Merlin 4x03 thoughts
Figured I should probably post my thoughts on last night's episode as Tali arrives tomorrow and I'll be busy showing her around and catching up.
I feel very, very mixed about this episode. On the one hand there were some moments of brilliance, but overall I felt it was incredibly lacking given how pivotal an ep it turned out to be. Bullet point thoughts:
- The lack of Gwen and Morgana was really upsetting, ngl. I know this episode was about Arthur, Merlin, and Uther, and I accept that. But Uther died. This is the same man who tore Gwen's life apart. He killed her father, banished her from Camelot, accused her of bewitching his son, slapped her, and tried to execute her -- twice. There was no acknowledgment of what he put her through save Arthur thanking her for being so kind, and even then it was very, very indirect, and only Gwen's "I do it for you" provided any indication that Gwen had issues with this man. As for Morgana ... if I was upset over Gwen getting passed over, I don't think I can put into words how angry I am over the writers doing the same to Morgana. Morgana has been attempting to kill (slash deciding not to kill) Uther since episode 12 of series one. His death is what drove her all of series three. She should have killed him directly. There should have been one last interaction between the two. Instead, her only hand in his death is the creation of a necklace that reverses Merlin's spell, and that infuriates me. Uther's death was an incredibly important part of her narrative, and the writers robbed her of a story line that everyone knew was hers.
- That said, I do love that Morgana was conflicted over Uther's death (although it would be nice if the writers actually explored this). Gray Morgana is wonderful and I can never get enough of her.
- Angel Coulby's reaction shots during the feast were fantastic. And if I thought her hair was gorgeous during the funeral last week, it was nothing compared to her hair in this scene. And her reaction shots during Arthur's coronation had me brimming with joy. (I cannot put into words how much I hate having to use "reaction shots" so often wrg to her role.)
- Keeping with this series' trend, the Arthur/Merlin relationship was on point. The scene when Arthur opens the doors and finds Merlin waiting there ... ugh, my heart. That was breathtaking and beautiful and everything I've ever wanted for these two. Also, Arthur called him a friend. No "if we were other people" or "I could almost call you" modifiers. Flat out a friend.
- Arthur's crown is legit the most ridiculous thing I've ever laid eyes on. I will never be able to take him seriously. Ever. Why couldn't he have used Uther's crown? It wasn't the best, but it looked okay.
- Despite nearly doubling over with laughter over Arthur's crown, his coronation really was beautiful, mostly due to Gwen and Merlin's reactions (my beautiful OT3!!!).
- I definitely enjoyed Dragoon/Arthur, but I feel like they spent too much time on pointless humor. They could've cut some of that out, still have had enough great moments between the two, and used that extra time to focus on Gwen and/or Morgana.
- Why does Arthur know about magic being responsible for his mother's death? I'm confused. Save 2x08, which received the reset button, he has never connected the two, correct? Can somebody help me out here?
- I am very much happy that Uther is off the show now (about damn time -- sorry, sherrilina!!), but his "premature" death means we'll never get the following, and it breaks my heart: Arthur confronting his father re: lying to him about his mother's death, Arthur confronting his father over lying about Morgana, a second Uther/Morgana confrontation (as discussed earlier), Uther learning that Arthur really is in love with Gwen (and not being able to do a thing about it), a confrontation between Gwen and Uther, and a struggle over policies between Arthur and Uther. I'm sure there are a lot more, actually, but that's all I can think of right now.
- Bradley's acting was pretty fantastic, I must say. The scene when his father is stabbed? I love how quiet his performance was and how he turned into this disbelieving little boy. It easily could have been a very loud, big scene, but by taking it in this direction instead we were able to focus on and really feel his pain (at least I did).
- To Arthur's "I'm not ready to be king" comment and seemingly believing it 100% -- boy, what have you been doing this past year while your father sits in a corner? Pretty sure you've been king in all but name. (No, I get why he was having such doubts, but I wish someone had brought that point up.)
- I'm really not sure where the writers intend to go from here now that Arthur seems to hate magic just as much as his father. Once again, one step forward and two steps back. As I told starry_laa during our online flail session, "I don't know why, but I can't get over the idea that S4 will end with a cliffhanger of Morgana mortally wounding Gwen and Merlin having to reveal his magic to save her, so we don't know if she lives and we don't know Arthur's reaction to Merlin's reveal. Because saving Gwen is honestly the only way I can think of that will change Arthur's view at this point, and it would tie into Agravaine and Morgana's plans for her." I mean I know my idea is insane and will not happen, but I cannot fathom any other way to get out of this corner the writers have driven themselves into. But I'm probably lacking considerably in the imagination department.
I feel very, very mixed about this episode. On the one hand there were some moments of brilliance, but overall I felt it was incredibly lacking given how pivotal an ep it turned out to be. Bullet point thoughts:
- The lack of Gwen and Morgana was really upsetting, ngl. I know this episode was about Arthur, Merlin, and Uther, and I accept that. But Uther died. This is the same man who tore Gwen's life apart. He killed her father, banished her from Camelot, accused her of bewitching his son, slapped her, and tried to execute her -- twice. There was no acknowledgment of what he put her through save Arthur thanking her for being so kind, and even then it was very, very indirect, and only Gwen's "I do it for you" provided any indication that Gwen had issues with this man. As for Morgana ... if I was upset over Gwen getting passed over, I don't think I can put into words how angry I am over the writers doing the same to Morgana. Morgana has been attempting to kill (slash deciding not to kill) Uther since episode 12 of series one. His death is what drove her all of series three. She should have killed him directly. There should have been one last interaction between the two. Instead, her only hand in his death is the creation of a necklace that reverses Merlin's spell, and that infuriates me. Uther's death was an incredibly important part of her narrative, and the writers robbed her of a story line that everyone knew was hers.
- That said, I do love that Morgana was conflicted over Uther's death (although it would be nice if the writers actually explored this). Gray Morgana is wonderful and I can never get enough of her.
- Angel Coulby's reaction shots during the feast were fantastic. And if I thought her hair was gorgeous during the funeral last week, it was nothing compared to her hair in this scene. And her reaction shots during Arthur's coronation had me brimming with joy. (I cannot put into words how much I hate having to use "reaction shots" so often wrg to her role.)
- Keeping with this series' trend, the Arthur/Merlin relationship was on point. The scene when Arthur opens the doors and finds Merlin waiting there ... ugh, my heart. That was breathtaking and beautiful and everything I've ever wanted for these two. Also, Arthur called him a friend. No "if we were other people" or "I could almost call you" modifiers. Flat out a friend.
- Arthur's crown is legit the most ridiculous thing I've ever laid eyes on. I will never be able to take him seriously. Ever. Why couldn't he have used Uther's crown? It wasn't the best, but it looked okay.
- Despite nearly doubling over with laughter over Arthur's crown, his coronation really was beautiful, mostly due to Gwen and Merlin's reactions (my beautiful OT3!!!).
- I definitely enjoyed Dragoon/Arthur, but I feel like they spent too much time on pointless humor. They could've cut some of that out, still have had enough great moments between the two, and used that extra time to focus on Gwen and/or Morgana.
- Why does Arthur know about magic being responsible for his mother's death? I'm confused. Save 2x08, which received the reset button, he has never connected the two, correct? Can somebody help me out here?
- I am very much happy that Uther is off the show now (about damn time -- sorry, sherrilina!!), but his "premature" death means we'll never get the following, and it breaks my heart: Arthur confronting his father re: lying to him about his mother's death, Arthur confronting his father over lying about Morgana, a second Uther/Morgana confrontation (as discussed earlier), Uther learning that Arthur really is in love with Gwen (and not being able to do a thing about it), a confrontation between Gwen and Uther, and a struggle over policies between Arthur and Uther. I'm sure there are a lot more, actually, but that's all I can think of right now.
- Bradley's acting was pretty fantastic, I must say. The scene when his father is stabbed? I love how quiet his performance was and how he turned into this disbelieving little boy. It easily could have been a very loud, big scene, but by taking it in this direction instead we were able to focus on and really feel his pain (at least I did).
- To Arthur's "I'm not ready to be king" comment and seemingly believing it 100% -- boy, what have you been doing this past year while your father sits in a corner? Pretty sure you've been king in all but name. (No, I get why he was having such doubts, but I wish someone had brought that point up.)
- I'm really not sure where the writers intend to go from here now that Arthur seems to hate magic just as much as his father. Once again, one step forward and two steps back. As I told starry_laa during our online flail session, "I don't know why, but I can't get over the idea that S4 will end with a cliffhanger of Morgana mortally wounding Gwen and Merlin having to reveal his magic to save her, so we don't know if she lives and we don't know Arthur's reaction to Merlin's reveal. Because saving Gwen is honestly the only way I can think of that will change Arthur's view at this point, and it would tie into Agravaine and Morgana's plans for her." I mean I know my idea is insane and will not happen, but I cannot fathom any other way to get out of this corner the writers have driven themselves into. But I'm probably lacking considerably in the imagination department.