With a plethora of Norse mythology across contemporary pop culture, it’s miraculous that Netflix’s Ragnarok has any surprises in it at all. Through no fault of its own, the show from writer Adam Price and director Mogens Hagedorn is operating on the back foot from the very beginning, as anyone with even a passing interest in this mythology will put things together quickly, thanks to the general popularity of Marvel’s Thor films and even video games like God of War. What Ragnarok does have going for it is its concept, caught between American Gods, Riverdale, and Todd Haynes’ latest film Dark Waters, with a bold mixture of teen drama, grotesque depictions of ancient religion, and anxiety and fear over the climate crisis and environmental degradation.Ragnarok Season 1-2 Download.
The series follows the lonesome teenager and serial do-gooder Magne (David Stakston, resembling a more square-jawed Ansel Elgort), moving with his family back to the town of Edda, a fictional location named for the Poetic Edda, the books believed to first tell the story of Ragnarok. After a strange encounter with an elderly convenience store employee, he soon shows an uncanny connection to the weather, ridiculous strength, speed, and sharpness of senses before becoming embroiled in a conspiracy, covered up by the murder of someone close to him. If you’re vaguely familiar with Norse mythology, you’ll guess the show’s direction from the second Magne’s eyes crackle with lightning in its first few minutes, and likely stay a step ahead of the big picture plot throughout. At least the show has no interest in prolonged mystery boxes, doling out a steady series of reveals in each slow-burning hour.
While the broad strokes of the narrative are exciting and peculiar, the details of the characters are a bit more clumsy – Magne’s characterization mostly established through what other people say about him, his isolation, and his learning difficulty.