Was pleasantly surprised at how good that series proved to be. Could never get into Vikings, which I could never understand because I absolutely devoured Black Sails, and the two are similar in many ways. Somehow, series like The Last Kingdom and Black Sails dealt with themes and characters I found more appealing.

That said, The Last Kingdom is good from the outset, but personally I believe it doesn't become great until the introduction of characters like Finan, and the loyal retinue that slowly begins to form around Uhtred.

For some reason, I remember thinking that a character like Uhtred and his development would have been a great template for Star Wars in the writing of a character like Anakin Skywalker. The emphasis on identity, on Uhtred's lifelong resentment of having his home and family taken from him, on his development from a solo warrior only interested in his own interests into a leader whose bravery and personality inspires loyalty, and especially how the series handles the tragic love that forms between >!Uhtred and Aethelflaed!<; all while remaining a genuinely funny, likeable person. It's a difficult tonal balance to strike, and I think the series deserves more credit for the fantastic job it does.

The only real issue (if you can call it that) is how it suffers from X-Men First Class-disorder, with regards to the passage of time and inconsistency of how certain characters age over five seasons. Characters grow old and die, children grow into adulthood, while others never seem to age a day; Uhtred himself lives what feels like several lifetimes, and only appears to have changed stylists (probably because the first one grew old and died).