Hey, Merlin! Look at this motherf**king griffin!

[kali921]

Wow, people. I know that NBC has been on a serious anglophilic kick in its programming over the last three years, and that Merlin is the first British series to air (in prime time!) on mainstream American network television in a couple of decades, and I hope that you all don't pillory me for saying this (because I've got Merlin fans on ye esteemed

Comments

[civilbloodshed]

although my favorites, of course, are decadent tales set in the 18th century with everyone in powdered wig drag
HOMG Dangerous Liaisons, yes!

Anyway, since the series has become wildly popular over in Britain hopefully they will up the budget for the second series. I for one, am all for at least more explosions.

[kali921]

Dangerous Liaisons, sure, but which version? I'm talking FRENCH FILMS. Danton, Valmont, La Nuit de Varennes, Ridicule!

[civilbloodshed]

The version wherein Glen Close and John Malkovich are FIERCE? But then I never actually saw the French version. Valmont, too. I'm afraid I've only seen the version with Colin Firth and spent most of the time slightly scandalized with Mr. Darcy.

[kali921]

...I still think Colin Firth is smexalicious. Yep. STILL. It's the velvet voice that gets me.

If Reed Richards saw fit to lend me a time machine and told me that I could only visit ONE place and ONE time, I'd pick Paris at the beginning of the French Revolution, hands down, NO CONTEST. (But knowing me, any of Reed's strictures about NO INTERFERING would probably fall by the wayside - I know that I'd get swept up in the Jacobins and wind up joining in on the curb stomping of rich French aristos, I just know it.)

[uncanny_rman]

I haven't seen much Merlin, but from what little I have seen it doesn't get much better.

[kali921]

...ICON.

[uncanny_rman]

BRIAN BLESSED is my God now.

[neo_prodigy]

It's by no means the best show I've seen but it's a fun watch at times. I think a lot of people are stoked with the OTP of Merlin and Arthur.

The OTP of Merlin and Arthur is akin to that of Xena and Gabrielle.

As I explained to a friend, it's like Smallville in that it's a complete tween interpretation of the mythos (only less crappy and less whiny teeny American angst), it does get better but if you're loathing the series at this point, I would stop watching.

[kali921]

I'll keep watching - your recommendation is significant! I do get that it's supposed to be family friendly, so that's why it's not as rapaciously debauched as, say, The Tudors.

(Interestingly, I watched Banlieue 13 -- for the sixth time -- on Sunday night right after I watched Merlin, and I thought "oh, hey, another bromance with a blonde and a brunette," except that B13 is a real-life bromance where the principals wound up making a movie together to better show off their real life bromantic traceur antics, whereas Merlin is, of course, entirely fictional. If Merlin actually DOES get really, really explicitly canon!slashy, I'd be happy to see that.)

[outlawpoet]

Where is that comic with Micromax listening to Primal Scream? That is hilarious.

I love music stuff in comics. Sizer's B.P.M., for example, is great. Did you ever read the old Marvel Music comics when we were younger? I can't remember whether they were set in 616 or not, but they were about (mostly) real musicians. I'd just like to see somebody write Bob Marley explaining his philosophy of anti-hate music to some steroidal Silver Age superhero.

[kali921]

I'll post the relevant pages tomorrow - it happened in the fallout from Decimation/The 198 back in...2006? When Domino and Shatterstar wind up in a FURIOUS three-way brawl with a bunch of people (the X-Men, O*N*E*, and Dom/Shatterstar) as a consequence of some Registration stuff that I can't quite recall, and Micromax appears (he's joined O*N*E* at this point) gearing up for the fight by saying that he's got XTRMNTR playing on his iPod because it stokes him up for fighting. On the side of fascism.

What a tool.

Edit: I vaguely recall the Marvel Music comics! Marvel should take another crack at those - but the problem is that with such a prevalence of micro-genres and the fact that Marvel Editorial is staffed by men who think that Green Day are the apogee of hip and musically relevant, any such attempt is doomed to fail.

[akoya]

Merlin's clean, family fun. After two seasons of Torchwood it's a nice change.

I will say the buddy aspect between Arthur and Merlin get better (and involve feet). Merlin is also a strange mix between Harry Potter and Smallville. Harry Potter-ish for the magic, and Smallville-esque for the red and blue shirts/bandanas/jackets.

[kali921]

Eh. At least the Potter books and films are more magically immersive. This Merlin is boring - there's no fey quality to him, no sense of mystic potential (but, as others have pointed out, he's still young). If they're going for a strictly curricular take on magic, I think it still fails, but again, I'm only four episodes in. My biggest complaint is that Merlin isn't charismatic - he's just young and blandly good-natured.