The Last Kingdom (5th Season Out)

[MCM]

@POVG: I just don't have time. Stopped using public transport during Covid, so reading time is zero at present.

@MCM: Emperor is a historic fiction based on the life of Caesar, from his youth to the end.
I read the first Vespasian 'Tribune of Rome.' There's another 8 books in that series, didn't get round to them.

@Halie,

Yes I have read both series, mixed up the titles

Book good reads, sometimes the plot can be excruciatingly slow, but well written.

[Roma_Victrix]

One could point out many little flaws with the show, but it has a satisfactory ending based on finished source material, unlike Game of Thrones. It deserves all the attention it has gotten and then some. The character development is fantastic and you actually care about the characters, especially when they die tragically. A lot of redemption arcs as well and complicated personal relationships intertwined with politics, producing moral shades of grey. If the ending to the series didn't completely satisfy viewers, there is a movie being made to wrap up all the remaining threads and plot holes. Overall a great sendoff for a great show. Bravo!

[Halie Satanus]

The character development is fantastic and you actually care about the characters, especially when they die tragically. A lot of redemption arcs as well and complicated personal relationships intertwined with politics, producing moral shades of grey.

Aye, a lot of people hated Brida, but that final scene for her was as close to gut-wrenching as this show has ever got. Maybe because Utred deserved a dam break, when it came to women.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

I watched all of season 5 a couple days ago, and then I binge watched it yesterday with my dad.

So Season 5 is effectively the last five books re-edited together. It makes for a sloppy and jarring narrative. It isn't like it was a bad thing to make a more concise narrative necessarily. But five books into a single season when in the past they did two per season, is a bit much.

At this point they are deviating so much from the books that I can't even say any part of it is like the books really. They've been doing it since season 3 and adding more subplots which is what made season 3 and 4 so weak in my opinion.

The worst thing that they deviated on, which also ruins the season in my opinion, is how Utred's second son is nowhere to be found. Other than a quick expository scene at the very end which actually made no sense and I had to go see at what point in the show this was ever brought up. Where as in the books Utred's second son featured prominently.

Their other major problem is that the cousin didn't really do anything and seemed like a weak antagonist, despite being somewhat hyped up in season 4. Plus his name isn't even Utred in the show, which makes no sense thematically.

Why this season doesn't work as a narrative is that they are trying to cram way too much into one season. They should have just added one more season to this show.

What they need to accomplish in only one season:
-Aethelflaed arc
-Aethelflaed's daughter, which frankly was the weakest part so far
-Brida arc
-Sigtrygg and Stiora arc
-King Edward doing stuff
-the schemes of lord whats his face and his grandson
-Utred needs to defeat his cousin (which should have been named Utred but they didn't for some reason)
-taking Northumbria and the Scottish invasion
-SOMETHING THEY DIDN'T DO BUT NEEDED TO: establishing Utred's other son

Now books 9 through 11 have a lot of superfluous material. Granted it makes for fun reading but not great television. They took a lot of the events from those books and combined it with 12 and 13, sometimes changing parts to make them fit with 12 and 13.

Had this been two seasons instead of just one there was a lot they could have done with it. For example in the books Sigtrygg has a brother and in the same arc Finan's brother also shows up. They could have done something with that.

Additionally getting to Bebanburg should have been its own entirely separate season. Or at least end season 5 with retaking Bebanburg, and then have season 6 be about what happens afterwards. But this book takes a lot from "Sword of Kings" (book 12) except that they don't use most of the character details.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

On the question of Brida: I was sympathetic towards Brida in season 4. But in season 5 I really didn't like her. Granted in the books she is around until book 9 where she does castrate Utred's son Oswald. Then is finally killed by Stiorra in York.

The problem is that Brida had main villain potential where as here in the show she is more of a nuisance. They also don't really establish her motivations for wanting revenge. So she comes off as crazy and hysterical and somewhat ungrateful.

Fact is that Utred is "the Daneslayer" and that him and Brida are fundamentally on opposite paths. But here Utred has a one sided portrayal as some kind of good guy who loves both Saxons and Danes.

While at the same time Brida just sort of lingers and they play with the whole will she or won't she be redeemed. The last scene with Brida was bad because she kept playing with that. As if she could just all of a sudden change her mind about her conviction.

Her arc is made all the worse by season 5 having to accommodate so many story lines that are not properly played out in order to rapidly end the series.

On the topic of them deviating from the books for no reason even Wikipedia has to make note of that.

"Similar to series three and four, there are significant plot changes from the novels."

So in conclusion:
A good show that peaked with Season 2 and then gradually diminished. Season 5 is bad but made palatable by competent editing and great actors. They always find a way to make the show entertaining. I feel that although season 5 has much to be desired in so far as the writing is concerned. But that it nevertheless is better than much of season 3 and 4 just because so much is happening that there is never a reason to slow down the season. That just automatically makes it more entertaining.

Regardless of how bad this show becomes, at least it is way better than Vikings. Still I really loved seasons 1 and 2. I noticed that after season 2 they went from BBC Two to Netflix and wondering if that factored into the decline. Yet the writing and directing seems to be about the same. Maybe Stephen Butchard had more writing credits in season 3? Could be that after so many seasons they just dropped the ball.

[PointOfViewGun]

You missed the most important arc; that of Aethelstan and his legitimacy. I suspect the haste to combine all those arcs in one season was fueled by lack of adequate budget.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

You missed the most important arc; that of Aethelstan and his legitimacy. I suspect the haste to combine all those arcs in one season was fueled by lack of adequate budget.

I didn't mention it cause it wasn't as present in the show. I agree it was a thing but I just assumed it went under King Edward stuff. Aethelstan is more prominent in the books and especially in the last book if I remember correctly.

[PointOfViewGun]

I didn't mention it cause it wasn't as present in the show. I agree it was a thing but I just assumed it went under King Edward stuff. Aethelstan is more prominent in the books and especially in the last book if I remember correctly.

Slowly but surely it was weaved in the this season that he is an ever growing character. Uhtred himself made it quite clear a few times. The movie or if they make an other season is going to revolve around him for sure.

[MCM]

Uhtred had revolving issues throughout the entire series regarding trust and respect. It was interesting to see his character progression from initial outrage at slights to gradually becoming calmer and wiser (often disappointed of course at others actions though). It was a well crafted story.
Taking epics like this to screen often disappoint. Budget restrictions, ever increasing production costs etc make it harder and hard to create real epic storylines. All in all, I think the job was pretty well done.

I for one though love a detailed story. The books are a great supplement.

[Ishan]

Satisfying end to the series. The rainfall in the end scene was also very cool to watch. Season 5 does seem rushed and battles seem to be on a much smaller scale but overall it was a good season and quite a feat that such a show kept the bingeworthy aspect for complete 5 seasons and didn't get boring.