ANTICIPATING OVERLORD?

I suppose History Channel's Vikings bringing in a gender-bending eunuch or a lesbian affair between a queen and a shield-maiden or a nun openly and notoriously violating her vows is to be expected, this being an era of celebrating transgressivity.

Why, though, invent a totally ahistorical invasion of Norway by their Russian cousins, who have already converted to the Orthodox, in order to pit Ivar's anticipation of the Higgins boat (being offloaded from hand-cranked sternwheelers??) delivering the first wave onto a beach guarded by Bjorn's Belgian gates, with bouncing bombs waiting up on the dunes?

It's all a bit much for Forbes reviewer Erik Kain.

At least there are only ten episodes left. Whatever happens will happen. The vikings seem to be utterly defeated, though, so that should make for an interesting twist on history.

“The gods abandoned you a long time ago, my brother,” Ivar says to Bjorn. “There’s no way you can win. Believe me. No way you can win.”

I sort of feel the same way about Vikings.

I'm not sure how much is real, how much is dream, and how much is an echo of Ingmar Bergman's chess game with Death.  Let's see what comes in the final ten episodes.

I'd still like to see Floki conceal that Holy Grail somewhere off the coast of the Golden Land.  Perhaps he can hide an extra large bowl there, too, the only Super Bowl a Viking has ever possessed.