Steady on - Merlin S3 Blanket Rewind

[mymuseandi]

So I finished season 3 of Merlin, and before I move on to season 4, I wanted to talk a bit about some things that have been tugging at me.

[I hope this cut works again... Spoilers obviously....and please let it work because I wanna see those shirtless photos]

• No one talks about Merlin Merlin and Arthur talk about practically everything, Merlin and Gwen talk about Arthur, Arthur and Gwen talk about Camelot's future, Merlin and Gaius talk about magic and saving everybody, Merlin and the Dragon talk about destiny and the Once and Future King, but NO ONE TALKS ABOUT MERLIN. It's ridiculous, actually. Someone on twitter pointed out that to them, Merlin is just a servant, and no one talks about servants, which is true, and sad. Yesterday however, watching the last 3 episodes in a row reminded me that to Camelot's eyes Gwen is a servant too, yet she is more talked about than poor Merlin.
• Morgana is turning into a 2-dimensional cackling villain She tries to get either Uther and/or Arthur killed almost every episode, but failed. Even the finale ended with her whisking Morgause off to god knows where, leaving the throne back to Arthur and Uther. She smirks at every, single, thing, it's a wonder only Gwen keeps seeing her smirking and realising something's wrong. And is she really so blinded that she couldn't see there must be someone else in the castle that has magic because he (aka Merlin, you foolish girl) keeps thwarting her plan at every turn, and do you think he'll be able to do so without some magic of his own?
• Arthur needs to wise up to the fact that his man-servant is not as useless as he thought He manages to get into The Perilous Lands with Gwaine's help, he manages to set himself up at the forefront with Arthur almost all the time, and even though he doesn't know how to fight, he manages to still stay relatively safe and unharmed. If he really is as useless as you thought he is, then he would have been killed by the end of the pilot.
• Why does it seem like only Gwaine bothered to let Merlin know he can always count on him? As in, during Arthur's quest - which is really Merlin's quest, but semantics - Gwaine tells Merlin that he's going in search for Arthur to lend his assistance only because Merlin is his friend, not because of Arthur, and the look on Merlin's face... I'm glad he said that, because Merlin doesn't hear it very often that he is being valued as a friend enough.
• Merlin is so isolated, alone and it hurts In the episode where he's trying to let Gilli know that he understood his feelings, he says a line: "It's lonely... to be more powerful than any man you know and have to live like a shadow..." and it's a very touching scene. It also underscores the challenges that Merlin must have gone through to keep his magic a secret, and consequently, keep himself at arm's length with almost everyone. I just feel for him in that scene.
• Arthur and Merlin can't be friends I'm not saying that just to be mean, but it's the truth. Arthur is still treating Merlin like a servant most of the time, and yet in the episode where he became the go-between for Arthur and Gwen they are all referring to each other as their friends. I mean, the affection is there, I can see it, and but I don't think Arthur sees Merlin as a friend, yet, but I'm pretty sure Merlin thinks otherwise. There's also a kind of unspoken line to which they can't cross, an awareness that for all the joking around and Merlin's refusal to treat Arthur properly as a servant should, Arthur IS royalty and can always order Merlin's execution should he accidentally reveal himself, and it shows in their relationship.
• The Fisher-King episode is one of the more satisfying episodes this season Mostly because there's a twist that the quest is supposed to be Merlin's, not Arthur's. And that someone gives something that would actually help (in the last episode) to defeat Morgana, not just pretty or wise words, but something tangible. Also, there's a little development with Gwaine and Merlin's friendship in the episode, and it's different from Merlin and Arthur's. There is no undercurrent

The main story arc in this season is Morgana's betrayal to the Pendragrons. Acting-wise, I think all of them improved. However, I think Katie McGrath's interpretation of Morgana this season is uneven, and it makes her look really unstable. I think this might be that Katie ends up portraying Morgana's dual 'face' and personalities like two different people altogether, with no link to each other. She would look so sympathetic towards the Pendragons one moment, and then the evil smirk would come in and cue evil face. I know she's supposed to convey her evilness in such a manner, but I guess I prefer subtlety more than being hit on the head by cartoon villainy.



Aaaand I have to stop here to admire Jared's physique in those shirtless photos by the beach. Damn, those pictures are the mother lode :)