• Home
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV
  • Video Games
  • Wrestling
  • Topics
  • Latest Comments on Cult of Whatever
Search
Cult of Whatever logo
  • Movies
    Featured
    • The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

      The Living Daylights is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 28, 2022
      Movie Blogs
    Recent
    • Lethal Weapon: Danny Glover and Mel Gibson as Roger Murtaugh and Martin Riggs

      Lethal Weapon is still awesome thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 9, 2022
    • Nope: Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya

      REVIEW: “NOPE” wants to be more than it is, which is just good enough

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 22, 2022
    • Brave: Kelly Macdonald voices Princess Merida

      Ten years later, BRAVE remains Pixar’s most underrated film

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 21, 2022
    • A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Heather Langenkamp as Nancy

      A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 20, 2022
    • Where The Crawdads Sing: Daisy Edgar Jones and David Strathairn

      REVIEW: Where the Crawdads Sing deftly blends genres to good effect

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 19, 2022
    • Thor Love and Thunder: Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth as The Mighty Thor and Thor

      REVIEW: THOR – LOVE AND THUNDER is an adventure of mirth and sadness alike

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 9, 2022
  • Music
    Random
    • Johnny Cash Cover

      Johnny Cash: The American Storyteller

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 2, 2015
      Music Blogs
    Recent
    • The Beatles: Get Back

      What GET BACK reveals about the Beatles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 15, 2021
    • Simon And Garfunkel at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam1982

      The Boxer is a song about being conned

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 4, 2021
    • Lady Gaga: Chromatica Album Cover

      Lady Gaga’s discography is totally out of order

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 3, 2021
    • Michael Jackson Thriller Album Cover

      Thirty years ago music fans said “Nevermind” to Michael Jackson

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 21, 2021
    • Queen II Album Cover

      On Queen’s The Miracle, and the importance of track ordering

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 16, 2021
    • Linda Paul Mccartney 1976

      50 years ago, McCartney dropped “Lennon” and went solo…

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 5, 2020
  • TV
    Featured
    • Nancy Drew S03e01: Kennedy McMann as Nancy

      Nancy Drew S03E01 Review: The Warning of the Frozen Heart - Uh-oh!

      By Salome G
      | October 10, 2021
      TV Blogs
    Recent
    • Roswell New Mexico S04e09: Allie Myers and Jeanine Mason as Shiri Appleby and Liz Ortecho

      Roswell, New Mexico S04E09 Review: Wild Wild West- Okay…

      By Salome G
      | August 11, 2022
    • Evil S03e09: Party Time

      Evil S03E09 Review: The Demon of Money – Dark moments…

      By Salome G
      | August 8, 2022
    • American Horror Stories S02e03: Bella Thorne as Marci

      American Horror Stories S02E03 Review: Drive – Unsettling experiences

      By Salome G
      | August 8, 2022
    • The Orville S03: Penny Johnson Jerald and Mark Jackson as Dr. Claire Finn and Isaac

      The Orville season three finale review: Don’t say goodbye

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 8, 2022
    • Roswell New Mexico S04e08: Michael Vlamis as Michael Guerin

      Roswell, New Mexico S04E08 Review: Missing My Baby – The truth hurts

      By Salome G
      | August 3, 2022
    • Riverdale S06e22: Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom

      Riverdale S06E22 Review: Night of the Comet – Ambitious…

      By Salome G
      | August 2, 2022
  • Video Games
    Featured
    • Arkham Knight

      Batman: Arkham Knight - A fitting end to a trilogy

      By Tom Farr
      | July 18, 2015
      Video Game Reviews
    Recent
    • Legend Of Zelda

      Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Super Mario 64

      Which system had the better launch: A battle of four Nintendo consoles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2021
    • Luigi's Mansion

      Happy twentieth to Nintendo’s underrated gem, the Gamecube

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 18, 2021
    • Metroid Dread

      Metroid Dread – Post Game analysis and sequel needs

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 29, 2021
    • Mario Headphones

      The SNES Turns 30: A look at some of the system’s best soundtracks

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 22, 2021
    • Metroid Dread Poster

      REVIEW: Metroid Dread reawakens the old gamer in me

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 11, 2021
  • Wrestling
    Featured
    • Wwe Payback 2017 Poster 2

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE Payback 2017

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 30, 2017
      WWE Blogs
    Recent
    • AEW Forbidden Door 2022: Claudio Castagnoli

      ROH Death Before Dishonor 2022 kickstarted a new era with a bang

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 25, 2022
    • Vince Mcmahon Stone Cold Podcast

      Vince McMahon is out as WWE chief. First reactions here…

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 22, 2022
    • AEW Double or Nothing 2022: CM Punk vs Adam Page

      REVIEW: AEW Double or Nothing 2022 delivered an up-and-down show

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • MJF on AEW Dynamite 17th November 2021

      Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • Raw 210501: Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

      May 21, 2001 – A (forgotten) date that will live in WWE infamy

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 39 Logo

      Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
  • Topics
    • site logo
    Latest
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04E09 Review: Wild Wild West- Okay...
    • Lethal Weapon is still awesome thirty-five years later
    • Evil S03E09 Review: The Demon of Money - Dark moments...
    • American Horror Stories S02E03 Review: Drive - Unsettling experiences
    • The Orville season three finale review: Don't say goodbye
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04E08 Review: Missing My Baby - The truth hurts

    Vikings S05E14: The Lost Moment / S05E15: Hell – This is much more like it!

    By Kevin Boyle
    | December 27, 2018
    TV Blogs

    The Lost Moment

    During the opening credits of The Lost Moment I found myself begging Vikings to give me more. The previous three episodes have confirmed that the possibility of the show recapturing it’s old zest and spice, hinted by a great mid-season finale, was just a false promise. This half of season five has been weighed down by uninteresting characters in uninteresting stories, except for Rollo, of course. Then a funny thing happened: The Lost Moment gave me exactly what I asked for, it gave me more.

    While The Lost Moment can’t compete with the show’s greatest episodes, it is far and away the strongest hour since the show returned last month. What Vikings lacks in subtly, especially when it comes to dialogue, it can make up for this by being beautifully shot. One of my problems with the last episode was the distinct lack of visual flair, especially in the scenes in which Ivar is tryharding being a god. While my prediction that it wasn’t Hvitserk under the hood turned out to be true, the sheer madness of the fake Lagertha sacrifice was given a lot of weight through some stunning staging and cinematography; something that has been sorely lacking in recent weeks. That flair extends its reach throughout the entire episode, the use of shadow and light, and a colder color pallet communicates the darkness that the departed Ancient One was so afraid of.

    Vikings S05e14 Ferdia Walsh Peelo King Alfred

    Vikings S05e15 Gustaf Skarsgard Floki

    The stunning visuals did a lot to improve this season’s most stagnant plot, Floki’s island of the Gods. With another settler missing, this time a pregnant woman, the community is once again ready to tear itself apart. While the settlers themselves are dull ciphers, the scene in which Floki sees a vision of the missing woman, who confirms her death and her the identity of her killer, on a dark and stormy night is pure magic.

    Elsewhere the episode finds itself in a familiar position. The Lost Moment is the calm before the storm episode, the final breath before the chaos, and most of these characters are trying to make sense of their lives and how things came to be this way. Magnus’ gambit of being Ragnar’s long-lost son has seemingly back-fired, Alfred came agonizingly close to being overthrown by his own jealous brother, Ivar’s megalomania is only growing, and Heahmund chooses to love Lagertha over his own faith. It’s a busy episode, but it at least feels consistent. We know what drives these characters, what their ambitions are, and what they fear. The most impressive example of this is King Harald. I despise Harald, I always have, but his position could make for great drama. His ambition to become King of Norway has been achieved, yet he has lost everyone he loved on that journey. He now cuts a regretful figure, which might make him even more dangerous.

    7/10 – Give me more of this Vikings, please.

    Hell

    I seriously didn’t expect this, it isn’t even my birthday, but Bishop Heahmund is no more. No longer do we have to suffer through the long con that has been Jonathan Rhys Meyer’s “acting” as he was killed in Vikings latest brilliantly-staged battle by a bunch of random arrows before being run through by the nameless shieldmaiden who is likely the next candidate for Bjorn’s main squeeze. Not only that, but there was also a frankly hilarious scene in which Heahmund recounts his dream of Hell to Lagertha- the dream itself was genuinely scary but it loses its power due to the Meyers brand of stunted narration as Heahmund pulls a 180 on Lagertha by unceremoniously dumping her before the battle. I think it would be easier if he had mother issues.

    Vikings S05e15 Jonathan Rhys Meyers Bishop Heahmund

    Vikings S05e15 1

    Though I joke, Hell is another solid episode. It doesn’t have the same grace as The Lost Moment, but the battle between Alfred and Harald’s forces was thrilling. Harald himself is growing on me, most likely due to the fact that he has finally become more than a one-sentence character description. The same goes for Ubbe. While no relationship that spans two worlds and religions will ever rival Ragnar and Athelstan’s (or as his fanclub call him, “the monk with the eight-pack”, the growing relationship between Ubbe and Alfred, a relationship that played a major part in keeping Alfred alive after his first real battle, is already far more intriguing than whatever nonsense was going on between Ivar and Heahmund.

    Vikings S05e15 Ferdia Walsh Peelo King Alfred

    Another wrinkle comes in the form of Judith, who is now in raging torture mode (I’m a big fan of this), as she discovers the identities of the men who were conspiring to kill King Alfred, with the leader of this conspiracy being Alfred’s brother, the dreadful Aethelred. Her reveal to Alfred of this news comes at the end of a day that should be one of the greatest of his young life, especially since Aethelred saved him on the battlefield.

    7/10 – There is a lot to like in the latest two episodes of Vikings, but that doesn’t mean the show is back to its best. While there have been two high-profile deaths in as many episodes, they are both at the center of plots that just aren’t, or in Heahmund’s case weren’t, working. While the death of the Seer means there is a job opening that Floki is probably qualified for, it only serves the show by showing that Ivar is crazy. Except we already know that, and while Hvitserk might have some promise in the future, that future still feels far away. As for Heahmund, good riddance to a character that never truly fit, no matter how much Michael Hirst tried.

    Share this article:

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit

    Tags

    Vikings

    COMMENTS

    Please read our Commenting Policy before you join in with the discussion.

    Note: If you have email notifications enabled, please check your email spam folders to ensure emails are not missed.

    Subscribe
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    Notify of
    guest
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    guest
    4 Comments
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Sharq
    Sharq
    3 years ago

    Ivar has turned out really different from his father. Ragnar was loved and respected by his followers, but Ivar rules through fear. Also, Bjorn’s haircut may be influenced by his meeting with Elsewith; maybe he’s starting to conform to the English culture.

    0
    Reply
    Stargazer
    Stargazer
    3 years ago
    Reply to  Sharq

    Ivar is a good example of a child that was not given the right and enough attention. In other words, we can call him the black sheep of the family. I can’t blame him for how he acted with his brothers because he wanted attention and now he can get it through fear and intimidation.

    0
    Reply
    Thatcher
    Thatcher
    3 years ago
    Reply to  Sharq

    Well, a lot of children wish to step outside their father’s shadow and be known for their own talents and wit. Maybe that’s what is going on, even if it’s subconscious.

    0
    Reply
    Thatcher
    Thatcher
    3 years ago

    I’m so glad I read these recaps as I had given up on the programme. After watching the last two episodes I figured it was dead in the water. I’m glad the plot is picking up again. Now I just need to set my DVR to record it again.

    0
    Reply

    You might also like

    • Vikings S05E13: A New God – I don’t care about Wessex!

      By Kevin Boyle
      | December 13, 2018
    • Vikings S05E12: Murder Most Foul – How can this much sex and death be so dull?

      By Kevin Boyle
      | December 7, 2018
    • Vikings S05E11: The Revelation – Rollo’s return is the high point of a disappointing premiere

      By Kevin Boyle
      | November 29, 2018
    • Vikings S05E10: Moments of Vision – A stirring mid-season finale nearly makes season five worth it

      By Kevin Boyle
      | January 25, 2018
    • Vikings S05E09: A Simple Story – An episode that gets lost while looking for a new direction

      By Kevin Boyle
      | January 18, 2018
    • Vikings S05E08: The Joke – That battle barely shook the TV, never mind ending the world

      By Kevin Boyle
      | January 12, 2018
    • Vikings S05E07: Full Moon – An unsubtle episode with a hollow metaphor at its heart

      By Kevin Boyle
      | January 4, 2018
    • Vikings S05E06: The Message – With everyone re-grouping Vikings becomes the worst version of itself

      By Kevin Boyle
      | December 28, 2017
    • Vikings S05E05: The Prisoner – An exciting episode brings the season a much-needed focus

      By Kevin Boyle
      | December 21, 2017
    • Vikings S05E04: The Plan – Five stories compete for top spot and no one wins

      By Kevin Boyle
      | December 14, 2017
    • Vikings S05E03: Homeland – It’s the Battle of York in a thrilling episode

      By Kevin Boyle
      | December 7, 2017
    • Vikings S05E01 & E02: The Departed – A new chapter begins

      By Kevin Boyle
      | November 30, 2017
    • Vikings S04E20: The Reckoning – A transitional season of Vikings ends with more transition

      By Kevin Boyle
      | February 2, 2017

    FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

    TV Topics

    Recommended for you

    • Roswell, New Mexico S04E09 Review: Wild Wild West- Okay…

      By Salome G
      | August 11, 2022
    • Evil S03E09 Review: The Demon of Money – Dark moments…

      By Salome G
      | August 8, 2022
    • American Horror Stories S02E03 Review: Drive – Unsettling experiences

      By Salome G
      | August 8, 2022
    • The Orville season three finale review: Don’t say goodbye

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 8, 2022
    • Riverdale S06E22 Review: Night of the Comet – Ambitious…

      By Salome G
      | August 2, 2022
    • Is Rick C-137 our original Rick from the Rick and Morty series, does it really even matter?

      By Jason Collins
      | July 26, 2022
    • Breaking down Time Lord biology one heart at a time

      By Jason Collins
      | July 24, 2022
    • Dark Winds S01E06 Review: HózhóoNaasháa – Satisfying

      By Salome G
      | July 21, 2022
    • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Episode 10 review (season one ends with a whopper)

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 9, 2022
    • REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi had a good season and little else

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 22, 2022
    • Stranger Things S04 Part 1 Review: Almost perfect!

      By Salome G
      | June 5, 2022
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Every episode ranked! (Part 5/5)

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Cookie Policy and Settings
    • Terms of Use
    • Photo Credits
    • RSS
    All Cult of Whatever articles, logos, illustrations and graphics are copyright CultOfWhatever.com. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 CultOfWhatever. All Rights Reserved.
    • facebook
    • twitter
    wpDiscuz