(no subject)
Things I liked:
- Arthur noticing and caring that Merlin hadn't smiled in three days.
- Mordred. OK, this ep sold me on him. Gah, this ep really reminded me that he grew up without parents, that he's had to make his own way and hasn't, as far as we know, grown up around other kids. He's just so eager to fit in, and especially for Arthur's approval. He just lights up when Arthur shows he believes in him.
In a way I am struck by the parallel with Merlin - both have parents who have suffered due to the magic ban, they're both hiding their own magic, and yet they're both seeking Arthur's approval (in different ways), and they're both, at this stage, prepared to give their lives for him. And here we have Arthur making a desperate bid to save Mordred's life, as he did with Merlin in S1, though the stakes are higher and the outcome is different.
Also, Alex seems to have by far the most chemistry with both Bradley and Colin, which certainly doesn't hurt.
- Gaius making sort of a stand and recognising the importance of the old religion to Arthur's face.
- I'm of two minds about Merlin's determination to kill Mordred - I don't like the message it's sending on a family show, but I appreciate the throwback to S1, and Merlin's cynicism packed a punch for me, and interests me in terms of his character development.
- Merlin's face during that last talk with Arthur. JFC. ;_; Well played, Colin.
Next are the things I didn't like, which is most of the ep tbh, so only click if you want to read:
[Things I didn't like:]
- OK, seriously, what on earth was that episode? I'm assuming they needed this to set up this series' arc, but taking the ep by itself, the writing was terrible. I'm not even that annoyed, because there wasn't much of this ep I could take seriously. Was it me or were some of the scenes downright awkward? I felt like the actors themselves weren't quite sure what to do with them.
- Very little in the ep made sense, too. They just pulled this goddess out of nowhere without any set-up or context (were they waiting patiently for the moment whichever Pendragon was in charge to stop actively pursuing magic users before they passed judgement? Just, what?), and then we're to believe Arthur regressed 3 to 5 years again and has suddenly forgotten the meaning of respect so that he could ~grow during the ep (except I couldn't buy this Arthur at all. He knows better by now, and the writers have pulled this crap too many times).
And I want to say that, purely from a shipper POV, I appreciate the fact, as heartbreaking as it is, that Merlin chose Arthur's life above his want for magic to be reinstated, except I seriously cannot wrap my head around the logic that he would think a judgement from the Old Religion's highest court was somehow better than keeping Mordred. Mordred, at least, he could have dealt with. A goddess, not so much. Just, wtf.
- On a slightly more minor note, in what universe does it make sense for Gwaine to be the one to go all "respect the king"? If there's someone who doesn't care about those things (unless it escalates to physical threat), surely it's Gwaine? Have they forgotten everything about him? Just one more thing that made the ep surreal to me.
After four decent eps, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, so I'm not too surprised or annoyed, and glad that there were still things I liked - and somewhat curious, in a cautious way, as to where they're going with the overall arc, so hey, there's that. Onto next week!