This is a belated TV reaction post
Cause I have been too busy with coursework to watch anything but Merlin at a reasonable pace and also too busy to update. :3
First up, Merlin: His Father's Son. Does anyone else think that 4x03 and 4x04 should have been the other way around? Aisthusa would have made just as much sense with Uther still king, with a few alterations to the dialogue, and last week's episode followed on waaay better from The Wicked Day (actually dealing with Arthur being king now, Arthur and Merlin's relationship having progressed, etc.). So in my headcanon the order of the episodes is different now. :P
The other thing that bugs me is: Arthur. WTF. You should not be the champion. Did Uther teach you nothing. You are the king. If you die Camelot is fucked. Fucked forever. Charging into battle first and putting yourself at most risk looks shiny and awesome and all, but it's a really fucking bad idea! It did work for Alexander the Great but then again he drank himself to death in his thirties so he really isn't that good a role model, leadership-wise.
*ahem* The stuff I did like, however: Arthur and Gwen being cute! Gwen having scenes and dialogue and shit! Merlin dressed as a knight! Merlin tripping and falling into the tent! Merlin in general! And Queen Annis holy shit so much love. <3
I already said this on tumblr but Queen Annis reminds me so much of Medb of the Táin Bó Cúailnge. The whole feel and aesthetic of the episode was actually very Celtic-literature to me - I liked the Carleon had an actually early-medieval aesthetic rather than the pseudo-high-medieval look of Camelot. :3
Finally - I hope that when Agravaine gets found out, somebody (anybody) punches him very hard in the face. Does anyone like this guy? Anyone? I can't think of many other Merlin villains who haven't gotten at least a little love from the fandom, and none of the recurring villains. Even Edwin Muirden had fans for a while. But Agravaine is just slimy and two-dimensional, and it's annoying because he has a genuine motive for hating the Pendragons (Uther is responsible for the deaths of both his siblings) but is it just me or has that yet to be brought up? We've been left to just infer that that's why he's a traitor. If you didn't know he had two dead siblings you'd think he was just a greedy wanker. :/
And now, Misfits. I think I am one of a minority of people who is actually not all that fussed about Nathan leaving. He was pretty much redundant all the way through S2 and they wrapped his arc up pretty nicely in the Christmas Special with Marnie and Nathan Jr., so given how grating he was starting to get... yeah. I can live without Nathan.
As such I quite like Rudy. So far he seems to be very, very similar to Nathan in many respects, but without feeling like Nathan 2.0, and his power is something a bit different (I want to give double!Rudy a hug, poor guy).
So overall I enjoyed the episode and there was a whole lot of awesome, and, eh, it was new Misfits. :3 But I am not keen on the new powers (I hope they either trade in Kelly's or have her find an application for it soon because the novelty of 'I'm a fucking rocket scientist!' is going to wear off pretty quickly). The whole point up until now was that their powers were outward expressions of their personalities and that's just gone, and also they feel so half-arsed - Curtis got the only one left? Seriously? The only one I like is Simon's, he's undergone enough character development than the invisibility wasn't really appropriate any more.
And. The two community service girls. I. O_O One of them's only character trait was that she liked anal sex and the other turned into a homicidal maniac at the drop of a hat (I felt bad for her at first but then she got so violent so quickly that wtf?). I've seen a lot of accusations of sexism thrown at this show but I've never agreed until now. Except for when they killed Nikki for the sake of teaching the other characters' a lesson, wtf.
Finally, Young Dracula. Hee, this is such a guilty pleasure show, it's not even funny, but going by the first two episodes it might actually be properly good this time rather than CBBC sitcom good. I wish they'd taken advantage of the school setting a little more, but that is pretty much my only complaint and they'll probably remedy it later.
Other than that - Erin. Holy shit, Erin. <3 I love that the main action hero of this show now seems to be a girl, and I wish there was a more active fandom so there could be Erin/Ingrid femslash. And I'm loving Vlad's new badass vampire skillset, and Keith Lee Castle as Dracula never ceases to be delightful. :D Also, Vlad/Bertrand slash. Vlad hypnotised Bertrand to kneel before him. Yes please. :D And actually competent slayers! With stakes that are not ridiculous looking!
They also seem to have got the comedy/drama balance way better than they had it back in S2, what with Ingrid's funny facial hair and Renfield, being, well, Renfield in the same episode as Erin coming to terms with possibily having to kill her brother once he turns into a vampire. o_o Wow, dark much? Plus what with that and the teacher's (I forget her name) resistance to hypnotism, I'm seeing a lot of potential (apparently at least one of the Van Helsings will be back, going by the trailer).
My only big complaint is that the darker edge led to some uncomfortableness with the way the Count treats Ingrid. Back when it was like 90% comedy that didn't really bother me, but now that it's more like maybe 50-60% and Ingrid's life was genuinely hanging in the balance... ouch. Seriously, ouch.
Aside from that last point, though - this show is awesome and UK people should go get the first two episodes of the new series while they're still on iPlayer. <3
First up, Merlin: His Father's Son. Does anyone else think that 4x03 and 4x04 should have been the other way around? Aisthusa would have made just as much sense with Uther still king, with a few alterations to the dialogue, and last week's episode followed on waaay better from The Wicked Day (actually dealing with Arthur being king now, Arthur and Merlin's relationship having progressed, etc.). So in my headcanon the order of the episodes is different now. :P
The other thing that bugs me is: Arthur. WTF. You should not be the champion. Did Uther teach you nothing. You are the king. If you die Camelot is fucked. Fucked forever. Charging into battle first and putting yourself at most risk looks shiny and awesome and all, but it's a really fucking bad idea! It did work for Alexander the Great but then again he drank himself to death in his thirties so he really isn't that good a role model, leadership-wise.
*ahem* The stuff I did like, however: Arthur and Gwen being cute! Gwen having scenes and dialogue and shit! Merlin dressed as a knight! Merlin tripping and falling into the tent! Merlin in general! And Queen Annis holy shit so much love. <3
I already said this on tumblr but Queen Annis reminds me so much of Medb of the Táin Bó Cúailnge. The whole feel and aesthetic of the episode was actually very Celtic-literature to me - I liked the Carleon had an actually early-medieval aesthetic rather than the pseudo-high-medieval look of Camelot. :3
Finally - I hope that when Agravaine gets found out, somebody (anybody) punches him very hard in the face. Does anyone like this guy? Anyone? I can't think of many other Merlin villains who haven't gotten at least a little love from the fandom, and none of the recurring villains. Even Edwin Muirden had fans for a while. But Agravaine is just slimy and two-dimensional, and it's annoying because he has a genuine motive for hating the Pendragons (Uther is responsible for the deaths of both his siblings) but is it just me or has that yet to be brought up? We've been left to just infer that that's why he's a traitor. If you didn't know he had two dead siblings you'd think he was just a greedy wanker. :/
And now, Misfits. I think I am one of a minority of people who is actually not all that fussed about Nathan leaving. He was pretty much redundant all the way through S2 and they wrapped his arc up pretty nicely in the Christmas Special with Marnie and Nathan Jr., so given how grating he was starting to get... yeah. I can live without Nathan.
As such I quite like Rudy. So far he seems to be very, very similar to Nathan in many respects, but without feeling like Nathan 2.0, and his power is something a bit different (I want to give double!Rudy a hug, poor guy).
So overall I enjoyed the episode and there was a whole lot of awesome, and, eh, it was new Misfits. :3 But I am not keen on the new powers (I hope they either trade in Kelly's or have her find an application for it soon because the novelty of 'I'm a fucking rocket scientist!' is going to wear off pretty quickly). The whole point up until now was that their powers were outward expressions of their personalities and that's just gone, and also they feel so half-arsed - Curtis got the only one left? Seriously? The only one I like is Simon's, he's undergone enough character development than the invisibility wasn't really appropriate any more.
And. The two community service girls. I. O_O One of them's only character trait was that she liked anal sex and the other turned into a homicidal maniac at the drop of a hat (I felt bad for her at first but then she got so violent so quickly that wtf?). I've seen a lot of accusations of sexism thrown at this show but I've never agreed until now. Except for when they killed Nikki for the sake of teaching the other characters' a lesson, wtf.
Finally, Young Dracula. Hee, this is such a guilty pleasure show, it's not even funny, but going by the first two episodes it might actually be properly good this time rather than CBBC sitcom good. I wish they'd taken advantage of the school setting a little more, but that is pretty much my only complaint and they'll probably remedy it later.
Other than that - Erin. Holy shit, Erin. <3 I love that the main action hero of this show now seems to be a girl, and I wish there was a more active fandom so there could be Erin/Ingrid femslash. And I'm loving Vlad's new badass vampire skillset, and Keith Lee Castle as Dracula never ceases to be delightful. :D Also, Vlad/Bertrand slash. Vlad hypnotised Bertrand to kneel before him. Yes please. :D And actually competent slayers! With stakes that are not ridiculous looking!
They also seem to have got the comedy/drama balance way better than they had it back in S2, what with Ingrid's funny facial hair and Renfield, being, well, Renfield in the same episode as Erin coming to terms with possibily having to kill her brother once he turns into a vampire. o_o Wow, dark much? Plus what with that and the teacher's (I forget her name) resistance to hypnotism, I'm seeing a lot of potential (apparently at least one of the Van Helsings will be back, going by the trailer).
My only big complaint is that the darker edge led to some uncomfortableness with the way the Count treats Ingrid. Back when it was like 90% comedy that didn't really bother me, but now that it's more like maybe 50-60% and Ingrid's life was genuinely hanging in the balance... ouch. Seriously, ouch.
Aside from that last point, though - this show is awesome and UK people should go get the first two episodes of the new series while they're still on iPlayer. <3