Vikings' pilot episode is not what I expected, I actually expect a more larger-than-life story and character. But I have to say, I like it even better now. The plot for this episode is good and set up what's coming next nicely. The characters are not over-the-top and I like that. The character development is going to be great from the look of things; I like that flashback scene with the villain as it fleshes out him a bit. The visuals are stunning, the landscape, atmosphere, costumes are all great. The sound design mixes the sounds of the sea and birds chirping with a very fitting background score which is brilliant. Can't say anything bad about the acting either, the casting choices are spot-on. Overall, "Rites of Passage" may not be the greatest of series' pilots but it's good as it set-up the future conflicts well.
11 Reviews
A Decent Start
amongpixels26 December 2020
"Rites of Passage" has a wonderfully dark visual style and establishes its setting, characters, and future conflicts well enough to interest me in going further. However, while solid enough, this is a rather quiet setup with nothing ground breaking or terribly thrilling happening with its characters.
Breaking the Laws
claudio_carvalho24 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
In 793 A.D., in Scandinavia, the farmer Ragnar Lothbrok is happily married with Lagertha and they have two children, the teenagers Bjorn and Gyda. When Bjorn is thirteen, Ragnar takes him to the village to prepare him to manhood and meets his brother Rollo. They discuss the possibility of sailing to the West and Ragnar shows a compass-like device that a man told that it was possible to travel to West. Then they see two trials where the powerful Earl Haraldson presides and takes tough decisions. When Ragnar questions the count why they should navigate to East instead of to the West in public, Haraldson tells that he will not risk his fleet in a dangerous journey. Then he summons Ragnar in private and threatens Ragnar for exposing him in public. When Ragnar returns home with Bjorn, he introduces the shipbuilder Floki to Bjorn and tells that he has secretly ordered to build a ship for him to navigate West. What will happen to them for breaking the laws?
"Rites of Passage" is a promising beginning of "Vikings". The episodes introduces several characters and the environment and laws in the Eighth Century Scandinavia. The family man and farmer seems to be a great character while Haraldson is the great villain. Looking forward to see the nest episodes. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Rites of Passage"
"Rites of Passage" is a promising beginning of "Vikings". The episodes introduces several characters and the environment and laws in the Eighth Century Scandinavia. The family man and farmer seems to be a great character while Haraldson is the great villain. Looking forward to see the nest episodes. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Rites of Passage"
Good Start
paulsgl9 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The first episode of the Vikings series, titled "Rites of Passage", begins with our protagonist Ragnar Lothbrok. In a beautifully filmed sequence, ragnar's brother Rollo is also presented to the viewer as the two fight against enemies.
After the ensuing intro, ragnar's son Björn, his wife Lagertha and daughter Gyda are introduced to the viewer. Ragnar considers Björn old enough to accompany him to the annual Thing. There, from Björn's point of view, the spectator gets to know the brutal culture of the Vikings. In addition, you get to know Jarl Haraldson, who was cast with Gabriel Byrne really brilliantly, so that one can feel respect for him by his aura alone. Which will be made clear only later, after he warns Ragnar. However, the Jarl is later humanized by having a nightmare in which his sons were brutally murdered.
Another suitable cast is Gustaf Skarsgard as Floki. The Swedish actor plays this role almost perfectly. However, this is not to say that these are the only good actors are both Travis Fimmel and Clive Standen as Rollo do their job more as good and in his scenes Nathan O' Toole as Björn also plays his role very well.
I would rate the episode "Rites of Passage" with 8/10 points, as it captivates the viewer from beginning to end and introduces you to both the characters and the culture of the Vikings.
lots of penitential
jack_andrew_c17 April 2017
A brilliant first episode to a new TV show for me! With a good lead actor and a very entertaining villain. I strongly hope this show carries on at such a high level! The story line of this new show is very strong based on the story of the first viking worriers to make the trip to the west and invade England i also believe this show to be very educational when it comes to knowledge of the viking gods. 9/10
Hard to get in to it
felix-bergman17 January 2018
After hearing lots of good things about this show I finally sat down to watch it, but this first episode was not to promising and though I will give all of season 1 a go, it didn't really leave me wanting more. As a guy who has lived his entire life in Sweden I have to ask if the creators read up even a little on the geography of the place they're trying to represent, but I can look past that, it's all for show, right, but one thing I can't look past is the awful acting most of these actors pull of. Physically it's ok, good actually even from the younger actors some times, but the speech hurts my ears. Only two or three actors seem to be able to handle this skill, whenever the rest of the cast opens their mouths I want to strangle them. I doubted that any of them even spoke English as a first language and it blew my mind to find out that most of them are actually from English speaking countries. I constantly asked myself if the director actually thought this was good voicing as he filmed it, or if he just didn't have enough money to pay the actors for further reshoots. I hope this gets better, since the story actually seems worth it, but my God, if I have to sit through 6,5 hrs of this acting just to get through season one I don't see myself ever progressing to season 2.
So Good!
danessa-8306726 November 2020
Great start
AgustinCesaratti11 November 2019
Vikings has a strong beginning and I know that this is going to be a good series, not only because of its good reviews or the public's taste, but because it has historical content. Although most things are fictional and made for entertainment, the characters and gods are real, apart is a History Channel series. I hope it stays that way because this series has a future.
Great beggining
theteamavengers12 December 2020
Expected more
ItsEmaBitch3 July 2021
I truly expected more, especially since I heard a lot of good things about the show, so this came as a disappointment. Acting, the story, people not even speaking proper english, as if it's not their native language. Also, I've been trough the first 5-6 episodes and Ragnar is seriously annoying. Maybe he's supposed to be like that or maybe he's just not my cup of tea.
Rethinking if I should even watch the rest of the show.
Rethinking if I should even watch the rest of the show.
Excellent
vanessabriggsfirmin6 June 2022
Vikings is absolutely excellent. Beautifully filmed, great acting, gritty and intriguing. It can be gory but only when necessary to the storyline. Katheryn Winnock is brilliant as the beautiful Lagertha and as the story goes on season to season she proves a true inspirational heroine. She is strong and noble and can be a powerful and ruthless warrior when she needs to be.
I found Floki, played by Gustav Skarsgard, slightly irritating at first but as his character developed I became more and more fond of his quirky and eccentric behaviour and it becomes obvious that he has Asperger's or ADHD and is a genius inventor and builder. The love between Floki and Ragnar as best friends is really touching in places.
I love this brilliant series which is based on historical events, (with dramatic and imaginative licence), and do not agree with those on here who have panned it. You need to watch past any first episode to allow the characters to settle in and develop the rapport between each other. Don't listen to the detractors, stick with it to be rewarded with exciting storylines, superb acting, excellent styling and costumes and over all a beautifully made and exciting drama. Prepare to be delighted and shocked in places but where necessary to the plot. Be warned that it is gritty and bloodthirsty in places but is moreover brilliantly made with beautiful acting and filming and is addictive, like a book you can't put down. Enjoy!!! 😉
I found Floki, played by Gustav Skarsgard, slightly irritating at first but as his character developed I became more and more fond of his quirky and eccentric behaviour and it becomes obvious that he has Asperger's or ADHD and is a genius inventor and builder. The love between Floki and Ragnar as best friends is really touching in places.
I love this brilliant series which is based on historical events, (with dramatic and imaginative licence), and do not agree with those on here who have panned it. You need to watch past any first episode to allow the characters to settle in and develop the rapport between each other. Don't listen to the detractors, stick with it to be rewarded with exciting storylines, superb acting, excellent styling and costumes and over all a beautifully made and exciting drama. Prepare to be delighted and shocked in places but where necessary to the plot. Be warned that it is gritty and bloodthirsty in places but is moreover brilliantly made with beautiful acting and filming and is addictive, like a book you can't put down. Enjoy!!! 😉
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