The Last Kingdom · Season 1 · Netflix
The Last Kingdom Season 1
The Last Kingdom Season 1 is a WORTH-IT, BollyMeter 7.8/10. 8 episodes on Netflix from 10 October 2015.
Updated
What BollyAI Thinks
Premiering on BBC Two in October 2015, The Last Kingdom adapted Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories novels with a premise that plays on cultural duality: a Saxon protagonist who is Danish, caught between two worlds during the Viking Age. The 87% Rotten Tomatoes score from 31 reviews points to strong response, especially for the series' beautiful cinematography and action choreography, alongside a grounded, gritty approach to the period. The show positions Uhtred of Bebbanburg as a compelling, morally flexible hero, built to move through the political complexity of Alfred the Great's England. The season also works as a complete origin story, setting up a longer arc to come.
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Standout Episodes
The hours worth arguing about - premieres, finales, and the turning points. BollyAI reads the room episode by episode.
- E1Episode 17.6
A firm opener where restraint loses to capture and the ransom beat gives Uhtred's divided future its hook.
The moment: The Viking raid on Bebbanburg announces the series' willingness to be brutal with its hero's world from the opening scenes.
Full review of E1 → - E2Episode 27.8
Uhtred brings truth to power and learns that power only cares when truth becomes useful.
Full review of E2 → - E3Episode 38.0
A sharp political hour turns Uhtred's freedom into Alfred's instrument, with crowded exposition but a strong contractual bite.
Full review of E3 → - E4Episode 4
S01E04 turns diplomacy into combat and identity into leverage, tightening the season’s moral world even when a few turns arrive fast.
Full review of E4 → - E5Episode 58.0
A sharp siege hour where Uhtred wins the field, then Alfred proves the law owns the room.
Full review of E5 → - E6Episode 67.6
A dense control-and-confession hour where the proposal lands less as comfort than as another risky production note.
Full review of E6 → - E7Episode 78.1
An austere, effective hour turns law into blood, healing into debt, and strategy into a single hard shove.
Full review of E7 → - E8Episode 88.3
A tense rallying hour that makes Alfred count swords, Leofric refuse murder, and Uhtred turn victory into doctrine.
The moment: Uhtred's choice at the battle - Saxon or Dane - lands as the emotional payoff the entire first season warranted.
Full review of E8 →