I vividly remember watching the first season of The Last Kingdom on BBC America all the way back in 2015 and thinking, yeah, this show is better than Vikings. It wasn’t that it was more historically accurate or that its sword-and-shield combat was more intense; it was better to me because it was more focused. The Last Kingdom gave us one central character, Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon), to root for throughout its entire run, with everyone else simply being in his orbit. And now, in 2022, Uhtred’s tale has finally come to an end, at least in its TV form. Season five proved to be a satisfying end for our hero, and as an entire series, The Last Kingdom never lost its momentum, unlike some concurrent shows that occupied a similar space.

Before assessing the series as a whole, I want to first share my thoughts on season five. Coming off of its weakest season, The Last Kingdom had me questioning its longevity. Thankfully, the first few episodes of season five refocus the proceedings, allowing Uthred to do his thing without certain romantic and familial hang-ups. It was also nice to see a familiar face, Brida (Emily Cox), resurface with a Viking army, disturbing the peace between Dane and Saxon once more. That being said, Brida’s character continues to be underwritten, with her now being nothing more than a cartoonish cliché of a villain. For a character who’s been around since episode one, she deserved better than this. This should have the compelling culmination of her animosity toward Uhtred, but instead it’s mostly a dud.*

Luckily, like all seasons of The Last Kingdom, season five is based on two books, which means the storyline swiftly moves on to the next army for Uhtred to crush. In the season’s second half, Uhtred is offered another chance to reclaim Bebbanburg, his ancestral home and birthright, when an alliance forms in North Umbria against the Kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia. These episodes reminded me a lot of the early seasons, with dramatic moments similar to when the series was at its best. Like in the good ole days, we have Uhtred openly rebelling against the King, a now bearded Edward (Timothy Innes), because it’s in the service of the greater good. We also have two mighty villains in the forms of Lord Aethelhelm (Adrian Schiller) and King Constantin of Scotland (Rod Hallett).** This exciting stretch of episodes concludes with a decisive final battle that’s one of the series’ best, and it’s more than adequate as a capper to a rather splendid series finale.

Other than that, there are a few other moments and performances that are noteworthy in this final season. For the romantically inclined, Uthred and Lady Aethelflaed (Millie Brady) have a few heartbreaking scenes that address their forfeited love. Some of said scenes’ dialogue is a bit cringy, but I appreciated it all the same. I also enjoyed seeing the direction that Lady Aelswith (Eliza Butterworth) went in, as she continues to assert herself in a post-Alfred world. Butterworth deserves a ton of credit for her portrayal of an elderly woman whose behavior truly implies decades of experience and hardship, especially when you consider that the actress is only 29 years old (more on that later). And I was also glad to see Haesten (Jeppe Beck Laursen) again, even if it was only briefly. Every time he and Uhtred shared the screen, I had a stupid grin on my face.

All in all, I would rank season five above season four but below one through three, with its finale being one the series’ finest episodes. Looking back, there are two notable things the first three seasons benefited from that four and five couldn’t: David Dawson as King Alfred and Stephen Butchard as showrunner/creator. Let’s start with Dawson, who was absolutely sublime as Alfred, a piously principled but pragmatic monarch. In many ways he was the polar opposite of the perpetually impetuous Uhtred, but that very fact made the scenes between the two utterly electric. It also helped that Dawson and Dreymon’s chemistry on screen was palpable, demonstrating the actors’ mastery of their characters and craft. Season three, the final season with Alfred, still represents the show at its best, and since then it’s never really come close to being as poignant and thought-provoking.***

Perhaps even more important than Dawson/Alfred was Stephen Butchard, The Last Kingdom’s creator and initial showrunner. Butchard’s approach to the series was, in my eyes, decidedly more historic and immersive than that of his successors, EPs Nigel Marchant and Gareth Neame (with head writer Martha Hillier). I really appreciated Butchard’s attitude toward faith in the first three seasons, as this historically accurate component was constantly at the center of Wessex’s issues with Uhtred. In seasons four and five, the religious aspect became secondary to the bombast and adventure, an upgrade for some but not for me. Butchard’s seasons were also more concerned with the lives of the Danes, another side of the story that intrigued me. In the end, he chose to leave the show at a good time, as the end of season three marked a pivoting point in the narrative. Sadly, what came after was decidedly dumber; still fun, but nowhere near as deep.

Also, the fourth and fifth seasons aren’t helped by the sizeable time jumps that occur before their respective premieres. I mean, it’s kind of hard to stay immersed when certain characters who should be 60+ years old instead look 30 or so. Take for example the already mentioned Aelswith, a character who’s a grandmother with teenage grandchildren by season five. As great as Butterworth is as the character, she never looks a day over 30, even with the wisps of gray added to her hair. When I saw her standing next to her daughter and granddaughter, she looked more like their sister than a woman a couple of generations removed. This same problem affects Uhtred, Brida, Father Beocca (Ian Hart), and all the other characters who survive three-plus seasons. This problem doesn’t ruin the show by any means, but it certainly isn’t good for immersion.

All criticism aside, The Last Kingdom is a very fun show, pure and simple. Its storylines feature enough political intrigue, humor, romance, and folklore that they should, and clearly have, attract a broad range of viewers. Add on that the filmmakers show an uncanny awareness of when to throw in a fight scene to break up the drama, and you’ve got a potent combination of positives. I, for one, was a big fan of the character dynamics. I already mentioned how much I enjoyed watching Uhtred clash with Alfred, but it was also neat to watch him have similar problems with Alfred’s heir, Edward. And I was always highly amused by Uhtred’s interactions with his three travelling buddies: Finan (Mark Rowley), Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravičius), and Osferth (Ewan Mitchell), who all grew into their roles finely.****

To sum up, The Last Kingdom was a series that always delivered a plethora of Viking vs Saxon thrills while only occasionally faltering to a few issues, the majority of which became most glaring in its final two seasons. While season five is better than four and manages to offer the kind of entertainment that fans are used to from earlier seasons, it still falls short of the Butchard era. That era was when this show was at its best, when it was can’t-miss TV. Well, I guess a lot people missed it, which is why BBC dropped it, but that’s beside the point. If you’re looking for a swords-and-scheming kind of show that doesn’t shit the bed in its final season, you can’t go wrong with The Last Kingdom. The same applies if you’re looking for a Viking-themed show, of which there are (too) many. I’m really going to miss Uhtred, but his adventures aren’t over quite yet, as a feature-length sequel is set to hit Netflix in the near future. I’ll be back for another review when that releases.

If I had to score season five of The Last Kingdom, I’d give it a 7/10.

If I had to score the entire series of The Last Kingdom, I’d also give it a 7/10.

Notes:

* On the whole, I never really bought into the Brida vs Uhtred rivalry that developed over the seasons. The writers never really sold Brida’s hatred toward Uhtred with the sort of consistency required to make their feud as impactful as they seemed to think it was. Sure, she has plenty of reasons to resent the guy, and yes, I see that she’s a broken woman. But if they were trying to play the “she’s insane” angle, then they shouldn’t have shown her to be reasonable as much as they did. It’s a shame her subplot never really coalesced, as I always thought that Emily Cox was stellar in the role.

** King Constantin was my favorite of the new characters introduced in season five. While he’s certainly an antagonist, the writers and actor Rod Hallett imbued him with enough nuance that he’s quite likeable. As for Aethelhelm, I always thought he was one of the best parts of season four, and this continued into five. Adrian Schiller chewed the scenery like he’s a baddie in a Shakespearean play, which made every scene he’s in a cut above. He’s fantastic.

*** Season three was also the final one with Aethelwold, played by the always superb Harry McEntire. Aethelwold was my favorite supporting character in the early seasons, and the show never managed to adequately replace him.

**** [Minor Spoiler] At the very end of season five, there’s a montage that shows everyone who Uhtred loved, as well as everyone who helped him become the man that he is at the end of the series. I liked this sequence, but I felt that the montage excluded a few characters who deserved to be in there. This bothered me a bit, as I felt their inclusions should’ve been obvious. C’mon TLK writers, you should’ve given everyone that was worthy their due.