"The Kindness of Strangers"

Dec 08, 2012 22:27

Ramble, ramble...



I feel I need a Buffy quote as "everything is turning out so dark". This episode really felt like the beginning of the end with a couple of genuine shocks and the tension ratcheting up unbearably.

It was great to get some continuity and see Alator again though I wish he was better at concealing messages as he should certainly have eaten the damn thing. The way Morgana disposed of him was quite shocking in its casualness. She's turned on her own kind now with that and the attack on Helva (???) and I really think is beyond any kind of redemption.

At least we did have an awesome magical woman in Finna and an elderly one as well. Good work show. I fell into the trap that I was supposed to in thinking that she was evil but that turned out very much not to be the case. The wisdom of the Catha only confirmed what Merlin already knew and the warning about Mordred confirmed what he already suspected but at least he knows that magical people are working with him as well as against him.

The idea of Kilgarrah aging and dying was a total shock and I'm going to miss the wily old dragon if we see him die. Possibly his words to Merlin to remember him are foreshadowing for what Merlin may have to do for Arthur :(

Speaking of wily old people Gaius was doing his best to protect Merlin this week, including wrongly setting the knights on Finna. I love the fact that his relationship with Merlin is strong enough to withstand this kind of mistake and when Gaius apologises they can both move on. Merlin has outgrown Gaius's guidance now and I think they both know it but he still needs Gaius for the emotional support that he gave at the end of the episode.

Arthur didn't have much to do this week but the white shirt was hot and the little by-play about the picnic and the breakfast in bed was adorable.

The knights were...knightly and I liked the fact that they stymied Merlin by not letting him wander in the woods by himself. The dire warnings about Mordred do affect my views on him as I simply can't see him as all benevolence when I know what he's going to do.

The knight with no face was horrible and J thought Finna stabbing herself was a bit strong for a "family" show.

There's quite a lot of new information in there somewhere about the old religion and some more geographical information about the realms round Camelot.

I thought Colin Morgan was excellent in this (not that he isn't usually) as I can almost feel Merlin being bowed down by fate. He suffers prettily too :)

A strong, tense episode setting up the end well. I just hope we get a little bit of light somewhere (and to think I was complaining about Merlin in a dress last week unbalancing things). Even the colour palette of the show is full of darkness now.

merlin season five, merlin

Previous post Next post
Up