Shermann
Shermann's JournalVikings Season 6 Part 2 (spoilers)
Spoilers dead ahead!
So Part 2 of the final season aired last year on Amazon instead of the History Channel, and I didn't sail over there. They suddenly popped up on the History Channel this month (where they belong) and I binge watched them. So it was a mixed bag. This is one of my favorite shows in recent years.
Bjorn has a fairly fitting end, as does Gunnhild. Harald gets a lot of screen time, but I don't think he is anybody's favorite character. Or even somebody you love to hate. He's just annoying. Olaf is quickly dispatched.
Oleg goes out with a whimper. I expected some sort of clever retribution from the evil Russ tyrant. He just sort of stands there whimpering while Ivar and Igor debate over who is going to pick him off with a bow.
There is a fitting goodbye scene between Ivar and Igor. Katia (carrying Ivar's child) gets little more than a "kthxbai".
Then there's the Greenland debacle. Within seemingly 10 minutes of arriving, Kjetill plans to eat an entire whale himself right in front of his starving colonist friends. So that's kind of a dick move. Then fisticuffs break out. I couldn't help but think of the "That Escalated Quickly" scene in Anchorman. Back in the boats!
The Vikings attack England because they need to kill off a few more characters. Harald's end is anti-climactic. Ivar was apparently impressed with Oleg's end and chooses the same for himself. He just stands there to be gutted. Why?
The characters they needed to kill are dead so the battle is called off. Ubbe's conversion is appropriate.
It was good to see Floki again. I'm not sure why the character was put on ice. There are different ways to accomplish that. In a soap opera, you go into a coma. In the Walking Dead, you get in a helicopter. In the Vikings, you disappear into a cave. And apparently pop out on a different continent? Is Rollo in a cave somewhere??
The New World thread was OK. It should have been cut so they could focus on other weak threads. The early seasons really took their time, but this final season was all just so rushed.
The soundtrack was excellent, no disappointments there.
Walking Dead Season 10 bonus episodes review *SPOILERS*
You've probably either seen them already or have no intention of watching them. Either way, spoilers dead ahead.
I didn't know they were "bonus" episodes, they've been on my DVR since February and I binge watched them finally. Had I known they were just bonus episodes it may have curbed my disappointment. Here's a quick review.
"Home Sweet Home" - This features some really dubious tactical decisions by Daryl and Maggie. They are just traipsing around the woods with bows and arrows trying to encircle a camouflaged entrenched sniper. FAIL. Make your retreat dumbasses.
"Find Me" - Eh, Leah is OK. If they weave her back into the present timeline it could be interesting. Otherwise this is mostly an empty bucket.
"One More" - This is definitely an empty bucket. Well, we haven't done Russian roulette yet, can we work that in somehow? Drama on the cheap. The writers really aren't sure what to do with Gabriel. He sort of kind of replaced Dale as the moral compass of the group, but he kind of goes homicidal from time to time. The Robert Patrick cameo was good. We don't even learn if the supply run was a success.
"Splinter" - This episode was a mess. It turned into a psychedelic pseudo dream world episode revolving around Princess. I guess she's a bit whacko too. The armored soldier arc barely moved forward an inch. It's stuck on the railroad tracks. Will we ever get answers to any of this?
"Diverged" - This filler episode is almost a complete waste of time revolving around the go-to whacko Carol making soup. Dog was good, I enjoyed his performance.
"Here's Negan" - The Negan backstory was a bit overdue, it was good to see flashes of the old Negan. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is great in the role. That said, I'm not entirely buying the embellished Jekyll and Hyde traits. I accepted that he was bad and redeemed himself and is good. Standard plot fare. I'm not so sure however about him being pretty bad, then really good, then really bad, then pretty good...then he's bad again...just kidding he's good!
The reviews of this show seem to be suspiciously positive. I think those who wouldn't like these episodes bailed on the series long ago. I probably should but am a glutton for punishment. I'm the captive brother chained helplessly in the attic.
Back-of-the-envelope Delta variant math
I'm working off of this article:
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/06/cdc-delta-variant-now-10-us-covid-19-cases
So on May 22 the variant made up 2.7% of US cases (approx 750 out of 28,000).
Now the variant makes up 10% of cases (approx 1200 out of 12,400).
So despite the number of CV-19 cases going down, Delta cases are doubling every four weeks. If you think of the Delta variant as an independent pandemic, that gives it an R-naught value of around 1.4 (assuming a two week infectious period). That is significantly higher than the magic value of 1 that you must remain below for the pandemic to wane.
That's during a time where the vaccines are in effect, but vaccinations are trailing off. So in looking at it independently from other strains, it appears to be a pandemic within a pandemic that will continue to spread with exponential growth.
Please find a mistake in my math or reasoning.
