Just finished season 4. Great character developments - Uhtred, Brida, Aelswith, Edward, Finan, Aethelflaed - it was amazing to the change and growth through their choices and circumstances. You can see their past experiences weighing down and influencing their thoughts and actions. They all had to make very hard decisions and sacrifices.
Cinematography - Visually I think it was stunning! The locations were amazing. Loved the wide shots. Loved the colours. The only thing I could've done without are the close-up bits, when the camera just sort of slows down and gets blurry. Like when Aelfwynn sees the black crow and follows it. I hate those in movies...but that's just my personal taste.
Actions - I have no words. The battles, the 1-1 fights. The guys have really outdone themselves this season..I loved the 1-1 fights, truly shows how great a fighter Uhtred is even without a sword. It was good to see Uhtred being intimate, he deserved some serious business time. Brida hacking away at people wow that was intense, you could feel her pain and rage, same for Edward. Timothy was brilliant. You could feel his torment.
Relationships - I love seeing Uhtred's relationship with his kids. Also with Finan. Wish there was more screentime dedicated to those special 1-1 moments. Uhtred loves someone and loses them, I feel really sad for him. I was happy to see Aelswith finally get a moment where she sees him the way Alfred did. Bloody weasel haesten, why Uhtred keeps letting him go. I am still reeling from Beocca's death, I can't believe they did that. I'm devastated. Like Uhtred said he had been the constant in his life and he has been for us too through our journey with Uhtred. Whyyyyyy...the only thing I can think of is maybe it was required for Uhtred to step up as a father like Beocca was to him. I love Sigtryggr, he's interesting, you can see he's different and he thinks and his values aligns a lot to that of Uhtred in a lot of ways and I think that's why he accepted Stiorra going with him. I hope we can see more of that in S5.
Overall I think they did a pretty good job in terms of storylines from a book reader's perspective. I still don't understand why they didn't at least mention Uhtred's youngest son but I'm assuming he's tucked away safely being cared for somewhere. The focus was more on the 2 older children. If we go to S5, there's a big part where Uhtred raises him and Aethelstan together and teach them how to become warriors. What a freaky coincidence with the sickness and what's happening now.
If I had to be completely honest, my least fav part was the guys just running and walking for so long through the woods, up the hills, down the hill, across the hill, I understand some of it is needed for the storyline but so much? must have been exhausting and carrying a child too! That time could've been used to show more intimate moments between the characters in those scenes.That's my only negative. It's not bad, just unnecessary I felt.
Overall though....absolutely Epic! This season was about relationships and hard choices and character growth to me and they showed that well. It keeps getting better every season and I hope Netflix renews this for another season as there's a lot more story to tell in Uhtred's journey. The cast and crew are absolutely brilliant!
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