Necrotongue

The episode picked up the pace after the last one. Along with the dark atmosphere, it delivered solid action at the docks and Vanessa’s confrontation with darkness, promising intriguing developments in future episodes. Van Helsing’s sudden departure added a touch of humor.

The creators took us back into the characters' pasts, and it was actually quite good. I finally learned what connects (and divides) Malcolm and Vanessa and got a vivid look at the cutting-edge methods in the field of medical science.

I hesitated for a long time whether to give three or four stars because the plot of the fourth episode was strangely dull. In the end, I decided for a weaker four, but only because I enjoyed the previous three episodes and I hope that the following ones will entertain me as well. 4*

Well, the unbelievable happened — this episode gets four stars from me. There were several reasons: the subplot with the poisoned school caretaker made me laugh, the two hopeless characters finally broke up, and I managed to assemble a new lawnmower while watching.

This time, the pacing felt off. Other than that, I don't have any major complaints — the atmosphere was still appropriately heavy, and I enjoyed the Monster's story. I'm looking forward to the next episodes.

The second episode noticeably lost some of its pace. However, the events at Lyle’s party convinced me that it deserved five stars after all. I love how more legendary characters are gradually emerging, the ones that used to keep people awake at night.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this series isn’t exactly a horror show — or at least not in the traditional sense. But that’s not a bad thing. In the first episode, the creators managed to build a great atmosphere and solid tension. The plot had a very good pace, the cast is stellar, and overall, I was very pleased with this opener.

I don't know if it's because I've become somewhat numb, but this time I actually enjoyed it in some places. Louis' annoying mother is still in the series for now, but surprisingly, the newcomer Maggie didn't annoy me at all, quite the opposite. I even laughed at Morwenna's needle phobia, so I would rate it 3*+.

I appreciated that the creators finally decided to kill off some major characters, but the execution left much to be desired. Interrupting the battle with the preceding events was fine, but the silly visions and strange states of some characters got on my nerves. And Halfdan’s stupid death — really, they couldn't have come up with anything better? He could have at least accidentally stabbed himself in the gut while shaving. Oh, and Ivar surviving it all? I need to try that myself.

At times, I felt like I was watching Game of Thrones with its absurdly fast travel. Hvitserk’s journey from Norway to Francia and back to Norway must have been divine intervention; there's no other explanation. And he still had time to negotiate with Rollo and prepare an expeditionary force. As for Alfred's bizarre coronation? That was a bad joke.