When thinking about Ragnarok, you might consider options like horror or comedy movies. Yet, in reality, Ragnarok is the ancient Nordic legend about the end of the world. The Netflix TV series Ragnarok is exactly what the end of the world might look like and how teenagers have a chance to save the world from disaster. Ragnarok takes place in the present and some special teen is chosen to make it stop.
So should we spend our precious time watching it, or should we skip it? Let's first talk about the concept of the show itself. The Ragnarok is the end of the world, with all the natural disasters leading to a battle between gods and the giants. Once this happens we all see an old car drive on the old town road through the mountainous region of Norway. A blond teenager sits in the car and watches all of the natural beauty. This is the first shot we get from the show.
The Intro
It's time to introduce actors, which are chosen accordingly and well represent Danish and Norwegian teenagers. Magne, played by David Stakston and his brother Laurits, starred by Jonas Strand Gravil, their mother Turid, Henriette Steenstrup. This is the family that moves to Edda, Norway, where the boys grew up. Though, they moved away because their father died. Turid has a good job at the local Jotul Industries plant. While boys might have had a good time there in childhood, it is definitely not what they like now.
The most important part of the story begins when they arrive at the town and Magne tries to help an old man. This is the moment when a woman in curlers finds him and then touches his forehead. At this very moment, his eye lightens up. Somehow Magne senses that it's going to rain, despite the fact that the sky is clean. And of course, here comes the rain.
Nothing special happens after this moment, but the story goes as usual. Boys go to school. The interesting fact to know is that Lauritas has skipped a few years, while Magne is dyslexic and he has been kept in the same grade for some years. Magne is the one to find his first friend, Isolde, who is Youtuber and makes vlogs about environments and is concerned that the glacier that's on the local mountain top is melting due to climate change and might soon cause a catastrophe.
Norwegian culture and history, mostly the mythology and legends are used in almost every single aspect. There perhaps is no more industry which yet has not based their plots and themes on the Nordic chords. One of the best examples can be Marvel, who has been going strong with Thor and other Nordic gods. Surprisingly, Norway themed casino games also use local mythology and legends quite a lot, in order to attract more players. And no matter what people try to say about the cliche nature of this strategy, it just works. People are still attracted to Norse mythology, so much so that it could lead them to play a game of chance without even realizing it. The TV shows, such as Ragnarok or Vikings, are fully based on the Nordic motives and go around this topic. The Halloween Costumes even! Nordic myths and gods are everywhere! It is still good, but now that Nordics are everywhere, it is getting slightly more inconvenient and poor quality-wise. Just maybe it is time to switch to Denmark for example?
The Plot
It is pretty clear from the very beginning that the Jutul family is in charge of the whole town. They are polluting the incredible nature with their plant businesses, yet are simultaneously promoting the place for the comeback and natural heritage destination. Vidar is the owner of the factory. Ran is the high school principal and Fjor and Saxa are the most popular students of the school. What connection do they have? We will know one by one. But the first time we smell something bad is when Turid and Magne run into Vidar.
What happens then? A typical love story. A young teenage boy falls in love with the very good girl Gry and he finds out that Isolde had a crush on Saxa, you remember that very popular kid in the school. Magne promises that he will keep the secret from Isolde. This is the moment when he notices some major changes in himself. These include the increased power, that he does not need to have glasses anymore. When Isolde invites him to climb to the glacier, he hikes up in sneakers and does not even get tired of the whole journey. This is when he gets a text from his brother that Turid is in trouble, he barely steps on the ground to get back to the towns. At this time he understands that Lauritas pranked him, yet in the meantime when Isolde is paragliding, a terrible thing happens.
He’s also finding that he feels stronger than he used to and doesn’t need his glasses to see anymore. When Isadora invites him to climb to the glacier so she can measure how much it’s receded, he hikes up in sneakers and doesn’t even get tired. When he gets a text from Laurits that their mom is in trouble, he sprints down and back into town, only to see that his brother has pulled a prank on him. Then he sees Isolde, who is paragliding off the mountain, and something horrible happens.
Takeaway
If you are the one in favor of Viking themed teenage drama, then you should like the show, or most probably should like it. Because Ragnarok is exactly what it is. But overall, Adam Price has taken an interesting story of Ragnarok and put completely different content.
One of the most vivid issues which you may come across during watching the whole show is that the story moves in a bit herky-jerky way, going slowly in spots then speeding through major story points in other places.
Who knows maybe the tragedy is the further motivation of Magnes to move on and fight for justice, or for long he should be getting stronger? Will he keep his feelings for Gry or remain constantly annoyed by his elder brother?
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