supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical aquatic ceremony
I didn't think I had anything much to say about Merlin any more, but I have just sleepily caught up on the last few episodes, and omg, it turns out I DO. So, consider yourselves warned. *g*
People, this is the MOST EPIC Merlin has ever been and omg so much fun!
It's still ridiculous, but these last two eps especially were basically payoff for all the ridiculousness: they were for the people who've kept with it, they were the producers going okay then, here it is. You've watched several years worth, and now you get the round table and Lancelot made a knight and Gwen and Arthur getting together and Merlin getting some of the kudos for doing stuff. And I don't care if I'm a sucker, it was WAY FUN and I loved it. :D
I think particularly as it was still dorky. Merlin and the aging potion was both a shoutout to the stories where Merlin's old and completely ridiculous. Excalibur MAKES PEOPLE EXPLODE hahahahah. I weirdly loved that, it made me laugh. I mean: the Arthurian myths, obviously what they need is more explosions! Hee. But Arthur never wielded Excalibur, and Merlin's idea of a subtle hiding place has progressed from 'random nearby lake' to 'stick it in a nearby rock'. Of course it has. Hee. I get that they had used the Lady of the Lake imagery already- and I was surprisingly happy to see Freya in it again! - but I wasn't really expecting them to skip straight to Sword in the Stone right away. I suppose I should have. Heh.
Arthur's LITTLE FACE. Bradley James' facial expressions are gold, I tell you. Him and Merlin were epically adorable in their little shoving-y way - especially after Merlin had already said he didn't get arm-punching and Arthur said the knights found it supportive, lolol. And his reaction to Merlin's “if you tell me where we're going you're going to have to kill me, aren't you” was PERFECT. I just laughed and laughed. I really think they've improved as actors over the show's run; Bradley was genuinely both hilarious and kind of moving by turns, and I was actually impressed!
I loved that Gwen's brother got to be a knight too, but it did seem a bit random. I mean, Sir Elian, the fuck? I don't know whether they decided to knight him after he'd already been given a non-canonical name, but I still wish they could have had him be, like, Sir Bedevere or something instead, instead of KILLING OFF all the other named knights. But Sir Percival was ace, and LANCELOT CAME BACK AND WAS ACE and I approve muchly. Gawain whistling was also most lolarious.
I liked that even though Morgana went all properly eeeeeevil and had a zombie army and was going to execute everyone, they did have a reminder there that Uther killed people first. She's gone way into evil territory, but she's not crazy, she has perfectly good reasons for why she'd hate him so much.
I am trying to figure out what I reckon to Arthur/Gwen. It was inevitable, given the nature of the show, and I think I like it. I loved Gwen in her riding stuff with the knights at her back (GWEN HI OMG YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL and also eeeee someone knew how to set that up to look cool) and I love that it gave her more screentime; it helped make up from Morgana going properly eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil, and it wasn't all about True Lurve either. Gwen made a plan to save the knights by herself, and it worked, even if she did get found out. Gwen rocked! And she and Arthur have acquired somehow a weirdly sweet sort of chemistry, which sort of works despite not being particularly believable. It goes with the mythic setting, and given that we were always going to have a Queen Guinevere, I'm very happy with the one we're getting.
On the downside: if Arthur hasn't figured out yet that Merlin's magic, he is seriously the dumbest prince alive. He has to have SUSPICIONS, right? But I guess if he doesn't, the way he's more and more explicitly having Merlin as his closest counsellor and advisor because Merlin's got useful stuff to say also makes me happy. Aww.
...and I really, REALLY want them to do the big magic reveal to Arthur now. Pretty please next season? Even though Uther being all broken probably means my imagined season of hijinks as boys try to keep the secret from Uther will never happen. Sigh.
This entry was originally posted at http://soupytwist.dreamwidth.org/46953.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
People, this is the MOST EPIC Merlin has ever been and omg so much fun!
It's still ridiculous, but these last two eps especially were basically payoff for all the ridiculousness: they were for the people who've kept with it, they were the producers going okay then, here it is. You've watched several years worth, and now you get the round table and Lancelot made a knight and Gwen and Arthur getting together and Merlin getting some of the kudos for doing stuff. And I don't care if I'm a sucker, it was WAY FUN and I loved it. :D
I think particularly as it was still dorky. Merlin and the aging potion was both a shoutout to the stories where Merlin's old and completely ridiculous. Excalibur MAKES PEOPLE EXPLODE hahahahah. I weirdly loved that, it made me laugh. I mean: the Arthurian myths, obviously what they need is more explosions! Hee. But Arthur never wielded Excalibur, and Merlin's idea of a subtle hiding place has progressed from 'random nearby lake' to 'stick it in a nearby rock'. Of course it has. Hee. I get that they had used the Lady of the Lake imagery already- and I was surprisingly happy to see Freya in it again! - but I wasn't really expecting them to skip straight to Sword in the Stone right away. I suppose I should have. Heh.
Arthur's LITTLE FACE. Bradley James' facial expressions are gold, I tell you. Him and Merlin were epically adorable in their little shoving-y way - especially after Merlin had already said he didn't get arm-punching and Arthur said the knights found it supportive, lolol. And his reaction to Merlin's “if you tell me where we're going you're going to have to kill me, aren't you” was PERFECT. I just laughed and laughed. I really think they've improved as actors over the show's run; Bradley was genuinely both hilarious and kind of moving by turns, and I was actually impressed!
I loved that Gwen's brother got to be a knight too, but it did seem a bit random. I mean, Sir Elian, the fuck? I don't know whether they decided to knight him after he'd already been given a non-canonical name, but I still wish they could have had him be, like, Sir Bedevere or something instead, instead of KILLING OFF all the other named knights. But Sir Percival was ace, and LANCELOT CAME BACK AND WAS ACE and I approve muchly. Gawain whistling was also most lolarious.
I liked that even though Morgana went all properly eeeeeevil and had a zombie army and was going to execute everyone, they did have a reminder there that Uther killed people first. She's gone way into evil territory, but she's not crazy, she has perfectly good reasons for why she'd hate him so much.
I am trying to figure out what I reckon to Arthur/Gwen. It was inevitable, given the nature of the show, and I think I like it. I loved Gwen in her riding stuff with the knights at her back (GWEN HI OMG YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL and also eeeee someone knew how to set that up to look cool) and I love that it gave her more screentime; it helped make up from Morgana going properly eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil, and it wasn't all about True Lurve either. Gwen made a plan to save the knights by herself, and it worked, even if she did get found out. Gwen rocked! And she and Arthur have acquired somehow a weirdly sweet sort of chemistry, which sort of works despite not being particularly believable. It goes with the mythic setting, and given that we were always going to have a Queen Guinevere, I'm very happy with the one we're getting.
On the downside: if Arthur hasn't figured out yet that Merlin's magic, he is seriously the dumbest prince alive. He has to have SUSPICIONS, right? But I guess if he doesn't, the way he's more and more explicitly having Merlin as his closest counsellor and advisor because Merlin's got useful stuff to say also makes me happy. Aww.
...and I really, REALLY want them to do the big magic reveal to Arthur now. Pretty please next season? Even though Uther being all broken probably means my imagined season of hijinks as boys try to keep the secret from Uther will never happen. Sigh.
This entry was originally posted at http://soupytwist.dreamwidth.org/46953.html. Please comment there using OpenID.