Angry at Merlin. AGAIN.
Nov. 23rd, 2011 04:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tardis_stowawayMerlin is such a frustrating show. Sometimes it can be so loveable, but far too many other times it makes me want to scream at the screen, and not in a good way. This latest episode (4x08, "Lamia") was mostly in the latter category.
I think S4 has been mostly enjoyable, provided I operate under my "this is Morgana's evil doppelganger, not the real Morgana from early seasons" theory. I've really enjoyed the increased acknowledgement of respect and friendship between Merlin and Arthur. Knights are hot and fun. We even had a major change to the status quo with Uther's death, something the show is normally loathe to do. Episode 4x05, "His Father's Son," even passed the Bechdel test when Morgana and the wonderful Queen Annis briefly had a conversation that turned away from Arthur and became about Morgana and her bitterness and Issues. (Damn, this show has forced me to have low standards for what I expect in terms of treatment of women.) Unfortunately, 4x08 had a story that was both boring and sexist. Let's make lists.
THE GOOD
-Gwen fights a monster with a sword!!!! HECK YEAH.
-Gwen wears pants and looks awesome. Any episode that gets Gwen and/or Morgana into trousers gets +5 bonus points.
-Arthur and Gwen are adorable together. That hug after defeating Lamia made me squee.
-Gaius trusting Merlin and trying to make him take more responsibility in a non-hidden manner.
-Merlin and Gwen as buddies.
-Arthur mentions Merlin's backside, looks are exchanged that seem ripe for slashy interpretation.
-Lots of pretty horses. (Yeah, I'm reaching a bit here.)
THE BAD
-THE WHOLE LAMIA PLOT. So there's this beautiful young woman who the knights rescue from bandits. She seems to be the victim of harsh treatment and quite likely rape. Except in this show, she's actually a monster who only pretends to be a victim! Her real goal is to drive men mad with lust, destroying their wonderful Manly Friendships and then killing them! *headdesk* The last thing we needed on this show was another female character who is evil, uses her sexuality to entrap men, and ends up dead.
-We finally get an episode with lots of focus on the knights but instead of getting character development they spend most of it brainwashed and acting tyrannical toward Merlin and Gwen.
-We are introduced to a village woman who seems to be friends with Gwen, but we get no explanation of that friendship. For all that this was one of the first episodes this season where Gwen got functions beyond her relationship with Arthur, she was still underutilized.
-Attempts at horror were not scary, just dull.
-Where is Morgana? I miss Katie McGrath!
-Did I mention the Lamia plot? And how she seems to have NO motivation other than just being evil?
-In the final fight, I thought for a moment that Merlin's magic would be revealed to Gwen because he would have no choice but to throw a spell right in front of her. I wish this had happened. The groundwork had already been lain with Gwen wondering why Lamia didn't affect Merlin. I would like to see somebody other than Gaius and Lancelot know Merlin's secret. Gwen would protect Merlin, but it would add all sorts of interesting dynamics to their relationship as she tried to process the fact that he's been lying all these years. Instead, the show dodged the reveal again.
-All that riding back and forth got tiresome, even with the pretty horses.
-Aggravaine continues to be aggravating.
-Arthur teasing Merlin about being rescued by a woman. Even if he praises Gwen's bravery in private, the words he speaks in public matter. Obviously taking the piss is part of Arthur and Merlin's relationship, but I would have preferred it without the sexist implications. I guess it's not out of character, but I reserve the right to be irritated. (Merlin at least cares more about being alive than the gender of his rescuer, so that's something, though I wish he had put his respect for Gwen in stronger terms.)
-In the end, it was actually Arthur who killed the monster. I would have preferred Merlin and Gwen, the physically weak characters, to have to do it themselves when the knights were incapacitate and Arthur was still wandering around in the woods.
That has been your official Teal Deer Merlin rant for this week. At least the trailer for next week promises Lancelot. Lancelot makes everything better (and also hotter).
I think S4 has been mostly enjoyable, provided I operate under my "this is Morgana's evil doppelganger, not the real Morgana from early seasons" theory. I've really enjoyed the increased acknowledgement of respect and friendship between Merlin and Arthur. Knights are hot and fun. We even had a major change to the status quo with Uther's death, something the show is normally loathe to do. Episode 4x05, "His Father's Son," even passed the Bechdel test when Morgana and the wonderful Queen Annis briefly had a conversation that turned away from Arthur and became about Morgana and her bitterness and Issues. (Damn, this show has forced me to have low standards for what I expect in terms of treatment of women.) Unfortunately, 4x08 had a story that was both boring and sexist. Let's make lists.
THE GOOD
-Gwen fights a monster with a sword!!!! HECK YEAH.
-Gwen wears pants and looks awesome. Any episode that gets Gwen and/or Morgana into trousers gets +5 bonus points.
-Arthur and Gwen are adorable together. That hug after defeating Lamia made me squee.
-Gaius trusting Merlin and trying to make him take more responsibility in a non-hidden manner.
-Merlin and Gwen as buddies.
-Arthur mentions Merlin's backside, looks are exchanged that seem ripe for slashy interpretation.
-Lots of pretty horses. (Yeah, I'm reaching a bit here.)
THE BAD
-THE WHOLE LAMIA PLOT. So there's this beautiful young woman who the knights rescue from bandits. She seems to be the victim of harsh treatment and quite likely rape. Except in this show, she's actually a monster who only pretends to be a victim! Her real goal is to drive men mad with lust, destroying their wonderful Manly Friendships and then killing them! *headdesk* The last thing we needed on this show was another female character who is evil, uses her sexuality to entrap men, and ends up dead.
-We finally get an episode with lots of focus on the knights but instead of getting character development they spend most of it brainwashed and acting tyrannical toward Merlin and Gwen.
-We are introduced to a village woman who seems to be friends with Gwen, but we get no explanation of that friendship. For all that this was one of the first episodes this season where Gwen got functions beyond her relationship with Arthur, she was still underutilized.
-Attempts at horror were not scary, just dull.
-Where is Morgana? I miss Katie McGrath!
-Did I mention the Lamia plot? And how she seems to have NO motivation other than just being evil?
-In the final fight, I thought for a moment that Merlin's magic would be revealed to Gwen because he would have no choice but to throw a spell right in front of her. I wish this had happened. The groundwork had already been lain with Gwen wondering why Lamia didn't affect Merlin. I would like to see somebody other than Gaius and Lancelot know Merlin's secret. Gwen would protect Merlin, but it would add all sorts of interesting dynamics to their relationship as she tried to process the fact that he's been lying all these years. Instead, the show dodged the reveal again.
-All that riding back and forth got tiresome, even with the pretty horses.
-Aggravaine continues to be aggravating.
-Arthur teasing Merlin about being rescued by a woman. Even if he praises Gwen's bravery in private, the words he speaks in public matter. Obviously taking the piss is part of Arthur and Merlin's relationship, but I would have preferred it without the sexist implications. I guess it's not out of character, but I reserve the right to be irritated. (Merlin at least cares more about being alive than the gender of his rescuer, so that's something, though I wish he had put his respect for Gwen in stronger terms.)
-In the end, it was actually Arthur who killed the monster. I would have preferred Merlin and Gwen, the physically weak characters, to have to do it themselves when the knights were incapacitate and Arthur was still wandering around in the woods.
That has been your official Teal Deer Merlin rant for this week. At least the trailer for next week promises Lancelot. Lancelot makes everything better (and also hotter).
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-11-23 10:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-11-24 12:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-11-23 10:28 pm (UTC)Personally, my high point of WTFery was last week when Alator (the only Scot in Arabia) slammed Morgana into a wall and proceeded to wax lyrical to Merlin about how he too has been hunted and persecuted and lived in fear. To Merlin! The only magical person those things have never ever happened to!
Why am I still watching this show again? Oh yeah, Katie McGrath.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-11-24 12:17 am (UTC)Oh yeah, that moment last week felt so unbelievable to me. I guess I could see Alator choosing Merlin's side over Morgana's because he believes the prophecy and thinks Merlin has a better chance of getting magic legalized, but he really does completely ignore the fact that his experience of persecution is much more akin to Morgana's life than Merlin's. Also, in that moment the show basically asks us to root for a torturer.
The cast is gorgeous and talented, and Katie McGrath in particular is just ridiculously good-looking. It's frustrating that the show they're in is just good enough for me to be upset that it's not better, if that makes sense.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-11-24 01:11 am (UTC)It makes perfect sense. I've been much better this year about not being angry with the show for not being what I wanted it to be, because, you know, I was hurting no one but myself, and just enjoying the bits I enjoy, But there's still this massive sense of... wasted potential, I guess.
The whole Alator thing... I didn't like for itself. But, also, it kind of writ large one of my biggest problems with the show: the complete absence of any sort of objective morality, it's entirely protagonist driven. So, people who're pro Arthur & Merlin are "good" and people who're against them are "evil" leaving no room for any sort of shades of grey, or, apparently torture is bad, kids.
Okay, I shall shut up as I'm not meant to have any feelings about Merlin anymore, anyway, and shall instead see if anyone on youtube has a clip of Gwen fighting a monster with a sword, because that sounds terrific.