Merlin

[Honeybee]

I know this show ended last year, but I only now started to watch a few episodes. It's a classic example of a scifi/fantasy show that had a weak first season then grew into its premise and was held up by strong performances in the lead roles.

My random thoughts:

For all that it is kids show, it's also the slashiest show I've ever seen. It seems like every other episode, the writers throne a bone to the Merlin/Arthur shippers. It's also got some of the most obvious pro-gay metaphors ever, with Merlin and other people "with magic" having to be closeted.


That said, it sure did develop the Gwen/Arthur relationship over the course of the series. I actually liked the rewrite of Gwen as a serving girl and their marriage being for love. However, the relationship was so strong - I think they did have to get magic involved in her "cheating" with Lancelot, which was very chaste given this is a kids show.

Kids show - yet it didn't shy away from showing gorgeous shirtless men or having close ups of Gwen's heaving bosoms.

I loved the storybook aesthetic - a clean version of the middle ages with gorgeous sets and stunning locations. I covet many of Morgana's shimmery gowns from the first seasons.

As a Buffy fan, some of my favorite episodes were the ones were Uther got to be funny, such as when he marries a Goblin.

I more than understand why they cut the incest plot and made Mordred a child that Arthur and Morgana rescued together. Grown up Mordred was a great, complex villain that I wish we had seen more of.

Spoiler alert (sort of) - I actually choked up when Arthur dies in Merlin's arms in the last episode. I'm a sucker for Arthurian legends, and the whole Arthur will return when England/Albion needs him gets me.

I liked the dragons, and it strikes me that this show evolved into Game of Thrones for kids.

I hope the young actors all get new gigs, because really the performances made some of the weaker episodes work for me.

Overall, from what I've seen, my favorite eps are "The Once and Future Queen" "A Servant of Two Masters", "The Diamond of the Day" and "The Last Dragonlord"

[Mistress Euclid]

One of the great things about being me was that I never felt the need to choose between Arthur/Merlin and Gwen/Arthur. Oh, I should write a fic where they work that out in a very Euclidian way.

Although, my dark side loves the idea of Mordred/Arthur/Merlin - which was all over the fifth season, thank you.

[Honeybee]

It is tough to choose between Merlin/Arthur and Gwen/Arthur because so much care was put into both of those relationships on the show.

Although, the Freya character was only in two episodes, she did make a lovely love interest for Merlin.

I would so want to visit the castle they used for some of Camelot.

[Artisticmom2]

We really liked the show here too and watched it as a family.

I never really felt the need to chose Arthur/Merlin and Arthur/Gwen as I always read the Arthur/Merlin relationship more platonic/brotherly and for a while there in the first season I was actually thinking they might toss Merlin/Gwen together, which would have been very interesting. And in that vein, it would have been great to see some of the knights developed into something other then gorgeous looking men with swords. Like towards the end with Gwyain. The few knights that came to the forefront could have been developed a bit more so that it wasn't all about Merlin and Arthur although I know Merlin's name was on the show heading!

As to the flesh issue on a "family show"... well, my teen daughters and I certainly appreciated it!

The one thing that really bugged all of us was that the actor that played Arthur wasn't as muscularly developed as the other knights' actors. He was supposed to be wielding a sword all the time.

[Honeybee]

I've seen criticism about how chaste the show was, such as not having Arthur and Morgana be Mordred's parents or having Gwen's affair with Lancelot only consist of a kiss, but if you understand that it was a Saturday Tea Time show (the equivalent of Saturday Morning in the US) that makes it pretty clear that it's supposed to be a show very young children can watch. I appreciated that, especially after the first season, there was some pretty serious issues about tolerance and it was scary at times, but not so scary that young kids couldn't watch it.

Bradley James was in great shape, but he was not as big or bulky as the other actors cast as knights, that is very true. The actor playing Percival was about two heads taller than him. I did appreciate however, that he looked like he could be the son of Anthony Steward Head and the actress they had playing Igraine.

[Mistress Euclid]

I think they were considering having Mordred be Arthur and Morgana's son, considering how much Arthur and Morgana flirted in the first couple of episodes and how everyone in Camelot seemed to think they would eventually marry. That evaporated pretty quick, and my guess is it was decided that was too much for a kid's show.

In those early episodes, they also did have Gwen openly crushing on Merlin, who was obviously a more appropriate choice for her at the time, but then they settled in as friends.

I am curious that they never explored the UST between Merlin and Morgana - you'd think they'd at least have them kiss once. They had so much in common and were two sides of the same coin. The episode where Morgana discovers she "has magic" is so chocked full of Merlin/Morgana UST. Arthur even accuses Merlin of being in love with her.