Netflix’s #1 New Show Just Got Renewed For Two More Seasons
Netflix has already renewed their number one most watched new show for two more seasons, even though it has barely been streaming a few weeks.
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When Netflix finds something it likes, it does not hesitate. Now that Vikings: Valhalla is officially their number one most-watched show in the USA and in dozens of countries around the world. And since it seems like people are not at all getting tired of watching the adventures of bearded Norse men in fierce battle, the streaming behemoth has already renewed the show two more seasons. The show is a sequel series to the History Channel’s Vikings, but with the advantage of the massive audience of Netflix and a zeitgeist that is getting Alexander Skarsgad to put a wolf on his head, it is getting a lot more attention than the original show ever did. Here’s a taste of some of the Viking action:
Vikings: Valhalla is set in approximately the 9th century, about a hundred years after the first Vikings series. While that show primarily centered on a fictionalized version of Ragnar Lothbrok, an actual historical character. While that show had to basically take highly debated sagas and legends and form a cohesive narrative around them(that naturally took the form of a familiar hero’s journey that leads from impoverished farmer to victorious king), Vikings: Valhalla enters a historical period where at least a little more is known and recorded. As such, the series centers on historical figures like Leif Eriksson (played by Sam Corlett) and King of Norway Harald Sigurdsson (played Leo Suter). However, the show is not above mixing up its historical timelines, as Harald Sigurdsson would have been an infant during the period of Leif Eriksson’s famed explorations. The show mixes a number of other famed figures of the time period like Canute (played by Bradley Freegard} who would go on to be King of England, Denmark, and Norway around this time period. The show as a whole focuses on the end of the Viking Age, and the beginning of a more fixed cultural identity in England.
Although Vikings: Valhalla has only been streaming on Netflix since February 25, apparently just a few weeks of strong numbers are enough to convince the company that it can support two more seasons. This kind of faith in a show is also notable for Netflix, a company notorious for axing shows at the slightest sign of softening viewership numbers. Their roster of critically acclaimed but canceled shows also indicates that above all else, Netflix values sheer dominance in streams over critical appeal (though to be fair, critics love Vikings: Valhalla too) Of course, when fans get together to have global “tour” to implore the streaming platform to renew a canceled show, they don’t always care then, either. So who can really say what they’re thinking?
Vikings: Valhalla finished its first season with the Battle of Kattegat, which we all know through the law of unresolved narratives must lead to even further dangers for the Viking protagonists. But at least everyone involved now has the security of knowing they are on Netflix’s payroll for at least a few seasons more. And as long as they keep those numbers up, there could be no end to this Viking ride.
