The Last Kingdom: Episode #1.1 Show Only

October 10, 2015 7:50 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

"Set in the late ninth century, when what is known as England today was several separate kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxon lands are attacked and, in many instances ruled, by Viking forces. The Kingdom of Wessex has been left standing alone under the command of King Alfred the Great. The main protagonist, Uhtred - the orphaned son of a Saxon nobleman, is kidnapped by Norsemen and reared as one of them. Forced to choose between a kingdom that shares his ancestry and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are ever tested."
posted by homunculus (7 comments total)

Since this was on after Who, I stuck around and watched it. It was...fine. Basically, a set-up for a series filled with medieval court intrigue and vikings running about, I guess. I'm hoping the writing is good, and they don't start leaning on too much violence to make up for a lack of ideas. We'll see.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:38 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

i love it but i want to whine about the books but i am also too lazy to make a books post

my life is the hardest life
posted by poffin boffin at 7:43 PM on October 11, 2015

Here you go.
posted by homunculus at 9:52 PM on October 11, 2015

I enjoyed it for the most part. It's fascinating compare it against the History Channel's Vikings. The way it was shot was quite well done for a television series with great framing and cinematography (particularly when our hero and his friend are running through the woods toward the hall on fire). I'm excited to see how it goes. (short for words this afternoon, it seems)
posted by Atreides at 2:08 PM on October 12, 2015

It's fascinating compare it against the History Channel's Vikings.

From the comments in the A.V. Club discussion (I assume this kind of background isn't considered a book spoiler):

-The invading Danes in TLK are actually Lothbrok's younger sons Ubba, Ivar and Halfdan. Characters that Vikings hasn't really explored yet but might come into play during season 4.

TLK is basically the sequel to Vikings before Vikings has even ended. Awkward!

posted by homunculus at 8:13 PM on October 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

I just watched this. I wasn't excited about it. For one episode it spanned way too much material/time, jumped around in location, was hard to follow. Also, a lot of silly things happened that seemed very contrived and unlikely... the final scene being a major example. Not sure if we will watch more. "Vikings" was better!
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:10 PM on October 25, 2016

I just watched this because of the connection to the new Assassin's Creed: Valhalla game. (Shared voice actor, maybe some story overlap). I thought it was great! Funny to watch this as sort of BBC's answer to Game of Thrones, lots of battle and spectacle. And unnecessary rape and torture. But that's not the good part; the good part is the crazy backstory of our hero, Uhtred and his gal companion. I don't know anything about the books but it makes for a pretty promising set up for a TV show.
posted by Nelson at 9:03 AM on May 3, 2020