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Dear God, they pulled a Poochie...
The ending of Merlin has now been made offically offical.
To be honest, I`m not quite sure why this announcement came now of all times. In the last few weeks news came in of Eion Macken and Tom Hopper getting new roles, that the horses the show used were sold, that Pierrefonds castle would be undergoing restauration work soon so really, everyone and their dog expected it. On the other hand, the actors always gave non-committal answers in interviews.
Now we don`t have definitive spoilers on how it`s all going to end but some stuff is known nevertheless. And in shooting that, they had to have known beforehand if they were going to close the book entirely on the story or leave possibilities open for either a new Season or a movie.
My point is here, I kinda think they have all known for a while so why not go right into this Season with the announcement that it will be the closing chapter? Lots of shows do that when they are not cancelled due to bad ratings. And if nothing else, I know that wasn`t the reason here. So, it`s a creative decision (well, technically) which means you can announce it fair and square. Or wait until after the last episode has aired. Where is the point in coming out right in the middle of a lackluster last Season and finally confirm it IS the last Season? From a PR standpoint, I don`t see what that is supposed to accomplish.
Showise, after loving the hell out of the first Season, I grew disenchanted with Seasons 2 and 3 but was drawn back in with a vengeance with Season 4. Unfortunately in some way because I`m back to being angry with the show now as I was in early Season 2.
Will it end in a satisfying manner? I don`t believe in miracles of that magnitude. They wasted too much of not only this Season but the entire show to pull off everything they would need to pull off for a great ending. And while a lot of it bugs me, what bugs me the most is that they pretty much left out the entire BEST part of the story. There are a lot of adaptions of Arthurian legends and we all know they end tragically. This show was supposed to show their formative years, the "who were they before...".
Okay, they have done that. And then they moved on to the actual legends, they are no longer "before", we are smack-deep in those legends and have been for years now. Five minutes to midnight till the tragic ending even. Um, folks, where is the in-between? The Golden Age that everyone has always been talking about? The legends have it. For some time it IS happening. Where is it in the show?
Arthur is the great and wise High-King of Albion and Merlin is his trusty advisor. People would have been fine had the show ended BEFORE that happened, I think. After all, that was kind of the premise. But I`m pretty sure Arthur will die and Merlin will be immortal and none of their actual legend together will have taken place. Everything was just a lot of babbling by a deranged slash dragon. And the characters spent ten YEARS in showtime treading water.
If this show was a movie, it would have the intro and the ending but skipped over the entire middle. Even if it was a badly-done middle, you still need one. It didn`t even happen in offscreenville, it just didn`t happen AT ALL. And I`m sad to say that casts some negativity on the beginning because a beginning is kind of pointless if it leads nowhere. And this led nowhere. It`s like getting on a train and off a train at the same freaking station. In a way, it almost would have been better to end it after Season 1 because then the middle (and ending) could have happened in our imaginations. But they didn`t even leave us this possibility. There is no room to fit the main part of the story into the actual story they told. That has to be the weirdest storytelling I have seen in my entire life. *crazy*
Will Arthur`s pointless death after never reaching his full potential that he should have on account of who he is still make me sad and angry? Yes. Most definitely so.
Will no magic reveal (or a five minute to end credits) make me upset and ragey? Of course.
Will Morgana`s evolness - or do they actually plan to give her an eleventh hour redemption arc from the legends? Because dear God, that would be even worse than no redemption - be a painful waste of a once good character? Hell yes.
Will Arthur`s and Merlin`s never-fully-realized relathionship - and I don`t necessarily mean in a slashy way here but in a honest, grown beyond the secrets way - just break my heart? Yup.
And that sucks because they got me invested despite everything.
Anyone remember that Simpsons episode with Poochie the dog? That Itchy and Scratchy cartoon where they lampooned raising expectations by "fireworks factory, ten miles", then "five miles", then "one mile", then the pointless, annoying Poochie thing happened and the cartoon ended with them driving right BY that fireworks factory?
Merlin the show is like a five-year version of that cartoon. Only, it`s not funny here.
I wish the actors the best of luck and hope to see them very, very soon in better-written projects. Come on, beeb (or someone else), use them while they`re hot. :)
To be honest, I`m not quite sure why this announcement came now of all times. In the last few weeks news came in of Eion Macken and Tom Hopper getting new roles, that the horses the show used were sold, that Pierrefonds castle would be undergoing restauration work soon so really, everyone and their dog expected it. On the other hand, the actors always gave non-committal answers in interviews.
Now we don`t have definitive spoilers on how it`s all going to end but some stuff is known nevertheless. And in shooting that, they had to have known beforehand if they were going to close the book entirely on the story or leave possibilities open for either a new Season or a movie.
My point is here, I kinda think they have all known for a while so why not go right into this Season with the announcement that it will be the closing chapter? Lots of shows do that when they are not cancelled due to bad ratings. And if nothing else, I know that wasn`t the reason here. So, it`s a creative decision (well, technically) which means you can announce it fair and square. Or wait until after the last episode has aired. Where is the point in coming out right in the middle of a lackluster last Season and finally confirm it IS the last Season? From a PR standpoint, I don`t see what that is supposed to accomplish.
Showise, after loving the hell out of the first Season, I grew disenchanted with Seasons 2 and 3 but was drawn back in with a vengeance with Season 4. Unfortunately in some way because I`m back to being angry with the show now as I was in early Season 2.
Will it end in a satisfying manner? I don`t believe in miracles of that magnitude. They wasted too much of not only this Season but the entire show to pull off everything they would need to pull off for a great ending. And while a lot of it bugs me, what bugs me the most is that they pretty much left out the entire BEST part of the story. There are a lot of adaptions of Arthurian legends and we all know they end tragically. This show was supposed to show their formative years, the "who were they before...".
Okay, they have done that. And then they moved on to the actual legends, they are no longer "before", we are smack-deep in those legends and have been for years now. Five minutes to midnight till the tragic ending even. Um, folks, where is the in-between? The Golden Age that everyone has always been talking about? The legends have it. For some time it IS happening. Where is it in the show?
Arthur is the great and wise High-King of Albion and Merlin is his trusty advisor. People would have been fine had the show ended BEFORE that happened, I think. After all, that was kind of the premise. But I`m pretty sure Arthur will die and Merlin will be immortal and none of their actual legend together will have taken place. Everything was just a lot of babbling by a deranged slash dragon. And the characters spent ten YEARS in showtime treading water.
If this show was a movie, it would have the intro and the ending but skipped over the entire middle. Even if it was a badly-done middle, you still need one. It didn`t even happen in offscreenville, it just didn`t happen AT ALL. And I`m sad to say that casts some negativity on the beginning because a beginning is kind of pointless if it leads nowhere. And this led nowhere. It`s like getting on a train and off a train at the same freaking station. In a way, it almost would have been better to end it after Season 1 because then the middle (and ending) could have happened in our imaginations. But they didn`t even leave us this possibility. There is no room to fit the main part of the story into the actual story they told. That has to be the weirdest storytelling I have seen in my entire life. *crazy*
Will Arthur`s pointless death after never reaching his full potential that he should have on account of who he is still make me sad and angry? Yes. Most definitely so.
Will no magic reveal (or a five minute to end credits) make me upset and ragey? Of course.
Will Morgana`s evolness - or do they actually plan to give her an eleventh hour redemption arc from the legends? Because dear God, that would be even worse than no redemption - be a painful waste of a once good character? Hell yes.
Will Arthur`s and Merlin`s never-fully-realized relathionship - and I don`t necessarily mean in a slashy way here but in a honest, grown beyond the secrets way - just break my heart? Yup.
And that sucks because they got me invested despite everything.
Anyone remember that Simpsons episode with Poochie the dog? That Itchy and Scratchy cartoon where they lampooned raising expectations by "fireworks factory, ten miles", then "five miles", then "one mile", then the pointless, annoying Poochie thing happened and the cartoon ended with them driving right BY that fireworks factory?
Merlin the show is like a five-year version of that cartoon. Only, it`s not funny here.
I wish the actors the best of luck and hope to see them very, very soon in better-written projects. Come on, beeb (or someone else), use them while they`re hot. :)
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how everybody immediately went into mourning as if they didn't know.
You mean in fandom? I don`t know, I haven`t really checked reactions and most I`ve seen saw it coming and/or are frustrated and angry for the wasted potential.
Not that I believe another Season or movies would have made a difference. Better showrunners were the only thing that could have changed things.