Merlin 5.07 - "Grief Changes People, Merlin"
My review of Merlin, season five, episode seven. Please make sure you tighten your seatbelts and keep your arms inside the review at all times.
We begin with our two soul mates taking a relaxing horse ride in the meadow. Oh and Gwen’s there too. It’s Gwen and Arthur’s anniversary you see, which apparently Arthur forgot and had to be reminded twice of, by his wife and by Gwen. Yeah, it’s something we’d all like to forget, love. So as a treat for their anniversary Arthur’s taking Gwen out for a (horse) walk. Something he does with Merlin every week. Arthur comments how it’s nice “just the two of them.” I can’t imagine they are alone often, Arthur seems to get that hazy look over his eyes with Gwen that he did when brass-loving George was his servant. Gwen reminds him that Merlin is there and Arthur responds that Merlin doesn’t count. I wonder if he has that same outlook when it comes to sex. Does he have to have Merlin in the room just to make it bearable?
Poor Arthur, he does seem to get a little mixed up over who is wife actually is and proceeds to have a little banter with Merlin on the way. The three of them pass by something sizzling in the undergrowth. I hope it’s chicken fajitas, I love chicken fajitas. I don’t think Camelot’s the sort of place a pop up Mexican restaurant resides though and this moment reminds me that Gwen has gone over to the dark side. This is most confusing for us as an audience as she’s not wearing black or doing creepy sideways smirks. How on earth are we supposed to determine she’s evil!? Did this writer even check his Big Book of Merlin Clichés?
The bag of chicken fajitas explodes scaring Arthur’s horse and throwing him off. Arthur’s attacked by two of, what I assume are, Morgana’s Minions. Unfortunately she didn’t keep any of those hot shirtless Stripper Miners on the payroll. Damn. Arthur manages to get rid of the two minions, with a little bit of glowy eyed help from Merlin. Hey! Merlin has magic this week, that’s always a plus in a show about a wizard. Gwen looks on, apparently confused that Arthur, who has fought off twenty bandits on his own on a weekly basis, couldn’t be dispatched by two minions, who frankly look like they were just hired and had been lazing on the sofa for five years.
After the credits, Gaius is giving Arthur the once over. He diagnoses him with the flu and asthma, but once he’s told that Arthur fell from his horse he gets a bit closer with “that could have broken your neck.” Sir Leon enters, and he has a friend with him. Aww. He’s not a Knight though, he’s dressed like a guard. I wonder if that’s Leon’s servant and he makes him dress professionally? I still can’t believe we haven’t had a scene with George as Leon’s servant. They would be beyond perfect together. Leon is a frequent visitor to Camelot College’s night courses and that three week Advanced Needlework really did the trick, as he identifies that the stitching on Arthur’s saddle has been tampered with.
In the courtyard, Gwaine and two unnamers approach a stable hand. “Afternoon, Sir Knights.” Hee! I like him already. Gwaine’s gone all professional reads him his rights before arresting him. Leon, Percival and a few other knights go to search the stablehand‘s mother’s house. Thankfully Percival attended that Beginners Guide to Needlework course that Leon convinced him to go on and he spots a roll of cotton thread. A roll of thread!! In someone’s house?! Dear lord think of the massacre she could have created with a weapon like that!! I
have to admit something. I know it’s a controversial subject, but I am a thread owner. I know the country is divided on this and I understand other people’s point of view, but it is one of my basic rights, as a citizen, to own thread. I have to admit that it’s not just one roll of thread I own, but multiple ones, all in different colours. I have the correct paperwork for them all though. I kept the receipts from Tesco. I also don’t keep them in the same compartment as the needles. I know safety procedures and none of the needles are already threaded. There was an incident in my town, a child got into their mother’s sewing basket and got hold of a threaded needle. They said that professionals managed to unsew that Teddy Bear’s paw from his ear, but that household will never be the same again.
Tyr, the stable hand, has been brought before Arthur. Leon’s holding up a bag with Exhibit A written on it. Arthur got a very soft and gentle voice as he’s interrogating Tyr. Kinda makes me want to curl on his lap, go to sleep and purr. He’s trying to give Tyr an out. He just needs the opportunity to do it. He’s practically winking at Tyr when he asks him if there’s anything further he’d like to say. Arthur’s a smart boy…well sometimes…he knows Tyr is telling the truth, but he can’t prove it either. They’re both screwed because apparently in the last four years, Arthur has been so busy going on secret alone rides with Merlin that he hasn’t had time to change Uther’s Laws of Camelot;
LAWS OF CAMELOT
Any Crime = Death
So poor Arthur reluctantly sentences poor Tyr to death. Afterwards Merlin asks Arthur how long he has known Tyr and he responds that he has known him since he was a boy. I now fully expect an episode where we see all of Camelot’s greatest moments from Tyr’s point of view. Where has he been hiding? Merlin’s turned into Angela Lansbury from Murder, She Wrote this week, and is debating with Gaius that Tyr committing the crime makes no sense. Gaius tells him it’s “impossible to know what’s in the mind of another man.” I think Gaius is Angela Lansbury’s typewriter in this situation. I quite want him to go ‘ping’ at the end of every line.
Red is an interesting colour use. I haven’t been so detailed in my use of colour description this season. I can hear everyone reading this giving a cheer that they haven’t had to sit through eight paragraphs of me describing how the colour of Arthur’s dinner plate reflects the anguish in his soul, or something. There is this beautiful shot however of Arthur holding the red thread in his hands, pondering over it as Gwen stands in a red dress behind him, out of focus in the shot. Obviously within the episode the red thread leads to the criminal and it’s almost like hiding in plain sight as Gwen is right there all the time, this vision in red, Arthur just has to really look to see it. Arthur knows something is wrong, he’s just thinking it out too much. He’s got very good instincts, but they don’t give him all the information, just let him get a feel of a situation.
Where as Gwen and her motherly approach to Arthur has always been slightly dull before, here it actually becomes quite interesting. She’s using a maternal approach as a manipulation technique, using it to lull Arthur out of his thoughts. Arthur tells Gwen that “I’ll never leave you, I promise you that.” Well no, it’s never Arthur who leaves people is it, it’s him that is left. It is others who betray him, not the other way around. I’ve always thought this was an interesting link between Arthur and Morgana. They’ve both been betrayed and left, but they handle it in completely different ways.
Tyr’s in the Escape Dungeon. On the negative side he’s sentenced to death, however on the plus side he’s finally got out from under his mother’s apron strings and found his own place. Swings and roundabouts, eh? He’s got a visitor to his new bachelor pad as Merlin swings by with some food. It’s the not best house warming party I’ve ever seen, but it’s got an intimate date feel to it, like a low budget Nescafe advert. Merlin tells Tyr that cooking is “not Gaius’s strong point.” Well, it’s a vast improvement on his medical skills. At least his cooking doesn’t kill anyone.
Merlin’s in the cell playing good cop to Arthur’s earlier…well quite good cop. They really are a pair of fluffy bunny rabbits. Well, killer fluffy bunny rabbits. Merlin tries to convince Tyr to tell him what happened. Merlin touches Tyr’s leg to convince him to carry on talking. He’s such a flirt. Tyr, as I imagine most of the servants do, has a bit of a crush on Merlin, plus the cell’s got nice candle lit lighting, so in the hopes of a really good last night on earth he carries on talking. However, he’s a nice boy and loves his mother too much, so he won’t give out any information at risk to her. Aww, I like Tyr. I really liked this little scene between him and Merlin. I mean, I don’t actually think I’ve ever seen Colin have a bad scene with anyone…actually I can’t think of any off the top of my head…Nope.
Merlin goes to Arthur straight away and tells him what Tyr told him. Arthur wants to go down and speak to Tyr, but Gwen stops him and tells him that Tyr has said all he wants to say for tonight, he’s not going anywhere and both he and Tyr need to rest. She actually makes a convincing point, even to me, and I know she’s lying. Arthur should always trust his instincts, but he’s swayed by Gwen’s argument. That’s got to be annoying for Gwen. The first time her husband listens to her is when she’s being a manipulative harpy. It does have an edge of a mother telling her son he can’t go out and play with his friend as it’s getting dark soon, but again the underlying tone and lies of the scene make it good.
Merlin’s clearly concerned at all this time Gwen is spending with Arthur and smells a rat. Merlin tells Gaius that she hasn’t been quite herself since she returned from The Dark Tower. He’s confused at how she’s now become a bit more developed as a character after five seasons. It’s shocking to him. Gaius explains that she lost her brother, so a change is only natural. “Grief changes people, Merlin.” Ping!
Gwen is back to wandering the corridors late at night, so not that much of a difference then. I said at some point, I think last week, or maybe to someone else, how I hoped that the situation with Gwen was similar to the situation of Morgause manipulating Morgana. I don’t know whether it’s because I’m looking for it, but that really seems to have that feel about it. In episode 3, I think it was, I thought they made some nice visual/story references to Labyrinth of Gedref. Here I’m almost certain that they deliberately are making visual and story connections to when Morgana was betraying Camelot with Morgause. This shot with Gwen peering behind a wall and then putting the chicken fajita sizzling bag in a grate was definitely used with Morgana. I can’t for the life of me remember what episode, but it happened. It might have even have been during Morgana’s Little Red Riding Hood cloak period, which visually is nice symmetry too. I love it when they do these references. It gives the show a nice theme of an inevitable full circle.
Gwen goes to see Tyr. He’s thinking through where his date with Merlin went so wrong. Gwen speaks to him sweetly, but coldly. I’ve got to say I’m loving this Gwen. Does anyone remember in Friends when Monica gets drunk and Phoebe says “I love drunk Monica! She’s so much more fun than regular Monica!” I’m feeling the same way about Gwen. If they had started this years ago they could have made her such an interesting character. I liked that she was kind and sweet in the beginning, but I always thought they could have added a bit more hardness in there too. I could have totally bought that over the seasons, she could have slowly have become more detached, a little power hungry. It would have worked even better if they had made Arthur responsible for Elyan’s death. She worked for Morgana a long time, she could be taken in by her, manipulated and in her grief for Elyan (and Lancelot if they’d done that properly too) had turned against Arthur. I mean I guess I should be grateful that we’re kind of getting that now. I’ve seen no evidence in this episode that Gwen is blatantly enchanted, so I’m just glad that they’ve finally turned up to the party and shall ignore the fact that it’s when everyone else has left and I’m tired and busy clearing up.
Gwen pulls out a dagger and kills Tyr! They Drew Barrymore’d him out! I’m actually more upset about Tyr dieing than Elyan. Possibly because Tyr had more dialogue in 15 minutes than poor Elyan did in three seasons. The next morning Quincy is right on the case. He tells Arthur that the blade punctured Tyr’s heart and that he would have suffered very little. Ping! (Sorry, I’ll stop doing that now). Gaius tells Arthur this just by looking at Tyr. He’s a pathologist and a CT Scanner all rolled into one man. Arthur enquires why the guards didn’t see anything. He’s spent all this money on increased training courses and they’re still useless. I wonder how Mordred is getting along on his training courses. He seems missing again. Is he training to be a Knight or going to Law school? He’s never there!
In the woods, Gwen’s got her Disir outfit on, so we know she’s Team Morgana now. It’s probably best, before Morgana starts collecting anymore weird arse animals, she needs an actual person to communicate with. Morgana is homeless this week. I’m not sure where Aithusa has got to. A white dragon makes for conspicuous hand luggage. Gwen tells Morgana that the plan failed and Arthur still lives. Ladies, that’s because the plan was shit. Really simplicity is best, instead of using the dagger to kill a stable boy, why didn’t she use the dagger to actually kill Arthur? Seriously, they’ve got Gaius as their coroner, it’s not going to be spotted. Morgana tells Gwen she has to put the blame on someone else so she is beyond suspicion. Morgana knows that Gwen’s a bit popular among the Knights, so tells her to slut it up a bit around them, get them on her side.
I can’t say that I was ever that into Morgana and Gwen’s friendship in season one, and I haven’t really missed it since. However, I really like these scenes. They do remind me of season one. Even though they are now on the dark side, I like the reconnection of the bond. I’m not quite sure why they left a four season gap. I know Gwen was there when Morgana took over the castle in season three, but apart from that, nothing. I would have liked a little more evidence of a bond. A little more evidence of loyalty all the way through. After being his servant for about a week, Merlin would literally kill the whole of Camelot if it meant protecting Arthur. After Gwen was Morgana’s servant for years, why was there not a bit more of a connection there? Why did Gwen so easily go over to Arthur’s side? I’m not saying Gwen and Morgana were ever Merlin/Arthur levels of obsessed with each other, but I just think they never really developed the break of that bond or the fragments that could never break. I like them together in this scene though.
There’s Gwaine tracking them on his trusty steed , but Morgana does her ‘Pully Knighty off Horsey’ Spell and that lets Gwen escape. When she returns to the castle she runs into Merlin. This has to be one of the longest scenes between Merlin and Gwen since season one. I love Merlin’s smile slowly fade as she walks away. Merlin took out his friend, Morgana when she posed a threat to Arthur. Will he have to take out Gwen too?
Gaius has determined that Gwaine has no broken bones by giving his arm a Swedish massage. Gwaine explains what happens and Merlin suggests that it was Morgana and she has an ally in the Citadel. Arthur isn’t sure, so he sends out his finest knights to search the woods with a fine tooth comb. Oh wait, no he doesn’t. He sends out Merlin and Gaius. The Laurel and Hardy of detective teams. As far as Arthur is concerned Merlin is a servant who can’t carry his dinner without dropping it and Gaius is 323 years old. Nice delegating of tasks there Arthur. Next, why don’t you ask Percival to clean the good china?
It’s the days before Teddy Cam, so Gwen’s having to spy in on Arthur’s Chamber’s herself. Where is she hiding? Is that where Arthur keeps her? Meanwhile, Merlin confides in Gwaine. I love their friendship, I just wish the show used it more, they set it up so nicely. Merlin asks Gwaine to stay close to Arthur and protect him. Gwaine promises he will. That’s very sweet. Dear show, please put Merlin and Gwaine together more, thanks, blue x.
Morgana’s off to a chemist and enters into Ye Olde Superdrug. Apparently customer service skills aren’t prevalent in Camelot, as the show keeper says “who are you?” as soon as she enters. Anyone frequenting Catford shopping centre will consider this a step up in sales skills though. Morgana doesn’t do that thing that we all do when we have to buy something potentially embarrassing in a chemist; where we purchase loads of other stuff too. “Yes I’d like some cough syrup, a box of tissues, some eye drops, and some paracetamol, please. Oh and just throw a vat of your most powerful poison in…while I’m here.” No, she’s straight to the point is Our Morgana. She wants poison that wont just kill but do it slowly and painfully. NO! NO! NO! You want it quick, Morgana! Dear lord, does she learn nothing? The title is called ‘A Lesson in Vengance’. The first rule of vengeance is not to not get emotional about it. You want Arthur dead, kill him. Don’t try to make him suffer, don’t try and draw it out. This is where she goes wrong. This is how she is different to Merlin.
The shop keeper knows there’s a recession on and manages to convince Morgana to buy two products instead of one. The first will knock Arthur unconscious, the second will kill with a single drop to the ear. Morgana searching through her Sac de Magique for loose change doesn’t scream all powerful High Priestess does it? Christ, using my Oyster card on the bus now makes me look more powerful than her. I feel like she’s the start of one of those adverts for swiping your credit card. She’s the ‘before’ part.
We’re back at Camelot, and Arthur’s thinking again. Don’t hurt yourself, honey. It’s a repeat of the same shot as earlier, with Gwen in the background out of focus. Very nice. Arthur’s been thinking about what Merlin said, about Morgana having an ally in the Citadel. Again Gwen manages to comfort Arthur, to lull him into not worrying. It’s interesting that Gwen actually isn’t that much different in the way she speaks. Yes her intentions and motivations are different, but other than that she still manages to sound the same. Her words are the same. She still manages to distract Arthur away from himself and away from following his heart.
Meanwhile, Cagny and Lacey are strolling though the forest looking for clues. Apparently the writer did have access to The Big Book of Merlin clichés, as Gauis soon spots some ripped clothing hanging on a branch. Who makes the clothing in Camelot?! It’s always just falling apart in perfect pieces. Have they had a Primark open up recently? Gaius and Merlin have no idea who this material could belong to though. Arthur can sniff out a piece of plain white cloth that is Gwen’s in 10 seconds, but Merlin can’t recognise quite a distinctive colour cloak that he saw Gwen wearing that day. Or can he…
Gaius is identifying the piece of material and telling Merlin what it’s made of and where it came from. He really is in the wrong profession, fashion design is clearly his calling. He tells Merlin it belongs to someone extremely wealthy as it is expensive material. Gwen staying true to her roots there, staying humble. Gaius’s explanation of the material has sparked off an idea in Jessica Fletcher’s mind and off he runs. He’s searching through Gwen’s closet for a match when Arthur catches him. I thought this was a cute little scene. It is a little repetitive of scenes we’ve seen before, but that’s as much good as it is bad. I think last week’s script was lacking in humour and lightness in small parts, so it was nice to have it injected back into this episode. This scene doesn’t bring down the narrative of the episode or feel out of place. It’s played cutely and frivolously and comes over as such, rather than an unwelcome interruption. We all know that Arthur is completely fine with Merlin’s apparent interest in cross dressing too. Plus it’s always nice to have a little sexual subtext and double meaning in an episode.
Gwen’s strolling around the market with the commoners. Don’t be fooled by the rocks that she’s got, she’s still Gwenny from the block. This is another scene that has large references to the Morgana/Morgause story, as Gwen stops at a market stall. Morgana has aged herself and passes Gwen the poison she bought. She actually doesn’t pass on any of the instructions the chemist gave her, so either they are included on the bottles or she’s going to end up killing Arthur’s tongue and putting his ear to sleep.
She returns to the castle and joins Arthur for dinner. Arthur always seems to eat in his room, doesn’t he? Uther always ate at the dinning room table. I’m half expecting Arthur’s room to be littered with empty Pot Noodle containers and dirty dishes under the bed. Gwen apologises for her tardiness by saying that she had some business in town. You’re the Queen, Gwen, not Alan fucking Sugar, what possible business could you have in town?! Arthur’s thinking the same thing though and asks her what she was doing . She says she was taking some things to those in need. Yes, because that dress screams charity worker, doesn’t it? While they are having this conversation Gwen puts poison (part 1) in Arthur’s goblet. It’s interesting that Arthur notices when Merlin is slightly sad, but doesn’t notice that Gwen has turned into a blood thirsty murderer.
Meanwhile, Merlin is doing Arthur’s washing in the kitchen. He tries to steal one of cook’s dumplings, but get’s a rap on the knuckles for trying. Yay! Cook’s back! I love her! I love how everyone in Camelot dotes on Merlin and think’s he’s a little ray of sunshine, apart from Cook. It’s a funny little relationship. Merlin spots Gwen’s cloak and realises the material matches and bolts off to find Arthur. I’m sitting here thinking about how he shoved reds in with whites and how Arthur’s going to be wearing pink clothing for the foreseeable future.
Part one of the poisoning worked and now Gwen gets the second bottle out. She then Claudius-es it up by pouring a gallon of the stuff down Arthur’s ear. One drop, Gwen! She could have used fairy spit instead of poison and the amount she pored down there would have still killed him. Merlin throws himself through Arthur’s doors and finds him unconscious. He’s not looking in an awful lot of pain though, so I think Morgana should go get her money back.
Remember Lugwart from last week? The herb that managed to cure Percival and Leon and turn them from their deathbeds into the picture of health in ten minutes? Well we have the antithesis of Lugwart this week. It’s called Henbane. That’s all one word. It’s not Hen’s Bane. That a completely different show, where a chicken faces themselves as the product of their own prophesised downfall. I’d watch that. Gaius diagnoses that Arthur has been poisoned by Henbane. He’s on a proper roll this week! Has he been watching Dr Quinn Medicine Woman boxsets, or something?
Gaius tells them all that it’s not looking good for Arthur. Gwen’s there of course, and Merlin, and the knights including Mordred, who’s returned from his training course especially. Gwen uses the opportunity to frame Merlin and points the finger of blame at him, basically saying that Merlin sees Arthur more than anyone, including herself and they are never ever apart, so it has to be him. Again, she makes a convincing argument. I only actually have one little complaint and that would be that I think they should have had Gwaine stick up for Merlin here. Not only because they are friends, but because of their discussion earlier. He would have been out voted, so it wouldn’t have made a difference to the plot, but it would have been nice. I have to say though, I thought this episode was filmed beautifully. Really, so many shots and things that I adored. Visually stunning with it’s connections to the story and it’s greater themes. I may do a little picspam of it in the week if I have time (don’t all groan at once!). For now though, I’ll shove this shot in here. Merlin bathed in darkness and light, completely open, but hidden too. Beautiful.
Merlin’s thrown into the Escape Dungeons, so Gaius, the wily old fox goes to speak to Gwen. Again, what a beautifully lit scene. It’s magnificent. It’s a nice scene between the two of them. Gwen thinking that she’s convinced even Gaius of Merlin’s guilt and Gaius using the opportunity to backwardly say that he knows what‘s happened and he‘s not giving up yet. I’ll use this moment to say that I think Gaius has been underused as a character this season. I know he’s always been very sporadically used, so maybe that’s a critique for every season, but he really shines as a character this episode. His loyalty, his wisdom and his comfort are all evident and really play out nicely throughout the episode. Richard Wilson is truly awesome.
While Merlin askes Gaius to get him out of the dungeon, Gwen’s doing her sobbing wife speech by Arthur’s bedside. It’s actually something you’d expect regular, dull Gwen to say as well. It’s not out of character. It’s completely over the top, melodramatic, vomit inducing speech, but because it’s Gwen faking it, the result is different. Leon is there watching. Poor, sweet Leon. Poetry classes have clearly romanticised his heart. I’m not entirely sure that Leon isn’t actually trying to woo Gwen here! If he weren’t such a fine, upstanding specimen of a Knight, then I would genuinely believe he was putting a move on her while Arthur is laying there half dead. Gwen’s playing Leon and makes out that she has no idea who will take over ruling the kingdom once Arthur’s snuffed it, as they have no heirs. Which is a good point, why don’t they have any heirs after 4 years of marriage?
Merlin sees a potion being lowered into the cell. He smiles. Now, I like Dragoon. I think sometimes he was a bit overused last season, or at times wrongly used. I think he works bests in short and sweet bursts, which is what we got here. He leaves the cell and approaches the two guards. Colin in this is fabulous. It’s like an Abbot and Costello sketch as he riddles his words together. It’s very well done. I like it when Dragoon speaks a little bit for the audience and mentions that it’s no wonder all the prisoners get murdered. Very cute. Merlin tries to take the potion to turn back, while he is in the kitchen, but gets caught by Cook. Again it’s a nice, funny little scene where Merlin gets to tell Cook what he really thinks of her, before choosing to knock her out with a saucepan. It’s a short stint as Dragoon, but it lightens the episode nicely and doesn’t over stay it’s welcome.
Merlin tried to distract the guards outside Arthur’s room, but Gwaine and Mordred spot him as an intruder before he can get in. So is Gwaine now Mordred’s Knight Mentor now Elyan is dead? I can imagine it’s going to be a different experience and he’ll spend a lot more time in the tavern. They chase after Merlin, but loose him when he hides. He sees Leon running across the courtyard once the warning bells have been set off. I say run, but Rupert does this little trot thing that thoroughly amused me. As Merlin has magic this week, he uses a Deluminator to turn out all the lights in Camelot. Percival’s like freakin’ Columbo this week and notes that it was sorcery, as Merlin climbs his way up to Arthur’s bedroom…probably not for the first time. Is it me, or with the window and the poison, it's all a little Romeo and Juliet? Are they working their way through Shakespeare references this season?
Gaius manages to clear Gwen out of the room. He’s subtle, convincing and discreet. He manages to ruin all that though, by shouting at Merlin the second she’s out the door. Merlin goes over to Arthur and tells Gaius that he feels the sickness deep within him. Mew. He says he’s not sure whether he has the power to save Arthur. Merlin’s reluctance to use magic sometimes is interesting. It’s almost a shame thing. Or perhaps a modesty or fear of his own power. He was afraid there, that he couldn’t fix Arthur. I think that’s what hold Merlin back within his powers, he needs the confidence in him and a muse to really fulfil his potential.
He puts his hand over Arthur’s heart and really puts his all into the spell. It's a little bit like what they make you do at 'Build-A-Bear' before they put the heart in the stuffing. He also uses a bit of CPR, which can’t hurt. It’s a far cry from how we usually see Merlin do spells, which is quietly and (relatively) discreetly. Here, he really gives it everything and then is visibly distraught when Arthur doesn’t show any sign of improvement. Double mew. Such a really nice moment and again, played brilliantly by Colin. I sometimes critisise the show fro the lack of Merlin’s magic, but actually that makes this scene all the better, where he does use it, and for powerful effect. Merlin’s fear at not being able to save Arthur has been more of a theme this season, than any other and it’s referenced again here. You know how sombre Merlin’s been, how exhausted he looks. This is why. This is his fear. That Arthur is going to die, and he can’t save him. In that brief moment when he thought his spell didn’t work, he looked utterly bereft. That moment, what he felt then, is only going to spur him on. Make him more determined and more obsessed with saving Arthur. He’s had a taster of what it’s like if he lets him die. He’s not about to make that happen.
The next morning Gaius and Gwaine go and get Merlin from his cell. Oh hey, Gwaine, where were you yesterday, when your friend was imprisoned. You are so almost off my Christmas Card list. I mean you aren’t because I’m too distracted by your shiny hair, but so close!
“Merlin, this is one of the two…possibly three moments in my life where I’ve actually been glad to see you.”
"That’s my thoughts exactly, Sire.”
Aww, in Arthur/Merlin language that translates as ‘I love you, please never leave me again.’ Arthur apologies to Merlin for what happened to him. There is no doubt in Arthur’s mind that Merlin would ever hurt him. He doesn’t need proof or explanations.
“I also told them that you simply weren’t bright enough to organise an assassination attempt.”
"That was very thoughtful”
"You’re welcome.”
I love the lightening the moment with humour. They don’t need anything heartfelt or sickly sweet words, they both know the consequences were both of them loosing their life. If one dies, they both die. I love it when they link Merlin and Arthur together in a thematic way, and this little sequence was a nice reference to their connection and bond. By saving Arthur, Merlin saved himself and by saving himself, he saves Arthur. Saving himself wasn’t Merlin’s primary objective, but it just works out that way. I think they are in moments this season pushing the two sides of the same coin thing a little more. I saw it in episode five quite strongly and I see it again here.
Merlin tries to tell Arthur something. I assume that his wife his trying to kill him and gut him like a fish, but Arthur’s got a meeting to get to. Apparently, Gwen now works for Trading Standards and managed to track down the chemist that Morgana got the bottles of poison from. The chemist fesses up that Morgana was a customer. I bet she paid him in those chocolate coins from the Disir. Arthur’s fully supportive of Gwen’s move into consumer advice and help, and asks the court to give three cheers of ‘Long live the Queen.’ They all do so emphatically, except Merlin who’s glaring at Gwen like she’s just stolen his boyfriend. Or more accurately, like she’s just tried to kill his boyfriend. I love it when Merlin’s got a bit of pluck about him. He’s got his game face on. I love Badass Merlin. We saw him loose a bit of confidence before saving Arthur and become emotional afterwards. Arthur’s fine now though, so he’s ready to take them on. He’s lost him and got a taste of what that’s like, he’s not going down without a fight.
I have to admit, I was not looking forward to this episode. The idea of Gwen enchanted, trying to kill Arthur, then someone snapping their fingers and she’s back to the same old Gwen did not appeal to me at all. However, there was no mention of enchantment. No clunky bracelet or creepy creature used. I’m not saying that it won’t be revealed in future episodes that it is one of those things, but they haven’t for now, so I have to base my opinion on that. I thought it was great. Yes, we are missing an explanation for why, so that is a bit annoying, and I will do a fully fledged rant if she gets reset at the end of this storyline, but the whole episode independently worked well. The only thing that essentially changed about Gwen’s character was that she’s now a killer. The words she was speaking were what you would expect dull Gwen to say. Apart from the odd Morgana-esque smirk here and there, she was in all sense and purposes Gwen, but a little colder, a little smarter and a little bit more determined. I actually liked that. I thought Angel did a brilliant job of playing it. Like I said earlier, what a shame they couldn’t have created more of a character for her the last five seasons. Maybe so she didn’t end up as cut-throat as this, but a little more subtle if they had played it right over the years.
I was completely in love with Gaius this episode. He showed that he’s not just useful in a practical sense, but an emotional one too. He gave Merlin the support, confidence and love that he needed to save Arthur. Its strange, but way back when I always thought that if the series ever got this far that Gaius would be long gone as a character by now. That they would have killed him off. It’s times like these that I’m so glad they didn’t. I’m so happy he’s still here, he’s a wonderful character who adds class to the show. I think Richard Wilson is brilliant in this part and brings a warmth and wisdom.
The boys are back! Yay! After a pretty weird episode for them last week, they felt really back to their best. They were sweet to each other, play insulting, and ultimately they were a big part of the story. Arthur’s being betrayed again, and although it can be frustrating for the viewer that he doesn’t see it, I can always understand why. He is trusting and he is naïve. I sometimes think that it’s not that he can’t see it, it’s that he doesn’t really want to. That scene where he was holding the red cotton and Gwen was fuzzy in the background displayed this. He needed to unblur his vision, take away his blinkers and really look.
I have to say that as brilliant as I thought Angel and Richard were, Colin has to be the star of the episode for me. Merlin was the centre of the episode even though it may appear that Gwen was. It was all about Merlin and giving him the strength to carry on fighting for Arthur, no matter who the enemy is. Colin did humour, lightness, intelligence, emotion, desperation and stubborn fight throughout this episode. It was Merlin at his best as a character. He was strong; both mentally and magically. His focus never faded, his loyalty never wavered and his motives were never stronger. Gaius told him that grief changes people, and that millisecond of grief he felt when thought the spell failed, has made him more determined. I hope they continue this attitude with him into the next episode as Merlin looks like he’s ready to fight.
The title of this episode was ‘A Lesson in Vengeance’. I don’t talk about the titles very much, because…well usually they aren’t that interesting. However, I think this one has multi-references, so I liked it. There is of course Morgana, who as we said before is vengeful, but also bitter. Her lesson is to perhaps keep her focus on what she’s fighting for, rather than who she’s fighting against. I guess Gwen’s motive, we learnt from last week is vengeance for her brother’s death (although the reasoning and whether she is under enchantment is a little murky). Merlin is not a vengeful character per se. He isn’t bitter. He is reactive though. He doesn’t like anyone hurting or being a threat to Arthur, and like a scorpion, he has a sting in his tail. Get to near and he won’t discriminate who he has to attack to defend himself and Arthur.
I really, really enjoyed this episodes. It seemed to fly by. I know I'm sometimes not as critical as some people though. It's something I'm working on being better at. So in light of that I will say I'm finding the flow of the season a bit patchy. They seem to start and stop a lot of the storylines. It's like they are afraid of doing them too fast. It's like me with a bar of chocolate, I know if I eat it too fast I won't have any left. The writers seem to think that if they actually move the story along then they won't have anything left after it. But they can go out and buy another bar of chocolate, there will be more. They needed to take those risks more, especially after introducing and implementing great stories and characters such as Mordred, who seems to be less of a risk to Camelot by the day. No wonder Arthur doesn't see him as a risk, he just seems to stand there or completely disappear. He's great! Use him! It doesn't have to be just an episode devoted to him, they can work references into every episode.
However, the central performances were completely on spot. The pacing on the episode was very well done, none of it seemed to drag; the narrative kept on moving. The script was a lot punchier this week, it delivered a much more even tone and all the characters seemed to have a believable voice. It contained some nice dialogue actually. It was shot, absolutely beautifully. It looked stunning and also enhanced the pacing and the themes of the script and characters.
Next Week....Merlin doesn't look so well...Neither does Arthur.
We begin with our two soul mates taking a relaxing horse ride in the meadow. Oh and Gwen’s there too. It’s Gwen and Arthur’s anniversary you see, which apparently Arthur forgot and had to be reminded twice of, by his wife and by Gwen. Yeah, it’s something we’d all like to forget, love. So as a treat for their anniversary Arthur’s taking Gwen out for a (horse) walk. Something he does with Merlin every week. Arthur comments how it’s nice “just the two of them.” I can’t imagine they are alone often, Arthur seems to get that hazy look over his eyes with Gwen that he did when brass-loving George was his servant. Gwen reminds him that Merlin is there and Arthur responds that Merlin doesn’t count. I wonder if he has that same outlook when it comes to sex. Does he have to have Merlin in the room just to make it bearable?
Poor Arthur, he does seem to get a little mixed up over who is wife actually is and proceeds to have a little banter with Merlin on the way. The three of them pass by something sizzling in the undergrowth. I hope it’s chicken fajitas, I love chicken fajitas. I don’t think Camelot’s the sort of place a pop up Mexican restaurant resides though and this moment reminds me that Gwen has gone over to the dark side. This is most confusing for us as an audience as she’s not wearing black or doing creepy sideways smirks. How on earth are we supposed to determine she’s evil!? Did this writer even check his Big Book of Merlin Clichés?
The bag of chicken fajitas explodes scaring Arthur’s horse and throwing him off. Arthur’s attacked by two of, what I assume are, Morgana’s Minions. Unfortunately she didn’t keep any of those hot shirtless Stripper Miners on the payroll. Damn. Arthur manages to get rid of the two minions, with a little bit of glowy eyed help from Merlin. Hey! Merlin has magic this week, that’s always a plus in a show about a wizard. Gwen looks on, apparently confused that Arthur, who has fought off twenty bandits on his own on a weekly basis, couldn’t be dispatched by two minions, who frankly look like they were just hired and had been lazing on the sofa for five years.
After the credits, Gaius is giving Arthur the once over. He diagnoses him with the flu and asthma, but once he’s told that Arthur fell from his horse he gets a bit closer with “that could have broken your neck.” Sir Leon enters, and he has a friend with him. Aww. He’s not a Knight though, he’s dressed like a guard. I wonder if that’s Leon’s servant and he makes him dress professionally? I still can’t believe we haven’t had a scene with George as Leon’s servant. They would be beyond perfect together. Leon is a frequent visitor to Camelot College’s night courses and that three week Advanced Needlework really did the trick, as he identifies that the stitching on Arthur’s saddle has been tampered with.
In the courtyard, Gwaine and two unnamers approach a stable hand. “Afternoon, Sir Knights.” Hee! I like him already. Gwaine’s gone all professional reads him his rights before arresting him. Leon, Percival and a few other knights go to search the stablehand‘s mother’s house. Thankfully Percival attended that Beginners Guide to Needlework course that Leon convinced him to go on and he spots a roll of cotton thread. A roll of thread!! In someone’s house?! Dear lord think of the massacre she could have created with a weapon like that!! I
have to admit something. I know it’s a controversial subject, but I am a thread owner. I know the country is divided on this and I understand other people’s point of view, but it is one of my basic rights, as a citizen, to own thread. I have to admit that it’s not just one roll of thread I own, but multiple ones, all in different colours. I have the correct paperwork for them all though. I kept the receipts from Tesco. I also don’t keep them in the same compartment as the needles. I know safety procedures and none of the needles are already threaded. There was an incident in my town, a child got into their mother’s sewing basket and got hold of a threaded needle. They said that professionals managed to unsew that Teddy Bear’s paw from his ear, but that household will never be the same again.
Tyr, the stable hand, has been brought before Arthur. Leon’s holding up a bag with Exhibit A written on it. Arthur got a very soft and gentle voice as he’s interrogating Tyr. Kinda makes me want to curl on his lap, go to sleep and purr. He’s trying to give Tyr an out. He just needs the opportunity to do it. He’s practically winking at Tyr when he asks him if there’s anything further he’d like to say. Arthur’s a smart boy…well sometimes…he knows Tyr is telling the truth, but he can’t prove it either. They’re both screwed because apparently in the last four years, Arthur has been so busy going on secret alone rides with Merlin that he hasn’t had time to change Uther’s Laws of Camelot;
LAWS OF CAMELOT
Any Crime = Death
So poor Arthur reluctantly sentences poor Tyr to death. Afterwards Merlin asks Arthur how long he has known Tyr and he responds that he has known him since he was a boy. I now fully expect an episode where we see all of Camelot’s greatest moments from Tyr’s point of view. Where has he been hiding? Merlin’s turned into Angela Lansbury from Murder, She Wrote this week, and is debating with Gaius that Tyr committing the crime makes no sense. Gaius tells him it’s “impossible to know what’s in the mind of another man.” I think Gaius is Angela Lansbury’s typewriter in this situation. I quite want him to go ‘ping’ at the end of every line.
Red is an interesting colour use. I haven’t been so detailed in my use of colour description this season. I can hear everyone reading this giving a cheer that they haven’t had to sit through eight paragraphs of me describing how the colour of Arthur’s dinner plate reflects the anguish in his soul, or something. There is this beautiful shot however of Arthur holding the red thread in his hands, pondering over it as Gwen stands in a red dress behind him, out of focus in the shot. Obviously within the episode the red thread leads to the criminal and it’s almost like hiding in plain sight as Gwen is right there all the time, this vision in red, Arthur just has to really look to see it. Arthur knows something is wrong, he’s just thinking it out too much. He’s got very good instincts, but they don’t give him all the information, just let him get a feel of a situation.
Where as Gwen and her motherly approach to Arthur has always been slightly dull before, here it actually becomes quite interesting. She’s using a maternal approach as a manipulation technique, using it to lull Arthur out of his thoughts. Arthur tells Gwen that “I’ll never leave you, I promise you that.” Well no, it’s never Arthur who leaves people is it, it’s him that is left. It is others who betray him, not the other way around. I’ve always thought this was an interesting link between Arthur and Morgana. They’ve both been betrayed and left, but they handle it in completely different ways.
Tyr’s in the Escape Dungeon. On the negative side he’s sentenced to death, however on the plus side he’s finally got out from under his mother’s apron strings and found his own place. Swings and roundabouts, eh? He’s got a visitor to his new bachelor pad as Merlin swings by with some food. It’s the not best house warming party I’ve ever seen, but it’s got an intimate date feel to it, like a low budget Nescafe advert. Merlin tells Tyr that cooking is “not Gaius’s strong point.” Well, it’s a vast improvement on his medical skills. At least his cooking doesn’t kill anyone.
Merlin’s in the cell playing good cop to Arthur’s earlier…well quite good cop. They really are a pair of fluffy bunny rabbits. Well, killer fluffy bunny rabbits. Merlin tries to convince Tyr to tell him what happened. Merlin touches Tyr’s leg to convince him to carry on talking. He’s such a flirt. Tyr, as I imagine most of the servants do, has a bit of a crush on Merlin, plus the cell’s got nice candle lit lighting, so in the hopes of a really good last night on earth he carries on talking. However, he’s a nice boy and loves his mother too much, so he won’t give out any information at risk to her. Aww, I like Tyr. I really liked this little scene between him and Merlin. I mean, I don’t actually think I’ve ever seen Colin have a bad scene with anyone…actually I can’t think of any off the top of my head…Nope.
Merlin goes to Arthur straight away and tells him what Tyr told him. Arthur wants to go down and speak to Tyr, but Gwen stops him and tells him that Tyr has said all he wants to say for tonight, he’s not going anywhere and both he and Tyr need to rest. She actually makes a convincing point, even to me, and I know she’s lying. Arthur should always trust his instincts, but he’s swayed by Gwen’s argument. That’s got to be annoying for Gwen. The first time her husband listens to her is when she’s being a manipulative harpy. It does have an edge of a mother telling her son he can’t go out and play with his friend as it’s getting dark soon, but again the underlying tone and lies of the scene make it good.
Merlin’s clearly concerned at all this time Gwen is spending with Arthur and smells a rat. Merlin tells Gaius that she hasn’t been quite herself since she returned from The Dark Tower. He’s confused at how she’s now become a bit more developed as a character after five seasons. It’s shocking to him. Gaius explains that she lost her brother, so a change is only natural. “Grief changes people, Merlin.” Ping!
Gwen is back to wandering the corridors late at night, so not that much of a difference then. I said at some point, I think last week, or maybe to someone else, how I hoped that the situation with Gwen was similar to the situation of Morgause manipulating Morgana. I don’t know whether it’s because I’m looking for it, but that really seems to have that feel about it. In episode 3, I think it was, I thought they made some nice visual/story references to Labyrinth of Gedref. Here I’m almost certain that they deliberately are making visual and story connections to when Morgana was betraying Camelot with Morgause. This shot with Gwen peering behind a wall and then putting the chicken fajita sizzling bag in a grate was definitely used with Morgana. I can’t for the life of me remember what episode, but it happened. It might have even have been during Morgana’s Little Red Riding Hood cloak period, which visually is nice symmetry too. I love it when they do these references. It gives the show a nice theme of an inevitable full circle.
Gwen goes to see Tyr. He’s thinking through where his date with Merlin went so wrong. Gwen speaks to him sweetly, but coldly. I’ve got to say I’m loving this Gwen. Does anyone remember in Friends when Monica gets drunk and Phoebe says “I love drunk Monica! She’s so much more fun than regular Monica!” I’m feeling the same way about Gwen. If they had started this years ago they could have made her such an interesting character. I liked that she was kind and sweet in the beginning, but I always thought they could have added a bit more hardness in there too. I could have totally bought that over the seasons, she could have slowly have become more detached, a little power hungry. It would have worked even better if they had made Arthur responsible for Elyan’s death. She worked for Morgana a long time, she could be taken in by her, manipulated and in her grief for Elyan (and Lancelot if they’d done that properly too) had turned against Arthur. I mean I guess I should be grateful that we’re kind of getting that now. I’ve seen no evidence in this episode that Gwen is blatantly enchanted, so I’m just glad that they’ve finally turned up to the party and shall ignore the fact that it’s when everyone else has left and I’m tired and busy clearing up.
Gwen pulls out a dagger and kills Tyr! They Drew Barrymore’d him out! I’m actually more upset about Tyr dieing than Elyan. Possibly because Tyr had more dialogue in 15 minutes than poor Elyan did in three seasons. The next morning Quincy is right on the case. He tells Arthur that the blade punctured Tyr’s heart and that he would have suffered very little. Ping! (Sorry, I’ll stop doing that now). Gaius tells Arthur this just by looking at Tyr. He’s a pathologist and a CT Scanner all rolled into one man. Arthur enquires why the guards didn’t see anything. He’s spent all this money on increased training courses and they’re still useless. I wonder how Mordred is getting along on his training courses. He seems missing again. Is he training to be a Knight or going to Law school? He’s never there!
In the woods, Gwen’s got her Disir outfit on, so we know she’s Team Morgana now. It’s probably best, before Morgana starts collecting anymore weird arse animals, she needs an actual person to communicate with. Morgana is homeless this week. I’m not sure where Aithusa has got to. A white dragon makes for conspicuous hand luggage. Gwen tells Morgana that the plan failed and Arthur still lives. Ladies, that’s because the plan was shit. Really simplicity is best, instead of using the dagger to kill a stable boy, why didn’t she use the dagger to actually kill Arthur? Seriously, they’ve got Gaius as their coroner, it’s not going to be spotted. Morgana tells Gwen she has to put the blame on someone else so she is beyond suspicion. Morgana knows that Gwen’s a bit popular among the Knights, so tells her to slut it up a bit around them, get them on her side.
I can’t say that I was ever that into Morgana and Gwen’s friendship in season one, and I haven’t really missed it since. However, I really like these scenes. They do remind me of season one. Even though they are now on the dark side, I like the reconnection of the bond. I’m not quite sure why they left a four season gap. I know Gwen was there when Morgana took over the castle in season three, but apart from that, nothing. I would have liked a little more evidence of a bond. A little more evidence of loyalty all the way through. After being his servant for about a week, Merlin would literally kill the whole of Camelot if it meant protecting Arthur. After Gwen was Morgana’s servant for years, why was there not a bit more of a connection there? Why did Gwen so easily go over to Arthur’s side? I’m not saying Gwen and Morgana were ever Merlin/Arthur levels of obsessed with each other, but I just think they never really developed the break of that bond or the fragments that could never break. I like them together in this scene though.
There’s Gwaine tracking them on his trusty steed , but Morgana does her ‘Pully Knighty off Horsey’ Spell and that lets Gwen escape. When she returns to the castle she runs into Merlin. This has to be one of the longest scenes between Merlin and Gwen since season one. I love Merlin’s smile slowly fade as she walks away. Merlin took out his friend, Morgana when she posed a threat to Arthur. Will he have to take out Gwen too?
Gaius has determined that Gwaine has no broken bones by giving his arm a Swedish massage. Gwaine explains what happens and Merlin suggests that it was Morgana and she has an ally in the Citadel. Arthur isn’t sure, so he sends out his finest knights to search the woods with a fine tooth comb. Oh wait, no he doesn’t. He sends out Merlin and Gaius. The Laurel and Hardy of detective teams. As far as Arthur is concerned Merlin is a servant who can’t carry his dinner without dropping it and Gaius is 323 years old. Nice delegating of tasks there Arthur. Next, why don’t you ask Percival to clean the good china?
It’s the days before Teddy Cam, so Gwen’s having to spy in on Arthur’s Chamber’s herself. Where is she hiding? Is that where Arthur keeps her? Meanwhile, Merlin confides in Gwaine. I love their friendship, I just wish the show used it more, they set it up so nicely. Merlin asks Gwaine to stay close to Arthur and protect him. Gwaine promises he will. That’s very sweet. Dear show, please put Merlin and Gwaine together more, thanks, blue x.
Morgana’s off to a chemist and enters into Ye Olde Superdrug. Apparently customer service skills aren’t prevalent in Camelot, as the show keeper says “who are you?” as soon as she enters. Anyone frequenting Catford shopping centre will consider this a step up in sales skills though. Morgana doesn’t do that thing that we all do when we have to buy something potentially embarrassing in a chemist; where we purchase loads of other stuff too. “Yes I’d like some cough syrup, a box of tissues, some eye drops, and some paracetamol, please. Oh and just throw a vat of your most powerful poison in…while I’m here.” No, she’s straight to the point is Our Morgana. She wants poison that wont just kill but do it slowly and painfully. NO! NO! NO! You want it quick, Morgana! Dear lord, does she learn nothing? The title is called ‘A Lesson in Vengance’. The first rule of vengeance is not to not get emotional about it. You want Arthur dead, kill him. Don’t try to make him suffer, don’t try and draw it out. This is where she goes wrong. This is how she is different to Merlin.
The shop keeper knows there’s a recession on and manages to convince Morgana to buy two products instead of one. The first will knock Arthur unconscious, the second will kill with a single drop to the ear. Morgana searching through her Sac de Magique for loose change doesn’t scream all powerful High Priestess does it? Christ, using my Oyster card on the bus now makes me look more powerful than her. I feel like she’s the start of one of those adverts for swiping your credit card. She’s the ‘before’ part.
We’re back at Camelot, and Arthur’s thinking again. Don’t hurt yourself, honey. It’s a repeat of the same shot as earlier, with Gwen in the background out of focus. Very nice. Arthur’s been thinking about what Merlin said, about Morgana having an ally in the Citadel. Again Gwen manages to comfort Arthur, to lull him into not worrying. It’s interesting that Gwen actually isn’t that much different in the way she speaks. Yes her intentions and motivations are different, but other than that she still manages to sound the same. Her words are the same. She still manages to distract Arthur away from himself and away from following his heart.
Meanwhile, Cagny and Lacey are strolling though the forest looking for clues. Apparently the writer did have access to The Big Book of Merlin clichés, as Gauis soon spots some ripped clothing hanging on a branch. Who makes the clothing in Camelot?! It’s always just falling apart in perfect pieces. Have they had a Primark open up recently? Gaius and Merlin have no idea who this material could belong to though. Arthur can sniff out a piece of plain white cloth that is Gwen’s in 10 seconds, but Merlin can’t recognise quite a distinctive colour cloak that he saw Gwen wearing that day. Or can he…
Gaius is identifying the piece of material and telling Merlin what it’s made of and where it came from. He really is in the wrong profession, fashion design is clearly his calling. He tells Merlin it belongs to someone extremely wealthy as it is expensive material. Gwen staying true to her roots there, staying humble. Gaius’s explanation of the material has sparked off an idea in Jessica Fletcher’s mind and off he runs. He’s searching through Gwen’s closet for a match when Arthur catches him. I thought this was a cute little scene. It is a little repetitive of scenes we’ve seen before, but that’s as much good as it is bad. I think last week’s script was lacking in humour and lightness in small parts, so it was nice to have it injected back into this episode. This scene doesn’t bring down the narrative of the episode or feel out of place. It’s played cutely and frivolously and comes over as such, rather than an unwelcome interruption. We all know that Arthur is completely fine with Merlin’s apparent interest in cross dressing too. Plus it’s always nice to have a little sexual subtext and double meaning in an episode.
Gwen’s strolling around the market with the commoners. Don’t be fooled by the rocks that she’s got, she’s still Gwenny from the block. This is another scene that has large references to the Morgana/Morgause story, as Gwen stops at a market stall. Morgana has aged herself and passes Gwen the poison she bought. She actually doesn’t pass on any of the instructions the chemist gave her, so either they are included on the bottles or she’s going to end up killing Arthur’s tongue and putting his ear to sleep.
She returns to the castle and joins Arthur for dinner. Arthur always seems to eat in his room, doesn’t he? Uther always ate at the dinning room table. I’m half expecting Arthur’s room to be littered with empty Pot Noodle containers and dirty dishes under the bed. Gwen apologises for her tardiness by saying that she had some business in town. You’re the Queen, Gwen, not Alan fucking Sugar, what possible business could you have in town?! Arthur’s thinking the same thing though and asks her what she was doing . She says she was taking some things to those in need. Yes, because that dress screams charity worker, doesn’t it? While they are having this conversation Gwen puts poison (part 1) in Arthur’s goblet. It’s interesting that Arthur notices when Merlin is slightly sad, but doesn’t notice that Gwen has turned into a blood thirsty murderer.
Meanwhile, Merlin is doing Arthur’s washing in the kitchen. He tries to steal one of cook’s dumplings, but get’s a rap on the knuckles for trying. Yay! Cook’s back! I love her! I love how everyone in Camelot dotes on Merlin and think’s he’s a little ray of sunshine, apart from Cook. It’s a funny little relationship. Merlin spots Gwen’s cloak and realises the material matches and bolts off to find Arthur. I’m sitting here thinking about how he shoved reds in with whites and how Arthur’s going to be wearing pink clothing for the foreseeable future.
Part one of the poisoning worked and now Gwen gets the second bottle out. She then Claudius-es it up by pouring a gallon of the stuff down Arthur’s ear. One drop, Gwen! She could have used fairy spit instead of poison and the amount she pored down there would have still killed him. Merlin throws himself through Arthur’s doors and finds him unconscious. He’s not looking in an awful lot of pain though, so I think Morgana should go get her money back.
Remember Lugwart from last week? The herb that managed to cure Percival and Leon and turn them from their deathbeds into the picture of health in ten minutes? Well we have the antithesis of Lugwart this week. It’s called Henbane. That’s all one word. It’s not Hen’s Bane. That a completely different show, where a chicken faces themselves as the product of their own prophesised downfall. I’d watch that. Gaius diagnoses that Arthur has been poisoned by Henbane. He’s on a proper roll this week! Has he been watching Dr Quinn Medicine Woman boxsets, or something?
Gaius tells them all that it’s not looking good for Arthur. Gwen’s there of course, and Merlin, and the knights including Mordred, who’s returned from his training course especially. Gwen uses the opportunity to frame Merlin and points the finger of blame at him, basically saying that Merlin sees Arthur more than anyone, including herself and they are never ever apart, so it has to be him. Again, she makes a convincing argument. I only actually have one little complaint and that would be that I think they should have had Gwaine stick up for Merlin here. Not only because they are friends, but because of their discussion earlier. He would have been out voted, so it wouldn’t have made a difference to the plot, but it would have been nice. I have to say though, I thought this episode was filmed beautifully. Really, so many shots and things that I adored. Visually stunning with it’s connections to the story and it’s greater themes. I may do a little picspam of it in the week if I have time (don’t all groan at once!). For now though, I’ll shove this shot in here. Merlin bathed in darkness and light, completely open, but hidden too. Beautiful.
Merlin’s thrown into the Escape Dungeons, so Gaius, the wily old fox goes to speak to Gwen. Again, what a beautifully lit scene. It’s magnificent. It’s a nice scene between the two of them. Gwen thinking that she’s convinced even Gaius of Merlin’s guilt and Gaius using the opportunity to backwardly say that he knows what‘s happened and he‘s not giving up yet. I’ll use this moment to say that I think Gaius has been underused as a character this season. I know he’s always been very sporadically used, so maybe that’s a critique for every season, but he really shines as a character this episode. His loyalty, his wisdom and his comfort are all evident and really play out nicely throughout the episode. Richard Wilson is truly awesome.
While Merlin askes Gaius to get him out of the dungeon, Gwen’s doing her sobbing wife speech by Arthur’s bedside. It’s actually something you’d expect regular, dull Gwen to say as well. It’s not out of character. It’s completely over the top, melodramatic, vomit inducing speech, but because it’s Gwen faking it, the result is different. Leon is there watching. Poor, sweet Leon. Poetry classes have clearly romanticised his heart. I’m not entirely sure that Leon isn’t actually trying to woo Gwen here! If he weren’t such a fine, upstanding specimen of a Knight, then I would genuinely believe he was putting a move on her while Arthur is laying there half dead. Gwen’s playing Leon and makes out that she has no idea who will take over ruling the kingdom once Arthur’s snuffed it, as they have no heirs. Which is a good point, why don’t they have any heirs after 4 years of marriage?
Merlin sees a potion being lowered into the cell. He smiles. Now, I like Dragoon. I think sometimes he was a bit overused last season, or at times wrongly used. I think he works bests in short and sweet bursts, which is what we got here. He leaves the cell and approaches the two guards. Colin in this is fabulous. It’s like an Abbot and Costello sketch as he riddles his words together. It’s very well done. I like it when Dragoon speaks a little bit for the audience and mentions that it’s no wonder all the prisoners get murdered. Very cute. Merlin tries to take the potion to turn back, while he is in the kitchen, but gets caught by Cook. Again it’s a nice, funny little scene where Merlin gets to tell Cook what he really thinks of her, before choosing to knock her out with a saucepan. It’s a short stint as Dragoon, but it lightens the episode nicely and doesn’t over stay it’s welcome.
Merlin tried to distract the guards outside Arthur’s room, but Gwaine and Mordred spot him as an intruder before he can get in. So is Gwaine now Mordred’s Knight Mentor now Elyan is dead? I can imagine it’s going to be a different experience and he’ll spend a lot more time in the tavern. They chase after Merlin, but loose him when he hides. He sees Leon running across the courtyard once the warning bells have been set off. I say run, but Rupert does this little trot thing that thoroughly amused me. As Merlin has magic this week, he uses a Deluminator to turn out all the lights in Camelot. Percival’s like freakin’ Columbo this week and notes that it was sorcery, as Merlin climbs his way up to Arthur’s bedroom…probably not for the first time. Is it me, or with the window and the poison, it's all a little Romeo and Juliet? Are they working their way through Shakespeare references this season?
Gaius manages to clear Gwen out of the room. He’s subtle, convincing and discreet. He manages to ruin all that though, by shouting at Merlin the second she’s out the door. Merlin goes over to Arthur and tells Gaius that he feels the sickness deep within him. Mew. He says he’s not sure whether he has the power to save Arthur. Merlin’s reluctance to use magic sometimes is interesting. It’s almost a shame thing. Or perhaps a modesty or fear of his own power. He was afraid there, that he couldn’t fix Arthur. I think that’s what hold Merlin back within his powers, he needs the confidence in him and a muse to really fulfil his potential.
He puts his hand over Arthur’s heart and really puts his all into the spell. It's a little bit like what they make you do at 'Build-A-Bear' before they put the heart in the stuffing. He also uses a bit of CPR, which can’t hurt. It’s a far cry from how we usually see Merlin do spells, which is quietly and (relatively) discreetly. Here, he really gives it everything and then is visibly distraught when Arthur doesn’t show any sign of improvement. Double mew. Such a really nice moment and again, played brilliantly by Colin. I sometimes critisise the show fro the lack of Merlin’s magic, but actually that makes this scene all the better, where he does use it, and for powerful effect. Merlin’s fear at not being able to save Arthur has been more of a theme this season, than any other and it’s referenced again here. You know how sombre Merlin’s been, how exhausted he looks. This is why. This is his fear. That Arthur is going to die, and he can’t save him. In that brief moment when he thought his spell didn’t work, he looked utterly bereft. That moment, what he felt then, is only going to spur him on. Make him more determined and more obsessed with saving Arthur. He’s had a taster of what it’s like if he lets him die. He’s not about to make that happen.
The next morning Gaius and Gwaine go and get Merlin from his cell. Oh hey, Gwaine, where were you yesterday, when your friend was imprisoned. You are so almost off my Christmas Card list. I mean you aren’t because I’m too distracted by your shiny hair, but so close!
“Merlin, this is one of the two…possibly three moments in my life where I’ve actually been glad to see you.”
"That’s my thoughts exactly, Sire.”
Aww, in Arthur/Merlin language that translates as ‘I love you, please never leave me again.’ Arthur apologies to Merlin for what happened to him. There is no doubt in Arthur’s mind that Merlin would ever hurt him. He doesn’t need proof or explanations.
“I also told them that you simply weren’t bright enough to organise an assassination attempt.”
"That was very thoughtful”
"You’re welcome.”
I love the lightening the moment with humour. They don’t need anything heartfelt or sickly sweet words, they both know the consequences were both of them loosing their life. If one dies, they both die. I love it when they link Merlin and Arthur together in a thematic way, and this little sequence was a nice reference to their connection and bond. By saving Arthur, Merlin saved himself and by saving himself, he saves Arthur. Saving himself wasn’t Merlin’s primary objective, but it just works out that way. I think they are in moments this season pushing the two sides of the same coin thing a little more. I saw it in episode five quite strongly and I see it again here.
Merlin tries to tell Arthur something. I assume that his wife his trying to kill him and gut him like a fish, but Arthur’s got a meeting to get to. Apparently, Gwen now works for Trading Standards and managed to track down the chemist that Morgana got the bottles of poison from. The chemist fesses up that Morgana was a customer. I bet she paid him in those chocolate coins from the Disir. Arthur’s fully supportive of Gwen’s move into consumer advice and help, and asks the court to give three cheers of ‘Long live the Queen.’ They all do so emphatically, except Merlin who’s glaring at Gwen like she’s just stolen his boyfriend. Or more accurately, like she’s just tried to kill his boyfriend. I love it when Merlin’s got a bit of pluck about him. He’s got his game face on. I love Badass Merlin. We saw him loose a bit of confidence before saving Arthur and become emotional afterwards. Arthur’s fine now though, so he’s ready to take them on. He’s lost him and got a taste of what that’s like, he’s not going down without a fight.
I have to admit, I was not looking forward to this episode. The idea of Gwen enchanted, trying to kill Arthur, then someone snapping their fingers and she’s back to the same old Gwen did not appeal to me at all. However, there was no mention of enchantment. No clunky bracelet or creepy creature used. I’m not saying that it won’t be revealed in future episodes that it is one of those things, but they haven’t for now, so I have to base my opinion on that. I thought it was great. Yes, we are missing an explanation for why, so that is a bit annoying, and I will do a fully fledged rant if she gets reset at the end of this storyline, but the whole episode independently worked well. The only thing that essentially changed about Gwen’s character was that she’s now a killer. The words she was speaking were what you would expect dull Gwen to say. Apart from the odd Morgana-esque smirk here and there, she was in all sense and purposes Gwen, but a little colder, a little smarter and a little bit more determined. I actually liked that. I thought Angel did a brilliant job of playing it. Like I said earlier, what a shame they couldn’t have created more of a character for her the last five seasons. Maybe so she didn’t end up as cut-throat as this, but a little more subtle if they had played it right over the years.
I was completely in love with Gaius this episode. He showed that he’s not just useful in a practical sense, but an emotional one too. He gave Merlin the support, confidence and love that he needed to save Arthur. Its strange, but way back when I always thought that if the series ever got this far that Gaius would be long gone as a character by now. That they would have killed him off. It’s times like these that I’m so glad they didn’t. I’m so happy he’s still here, he’s a wonderful character who adds class to the show. I think Richard Wilson is brilliant in this part and brings a warmth and wisdom.
The boys are back! Yay! After a pretty weird episode for them last week, they felt really back to their best. They were sweet to each other, play insulting, and ultimately they were a big part of the story. Arthur’s being betrayed again, and although it can be frustrating for the viewer that he doesn’t see it, I can always understand why. He is trusting and he is naïve. I sometimes think that it’s not that he can’t see it, it’s that he doesn’t really want to. That scene where he was holding the red cotton and Gwen was fuzzy in the background displayed this. He needed to unblur his vision, take away his blinkers and really look.
I have to say that as brilliant as I thought Angel and Richard were, Colin has to be the star of the episode for me. Merlin was the centre of the episode even though it may appear that Gwen was. It was all about Merlin and giving him the strength to carry on fighting for Arthur, no matter who the enemy is. Colin did humour, lightness, intelligence, emotion, desperation and stubborn fight throughout this episode. It was Merlin at his best as a character. He was strong; both mentally and magically. His focus never faded, his loyalty never wavered and his motives were never stronger. Gaius told him that grief changes people, and that millisecond of grief he felt when thought the spell failed, has made him more determined. I hope they continue this attitude with him into the next episode as Merlin looks like he’s ready to fight.
The title of this episode was ‘A Lesson in Vengeance’. I don’t talk about the titles very much, because…well usually they aren’t that interesting. However, I think this one has multi-references, so I liked it. There is of course Morgana, who as we said before is vengeful, but also bitter. Her lesson is to perhaps keep her focus on what she’s fighting for, rather than who she’s fighting against. I guess Gwen’s motive, we learnt from last week is vengeance for her brother’s death (although the reasoning and whether she is under enchantment is a little murky). Merlin is not a vengeful character per se. He isn’t bitter. He is reactive though. He doesn’t like anyone hurting or being a threat to Arthur, and like a scorpion, he has a sting in his tail. Get to near and he won’t discriminate who he has to attack to defend himself and Arthur.
I really, really enjoyed this episodes. It seemed to fly by. I know I'm sometimes not as critical as some people though. It's something I'm working on being better at. So in light of that I will say I'm finding the flow of the season a bit patchy. They seem to start and stop a lot of the storylines. It's like they are afraid of doing them too fast. It's like me with a bar of chocolate, I know if I eat it too fast I won't have any left. The writers seem to think that if they actually move the story along then they won't have anything left after it. But they can go out and buy another bar of chocolate, there will be more. They needed to take those risks more, especially after introducing and implementing great stories and characters such as Mordred, who seems to be less of a risk to Camelot by the day. No wonder Arthur doesn't see him as a risk, he just seems to stand there or completely disappear. He's great! Use him! It doesn't have to be just an episode devoted to him, they can work references into every episode.
However, the central performances were completely on spot. The pacing on the episode was very well done, none of it seemed to drag; the narrative kept on moving. The script was a lot punchier this week, it delivered a much more even tone and all the characters seemed to have a believable voice. It contained some nice dialogue actually. It was shot, absolutely beautifully. It looked stunning and also enhanced the pacing and the themes of the script and characters.
Next Week....Merlin doesn't look so well...Neither does Arthur.