Vikings battle ends abruptly with pandemic
Q: Vikings seemed to end very abruptly with the Rus ready to march on the Vikings. Is it coming back or did I just miss some episodes?
A: It is coming back, although you may also have missed something. The most recent episode (in February) had, as Erik Kain of Forbes.com put it, “a weirdly disjointed battle between the massive Rus army and the disappointingly feeble Viking forces attempting to repel them;” Kain said “the battle scene was incredibly hard to follow.”
As for why the show’s ending might have seemed abrupt, that episode was the middle of Vikings’ sixth and final season. The season was split in two; 10 episodes have aired and 10 more are due for later telecast. Last year, History said the final 10 would arrive in 2020, but that was before the pandemic played havoc with, well, everything. More recently, a History representative said all possible plans for when the show might return are in discussion. I’ll have an update when more info is available.
Q: On the series 9-1-1, the character Howie Han, played by Kenneth Choi, is nicknamed Chimney. Have they revealed yet how he got that nickname? If they have, I missed it.
A: You did not miss it. The show has dropped some hints, including that the reason for the name is not one you can tell on TV. But it has yet to offer a full explanation. Maybe it will come out when the show resumes production later this year for a new season to première early in 2021.
Q: A few years ago, there was a cop show starring the late Bill Paxton. It did not last long, probably due to his untimely demise. I cannot find anything on this show. Hopefully you can solve the mystery.
A: You are thinking of Training Day, a TV series that aired on CBS in 2017 and inspired by the Denzel Washington movie of the same name. Taking place 15 years after the movie’s events, the series featured Justin Cornwell as Kyle Craig, a rookie police officer who was assigned to work with — and keep an eye on — Frank Roarke (Paxton), a detective suspected of sketchy behaviour. Paxton made 13 episodes of the show but died of complications from surgery after just a few episodes had aired. The producers said they would not recast Paxton’s role, which may have been a factor in the series’ cancellation in May 2017.
Q: I remember back in the ’80s Bob Dylan filmed a movie, part of which was filmed in my city of Hamilton, Ont. I think it was called Hearts of Fire, but I’m not sure. I don’t believe this movie was ever released. Is there anywhere that I would be able to see it?
A: The 1987 film Hearts of Fire featured Dylan as a reclusive star and certainly seemed impressive on paper: Joe Eszterhas wrote the script and Richard Marquand directed. But it was little seen. In a look at Dylan’s screen efforts, Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com said the film “is so silly that it makes the later vehicles of Elvis Presley seem artistically sound by comparison.” That being said, it can be found; for example, Amazon Prime Video and iTunes both list it as a digital download and purchase. There are also old videocassettes.
Q: Back in the early 1980s there was a short-lived sitcom called Lewis & Clark. I was wondering what you might be able to tell me about it. Is it available anywhere?
A: Lewis & Clark originally aired on NBC in 1981-82. The show starred Gabe Kaplan, two years after the end of Welcome Back, Kotter, as Stu Lewis, a New Yorker who buys a country-music club in Texas. Guich Koock played Roscoe Clark, the club’s manager. I do not know of anywhere you can see it now.