Merlin: 5:11 The Drawing of the Dark

[tanous]

Well… I guess we didn’t need to see 5.11 to know that the only interest the producers of the show have had in this season, has been reaching the end of it.  It really is the case that, six (to be generous) of the episodes in Season 5 may as well not have happened; they were there to fill the space Shine promised the BBC to fill, but the producers

Comments

[khaireddin]

Oo..oo...first comment

[englaroma]

"I am dreading next week. I actually felt physically ill after the trailer for next week."

Same here, and I was already feeling horrid about this rubbish episode. What on earth is the point of continuing to torture the main character of the show? Not only that, but it never achieves anything and we now know it never will? *fumes*

[tanous]

Thanks for the heads up on the title! I had it as 4.10 at first which shows I shouldnt share Gwen and Gaius' splits. :P

Everything else - I agree. I hate that next episode os just going to be misery before the final one which is the ultimate misery. I see people like Cultbox utterly thrilled, salivating because they'll get battle scenes and dragons fighting they hope, which goes to show how out of touch the Net sites are with the core fan base. I havent seen one Merlin fan of any persuasion happy with whats come up till now and what theyre going to do at the end. It amazes me that the producers and actors are still spouting their 'the fans will be so happy and satisfied' rubbish. I respect Alex for saying it like it is : "there are going to be alot of unhappy people on Christmas Day". Ack.

[khaireddin]

Re Alex - oh, nuts!! Where did you read / hear this? Obviously one that I missed.

I heard his interview on Radio One the other day, where he said (to the effect) that not having a magic reveal would be a travesty since everyone's been waiting for it since day 1, and "so it'll be around, it'll be happening...at some point".

Not that that gives us any hope that it'll be in any way satisfactory.

Feckfeckfeck!!

[merlenhiver]

I don't really have anything to add, you've said it all, girl. :-) I liked the ep, sort of, because I managed to ignore everything that went before and what will inevitably come to pass. The acting was great - Alex first and foremost, but also Colin and thankfully, Bradley, who was finally allowed to play KING Arthur again instead of his simpleton alter persona. And of course the Merthur was great, which mollified me somewhat. Too bad it won't last long. :(

Mordred's turn to raging killer didn't convince me either - like you, I saw more of a sulking teenager than someone motivated by true revenge. I'd have loved to see more of Morgana's reaction to the reveal, but of course it's become sort of a custom on this show that they don't let us have the things we truly crave. So be it. Bring on the cheap drama and the so-called mature darkness of the finale. I'm ready. Let's get this over with. :P

[tanous]

Hey :) Thats pretty much how I feel. Its become an ordeal of sticking it out til the end. Ive started so I'll finish. Thats no way to out to bed a much-loved show, with the fans dreading and hating whats to come.:(

I saw someone today on a board saying her nephew has watched the show since he was 5 and adores it. He wants to watch the finale and being aware of the spoilers she is trying o persuade him against it. As she said, Christmas Eve is the most magical night of the year for kids and this is what the BBC schedule for then? They're as drunk with hubris as the producers and Shine. Or maybe they think because its Merlin people will be thrilled and happy and not notice it ends in carnage and gross sentimentality (because we know it will - every sodding heartstring of people who loved these characters, plucked and exploited). It a lousy thing to do to their fanbase and their audience :(

[gatepromise]

Lovely review, spot on.

I liked this ep, in the same context that you did, T. It was wonderful to see Arthur behaving as a king who might be remembered somewhat down the line. I really can't say it was good to see him acting like a king again because honestly, when have we really ever? This is no Once & Future King; Arthur hasn't done a single bloody memorable thing in his lifetime (marrying a servant and knighting peasants notwithstanding). He hasn't had the time tbh. In this ep, tho, we see an intelligent, measured, fair-minded monarch who considers all sides of the argument and is willing to show mercy to someone who attempted to kill him. The scenes with Kara the Terrorist were quite well done, and I am frustrated and appalled by those fans still claiming that this is all Arthur and Merlin's fault for having her executed. Both of them all tried reason and logic and did their best. The way this episode ended was no one's fault but Kara's and Mordred's, and it's highly doubtful anyone would be defending them if Alex Vlahos wasn't

[undead_begonia]

Well, honestly, that is the ONLY way that it will be brought home to them how gloriously they have screwed this up. We can sit here and vent our spleens as much as we like - and it may do something to make us feel better, but ultimately, if ten thousand people put their old Merlin DVDs in the post and sent them back to shine with a 'take your shit back you talentless hacks' letter, that is probably the only thing that will break through their arrogant belief that they have done a wonderful job. But unfortunately, it HAS to be ten thousand or more to have any real effect. Somehow I don't think however bad the ending is that enough people will have enough motivation to do it. I'm personally working up to that level of ire, and if it is really as bad as I fear, I may end up doing just that!

[tanous]

That would be something else - a mass protest. I agree though sadly that not enough people will have the motivation. Looking around some fans seem even to blame themselves for being disappointed and not just loving everything the show gives them (the show Ive seen so many defend from charges of wasted potential as 'their happy place'). Some will doggedly 'love' everything to the end, however hard it may be. Some fans of course don't really care about the characters and are in it for the dragons, the swords and the pretty. I dont know how many fans there are who really care enough about their broken promises, to want to tell them. I must admit though after hearing parts of that unbearably smug, out of touch and self congratulatory Julian Jones interview, I would have been up for writing him a VERY long letter :P

[tanous]

Hey GP :) I agree with all of that, including the character blame game in the fandom following each episode. It always was going to have to be someone else's fault that Kara died, never Kara's own. Merlin makes bad decisions; so does Arthur and while its immensely frustrating when those decisions are made purely to further the plot and the writers dont even TRY to make them understandable or sympathetic (like 5.05), I thought in this episode they did at least attempt to make their choices logical and believable given the end game the show is going for.

I agree with your last paragraphs so much my Agreemeter is off the scale :P

[marvelpku]

I shall come back later to post more comments. But why the producers wasted so much time on that Evil Gwen story which went no where and totally lame and boring and STUPID (the whole story about that was a huge JOKE). If Arthur's character was embarrassing. Then Gwen's character was painful to watch. They called her queen of hearts? Maybe queen without hearts was much more suitable. I just can't stand that character on screen.
Arthur and Merlin are good to watch, but not because of the story and character, but because of Bradley and Colin.

[gatepromise]

I would be willing to bet that Gwen will be the only character with even a semblance of a happy ending in this show. She will survive. She's Queen Mary Sue!

Sigh...

[marvelpku]

Her story is just a waste of time. Her story is more pushed then her boobs. And the producers said in the interview they wanted for that to attract fathers to watch this show as they were moving to a later time slot. That's so obscene. No wonder, actors want to leave. This show began with such huge potential but now it is more humiliating than entertaining.

[calaerel]

Really? That's disgusting. Also says a lot that they feel the need to objectify to attract, instead of relying on the actual plot to get people to watch.

[mangacat201]

I dearly hope that the producers get some backlash from the fan community at least because they deserve a slice of reality check before moving on to their next projects (which I will undoubtedly NOT end up watching) I think all the wasted potential and the glimpses of greatness is what hurts the most this season. If it was just a happy-go-lucky children's show (for which, quite frankly, they pulled the wrong legend, and they should be ashamed of their abysmal treatment of the responsibility that there's children out there whose only point of contact to one of the most important legendary canons of Western society is this show, which in and of itself is a disgrace) I probably could have dealt with it. Probably wouldn't even have ended up ever watching it. But these passing bits of glory and the could-have-beens-if-only-it-would-have-beens just break my spirit in regards of this show. I'm not even sure I wanna watch the finale. But then, there's this epic shot of Merlin in agony and I can't not. *sigh*

[baka_sensei]

^ THIS!

[tanous]

I agree. If we'd signed up for a Game of Thrones wannabe with tragedy and carnage at the end then fair enough. But as you say - its a kids show, with kids watching still. I've seen quite a few actors and producers spouting the line that theyre like Harry Potter, their audience has grown up with them. But quite apart from what I view as the idiotic fallacy of that HP idea in the first place (no 7 year olds started reading later than the year book one came out?) we're looking at 5 year old kids starting to watch farting goblins in this show, and ending as 10 year olds watching the Js attempts at Hamlet on Christmas Eve