Merlin: Episode 4.13 The Sword in the Stone Part 2

Dec 26, 2011 13:12


Oh. Dear. Again.

It’s another rant I’m afraid. In fact its probably best to bring a foldaway chair and a packed lunch.

I'm really kind of gobsmacked by that episode.  Really, there aren't enough haddock in the North Sea to do justice to my feelings about it. I suppose in a way it was perfectly representative of S4: brief, tormenting flashes of brilliance that pointed to this show's huge potential, glinting there amidst the confused, illogical, bizarre mess of the rest of it, which demonstrated the producers determination to hold to the track they're following, come what may.


Oh well. The good things first because I’m depressing myself. :(
  • There were lots of Merthur scenes. What went on in them is another matter, but there were lots of them, which is always good. Colin and Bradley together are the best thing about the show without the smallest scintilla of doubt. Without their screen chemistry hacking through the lines they were given, this episode would have clunked to a halt.
  • There wasn’t much Dragoon and what there was kind of worked because it was brief and sort of effective, if infuriating, because it was The Man in Tights again; just another function of hiding Merlins magic from the slightest possibility of a reveal. Still, he did a fine line in casual carnage - no agonizing, just a grumpy OAP wave of the hand which was presumably what young Merlin would like to do. Style.
  • Despite my pessimism, young Merlin was allowed to show Arthur, Excalibur, even if he, of course, got zero credit for its existence or indeed much else. (That sentence was pretty redundant actually. Merlin gets no credit. Arthur and Gwen kiss with sunbeams. The sun rises in the east.)
  • Merlin was at last allowed to do some reasonably effective magic this season, even if it was hidden (yes, I’m being redundant again…)
  • Kilgarrah got a few lines and did some toasting.
  • They didn’t kill Gaius, just made him pointlessly ill.
  • Arthur was finally allowed to talk to Morgana even if he wasn’t  allowed to say what he would naturally and obviously say if the writing was better and less obviously tailored to reach a plot end rather than tailored to the characters. They were only permitted seconds in case they blew the whole show-obsession with WilEMorgana who has no real believable motivation for hating Arthur. The sheer, screaming frustration of that wasted scene… But at least the producers finally let them share the same screen after - how many episodes?
  • Um

So the good bits done - what a bloody waste! What a waste of a finale; of fabulous actors capable of conveying so much emotion but so rarely allowed to; what a waste of an entire season, which essentially led us, the audience, up to the top if the hill and then herded us back down again as if the season had never been. What actually was the point? Of the whole season? In any respect that’s important, nothing has changed since 4.03. Arthur and Gwen got married. Was that it?

There was of course, no magic reveal. Not even the beginning of the possibility of a chance of a magic reveal. In fact this episode seemed so utterly, smugly comfortable in the status quo that I really am beginning to believe those stunningly complacent quotes from the producers that they don’t think a reveal is ever necessary because the show is just so damned perfect as it is. And when I believe THEY believe that, I’m really ready to slink away.

Imagine more and more of this for another season; maybe another beyond that... a movie. Endless requirement that Arthur be stunningly unintelligent, ungrateful and mysteriously unable to treat Merlin as anything more than a servant whatever he does; that Merlin be endlessly sneaky, dishonest, manipulative and self sacrificing without reward.

The final scene we were told was a fabulous twist, was actually jaw droppingly, WTF, disappointing. Of all the choices they had, was that really what they thought was the most exciting or creative direction to take - the most important thing they could do?

I admit it - I was holding out stupidly and naively for even crumb of hope that a reveal might be on the cards next season. Even if they let us down next year, at least it would be something to keep us going.

But instead they show what’s really important to them (apart from Twu Lurve of course), which is that they continue Morgana’s neverending role as the Dick Dastardly of the show.  Now having see off two ‘major’ sidekicks, Morgause and Agravaine, we’re to expect she may be given a dragon as the next one. One of the tiny handful of hopeful things we got in s4 - Aithusa - is now helping Morgana? What happened to dragons - even wyverns - being compelled to obey dragonlords? Or is she one too now - not needing that silly little rule that powers are passed on from father to son on the fathers death? Aithusa as Muttley?

The amazing thing is they’re apparently very proud of their ‘twist’ because - yay - they managed a finale that essentially reset the whole season and keeps things going pretty much as they are at core.  Are we really going to go through yet another season mimicking this one with Morgana’s plot of the week with sneaky assistant? Merlin still the mocked servant with no respect? Endless backlit windows and violins? S5 finale - lets see -Morgana takes Camelot with the aid of Aithusa, Arthur in exile, Merlin secretly helps him win it back, Morgana is injured and rescued by…it must be Mordred’s turn if the actors available?  Argh! Im scaring myself now. :(

There are two female characters of note in this show and one has been rendered 100% Evil and the other has been made 100% Perfect.  It doesn’t seem to be a deliberate policy because the producers are obsessed with pushing both with relentless fervour, but is obsessing on these two- dimensional female characters really any service to women on the show? Why couldn’t they manage a female character with recognizable human features - with failings and complexity? If they can maintain it for Arthur (when he’s not with Gwen) and Merlin, why have they reduced the females to this???

On the positive side again - by all means lets wrench this back to the positive side - they barely used Dragoon for a change in a crisis. Yes they copped out hugely in every other way but at least they backed away from that Man in Tights thing a little bit this week, even if that was clearly a marker that they intend to continue with it. Still for this ep the lack of Dragoon was much better than I’d expected - so brownie points for that to Julian Jones, who’s otherwise, in my book, Haddock Boy.

They allowed Arthur to show some emotion for Merlin. It wasn't much -just a few second in the whole episode, but at least they echoed the fabulous start of S4 for that long and we should be grateful for that I suppose.  At the beginning, when Merlin went back to deal with Agravaine, Bradley conveyed gorgeously and silently how much Arthur cared. And yes I admit it - my hopes soared. It was like...the start of the season again!

Then Arthur chose to go back for him. And that’s when it slid back over the edge. "For a servant?" says Red Ed Tristan and Gwen doesn't say "Merlin's not just a servant" she says "You don't know him (Arthur)," and it becomes clear that the point of the scene was to show Tristan/us that Arthur Is A Different, Egalitarian Kind Of King. He even cares enough for mere servants to try to save them; the implication being he'd have gone back for any one of his minions. Thanks for that.

Then came the ‘You’re my only friend and I couldn’t bear to lose you” (which made me hold my breath) followed by the inevitable, “Don’t be stupid”. Seriously, Julian were you talking to us? Actually yes, I pretty much feel that you were.

So from that point, having been thrown those meagre crumbs, we were squarely back in the producers comfort zone -  'The Joke'  - in which every word Arthur utters to Merlin is intended to deny that he cares. Yes I realise we're somehow meant to know he actually does a little bit but - weren't we past this for a while? Anyone remember back in the mists of time at the beginning of the season - when Arthur and Merlin were allowed to talk like normal human beings for a few whole episodes and show they cared for each other, with the odd affectionate insult thrown in to remind us how they interact?

But- we were deep in S3 territory again here and all Merthur interaction was compulsively riddled with the same old 'jokey' insults so ... stupid that I have no idea how Bradley and Colin can continue to play these scenes with any hope of realism. I mean - after Merlin has, in Arthur’s eyes at least, 'shaken off' Agravaine all on his own (I assume he doesn't know Aggy's dead), taken Arthur to Excalibur, somehow gathered the population of Camelot in a glade (no explanation required from Arthur) and talked him through pulling the sword out of the stone, thus restoring his faith in himself - Arthur is still required to act as if he thinks Merlin's a bit of a fool who should be listened to with caution. I mean - what? Why wasn't Arthur even a bit awed by all Merlin did? Was that meant to be remotely realistic behaviour?

This was one of those rare blessed episodes in which young Merlin was allowed out of his usual box and permitted to do something heroic or wise in front of Arthur and for that I was grateful - the latter part of this season has been entirely Ineffectual! Verging On Useless! Merlin. The way they change the scope of his powers week to week still pisses me off completely, but at least - as usual in a finale - this time they were going in the right direction. Normally though after Merlin does something clever they wait till the next ep to reset to 'Merlin is an idiot'.  In this one it took a couple of minutes. Arthur just took every unbelievably strange thing Merlin had done, for granted, without a blink, far less a show of even rudimentary gratitude. Yes, of course Merlin would find a legendary sword, track down everyone in exile and bring them to Arthur overnight. It’s just what any half decent manservant would do. That lack of awareness or gratitude went on until the end as well. Merlin basically ran the whole show for Arthur and Arthur didn't notice who was keeping him going…. Exactly how thick are we supposed to think he is??? They’re so desperate to maintain Merlin as completely unappreciated that they don’t even try for realism now.

Dont get me wrong - I really did like that most of the episode was Merlin/Arthur (because of course Arthur couldn't confide in Gwen (yada yada) but what’s written in those scenes matters too. They never felt quite right to me because of the way the scenes were intended to stress always The Joke at the expense of obvious human reactions; intended always to make sure we know Arthur, even in extremis, sees Merlin as undeserving of the courtesy or appreciation we mysteriously saw in 4.01-4.07.

Worst of all, there was no scene between Arthur and Merlin to tie things up at the end, even though the whole ep had centred on their interaction; nothing at all to acknowledge all they’d been through and how much Arthur owed Merlin, nothing to resolve the season for their characters as a pair. That scene went of course to Terry and June.

Poor old Citizen Tristan and Always Amused Isolde turned out to be no more than the thinnest of plot devices - Characters To Teach Us -  to YELL AT US that Arthur is Different (in case we didn't realise) and most importantly to show Arthur and us that NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TWU LURVE. They may as well have been called Steve and Carol really and they were totally unnecessary.

Wasn’t the princess in 4.11 yet another Character To Teach Us exactly the same thing? They wasted a whole tedious episode on it. But then they never stop trying to bloody teach us though some of us stubbornly won't learn - that A/G is a fairytale lurve, how useless Arthur is without Gwen, how his kingdom and people don’t matter, how he’d give chunks of it away rather than marry anyone else etc etc.

He’d already sold the pass (as well as Gedrof) in 4.11. What then was the point of wasting any more precious time in the finale banging on about it again, what was the point posturing as if there was actually any of the 4.09 pretendy-conflict left? Because the producers cant resist flogging their obsession? Just to prove how much of a plot device he was, once Tristan’d handily lost his GF to allow Arthur and Gwen to make a noble, if doomed, try for chemistry over her corpse, poor old Tristan was hustled swiftly offscreen.

Excalibur. The scene they shot of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone was cinematically lovely but perhaps that iconic moment was kind of compromised by the fact we knew it was faked.  I suppose making the pulling the sword from the stone moment yet another benign lie from Merlin was clever enough (if you ignored questions like - why did everyone watching think that was such a big moment when Merlin had made up the legend?) but I wonder if the producers cared enough to think through what they were saying in that scene - that Arthur doesn’t seem to be so much the Once And Future King on merit, as he is the creation of Merlin's manipulations and belief that he’s special.

What bothered me more though was the usual casual lobbing over the side of continuity and the building of character image for short-term plot convenience. Excalibur was supposedly forged in the dragon’s breath and is so powerful no one but Arthur should wield it. Merlin had to swear to that as I remember. With that in mind, we were built up to the moment Arthur would get it, through a couple of seasons. And yet in this episode once it served its purpose as the producer’s Bow To Iconic Bit Of Legend Finale Moment, it became just another sword - in fact in his first big fight Arthur -the greatest warrior in Camelot - was soundly thrashed by Cardboard Baddie just so Cannon- Fodder Isolde could get killed - all to give Arthur yet another epiphany over Gwen.

So what if Excalibur's power is debased and the whole build up to the moment of Arthur first wielding it seriously, is trashed? It’s all in the service of Disney romance and nothing is more important than that. Not Excalibur, not Arthur’s core trait as king of devotion to Camelot and certainly not Lancelot.

As for Isolde - did anyone else wonder if we were expected to forget that Merlin healed Gwen's arrow in the arse injury in seconds, a couple of weeks ago? But by now I suppose we've been conditioned not to even blink when they show him choosing to hide, rather than trying to save lives.  Oh Merlin. What are they doing to you?

I actually thought the producer’s schizophrenic attitude to the whole issue of Merlin’s powers was shown very clearly in this episode. He was allowed to use them to save himself with Agravaine because it was the finale and he always gets let out of his magic cage a little bit in the finale - and Aggy was expendable. Yet in the ep in which Gauis got snatched, instead of immediately taking her on and trying to finish her off, Merlin was cowering in front of Morgana & he did noting to resist her when she shoved the snake in his neck. In 4.13 he turns to fight without a qualm. Of course Morgana isn't expendable to the producers. There is no logic or continuity or coherence - just plot convenience. Aggy was the sacrifice - the chunk of meat the producers hurled to those of us begging for BAMF Merlin. Remember Nimueh? This was the S4 equivalent. Not much comparison really.  BUT at least we saw Young Merlin being powerful again for those few seconds and I'd forgotten what that looks like - its been so so long. Which says it all really. :(

It bewildered me too why they chose Agravaine as the traditional finale BAMF Merlin sacrifice rather then Cardboard Baddie? No confrontation for Aggie with Arthur. No explanation for an entire season of frankly inexplicable behaviour. Fair enough the scene with Merlin was really great - Colin was amazing and Nathaniel Parker is just so good and frankly I’m desperate enough to take anything at this point - but why choose Aggy when he was an actual character with a point and the story was crying out for a meeting with Arthur to clarify WHY to him and us? That was just lousy storytelling.

And that lack of resolution extended through to the end.

Leaving aside Tristan and Aggy - what happened for example to Gaius? He had a deathbed scene with the classic 'Im a doctor - I know Im dying' line which is usually as good as a filmed funeral and yet - with no explanation he was right as rain. Guess he's not a very good physician. Stupid as the whole thing was I was relieved though. They really cant afford to lose him as a character and I’m tired of watching Merlin’s pain.

Then we come to the main point of the series it seems - Arthur and Guinevere.  Last week I was complaining that the Pretendy Conflict SL was solved in one scene. I should have been grateful. Instead they forced us through more chemistry free scenes and the overheated death of Isolde The Specially Created Human Sacrifice, to drag the non drama out to its inevitable, staggeringly dull end. They're sodding relentless in their determination that You WILL See This Romance As Epic. Even if my granny has a more compelling relationship. :(

Interestingly they never resolved the infantile ‘Cheating That Wasn't’ plot; instead they went with the 'I don't care that I believe I can't trust you, and it'd be bad for the kingdom to have a Queen I can't trust (as Arthur pointed out in 4.09) I’m going to marry you anyway because who gives a stuff about the kingdom next to you and I saw someone else losing his girlfriend and that proved Twu Lurve Conquers All.'

To be honest by this episode I've been so worn down I went in to it just wanted A/G married. I was grateful that they kept the Telling Not Showing down to a dull roar this week - just the whole Tristan and Isolde storyline. The way they tied it up at the end was so businesslike though it was almost funny. Gwen was back to where she started, wearing the Designer Servant garb only she gets to wear (I thought she took her stuff with her when she left?) and it was as if the wasted second half of the season had never been.

As for working through the issues the producers trashed the G/L/A legend for - a swift gallop through "I betrayed you. I deserve punishment not forgiveness." “Will you marry me?” “Yes".

In depth drama and characterisation at its finest.

I found myself wondering if they are actually heavy-handedly taking the piss when BOTH scenes in which A and G kissed were backlit with sunbeams and soaring violins were playing. Are they actually unaware of how ludicrous it is or are they having a little joke? Arthur and Gwen don't kiss like ordinary people because Their Love Is Not Of This World. Their Love Is Of The Cartoon World.

Maybe now at last - at long gasping last - they will stop whacking us in the face with Arwen? Now they've ruined one and a half whole seasons out of four with it, maybe their obsession will wane? Since they've got to they point they've been salivating to reach? This has been their aim after all - the pinnacle of the 4 seasons - not a magic reveal but the crowning of Queen Guinevere.

It’s actually ironic that they seem to worship and revere that character almost beyond all others and yet they've destroyed everything that made her interesting. One point I did like was that she lost to Morgana in her sword fight. I admit I expected some epic 5 minute long battle of ninja skills and heaving breasts to demonstrate that she is a Great Warrior as well as a superhuman cross between Helen of Troy and Matahma Gandhi. I suppose we can give props to them for resisting that at least, but I bet it was hard for them to turn away.

The wedding was at least swift - and they finally remembered the concept of continuity when they sort of replayed Morgana’s dream just with a smarter outfit for Merlin (all they could think of was his old one made in better fabric?) and a grander frock and crown for Gwen. Hers is far nicer than the Burger King Crown and they clearly made more effort with it than Arthur's. Why doesn't that surprise me?

What I’ll remember about his ep I think is Arthurs complete absence of gratitude to Merlin who was working miracles in front of him, all but moving his arms and legs for him and was certainly working his brain for him. And just to emphasize how completely Arthur isn’t allowed to change his attitude whatever happens in any episode: his remark to Gwen when she’s clearing up - “Merlin’ll do it.”  I suppose that was meant to be yet another Joke but - do we believe he’ll be anything other than a servant Arthur kicks at will when S5 begins? Or will he be even more emotionally sidelined given Arthurs now married?

At the end of S4 then what has advanced?

Arthur’s character? Nope. Not in any way. He was more emotionally developed in the first 7 episodes, but he’s ended up the season reset to S3.

Merlin’s character? No. He was confident in his advice to Arthur at the start of the season and at the end; still determined to put hiding before anything and anyone else.

Morgana’s character? Lets not go there.

Gwen’s character?  That’s as sterile as ever. Interestingly she has never been written to show the slightest doubt about her ability to be queen. You’d think as a peasant and servant and ever so ‘umble, she’d be scared at the prospect of not being up to the job but she’s apparently more sanguine about it than Arthur is at being king after a lifetime of training. Perhaps that’s a reflection of Perfection. You just know you’ll be the best Queen that ever lived. The producers will make sure of it.

The big change has been the jettisoning of the two characters who could be relied on to create genuine dramatic tension and throw in some emotional complexity. Losing Uther AND Lancelot was a disaster given that they didn’t seem to have any coherent plan to replace that tension. I can see Uther may have been necessary given Tony Heads commitments but killing off Lancelot was a truly stupid decision. And their attempts to replace the tension that those two characters produced organically in the plot because of who they were?  Agravaine who was never allowed to develop as a coherent character despite all the screen time he got and a superb actor.  And the ludicrous, puerile attempt to use the original G/L discovery but remove all its sting.

In case there was any doubt *ahem* … I’m incredibly disappointed. I’d hoped somehow the finale would give hope that the beginning of S4 wasn’t an aberration. If you’d asked me say a third of the way in I’d have sworn this was going to be the best season ever - even potentially topping S1. Their mojo was back I thought. But now it seems that the second part of the season was what the producers see as the direction the show should take. No magic reveal. The thought of S5 does not fill me full of optimism or excitement.

I guess the ratings will justify all these decisions to the producers and I assume they’re getting kudos from fans of butterflies and rainbows, all over the place. But if they cared about any kind of storytelling integrity or indeed fulfilling the dramatic possibility they created themselves, they should actually be feeling deeply embarrassed by what they did to that season.

End of tome. :(

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