Rewatch of Merlin 1.01, reboot
Here we go again:
Ok, drumroll please. Here is my rewatch of 1.01 of Merlin. This is going to be a big post of squee mainly because I think get so much right in this episode. I am going to go ahead and post this as one big post, but behind a cut. I have posted a poll at http://jelazakazone.livejournal.com/441247.html, so please weigh in on how you would prefer to view my commentary:D I would like to get through all 3 seasons before S4 starts, but don't honestly know if I will actually have time to do that.
While the first view we get is looking up a hill, within one
second, we see Merlin's face:D You have a moment of anxiety wondering what this show is going to be about before we are treated to Merlin's smiling face. "No young man, no matter how
great, can know his destiny". This is 11 seconds in. I was
pretty much sold. Then we see Merlin look in wonder on Camelot
before get to see it. I love how they are revealing things little by litte, and it's not always revealed by us seeing it first.
The music is light and happy as Merlin makes his way into
Camelot. Trumpets blare as he walks into the courtyard and at
2:20 minutes, we meet Uther and find out how he feels about
magic (which has Merlin gulping). Merlin looks pretty horrified.
3 minutes in and we meet Morgana (who won't watch the execution
either). 3 minutes in and we know that Uther is a powerful king and that Morgana, whoever she might be, is part of the royal household and yet does not approve of Uther's treatment of magic.
The moment Uther declares a celebration of the purge of magic,
Eve Myles wails because her son is executed and vows revenge.
Then she disappears in a puff of smoke. Our first exposure to magic and it's before
5 minutes is up.
Happy music continues. Tension dissipates. Merlin enters
Gauis's chambers and is amazed. He looks up and see Gaius after
about 6 minutes (and then we see Merlin do his first magic
trick). Merlin denies knowing magic, after seeing Uther. Love
the questions from Gaius and the interaction between M and G!
Merlin saves Gaius's life and Gaius says thank you. Won't be the
first time.
7.5 minutes in and we meet Hunith and begin to understand why
Merlin came to Camelot. He needs guidance and was having
problems in Ealdor.
8.5 minutes we have Morgana questioning why it's so terrible to
perform magic and Uther comes down as a strict guardian and makes
her attend the feast. Already we are seeing Morgana as an unruly subject, so to speak. Even without knowing she has the use of magic, she still feels Uther's wrong. These feelings can only strengthen when she discovers she has magic.
11:45 minutes in and we get the dragon saying "Merlin". This
might be my favorite moment of ep 1. Maybe. I love how we are introduced to The Dragon first through his voice. And it's not just once. They do a great job of stringing you along; making you wonder what is really going on.
Gaius tests Merlin and can't figure out how Merlin does what he
does. Then he says he needs to keep Merlin out of trouble and
sends him to deliver some potions. Again, we get fun music and
the tension releases. This scene is kind of silly, but it relieves the tension and it's one of the things I love about the show. In my opinion, they get the pacing spot on.
Just under 14 minutes in we meet Arthur. We hear his snotty
voice first "Where's the target?". And by 14:20 we see Gwen shaking out some textile. I love these introductions.
Before 15 minutes, Merlin and Arthur have their first encounter.
I love this encounter. Merlin is so confident and has no idea
who he's dealing with. He gets thrown in the dungeon. (Note about S3: what happened to confident Merlin? I'm in the middle of 3.02 and I can't believe how they belittle Merlin. It does not make me happy.)
Then there is some forward momentum with the plot, which is all good.
Next morning, Merlin awakes to the Dragon's voice and while the
voice is very serious, Merlin is rooting around in the straw
looking for where it could be coming from (I find this very
funny). Then Gaius rescues Merlin.
18 minutes in, Gwen finally speaks (to Merlin in the stocks).
She praises him for standing up to Arthur and then doesn't
believe that Merlin could even though he assures her he could and
says he's in disguise. Very cute and funny and the really fun
music starts and we forget about anything serious. Again, we have a balance between serious and hilarious. I really don't know how they pull it off.
21 minutes in and Merlin finally meets discovers that something
is wrong, magically speaking. He is not confident with Lady
Helen at all, but he gets away.
Arthur confronts Merlin and after a couple quick verbal back and
forths, Arthur says, "I warn you, I've been trained to kill since
birth" and Merlin says "And how long have you been training to be
a prat"? Arthur says "You can't address me like that" and Merlin
says "Sorry, how long have you been training to be a prat, my
lord". I love this bit of dialogue. I could talk about this scene at length, I believe.
And then the fight ensues, with Arthur having the upper hand at
first because Merlin is clumsy. Merlin starts using magic and
gets the upper hand until Gaius appears and he lets himself be
taken down by Arthur. Great music here too. Very light. And this also shows that there is starting to be a connection between the two, I think.
Then we see Gaius scolding Merlin and Merlin finally says "If I can't use magic, I might as well die". We find out how important magic is to Merlin. Then Gaius is very tender with Merlin and tends to his bruises. Merlin wants to know why he's born like this; is he a monster? Gaius very firmly says "don't ever think that". I just love how Gaius supports Merlin. He's an amazing mentor.
28 minutes in, we finally get to meet the Dragon. Merlin is awoken and sneaks out (won't be the first time he does this).
30 minutes in and Merlin enters the cave. I love this scene; he's just looking around in wonder and asks, "where are you" and then the Dragon comes out and Merlin looks appropriately terrified. Then the Dragon talks about Merlin's destiny. He confirms that there is a reason for Merlin's gift. Merlin needs to protect Arthur. "None of us can choose our destiny and none of us can escape it". Merlin protests. The Dragon laughed in there somewhere and of course, he leaves before all of Merlin's questions are answered. I love how Merlin can be terrified and curious at the same time.
Next morning, Merlin is awakened by Gaius and scolded for the messy state of his room. We find out that Morgana has nightmares. This is such a setup for later and it's great. We already know from earlier in the episode that Gaius gives out potions to people in the castle. Fun music again; tension lowered. Merlin appears in Morgana's chambers and seems enchanted with her, but she thinks he is Gwen. He tries not to talk and does a fake "girl" voice which is completely silly. Finally, Gwen appears and saves him, and this won't be the first time Gwen does Merlin a favor either:D
Finally, the banquet. Music is light. Arthur is being a bully and Merlin disapproves; he screws up his face. Morgana appears and everyone is enchanted. Adorable conversation between Gwen and Merlin and Gwen says "some people are just born to be queen" to which Merlin replies "no". A little bit of foreshadowing there...:D Gwen says she doesn't want to marry Arthur which cracks me up every time.
Creepy singing gets me all tense again. Back to the banquet, and then Uther makes a little speech and introduces the singer. Shortly after she starts singing, heads start drooping, cobwebs form and the room is enchanted, except for Merlin, who covers his ears and wonders what the heck to do. He is watching Arthur carefully and sees her start to throw a knife at Arthur, so he drops a chandelier on her head. Everyone wakes up and the witch is revealed; she throws the knife and Merlin grabs Arthur out of the way. The witch dies. We are all completely tense. Then, Uther rewards Merlin with a special position; a position in the royal household; Arthur's manservant. Arthur protests with disgust in his voice and the two look at each other with disgust. It's completely hilarious.
Gaius appears and reassures Merlin that his magic is meant to save Arthur's life. He gives him a book of magic (an amazing book that the art department completely outdid themselves with). Merlin is totally appreciative; says he will read every word. Then he is called away to go see Arthur and Merlin smiles before exiting stage right:D
And those are my incoherent thoughts about 1.01. I love how the tension is handled in this episode and throughout the series. What are your favorite scenes? What stands out for you? I feel like they did an excellent job introducing all the characters with each entrance appropriate to the character. I love how they really respect the characters in this show.
Ok, drumroll please. Here is my rewatch of 1.01 of Merlin. This is going to be a big post of squee mainly because I think get so much right in this episode. I am going to go ahead and post this as one big post, but behind a cut. I have posted a poll at http://jelazakazone.livejournal.com/441247.html, so please weigh in on how you would prefer to view my commentary:D I would like to get through all 3 seasons before S4 starts, but don't honestly know if I will actually have time to do that.
While the first view we get is looking up a hill, within one
second, we see Merlin's face:D You have a moment of anxiety wondering what this show is going to be about before we are treated to Merlin's smiling face. "No young man, no matter how
great, can know his destiny". This is 11 seconds in. I was
pretty much sold. Then we see Merlin look in wonder on Camelot
before get to see it. I love how they are revealing things little by litte, and it's not always revealed by us seeing it first.
The music is light and happy as Merlin makes his way into
Camelot. Trumpets blare as he walks into the courtyard and at
2:20 minutes, we meet Uther and find out how he feels about
magic (which has Merlin gulping). Merlin looks pretty horrified.
3 minutes in and we meet Morgana (who won't watch the execution
either). 3 minutes in and we know that Uther is a powerful king and that Morgana, whoever she might be, is part of the royal household and yet does not approve of Uther's treatment of magic.
The moment Uther declares a celebration of the purge of magic,
Eve Myles wails because her son is executed and vows revenge.
Then she disappears in a puff of smoke. Our first exposure to magic and it's before
5 minutes is up.
Happy music continues. Tension dissipates. Merlin enters
Gauis's chambers and is amazed. He looks up and see Gaius after
about 6 minutes (and then we see Merlin do his first magic
trick). Merlin denies knowing magic, after seeing Uther. Love
the questions from Gaius and the interaction between M and G!
Merlin saves Gaius's life and Gaius says thank you. Won't be the
first time.
7.5 minutes in and we meet Hunith and begin to understand why
Merlin came to Camelot. He needs guidance and was having
problems in Ealdor.
8.5 minutes we have Morgana questioning why it's so terrible to
perform magic and Uther comes down as a strict guardian and makes
her attend the feast. Already we are seeing Morgana as an unruly subject, so to speak. Even without knowing she has the use of magic, she still feels Uther's wrong. These feelings can only strengthen when she discovers she has magic.
11:45 minutes in and we get the dragon saying "Merlin". This
might be my favorite moment of ep 1. Maybe. I love how we are introduced to The Dragon first through his voice. And it's not just once. They do a great job of stringing you along; making you wonder what is really going on.
Gaius tests Merlin and can't figure out how Merlin does what he
does. Then he says he needs to keep Merlin out of trouble and
sends him to deliver some potions. Again, we get fun music and
the tension releases. This scene is kind of silly, but it relieves the tension and it's one of the things I love about the show. In my opinion, they get the pacing spot on.
Just under 14 minutes in we meet Arthur. We hear his snotty
voice first "Where's the target?". And by 14:20 we see Gwen shaking out some textile. I love these introductions.
Before 15 minutes, Merlin and Arthur have their first encounter.
I love this encounter. Merlin is so confident and has no idea
who he's dealing with. He gets thrown in the dungeon. (Note about S3: what happened to confident Merlin? I'm in the middle of 3.02 and I can't believe how they belittle Merlin. It does not make me happy.)
Then there is some forward momentum with the plot, which is all good.
Next morning, Merlin awakes to the Dragon's voice and while the
voice is very serious, Merlin is rooting around in the straw
looking for where it could be coming from (I find this very
funny). Then Gaius rescues Merlin.
18 minutes in, Gwen finally speaks (to Merlin in the stocks).
She praises him for standing up to Arthur and then doesn't
believe that Merlin could even though he assures her he could and
says he's in disguise. Very cute and funny and the really fun
music starts and we forget about anything serious. Again, we have a balance between serious and hilarious. I really don't know how they pull it off.
21 minutes in and Merlin finally meets discovers that something
is wrong, magically speaking. He is not confident with Lady
Helen at all, but he gets away.
Arthur confronts Merlin and after a couple quick verbal back and
forths, Arthur says, "I warn you, I've been trained to kill since
birth" and Merlin says "And how long have you been training to be
a prat"? Arthur says "You can't address me like that" and Merlin
says "Sorry, how long have you been training to be a prat, my
lord". I love this bit of dialogue. I could talk about this scene at length, I believe.
And then the fight ensues, with Arthur having the upper hand at
first because Merlin is clumsy. Merlin starts using magic and
gets the upper hand until Gaius appears and he lets himself be
taken down by Arthur. Great music here too. Very light. And this also shows that there is starting to be a connection between the two, I think.
Then we see Gaius scolding Merlin and Merlin finally says "If I can't use magic, I might as well die". We find out how important magic is to Merlin. Then Gaius is very tender with Merlin and tends to his bruises. Merlin wants to know why he's born like this; is he a monster? Gaius very firmly says "don't ever think that". I just love how Gaius supports Merlin. He's an amazing mentor.
28 minutes in, we finally get to meet the Dragon. Merlin is awoken and sneaks out (won't be the first time he does this).
30 minutes in and Merlin enters the cave. I love this scene; he's just looking around in wonder and asks, "where are you" and then the Dragon comes out and Merlin looks appropriately terrified. Then the Dragon talks about Merlin's destiny. He confirms that there is a reason for Merlin's gift. Merlin needs to protect Arthur. "None of us can choose our destiny and none of us can escape it". Merlin protests. The Dragon laughed in there somewhere and of course, he leaves before all of Merlin's questions are answered. I love how Merlin can be terrified and curious at the same time.
Next morning, Merlin is awakened by Gaius and scolded for the messy state of his room. We find out that Morgana has nightmares. This is such a setup for later and it's great. We already know from earlier in the episode that Gaius gives out potions to people in the castle. Fun music again; tension lowered. Merlin appears in Morgana's chambers and seems enchanted with her, but she thinks he is Gwen. He tries not to talk and does a fake "girl" voice which is completely silly. Finally, Gwen appears and saves him, and this won't be the first time Gwen does Merlin a favor either:D
Finally, the banquet. Music is light. Arthur is being a bully and Merlin disapproves; he screws up his face. Morgana appears and everyone is enchanted. Adorable conversation between Gwen and Merlin and Gwen says "some people are just born to be queen" to which Merlin replies "no". A little bit of foreshadowing there...:D Gwen says she doesn't want to marry Arthur which cracks me up every time.
Creepy singing gets me all tense again. Back to the banquet, and then Uther makes a little speech and introduces the singer. Shortly after she starts singing, heads start drooping, cobwebs form and the room is enchanted, except for Merlin, who covers his ears and wonders what the heck to do. He is watching Arthur carefully and sees her start to throw a knife at Arthur, so he drops a chandelier on her head. Everyone wakes up and the witch is revealed; she throws the knife and Merlin grabs Arthur out of the way. The witch dies. We are all completely tense. Then, Uther rewards Merlin with a special position; a position in the royal household; Arthur's manservant. Arthur protests with disgust in his voice and the two look at each other with disgust. It's completely hilarious.
Gaius appears and reassures Merlin that his magic is meant to save Arthur's life. He gives him a book of magic (an amazing book that the art department completely outdid themselves with). Merlin is totally appreciative; says he will read every word. Then he is called away to go see Arthur and Merlin smiles before exiting stage right:D
And those are my incoherent thoughts about 1.01. I love how the tension is handled in this episode and throughout the series. What are your favorite scenes? What stands out for you? I feel like they did an excellent job introducing all the characters with each entrance appropriate to the character. I love how they really respect the characters in this show.