(no subject)
(1.- My dad is back after 5 days in the hospital so they could patch him up a bit. But, I don’t want to talk about that, really, he's fine *shuns RL*)
2.- Oh my, I don’t know how this got so long…
ON MERLIN AND WHY I SHOULD ALREADY KNOW NOT TO READ RECAPS
Love is a very complicated thing, isn’t it? Whether it’s people, or food, or tv shows, we can list the reasons we rationally like something, but I believe love is much stronger, and irrational in nature. You can like something an awful lot, and know that it has a great standard of quality, but it just doesn’t grab you the same way as some other thing that even you as a fan can see has its flaws. Sometimes, the flaws can even be endearing to you.
I watch many tv shows, some with my sister, and some alone. The quality ranges from outstanding to stupid, often within the same show. The shows I enjoy watching the most don’t always coincide with the ones I think are best, or the ones I love the most.
Merlin is quite weird, in that it isn’t a show I ever imagined myself loving. It was the first British tv show I watched, I didn’t quite get the 13 episodes per season thing, and it was obviously a relatively low budget family tv hour. But it got me. I cannot explain why I love it (it just clicked), but I can explain why I liked it: it was charming, I liked that there were no computers/cars/cellphones, I liked the cinematography, I liked to contrast and compare the characters with other versions (to form my own Arthur, Merlin, Morgana… from bits and pieces of each version), and I really liked some of the actors.
When I started watching, I did so with the bar set low. I didn’t expect much, bit it surprised me, and continues to do so. I have never watched it with the impression that I was watching high quality, groundbreaking television, because for one, I believe not even the creators think that.
Merlin has its flaws. The writers don’t seem to be very capable, and the format itself doesn’t lend well to much stretching of anyone’s abilities, which is the root of most of the issues with Merlin, I think. However, I think fandom is being a bit harsh on certain aspects, and it’s been bothering me.
The solution to this is, of course, to stop reading those things, I know, but first I wanted to get this out.
I read recaps because I watch Merlin alone, and I wish I didn’t have to. I like to see people squee, and post pictures, and gifs and analyse stuff and post about things I missed, because it’s just part of the experience. Seeing people happy makes me happy. The problem is that seeing people unhappy makes me unhappy, and being a negative person, it just sticks pretty strongly. Even when I do not agree, the sentiment persists.
Now, I understand that people see the flaws, that they want to rant, but going back to the ‘harshness’ I mentioned before, a lot of it is Arthur/Gwen and Merlin/Arthur related.
Arthur/Gwen: they were never my favourite relationship in any version of the story I know, and Guinevere tends to be a non-entity at the best of times, so I did not have high hopes for them. But I did know it was going to happen. Now, the way they did it was cheap. It was too fast (script problems) and there is no chemistry (casting problem). But Gwen here is a pretty, humble, hardworking woman that genuinely cares for Arthur and tries to get him to be a better person. Is that so bad? Yes, sometimes they give her lines that could have gone to Merlin. Yes, there’s little chemistry. Yes, they could’ve done it way better.
But you know what? At least they have done this with Gwen and not, say, Vivian. In Smallville, they dedicated 8 seasons no less to the Grand Love between Clark Kent and freaking LANA LANG. Not Lois. Lana. With no chemistry whatsoever. With Clark basically killing his father to save her. With her ending with superpowers. Etc.
Know what else? They didn’t push the “will they, won’t they” between them, or any others like every show ever does. They have valid reasons to like each other, and they have a valid reason to not be together.
I would also love to have Gwen with her own storyline that didn’t revolve around Arthur. Yeah, but… in this show, every character’s storyline is always about someone else. Most of Arthur’s are about Uther; Gwen’s about Arthur and sometimes Morgana; Merlin’s about Arthur, etc.
Arthur/Merlin: so Arthur throws stuff at Merlin. I’m with everyone saying that it’s a trite joke already, but I don’t see that their relationship has regressed. We have gotten fewer or less epic scenes between the two, but we still have some and we have more characters this year so a lot of the focus has shifted away from them, and Arthur hasn’t saved Merlin so far (that, I would like to change. I want to see Arthur save Merlin).
1) No stocks. From what I remember, Merlin hasn’t ended up in the stocks once this season. He also hasn’t had to muck up the stables, or get on all fours so that Arthur could get on his horse. He does get things thrown at him, but I see it as friends that have fallen into a rut, with Merlin often playing dumb with Arthur (playing the role of bumbling manservant) and Arthur playing up his prattishness. I think it’s just pushing each other’s buttons. Seriously, I have a sister. I have very close cousins, and that? That is just the kind of thing we do. I think it’s a safe way for them to ‘play’, they act so the titles of master and servant seem more roleplay than reality, you know?
It’s all Arthur knows. He’s emotionally constipated that way. And who can fault him? The only one who is honest with him is Gwen. Arthur doesn’t know Merlin is keeping such a big secret from him, but he does know Merlin has kept stuff from him, and every time (or almost) that he has tried to have an honest conversation with Merlin about those things, Merlin has deflected the attention (Arthur thinking Merlin loved Morgana, after Arthur killed Freya, after Balinor was killed…).
Plus, Merlin doesn’t seem to be complaining at all.
2) Merlin plays dumb. So, Arthur has proven that he is not as narrow-minded as his father, and even though he keeps encountering evil magic users, he still shows that he can be talked to. When Gwen was accused of using magic, he said she meant no harm. He helped Mordred escape. He was not mad about Will. He did not want to destroy the sorcerer’s camp, even thinking as he did that they had captured Morgana. He trusted Morgause, and told Merlin his views on magic users.
So, I think the reason Merlin does not tell Arthur is because he does not want to put him in a position where Arthur has to commit treason. That’s ok, but at the end of the day, Merlin knows everything about Arthur, but Arthur doesn’t know about Merlin. He does not know that he is so powerful, or that he knows so much about magic, or that they have a Destiny together. Merlin knows that, we know that. But all Arthur has is a friend, his only friend, in a rather incompetent servant.
Why does Arthur make Merlin go along on his hunts if/when he is so terrible at it? Why does he keep Merlin as a servant if/when he sucks? Why does he spars with Merlin if/when he is crap at that and it would be better practice to do it with a knight?
Because Arthur loves Merlin. He is a prat, and often a dick, and a bit of a bully, but he loves Merlin and likes having him by his side.
That is why they’re two sides of the same coin, two halves, Destiny or whatever. No matter what happens, what they say or what they keep from each other. At the end of the day, Arthur loves Merlin, he loves the bumbling manservant and he will love the powerful sorcerer; and Merlin, he loves the prat, and he loves/will love the High King.
And that is why Arthur/Gwen does not threaten Arthur/Merlin, however you see it (friendship or romantic). Gwen loves the King, but she will always love Lancelot more. Arthur loves Gwen, but he can never have her at his side the way Merlin is. Arthur/Gwen (or Merlin/Freya) is a sort of idealistic love, a fairytale romance, which I’m glad they have because it is hope for them, it is wanting to be someone better. But Arthur/Merlin (and Gwen/Lancelot) is everyday love, complete love. Faults and all.
I do get the disappointment, people, I do. But I think it is easy to let those knee-jerk negative feelings tint every other thing in a way that makes them appear far worse than they are. *
((It is better to see them all as cogs in a machine of loooooooove. That Round Table is looking mighty good, I have to say))
Anyway, don’t let that break your squee. Flash-forward bits if you have to (I certainly did it enough with the Goblin episode!), but I want to see people happy!
* Also, also! they're all so goddamn pretty! *_*
So, to recap, because I’ve rambled enough:
Do I see faults in Merlin? YES
Do I wish they would have done some things differently? YES
Can I still squee? YES
I'm keeping it open in case some Merlin fan stumbles across it and needs a pick-me-up.
2.- Oh my, I don’t know how this got so long…
ON MERLIN AND WHY I SHOULD ALREADY KNOW NOT TO READ RECAPS
Love is a very complicated thing, isn’t it? Whether it’s people, or food, or tv shows, we can list the reasons we rationally like something, but I believe love is much stronger, and irrational in nature. You can like something an awful lot, and know that it has a great standard of quality, but it just doesn’t grab you the same way as some other thing that even you as a fan can see has its flaws. Sometimes, the flaws can even be endearing to you.
I watch many tv shows, some with my sister, and some alone. The quality ranges from outstanding to stupid, often within the same show. The shows I enjoy watching the most don’t always coincide with the ones I think are best, or the ones I love the most.
Merlin is quite weird, in that it isn’t a show I ever imagined myself loving. It was the first British tv show I watched, I didn’t quite get the 13 episodes per season thing, and it was obviously a relatively low budget family tv hour. But it got me. I cannot explain why I love it (it just clicked), but I can explain why I liked it: it was charming, I liked that there were no computers/cars/cellphones, I liked the cinematography, I liked to contrast and compare the characters with other versions (to form my own Arthur, Merlin, Morgana… from bits and pieces of each version), and I really liked some of the actors.
When I started watching, I did so with the bar set low. I didn’t expect much, bit it surprised me, and continues to do so. I have never watched it with the impression that I was watching high quality, groundbreaking television, because for one, I believe not even the creators think that.
Merlin has its flaws. The writers don’t seem to be very capable, and the format itself doesn’t lend well to much stretching of anyone’s abilities, which is the root of most of the issues with Merlin, I think. However, I think fandom is being a bit harsh on certain aspects, and it’s been bothering me.
The solution to this is, of course, to stop reading those things, I know, but first I wanted to get this out.
I read recaps because I watch Merlin alone, and I wish I didn’t have to. I like to see people squee, and post pictures, and gifs and analyse stuff and post about things I missed, because it’s just part of the experience. Seeing people happy makes me happy. The problem is that seeing people unhappy makes me unhappy, and being a negative person, it just sticks pretty strongly. Even when I do not agree, the sentiment persists.
Now, I understand that people see the flaws, that they want to rant, but going back to the ‘harshness’ I mentioned before, a lot of it is Arthur/Gwen and Merlin/Arthur related.
Arthur/Gwen: they were never my favourite relationship in any version of the story I know, and Guinevere tends to be a non-entity at the best of times, so I did not have high hopes for them. But I did know it was going to happen. Now, the way they did it was cheap. It was too fast (script problems) and there is no chemistry (casting problem). But Gwen here is a pretty, humble, hardworking woman that genuinely cares for Arthur and tries to get him to be a better person. Is that so bad? Yes, sometimes they give her lines that could have gone to Merlin. Yes, there’s little chemistry. Yes, they could’ve done it way better.
But you know what? At least they have done this with Gwen and not, say, Vivian. In Smallville, they dedicated 8 seasons no less to the Grand Love between Clark Kent and freaking LANA LANG. Not Lois. Lana. With no chemistry whatsoever. With Clark basically killing his father to save her. With her ending with superpowers. Etc.
Know what else? They didn’t push the “will they, won’t they” between them, or any others like every show ever does. They have valid reasons to like each other, and they have a valid reason to not be together.
I would also love to have Gwen with her own storyline that didn’t revolve around Arthur. Yeah, but… in this show, every character’s storyline is always about someone else. Most of Arthur’s are about Uther; Gwen’s about Arthur and sometimes Morgana; Merlin’s about Arthur, etc.
Arthur/Merlin: so Arthur throws stuff at Merlin. I’m with everyone saying that it’s a trite joke already, but I don’t see that their relationship has regressed. We have gotten fewer or less epic scenes between the two, but we still have some and we have more characters this year so a lot of the focus has shifted away from them, and Arthur hasn’t saved Merlin so far (that, I would like to change. I want to see Arthur save Merlin).
1) No stocks. From what I remember, Merlin hasn’t ended up in the stocks once this season. He also hasn’t had to muck up the stables, or get on all fours so that Arthur could get on his horse. He does get things thrown at him, but I see it as friends that have fallen into a rut, with Merlin often playing dumb with Arthur (playing the role of bumbling manservant) and Arthur playing up his prattishness. I think it’s just pushing each other’s buttons. Seriously, I have a sister. I have very close cousins, and that? That is just the kind of thing we do. I think it’s a safe way for them to ‘play’, they act so the titles of master and servant seem more roleplay than reality, you know?
It’s all Arthur knows. He’s emotionally constipated that way. And who can fault him? The only one who is honest with him is Gwen. Arthur doesn’t know Merlin is keeping such a big secret from him, but he does know Merlin has kept stuff from him, and every time (or almost) that he has tried to have an honest conversation with Merlin about those things, Merlin has deflected the attention (Arthur thinking Merlin loved Morgana, after Arthur killed Freya, after Balinor was killed…).
Plus, Merlin doesn’t seem to be complaining at all.
2) Merlin plays dumb. So, Arthur has proven that he is not as narrow-minded as his father, and even though he keeps encountering evil magic users, he still shows that he can be talked to. When Gwen was accused of using magic, he said she meant no harm. He helped Mordred escape. He was not mad about Will. He did not want to destroy the sorcerer’s camp, even thinking as he did that they had captured Morgana. He trusted Morgause, and told Merlin his views on magic users.
So, I think the reason Merlin does not tell Arthur is because he does not want to put him in a position where Arthur has to commit treason. That’s ok, but at the end of the day, Merlin knows everything about Arthur, but Arthur doesn’t know about Merlin. He does not know that he is so powerful, or that he knows so much about magic, or that they have a Destiny together. Merlin knows that, we know that. But all Arthur has is a friend, his only friend, in a rather incompetent servant.
Why does Arthur make Merlin go along on his hunts if/when he is so terrible at it? Why does he keep Merlin as a servant if/when he sucks? Why does he spars with Merlin if/when he is crap at that and it would be better practice to do it with a knight?
Because Arthur loves Merlin. He is a prat, and often a dick, and a bit of a bully, but he loves Merlin and likes having him by his side.
That is why they’re two sides of the same coin, two halves, Destiny or whatever. No matter what happens, what they say or what they keep from each other. At the end of the day, Arthur loves Merlin, he loves the bumbling manservant and he will love the powerful sorcerer; and Merlin, he loves the prat, and he loves/will love the High King.
And that is why Arthur/Gwen does not threaten Arthur/Merlin, however you see it (friendship or romantic). Gwen loves the King, but she will always love Lancelot more. Arthur loves Gwen, but he can never have her at his side the way Merlin is. Arthur/Gwen (or Merlin/Freya) is a sort of idealistic love, a fairytale romance, which I’m glad they have because it is hope for them, it is wanting to be someone better. But Arthur/Merlin (and Gwen/Lancelot) is everyday love, complete love. Faults and all.
I do get the disappointment, people, I do. But I think it is easy to let those knee-jerk negative feelings tint every other thing in a way that makes them appear far worse than they are. *
((It is better to see them all as cogs in a machine of loooooooove. That Round Table is looking mighty good, I have to say))
Anyway, don’t let that break your squee. Flash-forward bits if you have to (I certainly did it enough with the Goblin episode!), but I want to see people happy!
* Also, also! they're all so goddamn pretty! *_*
So, to recap, because I’ve rambled enough:
Do I see faults in Merlin? YES
Do I wish they would have done some things differently? YES
Can I still squee? YES
I'm keeping it open in case some Merlin fan stumbles across it and needs a pick-me-up.