation of Vikings in the show I was talking about. Plus, he is almost forgotten today but everybody knows who William the Conqueror is.

Is anybody else getting worried for Helga? The girl she is so determined to have as her child is extremely traumatized and I fear she may lash out at Helga and do her harm.

Looks like Rollo's story on the show has pretty much concluded now. It's probably for the best that Floki can't see the future because I doubt he would like to learn that his generation of Vikings never conquer all of England - Alfred stops them. But about 200 years later Rollo's great-great-great son does conquer England and his line lives on in the royal familes of Europe to this day. Rollo himself and his family and followers prospered in Normandy. Rollo lived into his eighties and seems to have reverted back to his Viking youth in his last days due to senile dementia. By then he had passed the succession on to his oldest son William. It would be great if this show lasted long enough to feature William the Conqueror.

I don't really dislike any of the characters with the exception of Aelle and Astrid and the two sneaky, sadistic Vikings Finehair and Halfdan. With everybody else I seem to go through phases of really liking them, being annoyed with them when they fuck up or being fairly neutral on them. I have grown to like Aethelwulf and Judith and nobody here seems to care for them much.

Producer's pet Lagertha saved rather conveniently by Deux Ex Machina Bjorn. The guy who plays Ubbe is growing on me, obviously the character he plays isn't flashy like Ivar, but he has.....something, and it isn't just that of all the sons he looks a lot like young Ragnar. I had to laugh at Floki grumbling and spitting about Rollo's fame, future or otherwise, while Rollo was holding his little son William Longsword. You don't know the half of it, Floki... Speaking of Floki, his scene with Ivar was lovely, their giddy delight in each other, and that was a great gift Floki gave Ivar. I am liking Judith these days. She is trying to be more than decoration for the men in her life. I like her earnest belief in the power of reading. And like her husband Aethelwulf last week she is more astute about the threat the Vikings represent than the powerful rulers in her orbit. Plus, she showed respect for the place of Ragnar's death. Ecbert is schooling Alfred in the art of being king, playing the dodderer one minute and really crazy as a fox. I can't stand the two Vikings who are always the most brutal during the raids, Halfdan and Finehair. Not only are they sadistic, they come across as very sneaky.

Astrid is still not dead. And now she has polluted Bjorn.

I have read the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik multiple times. Yes, the titular character is a highly intelligent dragon who talks. I adore precious Temeraire. About every two years I re-read The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. Those books are probably not what one would call "easy reading" but I fall into these books and immerse myself completely in this world. The main character is a charismatic Scottish noble man called Francis Crawford of Lymond. He is beautiful and endlessly fascinating and tragic and damaged. People always fall in love with him or want to kill him - often both at the same time. The series also has one of the most awesome and likable female character ever. I won't say her name because that would be a spoiler. Prepare to bawl your eyes out though at certain sections.

I love Rob, he is so awesome. Luisa Strus was fantastic. Estelle should be continuing to raise Jacob. I wouldn't be able to forgive and go back to someone who betrayed me like Letty did Javier. So Javier not only looks like a Jesus figure, he is like a Jesus figure. I thought too that the final scenes were a dream sequence but no, according to the show runner that was real and they are about 1 minute away from being arrested. Will we find out what would happen in a second season? For me it all came apart in the previous episode and I couldn't truly bring myself to root for Letty again. Michelle Dockery was superb but let down by the capricious writing. But I am glad I watched this show because it distracted me from the American election results, and boy, did I need distracting. Good Behavior had some of the best acting and chemistry I have seen in a long time and a great supporting cast. And it introduced me to Juan Diego Botto who is just so lovely and fine. Kudos also to the terrific use of music throughout.