Merlin: 5:09 With All My Heart

[tanous]

Merlin... the show that teaches its fans what Stockholm Syndrome is all about. This week my expectations were so low that I expected literally nothing, other than more slaps in the face to the fans who give a shit about Arthur and/or Merlin. I expected another ordeal of grandiose tries at fairytale moments, flowery gestures and gruesomely soppy

Comments

[tanoshi_ame]

"Will they finally get their first kiss?"
Pffff. Saw that one. Was stunned for a second that a "first kiss after marriage" notion might exist somewhere. Though that might as well be a first kiss after copulating, if we're talking continuity.

It's ridiculous how TPTB started to sell S5 as a story of 4 main characters when it was always about M/A before. Gwen is obviously irrelevant, has always been without Lancelot; Morgana whose story actually has an importance gets less screen time than Gwen so what are we supposed to think? Tch.

I choose to give Colin the credit for Merlin's very matter-of-fact approach to saving Gwen.
I can definitely think like that. Sometimes what amazes me more than Colin's acting is how he interprets and internalizes these new characteristics for Merlin in the first place. These little things, like this instance, are all great material for fics, too bad most writers prefer to either ignore or take them in a horribly contorted way. I'm still waiting for a Merlin+Mordred fic that actually reflects the dynamic they have on screen. So far it has mostly been a let down.

[tanous]

Im fascinated by fandoms embrace of Mordred. If he's been played by Nat Parker and Alex had played Agravaine do you think the response would have been different? I do. ALl it takes is a cute young actor and suddenly allowances are made.

Do you think TPTB are selling it only now as 4 characters? Id say theyve had that idea for a long time though there are the two main ones. Morgana is easy to write for but Gwen? She is the blandest character you could have as Bradley tacitly acknowledged. She is essentially Teflon; no guilt no faults, no consequences. To hear that they came close to letting her actually kiss Lancelot/betray Arthur of her own free will and then they changed it to give her the Bracelet of Excuses - how infuriating is that? I assume the people who guided early S4 were going for a great SL and the Arwen fangirls who took it over decided to go for the kiddie version. I love that Bradley was pissed off about that and that he wanted her to be genuinely evil this year thus imploding the tyranny of the Disney romance and giving her some genuine effing interest. I wonder of Angel kind of wanted that too

[tanoshi_ame]

Yeah while I'm also guilty of embracing Mordred right from 5.02, when I looked around the fandom, actually astounded they also did but for a completely different reason. Granted this Mordred is not the same as Asa's but people can't just not take Asa!Mordred into consideration when debate the new one. And even if that's possible, I think the calculating gleams are still very visible in every ep he's in, when talking to Merlin. That's the interesting thing for me. But look around and people mostly coo at how innocent and cute he is. Huh.

I wonder of Angel kind of wanted that too.
Me too. I don't have an understanding of how she views or what she wants for the character, reading her interviews never tell me anything. Though I guess to sign up for the role in the first place, she must have expected to play that storyline as it was intended.

[zerda_vulpes]

I admit I’ve always loved Mordred’s character, straight from his first apparition as Asa and was a bit upset we didn’t get to see him more in the early seasons, so when he appeared as Alex, I was delighted. His portrayal is indeed different from Asa’s but I think too that we can see this calculating gleam in his glances and he is far from innocent (he did stab Morgana in the back).
But I think fandom can be forgiven for liking him, for while I think a fundamental share of his adoration comes from his looks indeed, his personality must play a part in it too. Obviously, he’s Dark and Mysterious but he also cares more than Merlin about his fellow magic users while not being as raving a lunatic as Morgana; he obviously takes the time to make sound judgments since he waited to see both Morgana and Arthur in action to chose his side (and tried to show devotion to both). He seems to genuinely want Arthur and Merlin’s trust and underlined the exact faults that make Morgana a hollow character (ie, she’s driven by one emotion only which is hate).
And well some fans, the Gwen fans in particular seem to like a perfect character and Mordred seem to be the moral middle ground between Merlin’s slavish following of Arthur and Morgana’s obsession on revenge. They might see him as what should have been the perfect hero of the show, a sort of Merlin (hiding his magic, believing in Arthur) with perfect morals and that would be why they are turning on Merlin now for not being as Gary Stuish as (what they see in) Mordred.

[tanoshi_ame]

They might see him as what should have been the perfect hero of the show, a sort of Merlin (hiding his magic, believing in Arthur) with perfect morals and that would be why they are turning on Merlin now for not being as Gary Stuish as (what they see in) Mordred.

Can't disagree with you there, especially the Gary Stuish comment. It's exactly because we don't know where he stands at the moment that makes the automatically putting him above Merlin/Morgana by fans unnerve me so much. I think, because he's an unknown, fans can just assume all these better qualities about him, a bit like how S1 Merlin was popularly viewed/portrayed as a complete fluffball when he already had a bit of darkness and vengeance even then, only unaddressed. I think it's unfair that some fans make such judgement without considering the battering down that pushed both Merlin and Morgana off the track, nor the beauty in their failure. For now, what I know from interviews is that Mordred is ambitious; what I know from the eps: Not A Clue. But, for all that Mordred appears to be good now, there's one thing that both Merlin and Morgana have over him: loyalty (I'd say 'love' too, but seeing that we'll be introduced to his love interest real soon, well...). Also, to be honest, I don't see where it shows that Mordred cares more about magic users than Merlin does. As of now, Mordred is interesting to me, but far from a better person than Merlin.

[zerda_vulpes]

I’m totally with you on the parallel Mordred/Merlin from season 1, he was darker than popularly viewed (killing in cold blood!).
You’re right, it’s not that he cares more; I think it made me feel that way because he is often the one that reminds the audience that Merlin too, cares. And I guess there is the fact that he’s trying to bond with two sorcerers (Morgana, Merlin, btw does that show that he is ambitious that those two are the most powerful sorcerers in Albion?) whereas, in this season, Merlin hasn’t and is, in fact, hostile towards one (Mordred, which is understandable but which again proves that he puts Arthur above magic and since, as you said, Mordred is an unknown variable, we could imagine that he would have chosen magic over Arthur in ep5 would the choice have been his to made).
He’s not a better person to me either, but is certainly written to seem so…

there's one thing that both Merlin and Morgana have over him: loyalty
He seems pretty loyal to Arthur (for the moment at last), no?

[englaroma]

I think part of Mordred's appeal comes from the writers' insistence to make him say, over and over again, that Merlin can trust him. Which is a bit like the constant repetition of Arthur loving Gwen "more than anything" - only add a great screen chemistry between Colin and Alex, and the fans' desperate wish that Merlin have someone to confide in, someone to trust.

It's easy to ignore Mordred's background when everyone else in the show does, and not to question that his loyalty for Morgana didn't last long either.

[tanoshi_ame]

No, I don't consider that a true loyalty, at least not the scale of Merlin, who chooses Arthur from the start and betrays everything else, or Morgana, who's pretty loyal to the ones who she thinks as her own. Mordred was very quick to backstab her, regardless of reasons.

[calaerel]

I wonder if Angel kind of wanted that too

Sometimes I get the feeling that Angel tries to play Gwen as less than the perfect Mary Sue in true love that the script sets her up to be. 4x01/4x02 and 4x09 with the Queen comment all gave me vibes of Gwen trying to secure the best possible future for herself as opposed to actually being in love with Arthur. :/