lawless

Last seen milking a goat in the mud outside the craphole hideout that even Rollo refers to as the "shithole we call home." Rollo -- the social outcast who passes out drunk outside in the snow and mud -- agrees that it's a shithole. Oh Siggy. Well, at least Rollo's hot, even if he is often horrible. But she also slept with King Horik (blerghh) for what seems to have been nothing. Oh Siggy.

I love Rollo. He's a Viking's Viking. Favorite things? I love that sometimes he wears a bear for a coat. I guess that means he's a Berseker, as I think that was one of their signatures. Anyway, none of the Vikings seem to do much in the way of tailoring the animals skins they wear, of course. I noticed Lagertha and Ragnar wear wolf skins -- heads, limbs and all. But it amuses me even more to see Rollo riding around, and then having conversations with people, while basically wearing a bear. Hee! I make my own fun. I'll show myself out . . .

Question -- Is Donal Logue the same guy who was Steve, in the Tao of Steve?

Hee, hee, hee, this would be wonderful. I have to say, Rollo is my very favorite Berseker. And you're right about Earl Borg, but I feel badly for Ragnar because Earl Borg's real conflict is actually with King Horik. Ragnar is just King Horik's agent in that dispute, which should be obvious to Earl Borg. Methinks that Earl Borg has designs on taking King Horik out and taking over as King in his place. Eliminating King Horik's supporters, like Ragnar, may be a step in that direction. I guess Earl Borg doesn't feel quite ready yet to challenge King Horik, at least not outside of Earl Borg's own lands. But he underestimated those Lothbroks -- they are not to be trifled with, Earl Borg.

You know, I noted that, and, as we know, Aslaug had some complaints about the filthiness of other parts of the community, plus she gave Ragnar a disapproving look early on when he was holding and petting a baby goat at the dinner table. Is Ragnar, a self-described peasant, a slob? Is everyone who visits like, yeah, Kattegat, what a craphole that place is? More seriously, what you said about Ragnar's familiarity with the place is true. Also, given that Earl Borg killed a lot of the residents of Kattegat when taking the place, and given the loss of all the men on two ships, Ragnar has fewer people to feed during the winter than Earl Borg did, since he was controlling the remaining residents of Kattegat and his own forces. Also, Ragnar does have his share of the loot from Wessex to buy food with, which Earl Borg did not.

Well, you can say this for the kid, he certainly puts his money where his mouth is. Just caught a re-airing of Answers in Blood, and Bjorn handily slits a guy's throat when he and Ragnar snuck into, er, "town," to destroy the winter grain, he got right into the killing during the battle, and he wacked that sacrifice guy's head off like it was just another chore. Obviously he's been taught how to fight, but is this his first time at it? He's only like 16 or 17 years old. When Lagertha's husband mocked him at dinner by asking if they should invade a neighboring village so he could slaughter everyone, was he mocking Bjorn because he'd never actually been raiding (my initial thought) OR was there some sort of scary precedent and Sigvard really meant that Bjorn needs to chill out on all the slaughtering. Probably the first option, but if this was Bjorn's first time, wow, he's a natural.

I do think Lagertha loved Ragnar very much, and still has feelings for him. However, she only brought it up with Sigvard (new Earl husband) after Bjorn asked her to do so. And when Bjorn initially brought it up, she told him it was not Sigvard's concern. However, she does seem to have a lot of friends and ties to the people of Kattegat, so that may have come into play as well. And just as an aside -- how do I love Lagertha? Let me count the ways . . . I love that Lagertha told Sigvard that there was something she wanted to talk to him about, and he was all, "ok, as long as it's not Ragnar, I hate that guy," and instead of doing what most normal people would have done, which would be to have said "Ragnar? Oh noooo, it's not about him, uh, not exactly," Lagertha simply says "of course it's about Ragnar." Heh. I love her.

These people. These people would take it at face value. I love our gang, I want them to survive, and in all fairness, sometimes they do really clever things. But there are other times when I feel like I am watching the dumbest eight or so people in Georgia try to survive the Zombie Apocalypse.

Duh! The Lobo , of course. Hee! This too.

Love it when Yvette Nicole Brown is on -- she treats the Talking Dead appearance like it's an important event, re-watches episodes to prepare, brings notes, and is delightful and polite. The perfect guest. I also liked Chris Jericho, because though I have no idea who he is, he also takes it seriously and comes to the show dressed up fancy and prepared to discuss the show substantively, and is willing to side with gray-haired, dowdy, middle-aged Carol over Rick. Hah! I didn't agree with him, but I found his stance very amusing coming from a giant man who I think is a professional wrestler. I also loved it when Aisha Taylor was on, and she worked well with Michael Rooker, to my surprise, but he was probably extra nice to her because she's gorgeous. Nathan Fillion was charming, though a little dull. MM was truly the worst, and Julie Bowen was HORRIBLE . . . but I think she was actually on Talking Bad rather than Talking Dead. I made the same mistake until someone pointed that out to me -- but yeeesh, that was so awful it bears mention anyway. And she was paired with Vince Gilligan no less, poor man.

I know Athelstan has had a hard go of it, and I know he obviously takes communion seriously, enough to refuse to eat it while his faith is flagging (or whatever), but I thought he was being ridiculously obvious and stupid by spitting it out. It is comical how significant this will apparently be to his character arc, but I also find it annoying. Athelstan, you're not really a believing Odinist, everyone knows you never have been, so taking communion doesn't violate your faith, and if you're in doubt, well, then it also shouldn't be a big deal, and if you do believe, just eat it! So, in sum, don't spit out the communion wafer, and certainly not in a place where you're surrounded by true believing Christians who recently crucified you! Moron.

I am purely speculating, but I thought that maybe King Ecbert was going to feel Ragnar out (snerk) about hiring the Norsemen to take on rival English kings and take over their land, and in exchange, he would give them some of that land. I know nothing, nothing! But given that the conversation occurred because Ragnar said something about staying, and King Ecbert is not the King of all of England, but rather only the King of Wessex, and given Athelstan's comments that King Ecbert is like Ragnar (cue the song from the credits "moooore, I want more, I want more"). . . that's what I think was happening. Of course, KIng Ecbert doesn't know what these guys are like, and whether they can be trusted with such a deal, so he was taking the opportunity to get a sense of Ragnar first. Genuinely curious Ragnar was trying to take King Ecbert's measure as well. Unfortunately for them, Ragnar had to take off abruptly, and with only half the Norse forces, I guess King Ecbert just decided to get rid of the remaining Norse invaders, as surely that was the expectation of his people. But I get the sense that he's a pretty mercenary and ambitious King, and I think he sees a potential opportunity here. Question -- do you guys think the Anglo Saxons built King Ecbert's bath, or is it left over from the Romans? Yes -- it seems like the Show is consistently portraying Ragnar to be less bloodthirsty than the other Viking Earls, at least with his own people. In this ep, he was merciful in court to whatever guy those other two guys were accusing of something that would result in his land being taken from him. We didn't really get much of the dispute, only that Ragnar declined to take the guy's land away and instead made the other guys give him three sheep. ("Everyone in favor, say Baaa") It's interesting to see Ragnar's leadership style in contrast to other Earls. He uses camaraderie, compassion, and humor a lot more than the other Viking leaders we've seen. Doesn't mean he won't chop your head off in battle, or just as a sacrifice, of course, but Ragnar doesn't seem to want to hurt anyone if it isn't necessary. This quality helps me tolerate his other, less noble character traits, like hooking up with Princess Aslaug to enhance his reputation and that of his sons.

BestestAuntEver, I think you hit the nail on the head, and that Bjorn was exactly the reason. I agree with everything you said. Lagertha's new husband is a jerk, but from what we've seen, most of their fights are about Bjorn, who everyone must know is the famous Ragnar Lothbrok's son, who is bristling to get out and find fame of his own. I guess the contrast between Ragnar and Bjorn to Lagertha's new, more run of the mill Earl husband embarrasses and bothers Lagertha's new husband. Bjorn asked Lagertha to do something to help Ragnar, and while dangerous, it ended up solving the problems between Bjorn and her current husband. If he does go out raiding and adventuring, he's probably a lot safer with his father and the people from Kattegat than anywhere else. She was nice to Aslaug (which bugged me, because I hate her), and that may just be because Lagertha is a class act, but it could also have been because Lagertha wants to leave Bjorn as safe, accepted, and protected as possible. Hence her public announcement to everyone. Also, in the years to come, if Bjorn becomes a leader like his father, he now has ties to two communities, and it seems like that could be a big advantage as well. I think Lagertha really did/does love Ragnar, and the old feelings are still there, but she just has too much self-respect and pride to accept sister-wife Aslaug. I am soooo relieved. Go Lagertha!! Vote Lagertha 4 Earl!

Thank you for that explanation -- so as applied to the show, does that mean that Julia is Hitake's Willis hypothesis made real -- she is a mutation of whatever the Ilaria people are in some way (a human-Ilaria hybrid)? Ok. I still don't understand their goals, other than broadly as world domination by sowing disease and chaos and positioning themselves to provide the cure, rendering them great power. Or something.

I think she preferred Walkers to the living, as long as they weren't able to actually get her, anyway. Poor Mika.

Gah!! They could. But I'm kind of attached to our dear Ragnar and hope we get to see a lot of his adventures first. I suppose they could jump ahead a hundred years or so and tell the stories of other Vikings and just recast some of the cast. Travis Fimmel could become Leif Ericsson, and so on. But . . . let's just see what other parts of Europe Ragnar becomes curious about, and stick with that.

I would say yes, particularly for any of the members of the core group who had the experience of meeting Jenner at the CDC in Atlanta, who was a much more scientisty-scientist, who they encountered in a widely known, legit, scientisty place, who informed them that the best, most knowledgeable scientists in the world (the US and France) couldn't figure it out, and that everyone was doomed!, doooooomed!, so very doomed!, that he was going to commit suicide and let them die too, without necessarily even telling them about the whole suicide by explosion thing, because things were just that hopeless. That would have made an impression on me, such that I would very curious and doubtful that mullet-sporting, gaming Eugene had it all figured out. But to be fair to Glen, maybe he has these very thoughts, but has already been punched enough by the much larger, true-believer Abraham, and he doesn't want to antagonize him any further. And Sasha, Maggie, and Bob weren't at the CDC. Eugene's story is still mighty suspicious, but they are all very hungry and sleep deprived, and in any case, maybe they figure hey, why alienate the new group with all the handy weapons and canned goods?

Yes, yes there are! Count me amongst those who love Lagertha dearly, and who were delighted to see the warm, relieved greeting the village women gave her, while ignoring Aslaug. I hate Aslaug. Not merely because she intentionally pursued Ragnar so as to hitch herself to his rising star despite the fact that he was married to Lagertha and happened to do so at a time when Lagertha had to watch her own daughter and many friends and comrades die of the plague, but also because she just sucks. I understand that she is a princess and the daughter of famous Vikings, but given her supposed lineage, you'd think she'd be a little more hardy and stoic about the conditions while running for her life with her children from Earl Borg. Apparently she hasn't made a lot of friends in Kattegat since she arrived, which I choose to take as further evidence that she sucks. Lagertha, on the other hand, rocks! I was proud of her for being too proud to accept Ragnar's sister-wives offer even now, when we know her current husband is a jerk and that this means she will be separated from Bjorn. I am trying to avoid historical accounts so as to stay unspoiled, but I hope this is not the last we see of her, because she fills the gap left by Buffy and Xena for me. Regarding the winter stores -- this concerns me as well. I guess Ragnar will have to use the money/booty he acquired on this raid to buy grain and food for everyone for the winter. I would assume that given the loss of two ships and all their men and booty, the deaths caused by Earl Borg's takeover, and the loss of the grain, that this year's raid ended up being pretty unsuccessful on balance, even though they found so much gold in Wessex. Which I really think is largely King Horik's fault -- the dispute between Ragnar and Earl Borg all stems from King Horik's rivalry with Earl Borg, and Ragnar hasn't gotten much from aligning with King Horik.

I actually love Bjorn -- and I love that his personality stands in stark contrast to Ragnar. Ragnar is clever and manipulative -- in ways that I mostly, but not entirely, love. With Bjorn -- he says what thinks, thinks what he says, and what you see is what you get. Not to repeat myself from another site, but I love that baby Bjorn just flat out told Aslaug that her stupid tree was not magical, and that they don't have a bond and that he doesn't want one with her. Thank goodness, someone had to call her on some of her crap. Later, Big Bjorn tells his mother that if her husband hits her again, he'll kill him, and sure enough, he stands outside her bedroom door with a knife, intending to do exactly that. I enjoy watching Ragnar and Siggy plot, as well as the other characters, but Bjorn is kind of refreshing. Not saying it would be fun to actually parent him, but I like his no B.S. style. It will be interesting to see if he changes, in emulation of his father.

It is bad. But yet I keep watching it every Friday. Mostly I guess because I want to know what the stupid Willas hypothesis is before I quit on it, and it airs on Friday nights when there is nothing else on anyway. Sigh. So, I watched it again. I'm not proud. I did not realize there was going to be another season -- I thought the Show was one season only and that therefore they would wrap everything up. Alas, they did not. Very frustrating.