(Review) 1.03 – Viking Funeral

Favorite quote:
Thorfinn: “Gunnar! Ivar! Other Ivar!”
Most memorable scene: The Viking funeral
Star character: Thorfinn, of course
Overall rating: 9/10

This episode of Ghosts is actually the first to break away from the BBC series entirely, which lends to its strength. While there are a few things happening throughout, the main plotline concerns Thorfinn’s remains being discovered during Sam and Jay’s renovations to the mansion. After being informed that the remains will cause months-long delays, Sam and Jay steal the bones and, at Thorfinn’s request, decide to give them a traditional Viking funeral. Following this, Sam and Jay find out that a museum would be willing to buy the bones for an enormous amount of money, and they must decide if they should honor their promise to Thorfinn or take the offer of financial stability.

I think that this episode (intentionally or not) touched on the question of historical responsibility and museum ethics. Sam, Jay, and the museum would all profit monetarily from the bones– Sam and Jay could fund their B&B, and the museum could use ticket sales to continue to educate people by staying open. Thorfinn, however, wants his bones to be burned, because he was left behind by his fellow vikings and was never able to complete his culture’s custom of dying righteously in battle and having his remains set on fire. Is it more ethical to have these bones in a museum, or to accept the wishes of the owner and their culture, even if the artifacts are destroyed in the process?

Ultimately, Sam and Jay make the right decision and go through with the funeral. Even if this doesn’t allow Thor to move on (or “get sucked off” as the ghosts put it), Sam and Jay choosing to have a traditional funeral for him makes Thor happy and is the most respectful thing to do. It is also not a hokey version of a viking funeral done by people with limited historical knowledge of Thor’s culture; it is done with Thor instructing them on how the funeral would be conducted traditionally, and therefore is emotionally fulfilling for him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the ghosts work to decide who will represent them when an issue needs to be brought up to Sam, who is getting overwhelmed with all of their requests. It comes down to an election between Isaac and Alberta, who gain support through various resources. Most noticeably, Hetty refuses to vote, claiming that it isn’t right for a woman to do so (due to reasons that she doesn’t claim to understand). Alberta appeals to her in a scene that I found genuinely moving and surprisingly relevant. Whereas many period pieces feel satisfied with their milquetoast statement of “women should be able to vote”, Alberta’s speech, though brief, is a reminder that while having legal rights is obviously important in and of itself, those rights must be made available without any impediments whatsoever, something that is still being fought for in the United States today.

Unfortunately, I felt that Alberta’s sentiment was undermined by Flower’s interruption, which was clearly meant to bring a laugh in the middle of a serious moment. I didn’t think that this was necessary; more than anything, I think this moment showcased how underdeveloped Flower’s character feels. So far, she hasn’t moved beyond the stereotype of the stoned hippie that follows inconsequential social movements. This moment also felt disrespectful, as it diminished the enormous amount of change hippies legitimately brought about to a few watered-down buzz words. Given this show’s commitment to making outright statements about society, I hope that future episodes can acknowledge the serious issues that hippies were involved with, especially with second-wave feminism.

Overall, this episode was very sweet and, like the previous episodes, was one laugh after another. I love how the characters all react to each other; it’s easy to see how they’re becoming more realized with each episode. Once again, an incredible job put forward by the actors and everyone else working on the show.