New Merlin on BBC

[Bob The Skutter]

^From Wiki
# Episode UK Viewers (millions) Rank (All Week)a Rank (All Day)b
1 "The Curse of Cornelius Sigan" 5.77 #11 #4
2 "The Once and Future Queen" 5.94 #11 #5
3 "The Nightmare Begins" 6.09 #8 #4
4 "Lancelot and Guinevere" 5.69 #6 #5
5 "Beauty and the Beast: Part One" 5.53 #10 #5
6 "Beauty and the Beast: Part Two" 6.14 #7 #3
7 "The Witchfinder" 5.62 #12 #4
8 "The Sins of the Father" 6.16 #7 #3
9 "The Lady of the Lake" 6.30 #9 #5
10 "Sweet Dreams" 6.02 #8 #5
11 "The Witch's Quickening" 5.22* TBA TBA
12 "The Fires Of Idirsholas" 5.22* TBA TBA

 

[KB24]

I like Buffy, far better than this modern joke of the teeny vampire business, but that isn't really what I meant in saying Merlin could be like Buffy. I mean it has the potential to be that cultish, go on as long and be there for it's characters to grow up. The creators like to compare to Smallville, but that series never sort of had the type of phenom and long lasting power that Buffy has had, and many folks think its jumped the shark and gone on far too long.

 

[Starkers]

The trouble is that Buffy is in part responsible for the modern joke that is vampires. Aside from a few examples (The Master, Darla, Dru, Spike, Angelus) vamps in Buffy and Angel were handled appallingly, made to be the the low grade/easily killed henchmen of the series.

I don't see much linking Merlin to Buffy. I think to start with they were obviously trying to be the new Doctor Who, but quickly found their own voice, and the contrast between light and dark seems far more pronounced this year. Its doubtful they'll ever go dark for an entire series, this is a show designed for early Saturday evening after all, but frankly if they give me three more seasons as good as the second has been I'd be happy as Larry!

anyway, more Morguse, more Morgana, more eyeliner please

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Good end to the series, shame they had to kill off the interesting guest character, again.
I just hope they don't back track at the start of next series like they did this series. Despite the back tracking, though, I think the second series has been better than the first one was, on the whole anyway. There have been a few missteps and silly moments, but it was an improvement.

 

[captcalhoun]

i can't believe they killed Sir Leon!

DAMN YOU!!!! *shakes fist*

 

[Guy Gardener]

You ever notice how the red neckerchief against the blue shirt kinda looks like what Superman wears? And then noticing the huge shock of blonde hair on that Arthur bloke, I couldn't help but think: E ghads! Arthur is Chloe! but no, more like Whitney from season one who thought Clark was a dick, or Green Arrow.

The end should have been Morguse still, or more episodes before hand should have been about the dragon being a bastard, imagine how the last few stories would have been if camelot had be smitten by the blitz already?

 

[KB24]

Here Here Guy. This is how the series should have been all along. Whew! Glad to see some things made known to more people, even though Merlin can use magic in the middle of Camelot's square and nobody sees anything!

I know folks don't like it dark or super dark because its a family show, but this is very serious familial content and young angst here.

Of course, I did have a few Potter moments, Merlin can speak Dragon Tongue, how original. I was hoping the series wouldn't lose John Hurt, but some Excalibur wielding by Arthur and his subsequent leniency might have been nice. Of course, Lancelot showing up would have been cool, too. That might have left a little of those Arthur/Gwen moments brewing for next season. At least they mentioned Morgana once.

Oh yes this should have been played a lot longer. Half of Merlin seems like filler now. Why wasn't the dragon raging for several eps, enough time for Merlin to stop along the way and chat with Hunith pre and post Balinor? Wow I wish they would have 2 hour opening and closing episodes!

More sensical thoughts to come later, perhaps.

 

[captcalhoun]

Merlin was using the cod-Welsh magic speak he usually uses for spells. that wasn't 'dragon tongue'.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Merlin was using the cod-Welsh magic speak he usually uses for spells. that wasn't 'dragon tongue'.

It's not ""Cod-Welsh" it's Old English.

 

[captcalhoun]

i thought i read some where it was a load of Welsh mixed with Old English.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

i thought i read some where it was a load of Welsh mixed with Old English.

As far as I remember from Secrets and Magic and the extras on the DVDs have said it's just Old English, and they're just basically saying stuff like "give me light" or "set this wood on fire".

 

[KB24]

I meant that it was very Potter-esque like the Snake speech. When they do things like that it makes we wonder if folks don't dismiss Merlin as a Potter knock off. I think it's neat if they use Welsh and Old English mixes, adding to the history and flavor. But of course, our silly American youngins would think Potter imitation first, real connection to Arthurian past second. I do think this ep here made great strides for the series to come into its own, the last few especially. I only hope they don't reboot and dumb themselves down again. The show should keep at this level. I said from the b eginning the dragon should have been played completely for an important story, not just some creature feature advice. Wouldn't the dragon have know who Merlin's father was, anyway?

 

[rahullak]

^
Possibly. But perhaps the Dragon's point was to make Merlin realize the same. When Merlin & Arthur were facing the Dragon, I almost had the feeling that the Dragon wanted Merlin to use magic in front of Arthur, save the kingdom and thus cause an evolution in their relationship.

 

[Starkers]

I did almost wonder if the dragon's rampage was part of a wider ploy to ensure Arthur and Merlin continued their development.

Again another guest star killed too quickly, whilst the retruning father who dies within fifteen minutes is a trifle cliched, I have to say Colin Morgan's performance ensured I didn't care, he's quite the actor I think. I loved his and Arthur's interplay, as always, and they even managed to advance the Arthur/Gwen storyline. Bit blatant wasn't she at the end!

I thought it was a good idea to drop us into the dragon's attacks. We really don't need to see days and days of rampage, I think that would have been boring. Be interesting to see if there's any fallout, I mean Arthur essentially went out on a suicide mission to fight the dragon while his dad skulked away in hiding. Not very kingly.

Loved the Merlin will return bit at the end as well. This show has really come into its own and, as Bob says, I really hope they don't backtrack too much at the start of series 3.

 

[KB24]

Any news on region 1 dvd releases or an airing stateside? Instead of waiting to the death of August if they even air season 2, why not give season 1 a repeat during a slow Spring sweeps spot like Friday night? If they get consisted numbers 4 to 5 mil, then maybe 2 in the summer would be good. I'm reaching, probably I know. I've watched a few of Legend of the Seeker in withdrawal. The story is good, but some of the acting and dialogue is clumsy. Not great wit and chemistry like Merlin.