(no subject)
Let's just get this out of the way, shall we?
- Ohmygosh back story! Character development! Drama! Excitement! Dead people rising from the grave!
- Anthony Head is a fox and I am not even ashamed of it any more.
- That scene? With Uther and Gaius? Yeah, I cried. lovelovelove seeing the mechanics of Uther and Gaius's friendship - they are Arthur and Merlin in 30 years time (they know each other so well, all their hurts and flaws) and it is painful. Those were actual TEARS in Gaius' eyes when Uther was talking about sacrificing himself for his son. The angst! The humanity! Uther could so easily have been a two dimensional baddie - which he sort of was up till the last two episodes - but now he is so much more complex and sympathetic than that. I love it!
- Also I reallyreallyreally liked that we got some backstory for Nimueh - she actually came off as pretty sympathetic in this episode despite, y'know, the necromancy and general evilcreepiness and whatnot.
- Father/son bonding! Adorable.
- Arthur being all honourable and wanting to protect his knights! On the outside he is an insufferable, agrrogant, bully-boy prat but ALSO he has this amazing sense of honour and duty and valour and HE ACTUALLY MEANS IT - it is not just medieval bullshittery, he is actually a GOOD MAN - and he is so TORN between Uther (whose approval he wants but whom he most vehemently does not want to be like) and standing up for what he knows is right. ARGH I love him so much.
- I also like that nothing is too straightforward. Yes the dead knight was defeated BUT Uther used the sword and that means that something dreadful is going to happen. (That plus the Mordred thing last week - things are beginning to stack up against Arthur now.) The thing is, although this is meant to be a fun, entertaining family programme, the source material doesn't exactly have a happy ending, y'know, and so twinges of darkness keep bleeding through. We know what's going happen. (Yes, that's right, BAD THINGS).
- They were trying to push the Merlin/Gwen thing again today but really, BBC, who are you kidding? It just does not work. They are both too sweet and bumbly for that sort of thing and are CLEARLY more interested in their respective empoyers. They work much better as friends (also Gwen is such a Merlin/Arthur shipper: "you're proud of him really, I can see in in your face". As, apparently, is Uther:
UTHER: You have an astonishing loyalty to him that goes quite beyond the line of duty.
MERLIN:We have a bond, you might say. UTHER:...I'm glad of it. Look after him.)
- Next week's looks great! Joe Dempsie! Merlin in armour! ARTHUR FINDING OUT?!??!?! (and also looking fit and windswept, judging by the preview - cor!)
I LOVE THIS PROGRAMME SO MUCH WTF