Merlin Premiere
Poor Gaius. Surrounded by idiots. Seriously, what was up with most of the male characters? It was as if they swallowed stupidity pills before the episode.
Uther: Okay, to be fair, he's usually an idiot. This time, though, his greed and arrogance made him handwave Gauis's warning, which cost life after life. And after all of that, the dolt still hadn't learned anything.
Arthur: He needs a good smack. All of the character development we saw last season, all of the strengthening of his relationship with Merlin... it's as if it didn't happen at all. To me, his behavior seemed more in tune with early Season 1 Arthur. Granted, he did run out to risk his life for his people, but... I don't know. His characterization seems uneven.
Merlin: On one hand, I'm glad to see his frustration about Arthur's treatment of him come out. But... I don't know. I think my feelings toward Merlin in this episode are the same as my feelings toward Arthur... the characterization seemed a bit more in keeping with early Season 1. Considering all the growth Merlin went through during the Season 1 finale, you'd think he'd have developed a bit more confidence and control over himself.
Still, I did like the episode. The flying stone gargoyles were cool, and I liked the Arthur/Gwen bit. I'm interested to see where they're going with Morgana. I half-expected her to interact with Cornelius during the episode, but she really didn't do much after having the dream...
But yay for Lancelot in previews!