Vikings is a fantastic series released by the History Channel that focuses on Ragnar Lothbrok and his exploit as well as his family and closest friends. It spans the length of decades and crosses into some interesting historical events and brings up some real-life figures to use as characters in a setting far more realistic than most Viking-inspired stories.
One of the first things a new watcher will notice is that the characters never try to look pristine, in fact, it's usually quite the opposite. It makes for a massively engaging story for the history buffs out there, but some of the actors fell a bit flat compared to the others on set.
10 Nailed: Katheryn Winnick As Lagertha
Forget Ragnar and all of his dumb choices, Lagertha is one of the best female characters that media has produced in a long time. Kathryn Winnick's work is phenomenal in portraying her and she probably has more facial expressions than anyone but Floki, which is something the series really lacks. She portrays her character so well that she has become a fan favorite to such an extent that the creators have had to find creative ways to keep her alive despite the fact she's now an old grandmother. Seriously, it should have been her show instead of Ragnar's.
9 Fell Short: Travis Flamel As Ragnar
Ironic considering it's his show, but he's not exactly interesting to watch after the first season. It's partially due to characterization and partially because he basically doesn't do anything except once in a blue moon. It's not to say that Travis Flamel isn't doing well and keeping within character, he just doesn't feel as engaging to watch as some of the others. His performance is just not quite there, especially as the series progresses. Fans spend more time waiting for him to get off-screen than wanting to watch him on, so that's really saying something.
8 Nailed: Jessalyn Gilsig As Siggy Haraldson
At first, she didn't seem like much but boy did she pour herself into that character so much that when she decided to move on they had to ask Jessalyn Gilsig if they could write a special episode just for her to give the character the final justice she deserved. She was such a powerful female character that was made for more than just a couple of love interests. She had a horrible reputation within her world, but she still fought hard and had such a believable performance that the series really hurt for a while without her.
7 Fell Short: Jennie Jacques And Sara Greene With Judith
As the love interest for Athelstan, Judith was set up to be a really fabulous character. She suffered some serious consequences and got involved in some really dangerous situations, including being forced into a marriage with Aethelwulf, but nothing really felt satisfying about her. She hardly developed and hardly did more than be a pawn in the plot.
Jennie Jacques and Sara Greene both played Judith and neither of them really did her much justice despite the fact she took up so much screen time. So perhaps it was neither Jennie nor Sara's fault for her shortcomings, but either way, it was hard to feel engaged with their performances.
6 Nailed: Gustaf Skarsgård As Floki
It takes a special kind of person to portray a really weird character without it turning cringeworthy, but Gustaf Skarsgård knocked it out of the park with his performance of Floki. Seriously, what a weird character. Absolutely every scene with him in it was highly animated with tons of emotion in his character, regardless of if he was having a good time or not. Despite any and all of his horrible choices, he was still a fun character to watch in a way some of the others really weren't.
5 Fell Short: Alyssa Sutherland As Queen Aslaug
Queen Aslaug was meant to be a troublesome character from the start, and Alyssa Sutherland did well to make sure that fans hated her character for more reasons than just that she replaced Lagertha. The problem is that was her best achievement. She had few facial expressions and little vocal inflection making it difficult to get behind most of her performances as well as the fact that her motions were often stiff and robotic. She was just hard to like in any capacity, making it all the better when Aslaug was finally killed.
4 Nailed: Nathan O'Toole As Bjorn Lothbrok
The kid literally grew up so much they had to remove him from the storyline until he could play himself again. He has a logical progression of character and he steals the screen when he was on it.
Nathan O'Toole did such a phenomenal job as Bjorn that the character seemed to lose a little something when he was taken over by Alexander Ludwig. It just didn't feel the same anymore, like a little spark had disappeared. The problem was they couldn't wait for him to age up again for the following time skip so it really was a shame as Nathan had done such a great job every moment he was on screen.
3 Fell Short: Amy Bailey With Queen Kwenthrith
They tried so hard to make her cool, scheming, and dangerous and she just didn't quite make it. While she did have more animation than a good chunk of the characters, Amy Bailey just barely missed the mark with her. More often than not her character felt forced and awkward rather than believable. Not every female character has to be a gorgeous powerhouse, and her character had some really interesting points that she could have been great with. The problem is she just never felt like she committed to any particular point, and it really hurt.
2 Nailed: George Blagden With Athelstan
Up until the point he reconverted and died in a rapid-fire episode, he was more enjoyable to watch than just about everyone else. It was fun to watch a character deconvert instead of successfully convert everyone around him for once, and he had such intense character development that every moment George Blagden was on screen it was a treat. For the whole time Athelstan was alive it almost felt more like his story than Ragnar's. He really stole the spotlight and ran with it all the way until he was gone.
1 Fell Short: Clive Standen With Rollo
Better than Ragnar, but it's hard to like Rollo much at all. Clive Standen only has approximately four facial expressions for him: bored, enraged, skeevy smile, and dumbfounded doe-eyed. He was far more interesting to watch than some of the others, but the problem was that his character was pulled in so many different directions to fit what they were trying to do with him that it's no wonder Mr. Standen seemed to have a bit of trouble keeping up a great performance.
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