Review: The Last Kingdom Season 4 Episode 6

 Well, that was STRESSFUL!

Let me count all the opportunities for disaster we had in this episode. 1) The literal plague, 2) a succession crisis, 3) near misses and failed meet ups, and 4) THE DANES ARE BACK. 

I don't know about you, but I think the plot and the political drama have really been heating up in the past couple of episodes. 

This episode really focused on the political crisis that is developing in Mercia. Edward's choice for king has fallen through, the aldermen are beginning to resent his interference, and the heir to the throne might be dying of the plague. Meanwhile, the king's widow is in the wind, and it's just been revealed that the old king was actually murdered. Not looking too promising, is it? Most of this episode switched back and forth between Uhtred traveling with his warriors and a gaggle of royal children and Edward trying and failing to come to term with the disaster brewing in Mercia. 

Watching Uhtred and his team stomp through the woods on foot as men with swords tried to hunt them down was peak anxiety for me. Although, I did enjoy watching the characters in his group interact with one another. I continue to be in love with Stiorra, and I really hope that nothing bad happens to her because she is giving me LIFE right now. It was also really nice to watch Uhtred's  big-tough warriors playing so sweetly with the little kids. 

I am a bit worried that Ælfwynn is going to bite the dust because she doesn't seem like a very sturdy child. Her blurry, out-of-focus eyes when she was following the crow really have me worried. And, if she ties, EDWARD is going to be the person to blame. Seriously though, I'm really starting to hate Edward with a PASSION. 

His hair and clothes look stupid and he has absolutely no capacity to make good decisions. NONE! His decisions to name Eardwulf king, close and then open the gates, and imprison his own sister are clearly making things go from bad to worse. And, I have to say that I really enjoyed hearing his mother tell him about it. If things go sideways, Edward has no one to blame but himself. 

Speaking of imprisioning, I'm feeling really bad for Brida in this episode. I assume she's going to escape because it's Brida (and the Danes are coming), but the suffering she has endured is really disturbing. Someone who should be in prison is Eardwulf. Honestly, I can't believe they let him just run away after discovering that he killed the king! Surely, someone should bring him back to the aldermen to face justice? Letting him go free is just a guarantee that he's going to cause trouble at some point in the future. What a disaster.

On the bright side, it seems like our girl Eadith has decided to team up with the good people, which is a huge relief. I'm really starting to like her, and I definitely ship her with Finan; he deserves a love story. 

Also, have I mentioned that seeing a swamp full of plague infected bodies wasn't very calming in the midst of a worldwide pandemic? In seriousness though, I can only imagine the visceral fear of encountering a disease that could kill you in days and have no idea what caused it and how to prevent it. We have problems in the twenty-first century, but I would pick our medical technology over any other time period any day. 

Anyway, I thought that was a pretty good episode. I'm looking forward to seeing what catastrophe befalls our heroes in the next episode. 

Rating: 8/10