Because of a well-meaning Santa this year and several like-minded Santas in the last few years, I`m now looking to get rid of some Merlin DVDs.

It`s the entire show Season 1 - 5, each Season in two boxes. I have one complete set with German dubbing and one just in English. Everything is well-maintained, some mostly unused. Not looking to make much here, just mostly shipping costs.

So if anyone is interested, drop me a comment.

Oh my god, how did I not know that Johnny Capps and Julian Jones are producing a new genre show for the Beeb, called Atlantis?

Seeing as normally Merlin would start up its fall Season again soonish, I wondered if the Beeb had any costume drama replacement for it. And sure enough, brought to you from the guys who thouroughly slaughtered one of the most beloved British legends EVER. And kicked every rule of storytelling in the face while doing so. Repeatedly. With steel-toed boots.

I`ll give them a good first Season. It was fun, it was goofy and heartwarming. On some level it still holds up as one of my all-time TV-faves. There was even a brief revival of that feeling during Season 4 (and points for "making it canon" in the end) but by far and large, their show was carried by the charme of their actors.

Now they`re grabbing famous folklore from another culture - guess they were at least banned from British stuff? - and I don`t think anyone expects a different outcome. And I have no idea if they managed to cast well this time either. Am undecided if I`m gonna be there for it has something of a small desaster, it naturally draws your curiosity. Oy.

Last night, a (pretty much one-sided) conversation took place in my living room that went as follows:

Producers: "Okay, we screwed up the entire premise of our show due to writing that was out of touch with the basic principles of good storytelling."
Me: "I know, I watched your show."
Producers: "But there is still one thing we can kinda get right."
Me: "Ahahahaha... *45 minutes later* ... I`ll be damned."

I`m...I`m kinda inspired to write fic again. I haven`t felt that drive since well over a year. Maybe this time I`ll actually do it. Seriously, ants in the pants here. :D

Some very crazy Merlin spec here. Sorry for not shutting up about this show but I read some dialogue teasers for the Finale (I`m spoiled for the general plot but not the specific specifics, so to say) and some spec on the person that piece of dialogue is attributed to. And one particular line of dialogue is just... mindblowing. IF the respective speaker and recipient are to be correct, that is.

Nope, it isn`t a plot spoiler. It doesn`t deal with you know what but in terms of emotional context, if it happens? My mind, it is thouroughly blown.

Onward and forward: ( Spoiler, kind of )

Inspired by lovis.

Lets see how my shows fared during their first half (or at least close to it) of the new Season (occassional spoiler tags, just in case):

Bones - still watch for the revolving interns basically and I will compliment them on doing a really decent 9/11 ep with all of them but WTH was that last episode before hiatus? Oy.
Castle - okay, I guess, they`re even handling Castle and Beckett as a couple reasonably well (in the "it could be way worse" sense)

NCIS - same old, same old, nothing ever changes here (unless a cast member wants out)
NCIS Los Angeles - pure popcorn entertainment but on that level it works, it`s uncanny, though, how many bad guys the team shoots in every single episode, I can think of no procedural that is sooo trigger-happy

Arrow - still like it, still like gloomy Ollie ( spoiler ); thing is, Oliver is so profoundly lonely, he is a very tragic character for me
Supernatural - better than the last three years but the writing issues in general (pacing, multiple plots at least for main characters, lazy characterization issues) didn`t improve as much as I previously hoped, ( spoiler )
Criminal Minds - much like NCIS, same old, same old, the new character brought nothing in terms of new dynamics, she neither enrages nor enraptures, ( spoiler )

The Vampire Diaires - oh dear, it`s kinda like riding a train but thinking you spot a large gap in the tracks further down the road, you`re not sure yet and you have some hope it will all work out but, like Han Solo, you have a bad feeling about it; ( spoiler )
Beauty and the Beast - yup, still watching. Anyone`s guess as to why because it`s really pedestrian but I have developed this stubborn desire to see the titular characters together because, seriously, glaciers move faster than this.
Person of Interest - like it as much as in Season 1, two wonderfully stoic characters bringing each other back into the world, ( spoiler )
Elementary - enjoy it more than I thought I would and I`m really, really impressed that so far they haven`t validated my cynical belief that soon enough Sherlock and Watson would play the will they/won`t they game
The Big Bang Theory - it still makes me laugh occassionally but why did Amy get the sexaholic character overhaul? That`s cringeworthy.

Fringe - this Season is weird for me, I don`t dislike it but it never really got going for me ( spoiler )
Haven - I do not understand ( spoiler ) That said, I have quite enjoyed the Season for the most part.
Grimm - holy crap, they really brought a few things to a head, ( spoiler )

Merlin - like I said, the only question becomes on how much they are gonna screw up Christmas as it seems crystal clear that ( spoiler speculation )

One down, two to go... ( Merlin 5.11 )

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.( bit lengthy rambling about the PR of it all )

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. (  cut for more ramblings, no spoilers )

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. :)

Because I`m only slowly catching up on my shows, I have not yet seen last week`s ep of Merlin but the newest one? Was sooooooo much better when it happened last Season with ( spoilers )

My Merlin stream kept freezing up this week, very inconvenient but after having seen the ep for real, here is my ( reaction )

In short, I found it a surprisingly decent episode.

Still on a Merlin-kink atm, sorry, but has anyone seen a gif/vid or something that has the last scene of Beginning of the End with young Mordred and Arthur right next to ( slight spoiler for 5.01 ) And Arthur (or Merlin) literally doesn`t look a day older?

Poor Mordred, he had to go and live outside the space/time continuum. *g*