The Last Kingdom is one of my favorite Netflix shows, though I watched its five seasons spread out over the course of eight years, having only just finished Season 5. The story of Uhtred son of Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) based on the Saxon Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell reached a satisfying, if slightly rushed, conclusion in its final season. As a fan, I was content. In fact, after the credits rolled, I was ready to go back to the beginning. I haven’t seen the first season since 2015—nearly a decade ago!—and I enjoyed this story and these characters so much, I could easily go back and watch it all the way through one more time.
I could not say the same for Vikings, no matter how much I loved Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) and the cast of that show. Where The Last Kingdom constantly deepened relationships and made us care more about the characters, Vikings made us hate almost everyone by the end—and killed off many of the characters we actually had to root for.
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