This is the mid-season finale, right? Or does this season only have 10 episodes as well?
While I enjoyed this season a lot and I'm kind of sad that it's over, it was the weakest of all seasons for me. There were too little epic fights for my taste. The whole Wessex story line was kind of redundant as it didn't connect with any of the other story lines. The whole "Let's attack Paris again" plot felt like an extension for season 3.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it quite a lot since it's Vikings but I think that they could've progressed more with the main plot. It was basicly a huge build-up until this point. Then again, I don't know any of the sagas exactly in detail, so I can't tell how close they actually sticked to the 'true' story.
Talking about this episode in particular: I enjoyed the fight a lot. Could have been a bit longer in my opinion, but the outcome was as expected. Also I'm not sure if Ragnar is still sick from season 3 and / or a drug addict or something similiar. Someone please elaborate.
I like the idea about the timejump of 10(?) years. Although I am curious what happened to the other characters we don't see (especially Lathgertha, did she survive the battle at Paris?), I think this helps the story moving forward and introducting a lot of new characters - Ragnar's sons are supposed to be crazier and brutal than Ragnar himself after all.
The last 5 minutes were great. Kattegat became quite a huge city! That speech from Ragnar showed us again why Travis Fimmel is such a great actor. I'd be really sad if the writers decided to kill off Ragnar at that point, but I can understand it. The next (half) season shall be the reign of Björn (who was a total badass in this season as well) and his brothers.
Overall, great acting and a satisfying experience with a bit of lackluster at the story side. My fingers are crossed for the next season.
