Over the course of its first season, Vikings made The History Channel a viable name in original programming. Although the network is pushing miniseries over original series with its latest scripted orders, History wisely renewed the period drama for a second season, and we’ve finally gotten a first teaser for the new episodes, which are expected to hit the schedule in February of 2014.
Honestly, the preview gives us an awesome look at protagonist Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel). He’s a dude with flowing long hair and an epic Viking-era costume, which thankfully doesn’t include a cartoon-y horn helmet. During the first season, Lothbrok achieves a dream of faster longships, and succeeds in taking a group of raiders into Northumbria, an English kingdom that is ripe for plunder. This causes Lothbrok to make plenty of enemies, both at home and in England.
The new teaser shows Lothbrok as a tough guy, but one who is also in varying states of decay. It makes for pretty cool imagery, but I’m not sure what it really says about Season 2 of the drama. Maybe there’s an idea in there about Lothbrok’s Viking community crumbling at its foundations? History’s promos for the series have always been strange, so it’s probably not worth reading too deeply into this one.
Instead, let’s talk about the up-to-date music choice History has employed, here. The cable network is not really known for its youthful demo numbers, but the channel still chose Lorde’s “Glory & Gore” for the new preview, making the show seem a lot more hip than it actually is—although both glorious and gory would be appropriate adjectives. Here’s that song in full, in case you are interested.
The History Channel hasn’t released an official premiere date for the new season of the drama, yet, but keep your eyes peeled for that news as well as the official Season 2 trailer. More information is available over at History’s site. Additionally, if you managed to miss the season last year, but would like to catch up this time around, Vikings: The Complete Season 1 is already available on Blu-ray and DVD in a set that I would describe as detailed, intricate, and fun to peruse. Check it out over at Amazon.
If you are looking for a quicker History Channel fix, the network is currently airing the miniseries Bonnie & Clyde. If you missed last night's first airing, we've got info on the repeats, here.
