Quick thoughts on the Merlin Comic-Con panel video

[zahrawithaz]

I swore off spoilers after some interfered with my enjoyment of parts of Series 4, but here I am getting sucked in again...

Comments

[zahrawithaz]

I am going to try to withhold judgment until I see it; I would be satisfied if Gwen gets a good arc in whatever political plot is going on--I would love to see her develop from Queen to High Queen--and some closure with Morgana. And oh, please, let her interact with both of the two women returning as guest stars!

I'm a little more iffy on the Morgana development, because, well, last time it led to too many skipped steps (all we needed was some flesh on the Arthur-and-Gwen-are-enemies-turn!), but I'm also not quite convinced that what they describe as development here is that much of a departure from how she was in S4. (She's wearing the same costume, for one thing.) But, well...*withholds judgment, withholds judgment, tries VERY HARD to withhold judgment*

And yes, I am trying to finish my last few pieces on S4--just a bit overrun by both work and life here. But thank you for the encouragement! I hope to at least have the 4x11 one out soon...

[kathyh]

I wish they wouldn't forward skip quite so much but in this case it may be so they can believably...and I'm not quite sure how spoilt you are about a particular character so perhaps I'd better not go on. I haven't watched the con panel yet so don't know what they mentioned.

So it sounds like S5 isn't even fully written yet

That's usual. I remember them mentioning that before though they must have an outline. The last episodes filmed are usually 10 and 11.

I can't wait to see the two women again who are both the two characters I would have picked to see back again.

[zahrawithaz]

I think you're right--they need to age up Mordred, and I can't really begrudge them that, as I think he's potentially a much more useful character as a teen. I'm curious what the time effect on everyone else will be, though--it sounds like Arthur & Gwen will be an effective ruling team, and I can see the benefit of skipping right to that, but I'm not quite sure where this puts Merlin with his arc about the temptation-to-abuse-his-powers, not to mention the whole magic-legalization/magic-reveal/sorry-I-helped-kill-your-dad tangle of secrets

[kathyh]

he's potentially a much more useful character as a teen

Yes. I don't know if you've seen pictures of the actor but he is extremely believable as an older Mordred.

The creators sounded more than a bit stressed about the tight timing to me, but then I don't usually watch panels like this, so maybe it's always like that.

I went to the BFI last year and though they weren't stressed about having another series (unlike every other year), they were stressed because they'd had to come up with three more episodes than the original order of ten. TV production = stress I think. I hope the BBC give them a decision about Season 6 soon rather than waiting until November.

[loriale]

I hope it is not going to be handled badly. The time-skip could really mean a lot of bad things. Gwen being derailed because of it. Merlin's dark side essentially being the summum of his "I-crush-the-likable-antagonist-against-the-wall-with-no-pity" tendancies. Morgana growing into a more determined and commited antagonist for the third time, and all the focus on the rest of her character development being thrown out by the window. Arthur could be brutally sent into the Other World like Lancelot was, after an anticlimatic battle sequence with a lot of slow-motion and Mordred and Morgana smirking over and over again as their convoluted evil plan comes to its conclusion...

But it's Merlin, and even though the fandom will be disappointed by some angles never being exploited, we will all continue to watch and some of us will still be having occasional fits of hysterical excitement every other scene of the first two-parter.

[zahrawithaz]

I hope not, too! And it could mean bad things....but I'm holding out hope, because overall the panel made me excited for the S5. I am particularly heartened by the news that Gwen and Morgana will have many more scenes together!

some of us will still be having occasional fits of hysterical excitement every other scene of the first two-parter

Yes, definitely!

[issy5209]

Hi there, I agree with all of what you've said, 3 years is a ridiculously long jump in time, and seems to me an excuse for lazy writing - a bit of a cop out, as you don't get to see the fall out. A film trilogy "reboot"is an bizarre idea, why

[ravenya03]

The trailer is out! (somewhat bad quality, but you can see most of it), right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-AWIWqj8Ec

The trailer itself starts at about the 8:16 mark; there's a bit of waiting as the blooper reel and a few other bits and pieces are also included.

I myself have given up expecting any sort of storytelling coherency or satisfying pay-off for this show; I'm just in a state of mind where I'm prepared to enjoy the actors that I love in pretty outfits and try not to think about all the gaping holes (and unfortunate implications) that the writers leave in their scripts. Try being the operative word.

So the guest stars seems to come in two flavors: "white guys from Game of Thrones," which means nothing to me, and "people we've seen before." I'm especially excited about the latter bunch, particularly the two women.I don't want to jinx it, but I am longing - LONGING - to see Gwen interact with Annis and Mithian. Never in a million years did I

[issy5209]

Glad I'm not the only one who thanks that of the writers. I don't think that they can put it all down to rushing and writing whilst still filming, ALL TV series do that.
My biggest wish is for a writer such as Mark Gatiss or Toby Whithouse (or even Neil Gaiman) could write an episode for them. The curent writers seem not be able to write for women (even the female ones!)
by the way somebody mentioned that they film episodes 12 and 13 first - they haven't.