Merlin
This week's Merlin: Is it just me wanting to take Mordred home with me? Such lovely eyes! But then he gave a very creepy look at Merlin near the end - convincingly disturbing.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm happy with Merlin being the season's Dr Who / Robin Hood substitute. Generally, I think the acting and writing is weaker than in both of those, and it's seriously weak on eye candy for me (well, apart from Morgana and Giles Uther, seeing as he wears gloves). But I can stand it, and I'm interested.
I like the comlexity they're introducing to Morgana's character, and I hope they keep it up. Even Arthur acted fairly honourably this week. Wikipedia Dragon in the basement is a very plot devicey useful character. Uther demonstrated even more lack of humanity (if you can have more of a lack of something), but I liked the bit where he grabbed Morgana around the neck so much that I didn't care :) Seriously though, it's nice to have Anthony Head and Richard Wilson in there giving very convincing perfomrances even when everything else seems a little implausible.
Most of all, I loved the idea of Merlin and Arthur's fate being affected by a little boy, whom they couldn't possibly allow to die *because* he's a little boy. That's a nice dilemma, very classic fairytale. I'd like to think, because he has such lovely eyes, that Mordred will be redeemed one day. And then I realise that I don't actually know what happens to him in the traditional version of the Arthur myth because my experience of it has been diluted for so long by so many adaptations.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm happy with Merlin being the season's Dr Who / Robin Hood substitute. Generally, I think the acting and writing is weaker than in both of those, and it's seriously weak on eye candy for me (well, apart from Morgana and Giles Uther, seeing as he wears gloves). But I can stand it, and I'm interested.
I like the comlexity they're introducing to Morgana's character, and I hope they keep it up. Even Arthur acted fairly honourably this week. Wikipedia Dragon in the basement is a very plot devicey useful character. Uther demonstrated even more lack of humanity (if you can have more of a lack of something), but I liked the bit where he grabbed Morgana around the neck so much that I didn't care :) Seriously though, it's nice to have Anthony Head and Richard Wilson in there giving very convincing perfomrances even when everything else seems a little implausible.
Most of all, I loved the idea of Merlin and Arthur's fate being affected by a little boy, whom they couldn't possibly allow to die *because* he's a little boy. That's a nice dilemma, very classic fairytale. I'd like to think, because he has such lovely eyes, that Mordred will be redeemed one day. And then I realise that I don't actually know what happens to him in the traditional version of the Arthur myth because my experience of it has been diluted for so long by so many adaptations.