Jul 16, 2016

When you're done drinking your life away because Game of Thrones won't come back for another year, you should check out this BBC show on Netflix called "The Last Kingdom" (it originally aired late last year). It's about the Danish viking invasion of England during the 9th century and centers around a British born, viking raised warrior named Uhtred and his involvement in Alfred The Great's campaign to save the kingdom of Wessex from the vikings and unite all of the English kingdoms under one banner. I admit, I've been sleeping on "Vikings", so I can't compare both shows. I did find this one interesting enough and I look forward to the next season (which they're currently shooting). The first season consists of 8 episodes, an hour long each. The show is based on The Saxon Stories historical novels by Bernard Cornwell. It isn't perfect and I imagine they must have cut out a lot of material when they adapted from the books. It's not as glossy as GoT, which I imagine has a lot to do with the period they're covering as well as trying to distinguish this show from GoT. The themes of violence, sex, religion and medieval politics are there though. I think this could appeal more to Americans or people who aren't too familiar with the formation of England. There were some moments that reminded me of GoT, particularly last season's "Battle of the b------s" episode (more in conceptual terms than scope). Of course this show exists because of the success of GoT but GoT exists because of English history. I recommend watching it and trying not to compare it to GoT or Vikings. It won't live up to those shows but it could be a good way to forget about the GoT drought.