Meta/Review: The Darkest Hour, Part One
CHANGE CAN BE A GOOD THING...
I was too distracted to notice it on the first viewing, but John Hurt's opening tagline called Merlin a young man! That made me very happy, as did the new opening credits, which they finally delivered after promising to update them for series three. I didn't think the 35mm film that the writers and producers and cast kept raving about would turn out to make much of a difference, but now I think I might agree with them; the film quality looked really good.
...BUT NOT ALWAYS
The new musical score, on the other hand, left something to be desired. Granted, it needed an update. I had come to recognize the cutesy theme, the chivalry theme, the dark magic theme, etc, but it was such a drastic change from the past three years that it didn't sound like Merlin anymore, and oftentimes it didn't seem to fit the mood and progression of the scene. Worse, several of the scene transitions were jarring. We watched Morgana and Morgause cross the Seas of Meredor three times, interrupting the Camelot sequence of events every time. That being said, the juxtaposition of Morgana and Merlin's reactions to the tearing of the veil worked well.
Sometimes this episode felt almost like a clunky pilot or remake. Until the final few scenes, every interaction centered around revealing who the new characters are and where the old characters now stand in comparison to series three. It's been a year and Uther is a shell of a man. Morgana is now a hermit and is more powerful than before. Agravaine is a baddie and Arthur's uncle, whom Arthur trusts more than he should. Gwen has been nursing Uther and is more heavyhearted than before. Arthur is Regent now and seeks more council for one issue than Uther did during his entire reign. Gwaine and Percival are the mischievous knights. Merlin and Lancelot are closer than ever as they revel in sharing Merlin's secret magical talent. And Merlin and Arthur's good-natured banter is less boyish as Arthur's maturity and respect for Merlin have grown. Thankfully, this re-introduction blunder shouldn't be a problem for part two, since we'll already know all these things.
PEEKING THROUGH THE SCENERY
It was strange seeing most of the knights relegated to background figures. For Gwaine, in particular, who has had more screen time than any of the other new knights. After the events of 204 "Lancelot and Guinevere," I thought that Lancelot would be doomed to remain second to Gwaine among the Round Table knights, but his friendship with Merlin is more precious to me than ever. I was ticked at him for leaving Gwen in the dust, but triangle shmiangle, he won me over in the series three finale.
EVIL IS AS EVIL DOES
I was shocked to see that Katie McGrath has discovered subtlety. Morgana was a much more believable villain, and the one smirk that she let slip was soft and felt natural in the context of the scene. Agravaine's introduction made me cringe - especially since I held my breath for Arthur to drop the word "Uncle." Sure enough, he dropped it like an anvil. But Agravaine is quickly becoming my favourite Merlin villain of the entire series. He is an excellent spy. If I didn't know any better, I would honestly have believed that he was looking out for the welfare of Camelot and Arthur, even refusing to take the Pendragon seal, which I'm sure he was only too happy to receive. Arthur sacrifices himself, Uther is assassinated, and he has the blessing of the late Regent to ascend to the throne. Now, that's a clever villain.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
On my first viewing, I thought that the Dorocha were typical monsters of the week with irritating shrieking noises almost as bad as the griffin in series one. None of the make-you-jump moments made me jump. Then, late at night, as I was transcribing the episode alone in my room, the Dorocha totally freaked me out. Not sure why that happened, but it did. Props to the sound and CGI guys who created them.
I felt bad for Lancelot when Gwen only talked to him to ask him to look after her boyfriend. It made sense that she would ask him rather than the other knights, since he's pretty much the most reliable and chivalrous, and I was super pleased that she seemed totally focused on her feelings for Arthur, but I empathized with Lancelot all the same.
I was confused at first why Arthur would roll his eyes when Merlin fainted in the middle of the celebration. Then I realized they're at a feast; he probably thought Merlin was drunk. Particularly since Merlin has been known to be a light weight. "One whiff of a barmaid's apron, and you're singing like a sailor."
Hats off to Emilia Fox and Anthony Head. They played the weakened look to perfection. Morgause was determined and still very affectionate towards her sister, and Uther looked every bit the frail and broken man. The contrast between the moment when Arthur kissed his forehead and Uther begged him not to leave and the time last year when Uther struck Gwen and sentenced her to death is astounding.
Here I thought Lancelot would never be Arthur's First Knight because of the whole love triangle thing. All of the Arthur/Lancelot interactions have been slightly awkward since Arthur found out Lancelot and Gwen like each other, and I thought Arthur would never be able to get past it. Then Arthur and Merlin got trapped without a torch in the Dorocha-infested fortress and Lancelot took charge. I never really thought of him as a leader, but his willingness to be the first to charge headlong into danger might just be the making of him. We'll just have to see how it all pans out.
I was too distracted to notice it on the first viewing, but John Hurt's opening tagline called Merlin a young man! That made me very happy, as did the new opening credits, which they finally delivered after promising to update them for series three. I didn't think the 35mm film that the writers and producers and cast kept raving about would turn out to make much of a difference, but now I think I might agree with them; the film quality looked really good.
...BUT NOT ALWAYS
The new musical score, on the other hand, left something to be desired. Granted, it needed an update. I had come to recognize the cutesy theme, the chivalry theme, the dark magic theme, etc, but it was such a drastic change from the past three years that it didn't sound like Merlin anymore, and oftentimes it didn't seem to fit the mood and progression of the scene. Worse, several of the scene transitions were jarring. We watched Morgana and Morgause cross the Seas of Meredor three times, interrupting the Camelot sequence of events every time. That being said, the juxtaposition of Morgana and Merlin's reactions to the tearing of the veil worked well.
Sometimes this episode felt almost like a clunky pilot or remake. Until the final few scenes, every interaction centered around revealing who the new characters are and where the old characters now stand in comparison to series three. It's been a year and Uther is a shell of a man. Morgana is now a hermit and is more powerful than before. Agravaine is a baddie and Arthur's uncle, whom Arthur trusts more than he should. Gwen has been nursing Uther and is more heavyhearted than before. Arthur is Regent now and seeks more council for one issue than Uther did during his entire reign. Gwaine and Percival are the mischievous knights. Merlin and Lancelot are closer than ever as they revel in sharing Merlin's secret magical talent. And Merlin and Arthur's good-natured banter is less boyish as Arthur's maturity and respect for Merlin have grown. Thankfully, this re-introduction blunder shouldn't be a problem for part two, since we'll already know all these things.
PEEKING THROUGH THE SCENERY
It was strange seeing most of the knights relegated to background figures. For Gwaine, in particular, who has had more screen time than any of the other new knights. After the events of 204 "Lancelot and Guinevere," I thought that Lancelot would be doomed to remain second to Gwaine among the Round Table knights, but his friendship with Merlin is more precious to me than ever. I was ticked at him for leaving Gwen in the dust, but triangle shmiangle, he won me over in the series three finale.
EVIL IS AS EVIL DOES
I was shocked to see that Katie McGrath has discovered subtlety. Morgana was a much more believable villain, and the one smirk that she let slip was soft and felt natural in the context of the scene. Agravaine's introduction made me cringe - especially since I held my breath for Arthur to drop the word "Uncle." Sure enough, he dropped it like an anvil. But Agravaine is quickly becoming my favourite Merlin villain of the entire series. He is an excellent spy. If I didn't know any better, I would honestly have believed that he was looking out for the welfare of Camelot and Arthur, even refusing to take the Pendragon seal, which I'm sure he was only too happy to receive. Arthur sacrifices himself, Uther is assassinated, and he has the blessing of the late Regent to ascend to the throne. Now, that's a clever villain.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
On my first viewing, I thought that the Dorocha were typical monsters of the week with irritating shrieking noises almost as bad as the griffin in series one. None of the make-you-jump moments made me jump. Then, late at night, as I was transcribing the episode alone in my room, the Dorocha totally freaked me out. Not sure why that happened, but it did. Props to the sound and CGI guys who created them.
I felt bad for Lancelot when Gwen only talked to him to ask him to look after her boyfriend. It made sense that she would ask him rather than the other knights, since he's pretty much the most reliable and chivalrous, and I was super pleased that she seemed totally focused on her feelings for Arthur, but I empathized with Lancelot all the same.
I was confused at first why Arthur would roll his eyes when Merlin fainted in the middle of the celebration. Then I realized they're at a feast; he probably thought Merlin was drunk. Particularly since Merlin has been known to be a light weight. "One whiff of a barmaid's apron, and you're singing like a sailor."
Hats off to Emilia Fox and Anthony Head. They played the weakened look to perfection. Morgause was determined and still very affectionate towards her sister, and Uther looked every bit the frail and broken man. The contrast between the moment when Arthur kissed his forehead and Uther begged him not to leave and the time last year when Uther struck Gwen and sentenced her to death is astounding.
Here I thought Lancelot would never be Arthur's First Knight because of the whole love triangle thing. All of the Arthur/Lancelot interactions have been slightly awkward since Arthur found out Lancelot and Gwen like each other, and I thought Arthur would never be able to get past it. Then Arthur and Merlin got trapped without a torch in the Dorocha-infested fortress and Lancelot took charge. I never really thought of him as a leader, but his willingness to be the first to charge headlong into danger might just be the making of him. We'll just have to see how it all pans out.