The Bunker
Episode 5 of Ragnarok begins with the family joining hands and chanting together while Magne heads home to tell his Mother about the monster he saw, still caked in blood following his ordeal. The next day, police arrive and incredulously take his statement about Vidar and the yellow-eyed dog. They bring up the sledgehammer and proceed to show him an image of Tryme, telling Magne they know it was him and can’t rule out the possibility he’ll be taken to a juvenile centre for his actions. Fjor talks Vidar out of killing Magne and tells the family they hold all the cards now, given they have their talons in every part of the town. This much is true with the school at least, as Ran manages to convince the police not to send Magne to prison and instead abide by a strict set of rules to follow. Reluctantly he agrees to the terms, including handing over his phone. Saxa berates Fjor for sleeping with Gry, telling him it’s against their traditions to sleep with a human. At school things continue to be awkward between Gry and Magne though as they talk about Fjor and what happened. Eric hands over the water sample he found to him, allowing Gry and Magne to work together and figure out just what’s going on. Outside at the school track field, Magne talks to Saxa about what’s going on, including Fjor and Gry seeing each other. As Magne grabs her, Saxa throws him against the wall and proceeds to pierce the wall next to him with a javelin; a warning sign for him to stay out the family business. At home, Saxa confronts Fjor and overpowers him in the living room, telling him he has to break up with Gry or there will be trouble. At school, Magne is faced with some pretty powerful people around town sitting across from him, including Eric and Ran who tell him not to write the damning school report and brush it off as “fake news”. The meeting results in Magne being forced to change his assignment and needing to find a different topic to talk about. After school, Magne heads back to Spar where Wenche tells him he doesn’t have time to stand around. He rejects his calling though and walks away from her. As he does, Saxa stirs things up and tells Vidar about Fjor’s relationship. Although she mentions he’s going to break up with her, she actually ends up breaking off the relationship with him thanks to the environmental issues surrounding the factory. Magne manages to break into Isolde’s phone using the passcode “Saxa” and immediately checks the photos, where he sees images of the bunker buried in the ice. It’s enough for him to head off alone and investigate, as he trudges through the snow looking for answers and the root cause surrounding the environmental issues in the town. As Magne opens the bunker, he switches the lights on and sees thousands of barrels full of toxic waste. After 5 episodes of build-up, the big reveal of the bunker doesn’t house a trapped God, a maniacal beast or anything remotely Norse-related, it’s simply toxic waste barrels from Vidar’s company. While this in itself is a little disappointing, the distinct lack of fighting or action has really hurt this series as a whole. While there isn’t anything necessarily bad or offensive within Ragnarok, the series as a whole just feels very average in almost every area, failing to take advantage of the gorgeous exterior shots and showing some exciting action – especially given the lacklustre efforts of American Gods in recent years. Hopefully the finale can kick it up a gear but right now it’s hard to see how it’s going to do this.
