WiC reviews the final 10 episodes of Vikings
By Corey Smith
Image: Vikings/Amazon Prime Video/History
Season 6, Episode 16: “The Final Straw”
Once again we get an episode with very little action, but “The Final Straw” works in ways the other episodes don’t. This episode relies on smaller, emotional connections between characters with long histories with one another, giving it a power that doesn’t need a big character death or battle scene for support.
Take Ivar and Harald’s conversations. After returning to Kattegat and pledging their loyalty to Harald, Ivar and Hvitserk are largely left to their own devices. Without a purpose, without a fight, Ivar feels like a ship lost at sea, which is something Harald can relate to. Ivar and Harald’s talk reminds us just how much the two men have in common, from killing their own brothers to the crown feeling unsatisfying to their romantic failures. They don’t boast like you’d expect two old warriors to: it’s simply a conversation between two men who realize they are very alike even if they don’t like each other.
Andersen and Franzen do a tremendous job with it. It’s the kind of I wish we’d get more of as the show comes to a close. Andersen in particular shines as Ivar searches for a purpose. Ultimately, he’s prompted by the Seer to seek out his next chapter back in England. That we’re returning to England this late in the game feels a bit random, but also poetic given how large a role it’s played throughout the series.
Marco Ilsø also gets time to shine as Hvitserk visits Bjorn’s burial mound. Once again, it’s a brutally honest scene. Hvitserk is soon visited by the goddess Gaea, which leads to an all night love-making session feels a little out of left field, although it does keep with Vikings’ tradition of randomly inserting members of the Norse pantheon into the story.
At any rate, Ivar, Harald and Hvitserk agree that peace between them would not last without a common foe, so they decide to sail for England one last time, nominally seeking to regain Kattegat’s glory and defeat Christianity, or something. Clearly the men need someone to fight before devouring each other, or worse, getting comfortable and dying fat and old in their beds.
Meanwhile, Ubbe remains lost at sea. Tensions are rising as food and water grow scarce, but Torvi manages to keep everyone from killing each other, although starvation and dehydration kill plenty anyway.
“The Last Straw” is a stellar episode that leans on its characters and actors. It’s an example of the heights an episode can reach when it removes distractions and just gives the performers great material to play. “The Last Straw” ranks among the season’s, and indeed the show’s, best outings.
