Comedy
The Rehearsal
A comedian tries to give real folks a chance to practice real scenarios in a fake environment. Too bad the show is really foul.
When Sigrid met Leif, she had just left her home, Jötenheim (home of the giant-folk), for the first time in her life. Being only half-giant herself, Sigrid had never felt at home in her father’s court, Open Hand. There, the feasting tables were as tall as she was, and her feet couldn’t reach the floor.
So, Sigrid traveled to the land of the Völsung, to the village where her mother was born, hoping to find her place among the humans.
But when Sigrid arrived, Völsung was at war. A shield-maiden herself, Sigrid immediately joined the fray, saving King Leif in the process. After the battle was over, Leif and Sigrid fell in love. And for many years, they led the Völsung people to victory.
Now, the Völsung are at peace. And though Leif has had many opportunities to prosper and strengthen his clan by marrying one of the daughters of his allies, he’s chosen to wed Sigrid.
It’s a controversial choice, in no small part because Sigrid can’t bear children. If Leif marries her, he’ll have no heirs. And the Völsung clan may not long outlive its king.
Leif is determined, though. So when his bride-to-be requests to return to her home in Jötenheim to marry him among her own people, he acquiesces.
Unfortunately, things don’t go quite as planned.
On the day of Sigrid and Leif’s wedding, Thor Odinson, the god of thunder, quite literally crashes the party. He accuses the giants of harboring Loki, the god of lies and mischief, and Thor demands they hand him over.
Sigrid’s father, King Glaumar, tries to explain that Loki isn’t there. But Thor refuses to listen, and he threatens to kill their entire clan unless Loki is surrendered.
Well, not ones to be threatened by a god—Sigrid’s family motto is “we fear no gods”—the giants defend themselves.
And Thor massacres them.
Sigrid and Leif survive, but just barely. When they awaken, Loki reveals himself and takes Sigrid to Hel, a sort of Norse hell. But Hel isn’t just a place: It’s also a person, Loki’s daughter, to be exact.
Loki and Hel offer Sigrid a deal. They’ll help her seek vengeance against Thor, but in doing so, she’ll sacrifice her right to go to Valhalla (a “heaven” for warriors in Norse mythology) when she dies.
Sigrid, beset with grief yet unable to shed a single tear for her lost family, eagerly accepts. She returns to Leif, and the pair sets out to find warriors who will join them on their quest—lost souls like themselves who have nothing left to lose.
But here’s the thing about trusting the god of lies: Chances are pretty good he’s going to double-cross you. And Loki has plenty of reason to lie to Sigrid.
Netflix’s Twilight of the Gods comes from the mind of Zack Snyder (yes, the Justice League guy), director of such gore-soaked films as 300, Watchmen and Army of the Dead. And although it’s animated, Twilight of the Gods pretty much falls in line with those other credits.
Bloodshed and gore pervade much of each episode. Skulls get cleaved in two. Heads get chopped off, then smashed underfoot. Entrails spill onto the ground. Men, women and children all fall victim to butchery and barbarity. And gods like Thor seem not to care at all, often joining the fray with their unique sets of skills. (Thor makes good use of his hammer, Mjölnir, but his ability to rain lightning upon his enemies makes for an explosive show, too.)
And when folks aren’t killing each other, they’re usually busy giving in to other vices. Sex plays a major part in this Norse tale, and unfortunately, audiences are spared no details. Men lie with women; men lie with men; women lie with women; and some lie with both, often at the same time. And yeah, we get some really graphic closeups of critical bits of male and female anatomy.
Being a show centered around Norse gods, Norse mythology obviously takes a pretty prominent position in the story’s plot. We learn about two different groups of gods, the Vanir and Aesir. Thor and his kin are the Aesir, and they thrive since humans still worship and sacrifice to them. (Leif stops a family from committing human sacrifice in their honor.) But Sigrid allies with the Vanir, who have begun to rot due to human neglect. She promises to restore the Vanir to glory if they’ll help her conquer Thor and the other Aesir in Asgard.
Witchcraft is another major component here, often with a focus on predicting the future. One particular witch shows Odin (Thor’s father and leader of the Aesir) a vision of Christ on the cross, telling him that Jesus will take Odin’s place in the hearts of humans.
Foul language, drinking in excess and other misdeeds round out this show’s problematic content. But considering everything else I’ve laid out, you probably could have guessed that Twilight of the Gods isn’t something families will want to see.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
On the eve of her wedding to King Leif of the Völsung, Sigrid’s entire family is slaughtered by the legendary Thor, who suspects that they are harboring Loki.
Soldiers engage in a battle, stabbing each other, lopping off limbs, cleaving heads in two and more. (Horses are also injured in this battle.) An array of visceral violence fills this scene and many others throughout the episode. Thor fights the giants of Sigrid’s family in a similar manner, using his control of lightning to vaporize several men.
Thor’s brother counsels him to seek peace, but the god of thunder ignores that advice. Instead, he massacres every giant man, woman and child (the latter of whom were hidden in a cellar) in Sigrid’s clan. Sigrid and Leif survive, and Sigrid makes an oath to kill Thor in revenge, asking Leif to join her.
Two giants spar, knocking down trees in the process. They joke with Leif (who is human) that they eat his kind.
Souls of the dead (controlled by Loki and his daughter, Hel, goddess of the underworld) pull Sigrid down to the underworld via a waterfall of blood. Sigrid’s dress is left behind, and blood stains her skin, but audiences can still see details of intimate places. The Valkyrie (of Norse mythology) are depicted as fully nude women who take fallen soldiers from the field of battle to Valhalla, the Norse version of heaven.
We see some magic and supernatural forces at work in the Norse gods and Sigrid’s giant kin. The giants blame the gods for their misfortunes and do not worship them as humans do. A wedding service officiant says to “give praise” to many things, including mead. Flowers bloom over the spot where several children were killed.
An engaged couple removes their clothing and has sex; it’s a graphic scene showing critical parts of both characters’ anatomy. There are other instances of intense sensuality and sexuality throughout the episode, including one interaction between two female characters. Sigrid’s grandmother asks an inappropriate question about the size of Leif’s manhood.
Sigrid’s friend tells her that she always thought Leif would take Sigrid as a concubine and marry someone else. She also warns Sigrid that some of the Völsung worry that her wedding to Leif will anger the gods. At the grave of his father, Leif asks for the deceased man’s blessing over his impending marriage to Sigrid, even though Sigrid can’t bear him children.
Many people drink heavily the night before a wedding. We hear two uses of the f-word, as well as “b–tard” and a profane phrase involving the male anatomy.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
A comedian tries to give real folks a chance to practice real scenarios in a fake environment. Too bad the show is really foul.
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