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astri13Oh dear, once again the Season has started nicely, only to completely veer off track midway. Merlin
This entire enchanted!Gwen plot is stupid because once more it gives us the... *drumroll* traitor in our midsts routine. And I was so happy they averted that with Mordred. So far, that is. Of course he isn`t even given any lines here so that might be a reason.
Nope, here we have Gwen and once more Merlin and Gaius hang on to that stupid secret because they don`t know how to tell Arthur. Because it is so much better to hem and haw and let Gwen plot 50 million ways to murder Arthur instead of going for the "you know, dude, she is enchanted, we must save her". For pete`s sake, you could even tell Uther stuff like that and he would have believed it. Heck, Uther would have believed it even if it was not. true.
But I think we learned nothing from the Elyan (hey, anyone remember him since he died? no? I just love your sense of character continuency, show *extreme sarcasm*) gets possessed-episode last year where for once in a freaking while they brought in Arthur into the secret and hey, it worked out well in the end.
(Let alone that noone remembered the "peace with the druids" motto at the end of that episode. Like, what would Arthur do if a young druid boy seriously brought in his sick, six-year old sister to get treatment? Kill them on the spot? You know, like he was the first to lit the torch on that old sorceress in ep 3? Oh wait. And you can not give Mordred dialogue if you want but Arthur KNOWS who he is, he knows the circumstances of their first meeting so even though he MIGHT think Mordred is a magicless druid (I assume there are those, like the girl in the Season Opener) but he WOULD know he knighted a freaking druid, right? So make up your fucking mind, show on where he stands with druids.)
Nope, we`re back to Arthur is being played for a fool once more.
Good lord, can those writers think of no other plotlines? *headdesk*
Speaking of Arthur "being played for a fool" - was this dressing business supposed to be funny? Because I found it entirely ridiculous. That he can not put on his armour himself, fair point, you would need help with that but a shirt? Haha, our character can`t even dress himself, haha. Urgh.
But at least he is still an expert swordsman... oh wait. That was Season 1, maybe 2. Nowadays, he loses against any goon with a sword. With Excalibur too boot. The sword that made him basically invisbile in the legend, you yonkers. At this point, it might as well be a cheese knife.
Though Arthur`s humiliation was only the most obvious in the episode, it`s not like other characters actually fared much better. Morgana still can`t get shit done because, wait for it, she only ever uses poison that is so slow-working, it gives her enemy time to miraculously recover. Because they must suuuuuuuffer. That is more important than, oh, I don`t know, accomplishing her mission.
Merlin also still falls for the most obvious ruses AND is easily defeated by Morgana with the magic of "fallus backwardus". Though to be fair, he uses that as well later on one of the bandits. But of course he gets the Disney princess appeal that turns anyone to his side in the nick of time.
Gwen? Hm. She wasn`t incompetent in her evilness. Though the problem with her character is mostly that either she is in the background or she gets to be a total Sue who even the knights fawn over and can`t even wait for Arthur`s cooling corpse to put her on the throne. I mean even know that she is "evol", she is blameless due to being under Morgana`s spell.
The one bit I liked in this episode was Arthur looking disturbed when Sarrum told his tale of Morgana`s captivity. He isn`t the type to revel in torture like that. And no matter what, it is still someone he once cared about.
It could have been so much of a better episode had they played around with the dilemma of it being the politically savvy thing to do to make a treaty with this guy while being personally and morally disgusted by him. Maybe asking some hard questions on how far you should go in politics. They touched on that very, very briefly in the beginning but that was all. Guess there had to be room for slapstick moments of Gaius and Gwen`s nightgown.
And poor Aithusa. Though maybe someone can riddle me when and where exactly Morgana grew to love the little dragon soooo incredibly much, it became her only weakness? Because she saved her at the end of Season 4? WTF?
Eh, the first five episodes of the Season weren`t bad. And six was so-so but the last and this one? Not a fan.
This show really is better when it just gives us cute and silly Merthur stuff like naked fun at bathtimes or playing footsie in Ealdor or some outward drama like "killing unicorns brings curses on Camelot", "ghost!Uther terrorizes Camelot" or "let me pick a flower for you". Because I swear, everything else they fuck up eventually.
This entire enchanted!Gwen plot is stupid because once more it gives us the... *drumroll* traitor in our midsts routine. And I was so happy they averted that with Mordred. So far, that is. Of course he isn`t even given any lines here so that might be a reason.
Nope, here we have Gwen and once more Merlin and Gaius hang on to that stupid secret because they don`t know how to tell Arthur. Because it is so much better to hem and haw and let Gwen plot 50 million ways to murder Arthur instead of going for the "you know, dude, she is enchanted, we must save her". For pete`s sake, you could even tell Uther stuff like that and he would have believed it. Heck, Uther would have believed it even if it was not. true.
But I think we learned nothing from the Elyan (hey, anyone remember him since he died? no? I just love your sense of character continuency, show *extreme sarcasm*) gets possessed-episode last year where for once in a freaking while they brought in Arthur into the secret and hey, it worked out well in the end.
(Let alone that noone remembered the "peace with the druids" motto at the end of that episode. Like, what would Arthur do if a young druid boy seriously brought in his sick, six-year old sister to get treatment? Kill them on the spot? You know, like he was the first to lit the torch on that old sorceress in ep 3? Oh wait. And you can not give Mordred dialogue if you want but Arthur KNOWS who he is, he knows the circumstances of their first meeting so even though he MIGHT think Mordred is a magicless druid (I assume there are those, like the girl in the Season Opener) but he WOULD know he knighted a freaking druid, right? So make up your fucking mind, show on where he stands with druids.)
Nope, we`re back to Arthur is being played for a fool once more.
Good lord, can those writers think of no other plotlines? *headdesk*
Speaking of Arthur "being played for a fool" - was this dressing business supposed to be funny? Because I found it entirely ridiculous. That he can not put on his armour himself, fair point, you would need help with that but a shirt? Haha, our character can`t even dress himself, haha. Urgh.
But at least he is still an expert swordsman... oh wait. That was Season 1, maybe 2. Nowadays, he loses against any goon with a sword. With Excalibur too boot. The sword that made him basically invisbile in the legend, you yonkers. At this point, it might as well be a cheese knife.
Though Arthur`s humiliation was only the most obvious in the episode, it`s not like other characters actually fared much better. Morgana still can`t get shit done because, wait for it, she only ever uses poison that is so slow-working, it gives her enemy time to miraculously recover. Because they must suuuuuuuffer. That is more important than, oh, I don`t know, accomplishing her mission.
Merlin also still falls for the most obvious ruses AND is easily defeated by Morgana with the magic of "fallus backwardus". Though to be fair, he uses that as well later on one of the bandits. But of course he gets the Disney princess appeal that turns anyone to his side in the nick of time.
Gwen? Hm. She wasn`t incompetent in her evilness. Though the problem with her character is mostly that either she is in the background or she gets to be a total Sue who even the knights fawn over and can`t even wait for Arthur`s cooling corpse to put her on the throne. I mean even know that she is "evol", she is blameless due to being under Morgana`s spell.
The one bit I liked in this episode was Arthur looking disturbed when Sarrum told his tale of Morgana`s captivity. He isn`t the type to revel in torture like that. And no matter what, it is still someone he once cared about.
It could have been so much of a better episode had they played around with the dilemma of it being the politically savvy thing to do to make a treaty with this guy while being personally and morally disgusted by him. Maybe asking some hard questions on how far you should go in politics. They touched on that very, very briefly in the beginning but that was all. Guess there had to be room for slapstick moments of Gaius and Gwen`s nightgown.
And poor Aithusa. Though maybe someone can riddle me when and where exactly Morgana grew to love the little dragon soooo incredibly much, it became her only weakness? Because she saved her at the end of Season 4? WTF?
Eh, the first five episodes of the Season weren`t bad. And six was so-so but the last and this one? Not a fan.
This show really is better when it just gives us cute and silly Merthur stuff like naked fun at bathtimes or playing footsie in Ealdor or some outward drama like "killing unicorns brings curses on Camelot", "ghost!Uther terrorizes Camelot" or "let me pick a flower for you". Because I swear, everything else they fuck up eventually.
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(no subject)
Date: 2012-11-25 02:36 pm (UTC)O_O
... seriously?
Wow. In that case, there really is no hope for this show. And I'd thought they just didn't have the courage to change something that's been their major plot point for so long...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-11-25 03:23 pm (UTC)I vividly remember one interview some time back, maybe even a year or so where the interviewer brought up the viewers championing a reveal etc.
And the producers not only got childishly defensive about it, they pretty much said, that is not something they really think about because in Superman, viewers also don`t care much if Clark Kent`s identity is revealed or some such. Because the undercover hero trope is what makes it work. This is...I can`t even...
????????????????????????????????????????????????????
And this year we get a lot of "oh, but you know, once Arthur finds out, then obviously the show ends, yadda yadda".
So yeah, the writers are too limited to even envision a better show.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-11-25 03:47 pm (UTC)Wow. Incredible. That's... uhm. Well, if that's what they think the show is about, then I guess it explains some things. Including why they are limiting themselves the way they are, and why the plot just can't seem to go anywhere at all.
It's a shame, though. The show could have been so much more.
I remember back ast the beginning of S2 (I think?), when Bradley James said that he thought it'd be cool if Arthur found out without Merlin telling him, and then one of the themes for a while would be Arthur trying not to let on that he knew, while wondering what to do.
Now THAT would have been a really great way to go forward with the plot and the characters. It might even still work now. Except that the producers are certainly not going to be smart enough to do something that would make so much sense, and that would move the show beyond the point where they believe they'd have no more story to tell. *headdesk so damn much*
(no subject)
Date: 2012-11-25 05:00 pm (UTC)If only he was a producer and could have made it happen because that could have been awesome.
I feel quite badly for him. He comes across as passionate about his character and also that he gets how much Arthur is diminished and humiliated by certain writing tropes.
Thing is, I believe such a period piece, swashbuckling role is a good fit for him. While I always kinda liked the character of Arthur, I initially felt Bradley didn`t have the greatest range, especially compared to Colin but since then I think he has grown and he can manage to bring quite a lot of charme and charisma to a character like this. I`d like to see him in something similar, just better written.
Of course that goes for the other actors, too. And so agreed on Morgana`s inexplicable lightswitch to evolness. I will never understand why she returned in Season 3 with a seething hatred for everybody including Arthur and Gwen, the two people who had honestly never done something bad to her to deserve it by then.