Vikings: “Kill the Queen” Review

Tower heist.

Coming off of last week’s back-to-basics season premiere was a very busy, hectic episode featuring a ferocious end battle. Unfortunately, one involving a handful of creeps we don’t actually care about. As impressive as the charge on the tower was, in a bloody attempt to rescue Kwenthrith, it was odd to see such a massive, violent, extended scene devoted to the Wessex/Mercia storyline.

Especially when it didn’t involve any of the Norsemen. Just Aethelwulf (who we already dislike) and his men trying to rescue that bat*** Queen. With a large chunk of the fight devoted to Aethelwulf trying to get past the one guard at the front door to the tower. It was a very strange thing to put so much blood, sweat, and stunt work into.

More interesting however, over in Wessex, was Ecbert’s adoration of Judith inspiring him to bring in a teacher for her. An uptight Athelstan clone – “Father Prudentius” – who instantly deemed Judith unworthy of illumination. Clearly, Judith won’t have as easy a time seducing such a close-minded man, if that’s to be the course of this arc. But it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.

I guess, overall, I just don’t know where the Wessex stuff is headed. In general. There was a big payoff last year when we saw what a nasty, big picture manipulator Ecbert was. And how his Norseman pact was all a ruse to gain more support and power. But now what? Assumedly, Ragnar will come to learn of Ecbert’s betrayal and there’ll be hell to pay. But that seems so far off. Who knows though, right? A few time jumps and we may get there. It’s just that Ragnar also has Rollo to deal with. Should he ever get back to Paris. In the end, it was just a little jarring to revisit Wessex after so much time away. And to follow a story that’s more or less now totally separate from the goings-on in Kattegat.

Plus – and this is just the way Vikings works sometimes – the stuff going on back in Kattegat, involving an escaped Floki, took place over a presumedly short time while the Wessex stuff was weeks of prepping, marching, and fighting. If not longer. But the show still cut back and forth between them.

So yeah, it was sort of a disjointed episode. We caught up with Bjorn, Ragnar, Rollo, and Ecbert – all in the same chapter. With, what felt like, a disproportionate amount of time devoted to the Anglos.

Back on the homefront, Helga freed Floki. A deed easily forgiven by Ragnar, though she still was now forced to live in cold exile. With her daughter, who wound up dead by the end of the episode. How? She didn’t even want to answer (though I kind of wanted to know, darn it!). And, again, who knows how much time passed between Floki’s escape (and quick capture) and the girl’s death. Were they out there for a few days? Weeks? It’s not always clear.

Still, Ragnar’s story at this point is a rather singular one. It’s about Floki and trying to get Floki to admit the real reason he killed Athelstan. Still physically mending, Ragnar’s become obsessed with making Floki confess to petty jealousy. And he’s become frustrated enough to smack Aslaug around (as if she needed another reason to overthrow him). At the end, we saw Floki trapped in a damp, dripping cave – tied up securely and painfully in some sort of water torture contraption. Will Floki confess and be spared? Or will he be spared due to some sort of “divine sign?” Basically, after so much time devoted to his capture, and re-capture, I’m assuming he’ll live through this crucible.

Down in Paris, Rollo advised his new countrymen on how to best defend themselves when Ragnar returns. Then he got a hair and wardrobe makeover (which caused Gisla to mock him outright). Most interesting though was the reveal that Therese, Odo’s BDSM concubine, was a spy for Roland. So there are a handful of double-crosses in the works down in Paris as well.

Also, Bjorn ate a fish.