'Revenge' starts somewhat too slowly as I was burning to FINALLY see how King Aelle would fare against the Ragnarssons and how their revenge would look (and I'm not alone). But Ivan Kaye, who played King Aelle, fully made up for all the episode's shortcomings by his truly breathtaking, award-worthy performance in every single one of his scenes.
As the title 'Revenge' suggests, the culmination point of this episode is the final confrontation of King Aelle with the Ragnarssons and their revenge on him for which this episode is remembered and has become famous amongst the fans.
Hence this was truly Ivan Kaye's episode in this season and the culmination towards which the first part of the show had been heading since the build-up for Ragnar's storyline with King Aelle in season 1. It is a pity that he wasn't given due space to show more of his brilliance, especially with regard to the intense process that must have taken place to push his forceful and proud character over his breaking point into the miserable state of his penultimate scene.
But even with very limited space and with script issues this incredible actor managed to display most vividly and convincingly a full range of emotions, moods, and states:
From subtle hints at King Aelle's major vulnerability in his restrained concern and seeking strength in religion through awe-inspiring and heroically belligerent determination followed by a whole battle taking place on his face between confidence with triumphant satisfaction, horror and composure, then rather abruptly changing to a defenceless and miserably intimidated state in total desperation and finally culminating in blood-curling suffering which in the end melts into an agony that unveils most touching fragility and thereby the character's bare humanity.
To sum it up: a standout performance par excellence by Ivan Kaye who deserved an Emmy nomination for this stunning performance and definitely a lot more attention. I found myself deeply shaken and impressed by his mastery which induced me to check more of his work.
There were some insults to the audience's intelligence in this episode and a harsh breach of continuity in King Aelle's character development which I can't describe further here in order to avoid spoilers. This is most probably due to the fact that they, unfortunately, decided to spend too much time on introducing the Ragnarssons and then went from this almost boringly slow start to a rushed pace towards the end. Thereby they didn't give King Aelle the careful writing and screentime for which the episode title 'Revenge' and the show's official teasing called and that the actor, the character and the audience deserved after such a long period of waiting for this final showdown.
I give this episode a rating of 10 nonetheless if only because Ivan Kaye really saved the day in my opinion by making even the most ridiculous turns look believable through his convincing portrayal that made all the various states of his character in this episode feel genuine.
As the title 'Revenge' suggests, the culmination point of this episode is the final confrontation of King Aelle with the Ragnarssons and their revenge on him for which this episode is remembered and has become famous amongst the fans.
Hence this was truly Ivan Kaye's episode in this season and the culmination towards which the first part of the show had been heading since the build-up for Ragnar's storyline with King Aelle in season 1. It is a pity that he wasn't given due space to show more of his brilliance, especially with regard to the intense process that must have taken place to push his forceful and proud character over his breaking point into the miserable state of his penultimate scene.
But even with very limited space and with script issues this incredible actor managed to display most vividly and convincingly a full range of emotions, moods, and states:
From subtle hints at King Aelle's major vulnerability in his restrained concern and seeking strength in religion through awe-inspiring and heroically belligerent determination followed by a whole battle taking place on his face between confidence with triumphant satisfaction, horror and composure, then rather abruptly changing to a defenceless and miserably intimidated state in total desperation and finally culminating in blood-curling suffering which in the end melts into an agony that unveils most touching fragility and thereby the character's bare humanity.
To sum it up: a standout performance par excellence by Ivan Kaye who deserved an Emmy nomination for this stunning performance and definitely a lot more attention. I found myself deeply shaken and impressed by his mastery which induced me to check more of his work.
There were some insults to the audience's intelligence in this episode and a harsh breach of continuity in King Aelle's character development which I can't describe further here in order to avoid spoilers. This is most probably due to the fact that they, unfortunately, decided to spend too much time on introducing the Ragnarssons and then went from this almost boringly slow start to a rushed pace towards the end. Thereby they didn't give King Aelle the careful writing and screentime for which the episode title 'Revenge' and the show's official teasing called and that the actor, the character and the audience deserved after such a long period of waiting for this final showdown.
I give this episode a rating of 10 nonetheless if only because Ivan Kaye really saved the day in my opinion by making even the most ridiculous turns look believable through his convincing portrayal that made all the various states of his character in this episode feel genuine.