Morality and the Afterlife: or the Narrative Shakiness of a fixed Moral centre in CBS’ Ghosts – Part 2 ; Thor : Ridiculed and Dismissed

Thorfinn, most often called Thor by the show, is one my favourite characters. So just a heads up, there may be some unprofessional gushing in this segment. This is partly for himself, we’re often shown that despite being a fierce Viking warrior – who comes off quite terrifying to those who don’t know him well and even at times to those who do – when you dig past that, he’s actually very sweet. He spent a 1000 years having violent nightmares about the time he was forced to kill his best friend to survive who *spoiler* turned out to be a squirrel. His friendship with Hetty, as well as his relationship with later girlfriend Flower further show how deeply his love runs for those he cares for. Plus this giant of a man, loves to watch ants which is just adorable. Also, and this may be a controversial point for some I don’t know, but Devon Chandler Long is just so pretty.

The other reason I love Thorfinn so much is somewhat more relevant to the current post, namely my deep love and fascination with the ancient Vikings in general. I love their gods, I love their culture, I love their whole ascetic. Just love them, love them, love them. Yes, they were sea pirates and a lot of the time flat out murders but if the whole internet can go coco bananas over a show about Blackbeard – I think you can allow me this one little foible.

I was really excited when I found out the CBS adaption had a Viking character and for about the first season it was great, just everything you’d want for your Viking Ghost. And then the hell episode happened, and Thor acted nervous because he used to pillage for a living, and thus might be dragged off to hell himself if he doesn’t show some improvement. Look I get the joke, I do, and it makes sense with what he’s just seen…but it’s weird this is his first reaction as…being a Viking raider, would have been a point in your favour in the Norse Religion, as it gave you more of a chance to die in battle. Yeah, that was how you got into Valhalla – the place Thorfinn hopped he was going in the first season – dying in battle. So while Thorfinn has legitimate reasons to fear for the next stage of his after life – for he didn’t die that specific way – it’s odd, and kind of dull from a character point of view that this is how he expresses that fear. That he might not be a good enough person to avoid hell. Like it’s a given this is how the world works. And that the beliefs of Thor’s people are automatically wrong.

I think this is what the writers genuinely want us to believe because sometimes – not every episode, but sometimes – it feels like the writers don’t like Thor. Or at the very least enjoy having him in the wrong. It has to be constantly pointed out to us how violent and awful Viking culture – here referred to as an entire people rather than as a profession that some Northmen did, you went a Viking – is. I’m not denying this is so, although our accounts of Vikings are somewhat biased, but I can’t help find it faintly hypercritical of the show to constantly hammer this home when the ghosts also include within their ranks a colonial general, a wife of a robber Barron who employed child labour, a cult member who’s job it was to track down escapees from said cult, and most heinous of all…a scout master.

We even see this with interpersonal conflict, if there is a debate between two people on the show – an actual debate in which there are opposing views on an issue not just someone being mean to each other – if one of those two people is Thor, that side is automatically wrong. Even if Thor makes legitimate points. Like in the Christmas Episode, where Thor doesn’t like Christmas as it takes many of the customs and elements from his own culture and bastardises them to the point that they seem ridiculous to him. And he is wrong because…Christmas has presents and good food. And you can’t even blame that on a joke, as they tried to make it a legitimate heart felt realisation. With the writers forcing Thor to give a speech to Sam at the end on how wonderful Christmas is. Yeah that was…that was very hard to watch. I think that last example may have been based on an element from the original – namely Thor’s British Counterpart, the Caveman Robin’s initial apathy to Christmas. Except the difference there is that Robin is so old he’s literally seen thousands of winter festivals come and go and so sees Christmas as a passing fad. It’s not a joke about Cultural Appropriation.

But I can see why they did not go that way with Thor, for two reasons mainly. One, he’s not nearly as old as Robin – being only 1000 years to the Cavemen’s 10,000 years – and two, acknowledging how long Thor has been on the land watching the living, would mean acknowledging that he’s actually been a ghost far longer than anyone else. Having a full 500 years over even Sas. And might possibly know more about their existence then the other’s do, at least on an existential level. Because in the end, that’s the real difference between Robin and Thor – beyond the surface level trappings of Cavemen and Vikings – one is allowed to be wise, while the other is forced to be wrong.

And I’m not saying the writers of CBS Ghosts have some hidden anti-Viking agenda, that would be daft. But subtly is not their strongest suit, and when it comes to the messages, or themes, or even ‘morality’ they want you to take away from their story they do have a tendency to hold the viewers hand. And one of the easiest way to do that is to designated one of their characters to always be wrong, or to have to learn a lesson. And considering who they chose to be their ‘moral centre of the show’ it does kind of make sense that the Viking character would be their designated idiot.

Join me next time to meet that moral centre for yourself.

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