Merlin: 5:04 Another's Sorrow

[tanous]

Well.. if there was any doubt at all that the producers of Merlin are set on a policy of using the bulk of this apparently final series to keep the show running  exactly on the spot, I would imagine this episode has dispelled it.  It was a fine action episode, by which I mean it was an all right action episode, not actually fine. What we saw were

Comments

Merthian love :)

[arwyn_t]

Old days' Merlin is back! I haven't enjoyed an episode this much since, ooh, I don't remember! :P

Re: Merthian love :)

[peanutfishies]

I want to ship Merthian so bad after this episode. And Mithian hid behind Merlin when they were fighting. I found that so cute!

Re: Merthian love :)

[tanous]

Hi Arwyn :) I really really wish id seen what you saw. :) Tell me why you loved it! I need to seeeee! Im so tired of feeling only disappointment or at best 'well that wasn't as bad as I expected', especially when I remember my thrilled excitement this time last season. I hate being so grumpy about the show but I think to be honest that, above and beyond the general disillusionment, its the last season thing getting to me. This feeling that time is running out and they're not just wasting it, they're deliberately filling time that could be used to sort the story out once and for all, with nonsense like this. Its beyond infuriating to see the same crap being churned out with just 8 episodes to go and most of those apparently to be centred, not on Merlin and his magic but on the perfection of Mary Sue. So - perhaps that explains why I couldnt just enjoy the e pisode on its own merits as a bit of adventure puff and gave it the full WTF treatment :-p Im so happy that you enjoyed it though, knowing your general fed-upness with the show

Re: Merthian love :)

[arwyn_t]

I've just read the ultimate spoilers for 5x05. They are worse than bad. I'm sorry, they have ruined even my biased, Mithian-centered love for 5x04. If you want to read them, I have them with spoiler tag in my journal, I didn't think it would be nice to post them here. Copy paste them if you wish.

http://arwyn-t.livejournal.com/

Warning... Not nerve safe... >:-(

[merlenhiver]

Ugh, yeah. Awful episode. Just awful. They're not doing Arthur or Merlin any favours in terms of characterisation.

Having already executed one king and almost set off a war, he of course couldn’t possibly have realized it might be a bad idea on his own - he had to be reminded.

I hated that bit too. I want to believe in Arthur the King, I really do, but if he needs help for each and every one of his great insights and decisions, I lose faith in him.

Oh show, where are you going?!?

[tanous]

If only we knew. I have a horrible feeling its not going anywhere we want it to. :(

"... if he needs help for each and every one of his great insights and decisions, I lose faith in him. "

Precisely. I know they're trying to show that Arthur is listening to Merlin as an advisor but they do it so badly and so clumsily. I Merlin wouldn't have been there I assume Arthur would have killed Odin, even after going through an almost identical moment with Caerlonn. So... what does that say? That Arthur doesn't learn from his mistakes and constantly has to be saved from himself? Without his 'advisors' he'd be a crap king? Lets face it without Merlin he'd be deader than the deadest thing in Deadsville.

[marvelpku]

Is this series 5 really the last series? I doubt it though. The producers apparent want to drag it as long as possible to make easy money.
But I feel, the actores want to move on now, especially Bradley. I think he is tired of this version of Arthur, constantly pass out by knocking on head or very easily into enemy's trap. I think this version of Arthur really humiliate the Arthurian legend and the iconic once and future king.

[arwyn_t]

Every source and every logical assumption from various things say that series 5 is the last. The producers may want to milk it as much as possible, and the BBC may want a sixth series, but sources say that at least three actors of the main cast do not want to sign for more

[marvelpku]

Your spoiler about old religion or not kind of attract me, as a matter for fact. But your spoiler on the reveal. If that is the case, well, let's say please STOP this show immediately. That's childish and ridiculous to a LEVEL (without any words can describe). I think we will need to fly to UK to throw tomattows to the producers.

[tanous]

HI Marvel. :) Well I dont know if it's the last- they're working very hard not to say, which is utterly bizarre. On the one hand that stubborn determination to dodge telling the fans- the failure to say 'this is the last series', thus creating excitement and a buzz (as other shows always do) makes me think it may not be. If it is, the way they've dealt with it is pathetic even for this production company.

What makes me think it might be the end, is that a couple of the knight seem to have landed jobs elsewhere - Eoin and Tom have roles on US TV I understand - so... that could suggest it actually is coming to a close, as a TV show anyway. Its typical though that they screw fans around to the bitter end. :(

[swirlsofblue]

Such an eloquent description of all of the episodes issues, thank you for sharing. I'm not usually in Merlin fandom, but this series has really been annoying me, for many of the reasons you've mentioned, so I just thought I'd look around and see what others thought. That 'shoe' line, it was actually in an episode or two ago as well wasn't it, that wasn't just my imagination. I swear they're actually copy pasting some lines from previous episodes.

I know they're in a hole with Morgana because it's a prequel, but maybe they should have another main baddie instead. Or actually mention Merlin's moral objections to killing her in cold blood, and make it a proper theme.

And the uniting Albion thing, is suffering from serious substitutions in complexity, it screams look we're being complex Arthur's convincing someone whose relatives he slaughtered, and they forgo the actual complexity that would be involved creating these alliances.

[tanous]

Thank you for commenting :) yes the shoes line was just last episode or something very close to it. It feels sometimes as if they've given up on anything other than filling he required 45 minutes with nice images

[lucky_jack]

Now you have said everything that I was too angry to express coherently in my post yesterday. Merlin's power is being castrated by the hands of a set of producers that are basically getting off on Morgana. The whole show is repetative in almost every area which is so frustrating given its glaringly obvious potential for awesomeness. And Arthur's character is inconsistent and weak. The only good bits are Merlin and Arthur's chemistry and Colin and Bradley's superior acting skills.

Bah and indeed, humbug.

[tanous]

Actually you just said everything that needed to be said in one paragraph while I ranted on for days. : Respect! :-P