Vikings

Ragnar Lothbrok (played by Travis Fimmel)

I am anxiously awaiting Season 5 of Vikings to start airing. Although I had seen commercials for the series air many times before, I just never thought it would be interesting enough to watch. After all, we're talking about a series on The History Channel, of all places. So I never watched it (I was never much into history).

Well I was doing a Fitbit Challenge one day last month and wanted something to watch while I exercised on my treadmill. I didn't feel like watching music videos (again) or fitness videos with other people working out. So I turned on Amazon Prime on my Fire device and found Vikings (all the aired episodes and more). What the heck, I thought, let me check it out! I was so surprised by how captivating the show was that I decided to binge-watch.

I must say, the fact that this series aired on the History Channel doesn't make it suitable for teaching a young child history lessons. This series is filled with mature themes of violence and sex. The storyline, while based on real-life people from the Age of Scandinavian history, is not entirely factual either. Many scenes were created for the purpose of entertainment and adding spice to the stories.

Ragnar and Rollo

In fact, I've read that the main character of Seasons 1 - 4, Ragnar Lothbrok may not have actually existed. He may have been a composite of several different men of the time. The brothers, Ragnar and Rollo, might not have even been real brothers either because the supposed timeline that they had lived did not coincide. There is no way to verify actual dates either because there was no written history of these people created at the time. Viking stories were just verbally passed along from one generation to the next.

What really hooked me on watching this series, however, is the depth of all the characters. Other than Ragnar and his family being central in the stories, you get to see what makes the other characters tick. You get to understand what might've caused an earl to be so cruel, why a brother would want revenge on another, or why some characters are feared by others and why not. You also get to watch characters "grow" and transition into new "roles" in life, changing faiths, concealing true faiths, and more.

I was even quite surprised to see Alexander Ludwig playing a central character in the series, too. Did you ever watch The Hunger Games? He played Cato, the Career Tribute from District 1. In Vikings, Ludwig plays Bjorn Lothbrok, oldest son of Ragnar.

Ragnar's sons (Vikings, Season 4)

If you haven't seen Vikings yet and enjoy the likes of Game of Thrones or similar dramas, you will like Vikings. Get Amazon Prime and start watching...you'll be hooked, too!