Merlin: 5:07 A Lesson In Vengeance

[tanous]

So, another episode down and six to go till the (bitter?) end of S5 and possibly, if rumours are to be believed, the entire show. And …where are we now?

Well, actually,  we’re back in S4. Or is it S3?  Deep anyway in the Merlin producers thumb-sucking comfort zone of ‘Merlin trying singlehandedly (save Gaius - the device to enable us to know his

Comments

[marvelpku]

I think BBC needs to stop these very dull producers to further humiliate all the iconic images of Arthurian legend by ending the show as soon as possbile. This show is so stupid and dull. I feel humiliated to watch this show now.

[tanous]

Hey Marvel :) Well just 6 eps to go and then they'll be stopped it seems. I think most of us are just watching through our fingers now. I know I am.

[marvelpku]

I don't know. Who knows there will ever be or not. But this show can't use Family/Kid show business as an excuse to defend their stupidity any more. Now they are on the level that humiliate the original legend to unimaginable level. Arthur is not oblivious, he is BLANK. Knights are just with muscles and without brain/lines. Morgana and Gwen are one-dimensional and ridiculous. Albion is no where to be seen (btw where are the dragons). They want the audience to believe Arthur is the once and future KING and greatest king ever? That is beyond a JOKE, it is humiliation to any audience with sane mind. A/G, well, it will never work because, first they don't know how to balance A/G with A/M. And, more importantly, nothing can ever compare to Bradley and Colin's chemistry and their acting when they two are around each other. This show only works for Bradley and Colin. If they don't use that, the show then lost its game

[marvelpku]

Also may I mention that the appearance of Dragon (old Merlin) this week was ridiculous. It was just for fun and nothing else. I couldn't imagine Merlin would actually wasted so much time for that mess and wasted time with that old woman when Arthur's life was in danger. It was just ridiculous. This kid show business was for children under age 5.

[merlenhiver]

I'm glad you still have the words to describe your frustration with the show ... ever since 5x03, I feel I can hardly voice an opinion on what is going on anymore. So I have to rely on your eloquent reviews to speak for me. ;)

What else is there to say? They are wasting our time with a story arc that does nothing to advance Merlin or Arthur as characters, to comprehensively address the issue of magic in Camelot, or even give us more of their one intriguing new character, Mordred. What's the point of introducing him so early in the season if you're not going to use him, writers?

I hate how much I have to willfully ignore to be able to derive at least a little enjoyment from the show nowadays. It's driving me mad. And yet I can't stop watching. :(

[arwyn_t]

My words exactly.

[tanous]

Its incredibly frustrating isnt it? I made myself forget how much time they're wasting on Gwen's Overcompensation Arc to try to watch the episode for what it was, but int he end even as that it was pretty infuriating how little they seem to think of their audience. Though, mind you, he audience as a whole dont seem to mind that. I dont think we'll see any movement til we've restored Mary Sue's sanctity and possibly at last they'll stop beating us around the head with the Disney Arc. 4.10 is when the stpry starts again with What Turns Mordred Bad. Its nothing if not simplistic and again repetitive 0n the surface (Freya Mk2) but at this stage I think Id welcome anything that stops the producers desperately and blatantly plundering previous seasons to stay running on the spot. After that, its anyones guess

[prime_meridian]

Drive-by comment for now. A hearty yes to all of this, though I'll add in some acknowledgement of Alice Troughton's direction. I think she is just MUCH better with Colin that Justin M. or the others that have become the go-to directors for the J's. Yes, the episode, unlike most this year, put Merlin front and center, not secondary to Arthur/Gwen/Mordred/whomever. This Merlin wasn't a dishrag as you noted. But I felt like Colin was enjoying himself in this ep, which I don't think I've seen yet this season

[tanous]

Actually yes I should have mentioned the direction. There were some lovely shots in there; it just all felt so heavy handed as a story and I dont know who to blame for he constant close ups of Gwen to make sure we knew she was gloating evilly

[tanoshi_ame]

Oh, very great review. I'm less critical of the use of Dragoon (only wondered where he got his clothes from), but other than that, agree with everything you said. This episode, well, in light of the rumors, I went into this feeling understandably detached. On its own it might be a good one, or at the very least not boring. Though as you've pointed out, looking back they're old tricks used before, looking forward... so terribly bleak. At least I came out of this with a vigorous 'I love Colin!' so that's one good thing I guess.

Stepford Arthur suddenly materialized, to display and constantly declare, his slavish devotion to his wife, in a way we haven’t seen this season at all.Yeah, in a way this is worse than anything we've seen so far (and they're already pretty bad). Arthur didn't look convinced by Gwen's reasons and yet he ran back to her without demur. Now disregarding Arthur character (which they're hell bent on destroying) and talk only of AG (their Quest or something), so Arthur patronises, lies to, doesn't listen to normal

[merlenhiver]

I'm trying new shows to get myself off Merlin as we speak.

You and me both ... and you're absolutely right: staying detached seems like the only way to keep one's sanity through what TPTB still have in store for us ...

[arwyn_t]

I recommend "Grimm" and "Arrow" as new light entertainment and "Supernatural" as a new to-look-forward-to. I have no particular favourite character in Grimm or Arrow, but I love Supernatural's Castiel. To make a pun, I needed a way to detach myself from Merlin and God send me an angel! :P I'm a regular NCIS:Los Angeles viewer too, loving the tons of chemistry that Kensi and Deeks have (watch that, donkey on the motorbike...).

[tanoshi_ame]

Hi, thanks for the recommendations. I'm already a fan of SPN and Castiel so S8 is providing a much-needed stress-reliever. I watched 2 eps of Arrow, loved the bodyguard guy. Haven't got around to watch more of it yet. Does it get better? The first two was good but didn't really grip me. That and The Romance kind of made me cringe. I'll try Grimm and maybe NCIS after that. I should be finished with Sherlock soon enough and am also watching Revolution, also cringe-worthy so far, main characters-wise.

[arwyn_t]

Old habits die hard. I really didn't want to see this episode, especially after reading on Tumblr that Merlin is thrown in the dungeons accused of poisoning Arthur, with the Knights not even blinking. In the end though, I did see it, albeit in a weird fashion. There's a site that offers the ep cut in 15 clips and erm... I watched the clips in random order. :P First I saw Merlin de-poisoning Arthur and then hopped from one scene to another, trying to leave the Gwen scenes last. Yes, weird

[tanous]

You could have hit on a solution. We just watch the scenes out of sequence and it makes more sense! :-D I didn't hate this episode at all though, to be fair, I liked bits of it. If it wasn't padding out what seems to be the final season I's maybe even have liked it well enough. But it is and so I didn't. All I could really see was the massive waste of time it was.

I did love Colin in this e though - that scene at Arthurs bedside was brilliant I thought. :-)