Vinland Saga has the same problem that JoJo has. It looks amazing, it has great potential, but it falls flat on simple stones that are important when balancing male vs. female audience.
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I loved the first few episodes, with Thorfinn being a silly child that was raised by Viking rules of "warriors will meet their glory" and his relationship to his father, who realised that there is more to life that glorified death.
I enjoyed the little bitch joining his dad on the boat, going to fight. And I enjoyed seeing his dad becoming a victim of revenge and leaving his child behind. It created an amazing point of conflict and great set up for a show focused on revenge, finding yourself and your home.
Instead, what I got, was a Stockholm syndrome: LIVE. Psychologically, I cannot agree with some things. I do agree with the Stockholm syndrome, but the kid had many many moments of weaknesses where he could have attacked the people he promised to kill and take revenge on.
I do understand becoming a servant-slash-everything boy for Askeladd and his crew, for survival purposes... but a kid who got messed up by trauma and near-death-experiences... don't tell me he wouldn't want to see his family after all those years?
Don't tell me he grows to see the man who killed his father as his own father figure.
Another problem I have with this show is the pacing. Contrary to female-oriented shows that are 🫰✨ peppy 🫰✨fast🫰✨always something happening🫰✨keep going🫰✨story flowing🫰✨getting to the point🫰✨ while still creating space for more drama and backstories... VINLAND SAGA was draggy at times.
Backstories and flashbacks were made in only half episode time, which is not exactly bad, but they weren't functional.
Let me explain. This show has a lot of characters that could be psychologically deep. But it doesn't do them justice and it fails to build a world and universe where you would care for them. The show itself isn't sure what characters are good, which are bad and which are morally grey. So by being confused, they are having a hard time introducing them in a way, where we could pick up on liars, traumatised babies and fighters for good. But still, you know that there is something off. And that doesn't allow you to build a connection to them.
Thus most of backstories felt like "who even cares", and many of the resolved issues gave me a "oh, okay. It could be better, but sure" feeling. The big twist towards the end left me feeling empty, because I knew it could be done in a better way, that would actually emotionally sway people.
This is your spoiler alert.
The only time I actually felt something and the only time worth crying about was the conclusion of Ragnar's story. His and prince Canute's relationship was truly moving and truly interesting. It was such a stab in the back to see him pass and hear about Canute's life and backstory.
Through simple freaking promise of making a "chicken stew" to characters that will be the most memorable... that is the way you want to build a show!
Spoiler ends.
Needless to say, this show does a lot of things right. And despite my complaining, it's a great watch and great story that really makes you want to watch more. But not always for the good reasons.
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There is a lot that could be talked about and this show does deserve deep psychological dives. But probably not from me.
