Merlin - The Wicked Day - Season 4 Episode 3 - Delayed Reaction
You thought I’d have said all I’d had to say on the subject after writing a 18 trillion word review on it the other day, but no, apparently I have even more to say. On to that in a minute.
I’m having a very lazy day, scoffing down sweets and watching ‘Babe’ on the tv. I forgot how much I loved those little singing mice guys. I had a moment this morning that made me really angry, so I thought I’d comfort eat/watch. I was walking across the level crossing and there was a mother on the phone coming along the other way with her 3 or 4 year old little girl trailing behind. The walking path on the level crossing is quite slender and only separated by a white line from the traffic. This little girl was obviously looking ahead of her and this lorry was approaching behind her and she was just about to step over the line in front of the lorry. I had one of those time slowing moments and luckily grabbed hold of the girl’s arm and literally dragged her out of the way. I then dragged her to her mother, said a few choice words about her mothering skills and stormed off. I was so angry. My nephew is 9 and I will still hold on to him as we go over that crossing. There’s not a lot of space to walk, very heavy traffic, plus electric lines, railway and trains around there. I can’t believe you wouldn’t keep hold of a small child. I could almost understand it if she had other children with her and was distracted by them, but she only had this little girl. Anyway, rant over. The singing mice put me in a better mood.
Back to talking about Merlin, I rewatched ‘The Wicked Day’ again. I’m really loving it even more. It’s a bit of a genius of an episode. Where the hell did this come from? This wasn’t in the plan. We had two really good season openers, we were supposed to get an awful episode now. At the very least a mediocre one. What do TPTB think they are playing at?
You can actually pick out so many plot holes in it, just because they were rushed over and not explained. Where did the entertainment come from? How did they coincidently have trained assassins in them? Bla bla bla, etc etc etc. I love that only about 5 minutes was spent on the Plot of the Week. It was a brave decision, but it really worked. The episode started off and you thought you knew where it was going. Assain Circus is in town to attempt to kill Arthur, they try and kill him and Merlin saves him, the baddies get their comeuppance, the end.
They threw a complete curveball though. Well, they threw quite a few actually. The first one being that Uther, who had been festering away in the first two episodes, and who has committed terrible crimes against humanity, used the little strength he had left to save his son. Arthur’s actually had two parents died for his life now. The second curveball was the fact that Merlin couldn’t fix it. Not only that, but he made it ten times worse. This is obviously setting up the rest of the series, in terms of Merlin’s (the character) storylines. For him it’s all going to be the guilt and complications of what happened to Uther, and Arthur’s reaction.
The acting was amazing though, wasn’t it? From everybody, not just the ones you’d think. I have no idea what Agravaine is doing there, or who he really is or what he’s up to, yet, I think he’s being played well! It’s quite disconcerting, I think he’s working as a character, I just think we need more of that character to come out.
I loved Katie in this episode. I noted it in episode two as well, but there are mixed emotions coming out from Morgana, that you can see in Katie’s face. There is still a reluctance there, a guilt, which I think will always be there. Morgana as a character has been lied to, rejected, manipulated and abandoned by everyone she has ever known. Uther didn’t acknowledge her as his own, her believed father (and mother?) died, Merlin tried to kill her, Gaius constantly drugged and lied to her, Morgause died (as well as manipulating her, but I don’t think Morgana was really aware) and Gwen betrayed her. It must be a very lonely and vengeful existence. You can understand the motives behind her actions, which makes her an excellent villain. One of my favourite parts is in the episode in season 3 when Arthur, Gwen, Merlin and Morgana are going off to get Elyan, and Merlin and Morgana are bickering when they are getting firewood. Merlin is asking her why she would betray her friends and she bites back about what about poisoning them. It’s a nice reminder that actually Merlin struck first. Yes, Morgana was part of the enchantment used against Camelot, but she was scared and ignorant of her actions. Merlin could have helped her, it would have meant risking his own secret though. The ‘poisoning’ moment was actually one of my favourite and darkest things ever on this show. I think this episode had the same tone.
I’m getting away from the point anyway. I like the way Morgana is having a bit more guilt and it’s good Katie is playing it that way. I also really enjoyed Richard Wilson in this episode. It was very understated, but that worked in context on the episode and he was great in his scenes with Merlin and really made me chuckle in the scene Arthur was looking for Merlin. Colin and Bradley just excelled in this episode. I really can’t pick them apart. Usually they have episodes where one or the other is dealing with events and emotions. In this episode both characters of Merlin and Arthur were going through the mill, and that always works best for the show. Where both characters reactions, actions, themes and emotions are intertwined. It gives it a depth of quality. They (along with how it was written and filmed) managed to get the tone shifting between comedy and tragedy in a seamless fashion. It’s so good for the show that they have two actors who can do both, often within the same scene.
I have to mention Anthony Head. Oh how we’ll miss ye. How brilliant has he been over the last three series? I really can’t put into words how much I enjoyed his Uther Pendragon. He managed to not make the role one of the Pantomime villain. I’m still hoping for a Ghost!Uther.
I think I said everything else in my review, so I won’t ramble on much further. I can’t express how beautiful the ‘shadow’ scene was. I loved the line ‘I didn’t want you to feel that you were alone’. I thought that was perfectly put, how it didn’t matter if Arthur couldn’t see Merlin there with him; he was there with him. The way the lighting and the words all melted into a beautiful metaphor for a new era, the change in Merlin and Arthur’s relationship and Merlin’s inner emotions was exceptional. I was talking about iconic scenes for the show a few weeks back and this is definitely one of them, if not the best one.
This show can do comedy so well, it always annoys me when it messes it up. It works best the way it worked here. There were many genuinely laugh out loud moments. It felt that they weren’t trying to be funny, they were just bringing out the natural comedy in the characters and situations. It works beautifully when combined with the rich darkness tones this episode had. Everyone I’ve spoken to in RL who watched it LOVED the piggyback scene. I was talking to my nephew this week about it and he said it was his favourite thing he’d seen all week.
It’s so interesting how they’ve set Arthur up with the same situation Uther was in. He tried to use magic and it cost someone he loved their life and he has had the same initial reaction as his father. You know how I love the ‘shades of grey’ in this show. They’ve also got Merlin in the position where the thing he cares most about is how Arthur will react to his magic. That was his downfall in this episode, he cared too much about trying to change Arthur’s opinion and didn’t think through the consequences. Merlin thinks he can fix and control everything, but this, like life, is not always the case. He is sometimes powerless, especially when he is being dishonest and impulsive. Shades of grey again. Well done Show.
I’ve talked about it all week, but I’m liking the way they’ve set up Arthur hating magic. It makes me really anxious for the reveal, I really want one soon! I think they’ve done the best thing in bringing Merlin so close to Arthur, but have him hate magic more than he ever has. I do want a big angst reveal and I think with this dynamic, it’ll be at it’s best. I really hope this is what TPTB do. It’ll just be so dramatic and create such intense emotion if Arthur finds out that the person closest to him has magic which he detests. That’s even before you get to the part about Merlin being involved in Uther’s death.
Right, I’ll scamper off now. Season 4 is three episodes in and I’m finding it brilliant. Really surpassed my highest expectations. Thank God for character development, beautiful filming, great writing, awesome Knights and trouserless Arthur, eh? I’m looking forward to tonight’s episode, I hope it keeps up the quality. It doesn’t have to be as brilliant as the first three episodes or as dark, just as long as we have a good story, some continuity and boys being epic I will be a happy bunny.