MetaM

I think this part was set up quite well. Fitz clearly had a crush on Skye (same way as Simmons was shown to have a crush on a number of guys). However, in S1E6 (when Jemma almost dies from the alien virus), I think it was shown quite well that Fitz realized that what he felt for Jemma is something more visceral than whatever crush he had on Skye (and in the beginning of the episode he's still shown to do the hilariously awkward flirting with her). After that he pulls back completely, and though he maintains a friendly banter with Sky (e.g. in TRACKS), he is not actively pursuing her anymore. I think it is also clear for everyone that Fitz would have made the same sacrfice even if they were "just friends" - in fact, he does pretty recklessly go into the quarantine with Simmons. I do agree with you that the dialogue at the end of S2 was clunky (indeed the whole scene with Bobbi/Hunter inspiring both May and Jemma at the same time to reach out is a bit heavy handed for my taste). I do buy however that Jemma has been trying to sort through her feelings since the end of S1, and there was obviously a lot to go through: she was obviously concerned about Fitz's recovery, probably some guilt, a lot of anger / hatred towards Ward. For a long time, she tries to just get back to whatever relationship they had before the brain damage, but as S2 progresses, she realizes that it will not be possible, as Fitz has changed, she has changed, and their whole dynamic changed. So she has to figure out also if she loves this new, changed Fitz. While I would have been perfectly happy if they kept the FitzSimmons relationship as a deep, platonic friendship; transitioning it into an also romantic relationship makes also complete sense to me. While it is true that they were BFF for years, they are not static. They met very young (at 16), in a place where they were the youngest by far and had no age-appropriate peers other than each other. This probably was a bit easier for Simmons (girls mature usually faster) than for Fitz (he is physically a young boy compared to the people around him), though probably explains why they are both hilariously bad at flirting. So in this time that they have been together, they changed a lot - they both grew up a lot during S2. So even if they were not attracted to each other when they were 16, they could very well be attracted when they are 20 somethings. Also, they may have more confidence in themselves and each other to be able to handle a romantic relationship emotionally, without mucking up their friendship and professional relationship, which they both clearly put above anything else.

Obviously coming way too late to this series and these discussions, but as I just finished binge-watching the show and reading some discussion threads, I needed to write down my thoughts about the Athelstan faith-arc. Sorry for the terribly long post: In S1 - he is still fully Christian first horrified / then curious - cautiously exploring. We see a switch around the episode "Sacrifice" where we see him trying to fit in, happy about Ragnar taking him with him (even though he doesn't realize that he's supposed to be the sacrificial lamb). But there, he still wears his cross, now hidden on his wrist and he denies being a Christian when asked. I think when he realises that not only is he not acceptable as a sacrifice (about which he is relieved) someone else has to be sacrificed in his place (much like Jesus was) - and Leif going obviously so willingly and with such a pure heart must touch a very raw nerve. Then I think his final push towards the Norse gods is Gyda's death, where I imagine he must have prayed for her recovery and other than Ragnar, she is the person he feels the closest to (I think there was a missed opportunity in the S1 finale to flesh this out better). After having lost his birth family to an epidemic which he explained to Gyda), it must be devastating to lose a substitute little sister / child to plague. He must lose faith around this time. He is the most Viking during the raid in Wessex, and he is furthest away from Christian when they raid the church (and when Floki questions his faith, he says with all conviction that he is not a Christian anymore) and he kills the monk protecting holy scripture (essentially his young self). You can see that at that point he is confronted with the pillaging / killing part of being Viking, and that it is something he will never be able to fully reconcile with himself. So then he slowly starts going back towards Christianity, with the mercy killing of the bishop, trying to read scripture in his tent while Horik's people are raping the nun. During his cruxifiction he is praying in Latin (rather than to Odin), and though it is not linear (e.g. the mass where he spits out the Host) he goes back to praying again to Jesus. After that he never becomes fully Viking again. He goes back with Ragnar in Choice (as others said upthread, probably because Ragnar offers him something he has come to value more than anything Ecbert gives him - free choice), but Ragnar says in Lord's Prayer that he sees him again praying as a Christian (and they pray together). Unless I'm wrong after this point, we don't really see him denying being a Christian, while admittedly he still professes not being able to let go the Viking gods. The affair with Judith stands out like a sore thumb in this arc. I see Athelstan foremost sincere and respectful - he is sincere about his convictions, then his doubts, but he is never disresprectful or glib about someone else's faith, whether Viking or Christian. I think he stops seeing himself as a monk when he decides to raid with Ragnar, and kills - there is no way he would have gone along with the phoney confession scene or Judith adoring his "stigmata" (there is no way he would see his own cruxifiction as anything other than a punishment for apostasizing) or willingly wreck a Christian marriage. Then there is the obvious lack of chemistry between the actors which makes it so difficult to believe that he tried to resist temptation, but it was swept over by lust / love. It seemed more like a pity sex, with the unconvincing "sure, I love you too". Which then makes the whole "holy birth of Alfred" narrative ridiculous. So I will disregard this stupid romance and go back to the faith arc. Once Athelstan gets his golden cross back from Ecbert, we see him wearing it, even when he goes back to the Vikings - accepting his fate to be torn between two faiths, but clearly not being happy with it. From then to arrive to having a religious experience and his relief to "have a sign" is not such a stretch. Accepting the inevitable martyrdom (which he was afraid of during/after the Lindisferne raid) brings him to a full circle. Still, his death is a bit of a cop-out, as maybe a more interesting test of faith would have been to have him stay alive and having to choose whether he goes to Paris and what he does when he gets there. Would it still be possible for him to side with Ragnar like in Wessex? Would he stay behind?

It was an episode that left me speechless - a prolonged charcter death is almost always excrutiating, but this was very well done. For me the most chilling moment was the transition of Ragnar's memory of the Lord's prayer with Athelstan into the crowd standing around him reciting the same prayer in anticipation of his further torture and coming death. The two faces of religion which I think is a big reason why Ragnar becomes agnostic in the end. To me this was way more powerful than the on-the-nose prayer of King Aelle, or the ridiculously gimicky snake pit full of specialty collector snakes and complete with snake handlers.

This was so incredibly stupid, but I find the Astrid character with her 80's haircut, from the first moment she judo wrestled with Lagartha just completely annoying and not credible. She takes me out of the world of the show every time I see her. I hate how little effort is put into the Lagartha story line - as much as I hated Aslaug from the first time she appeared (both the character and how the actress was playing her), this death scene made no narrative sense and cheapened the motivations of both. I am furious with this character slaughter, and don't see what good can come out of it. Ragnar/Egbert was fantastic in their half sincere / half trying to play the other till the last moment conversation about life, religion, meaning and sadly departed Ahelstan was top notch, as well as the moments between Ragnar and Ivar. You can feel that more than his disability, his intellect and his ruthlessness, these few weeks of interactions with his father will define who Ivar becomes. Ragnar was always fascinating to watch to interact with his sons - his greatest quest in life was "his sons" and he was ready to sacrifice literally or symbolically both Lagartha and Athelstan to reach this. And now life coming to a full circle, his sons will be defined and propelled forward by their father. The Ragnar / Alfred meeting was incredibly touching - the true moment of the episode where Ragnar just could be himself without having to put up his guard or play a game (like he was with Ecbert) - just like he could be with Athelstan - which was probably while the monk was such an irreplaceable friend to him. Becoming a leader and a king meant he could not freely express his doubts, crisis of faith or failures to anyone, but Athelstan (Ecbert was always a frenemy, his sons needed from him the legacy of the legend, his people needed the confidence). Before his death, Ragnar gets one more unreserved moment of being himself with his old friend.

This is a difficult question. I think the show makes a lot of the characters very interesting, at least some of the time. For me, the question is whether I buy them as characters in their historic settings. This is a combo of the writing and the acting, and some characters really felt sucking me in the story, while others felt that they were running around as viking reenactors from the 21st century. I completely bought into Ragnar, Athelstan, Largatha, Floki, Rollo and Bjorn (even though each had some moments that were completely ridiculous / badly charcterized). Some minor characters, like Gyda, young Bjorn, Then there were the characters that never worked (mostly bad writing, lack of charcterization): Aslaug (way more screentime than ever needed), Judith (her arc with Athelstan was the only thing I actively hated about his character), horny K-princess, Porunn, Yidu (I almost turned off the show at that point)). Women characters, other than Lagartha are fairly badly done on the show, but there were of course also a couple of horribly wasteful male characters too, such as King Horik, his son (whose name I don't recall), almost everyone in Frankia. The show has had huge misses when it comes to love stories - Bjorn / Porunn was a giant waste of time, I never bought Ragnar / Yidu, I already mentioned my horror with the Athelstan / Judith thing.