DISQUS

Der · 2 months ago

Merlin gets a love interest later on in this series, but I still agree that there's more feelings in Merlin towards his master than meets the eye.

bob · 2 months ago

Strange, I always felt it was more the other way around. But that was before when Arthur was giving Morgana the cold shoulder. I mean- Morgana! Why wasn't he throwing himself at her? Merlin however was attracting Gwen's attention and was getting tongue tied and seemed to be acting like your normal heterosexual male to me.

Anyway, I adored this episode. I was laughing throughout at the horny Tony Head especially when the glamour faded. Arthur standing up to Uther was a marvelous moment and it showed that his character had indeed developed (and I liked him vocalising his ideas of how a king should rule). Merlin being under Arthur's bed was hilarious and I cracked up at the potion/poison scene (even if the whole killing Arthur idea seemed too ridiculous). I even didn't mind the dragon because it just made me laugh to hear him laugh at Uther.

I replayed the final scene between Merlin and Arthur a few times. Just hilarious. And those two really do have incredible chemistry.

Dan · 2 months ago

Isn't Morgana essentially like a sister for Arthur? That's the impression I sometimes get -- step-sister at the very least. And maybe I've just forgotten moments when Merlin has been shy around girls. But maybe he's shy around girls because he doesn't connect with them like he does the guys? Or would hate to give Gwen the wrong impression? LOL. Anyway, apparently he gets a love-interest later this series, so it'll be fun to see how that plays out.

shelly · 2 months ago

Johnny Caps and Bradley James mentioned in interviews that they scrapped the idea of Arthur/Morgana as a romantic pairing and decided to do Arthur/Guinevere instead to give the Gwen character more to do. I always thought Arthur/Morgana as a sibling-like relationship and it'd be too incestuous to put them together, even though they are half-siblings and Mordred's parents in some legends. As for Merlin supposedly liking Arthur "that way," I don't think so, but I do think both the writers and the actors are purposely hamming it up to tease the slash fandom, the way the Smallville writers supposedly did the same. I doubt this show is going to turn into Torchwood.

Strangely I enjoyed last week's episode more but I still enjoyed this week's quite a bit, too. There were some absolutely hilarious moments, especially the one where Gaius and Sir Leon are talking about the troll and Gaius said something like "she has fangs" and Sir Leon said "oh, really, I thought they were tusks?" Their delivery was too funny for words. And the part where Merlin dropped the antidote was genuinely suspenseful and yes, okay, I did cry out at that. I need to stop worrying about the welfare of fictional characters.

Was anyone else wishing they'd put a disclaimer on this episode: do NOT drink or eat anything while watching this episode. The dung-eating was bad enough, but Gaius's recipe of the fake potion? YECHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Dan · 2 months ago

I don't seriously think we'll see Merlin/Arthur as a couple, ruling Camelot as King and Queen (ahem) by the series finale, but it's interesting when the writers play with the chemistry between the two in such ways.

Surely they decided to go the Arthur/Gwen route because, er, that's kind of where Arthurian legend takes you naturally? Seems strange to say you were considering anything else, when Arthur and Gwen as king and queen is assumedly the obvious end-game here.

shelly · 2 months ago

You'd think so, Dan, but Johnny Caps has given interviews where he admitted that the writers originally wanted to go with the Arthur/Morgana pairing (which is why in certain season one episodes, you see them bickering and in the Lancelot episode, Arthur is asking Lancelot if he thinks "she's" beautiful while looking at Morgana - Lancelot is looking at Gwen, though). My guess is they were going to go the Mordred-is-A/M's-son route but changed their minds.

I know I think too much about this show already but I couldn't help but wonder why, um, don't know how to put this delicately, Uther didn't notice she was a troll while he finally, um, spent the night with her. I mean, the troll was fatter and er, bumpier than a human woman so...shouldn't he have noticed that something was wrong?

Poor Uther! I really hoped he burned all his sheets afterward, hee! :)

Dan · 2 months ago

@Shelly: Hmm, it would actually have been pretty good if Mordred had been Morgana and Arthur's child, but it would have taken quite a lot of setting up to pull off convincingly. They went for a much quicker route, with Morgana as a mother figure to an orphan, which in some ways is a shame. The show needs a few longterm stories that get some pay-off within the season, beyond a recurring villain to defeat. If series 1 had ended with Morgana giving birth to Mordred in secret and giving him up to druids (for whatever reason), that would have been a much more exciting and involving development.

Jozz · 2 months ago

I thought it was a lot better than last week's, but still just a bit of a forgettable episode overall, and I still don't think it justified its two parts. Nice to see a bit of development of the future mythos with Arthur taking steps towards being the "good" king he'll one day become. They need to start using the dragon in a way that's remotely innovative or interesting, though, cos he's starting to go stale. Also, I wouldn't mind having a bit more development in terms of what Merlin can actually do - he's supposedly an all-powerful wizard, but seems constantly to be coming up against enemies whose magic far exceeds his. You'd think if he was that powerful he could at least turn himself invisible instead of sneaking around hiding from guards.

Next week's looks amazing, though.

Dan · 2 months ago

@Jozz: I don't mind the fact Merlin is always up against people whose power exceeds his (it would be very boring otherwise), but I agree that we need to see more variety in his powers and a sense that he's getting better. I'm also not a fan of incantations always being used. They could make Merlin quite cool in a Harry Potter-esque way, but it's more Bednobs & Broomsticks right now.

bob · 2 months ago

Sex in Merlin? Yikes, no! I think rolling on the bed fully dressed is the closest we will ever get. Someone actually conceiving would be Not For Kiddies I suspect. It's a shame with such an attractive cast of course... (Just to freak me out, my mum was complaining that there was no gratuitous topless Arthur scene this week).

It's odd that they seriously thought about pairing Arthur and Morgana. I got the impression that is what Morgana was being groomed for- to be queen- and it was expected that Arthur accompany her to events and so on... but I never felt that there was anything but the idea of expectations drawing them together. Arthur's question about Morgana being attractive felt, to me, like Arthur wasn't even sure or maybe wanted to load her off onto someone else.

I kind of liked that.

The slash elements are good fun. I adored the episode in Merlin's home village where Arthur pokes Merlin with his bare foot. I think... unless that was a dream I had. But I think basically I like it because I know it's not actually a relationship that will end in sex. It's an easy going and quite affectionate relationship where each one would risk their life for the other (even if some writers play up the idiot/prat antagonism). I can't quite explain why but I prefer deep friendships to sexual pairings. Maybe I feel it is more selfless? Or maybe it is because, in the world of television, they seem to last longer?

Whatever, I am a sucker for them.

Dan · 2 months ago

Thinking about it -- it would actually have worked quite nicely if Arthur had Mordred with Morgana, they married, but he realized he really loved Gwen. The reveal of his affair would be a great catalyst for Morgana leaving him with Mordred and embracing the dark magic his father warned him about. But hey, too late now. I do wonder how long they'll keep Uther alive and Arthur as a prince, though. There's a worry that interest will wane and they'll have spent too long keeping the status quo, and never get a chance to take Merlin to its natural conclusion. I hope the BBC at least give them a year's warning if they ever think of ending the show. Still, the ratings aren't bad and reviews have been more positive this year, so I'm probably worrying about nothing.

shelly · 2 months ago

LOL @bob, I wasn't saying they should've shown the sex, of course not, I just wondered how Uther wouldn't have felt that something was off *during* it, given, according to Merlin, the troll had "the body of a tree trunk." XD

It could be just me but Arthur/Merlin have always come off more like a bullying older brother hassling his dorky kid brother rather than anything sexual. We're in the age now where everyone is so gay-conscious that any kind of close same-sex relationship is automatically interpreted as slash, but I don't see it that way at all. If anything, I see Merlin more like the brother Arthur has never had - he teases him, bullies him, but of course protects him at his own expense and cares about him more than he'd ever admit to anyone.

The point about Merlin not yet doing any real impressive magic, I thought that was the point if they're taking the Smallville route - that he's still in the infancy of his magical career and is learning. I agree it would be terribly boring and pointless if he could easily beat his enemies every time. It's much more exciting to see him go up against characters like Jonas.

I really hope the ratings are good enough for the show to go on for a while but I doubt the writers will get any notice ahead of time if it's going to be cancelled.

Mav · 1 month ago

I'd like to see some faster plot development. The series is starting to feel like the Simpsons where everything is wrapped up at the end of the episode and the next episode just starts over without any real progression. It's not quite as bad as this though, there is slow progression but it just seems so snail paced. It's kind of frustrating that no matter how many times Merlin saves the day, no one really believes him the next time he says that something dodgy is going on.

Kim · 3 weeks ago

I don't agree that Merlin doesn't look at women he flirts with Gwen, eyes up Morgana (so that Gaius has to tell him off) positively drools over Nimueh when he meets her posing as a handmaiden (he also takes his ridiculous red hat off when she catches sight of him at the feast and fusses with his hair). He comments on how beautiful Lady Vivian is..perhaps only to tease Arthur but still..and what about Freya..in fact which young woman does he not fancy/flirt or fall for......Sophia maybe?