Merlin 4x11 review

[ishtar79]

-That implication in the opening scene...um, wow. Never thought they'd go there on this show, even just as a threat.

-Ickiness of the whole setup aside, Gwen looked smoking hot in her harem girl outfit. I loved how she managed the whole situation with Helios-but then again, this is not her first time kidnapped by bandits, she's practically an old hand at this.

-Arthur did seem genuinely into Mithia for much of the episode, right down to being a tongue-tied dork. Which of course made the moment he found Gwen's ring and the world around him seemed to dissapear all the more effective. Despite them not sharing a single scene, this was one of the most epic Arthur/Gwen episodes.

-Poor Merlin. I really liked him in this one, even though his attempts to do the right thing kept getting thwarted. He kept championing for Gwen only for Arthur to ignore him/threaten him with exile, or ending up inadvertently making things worse. And then he goes and actually TELLS Arthur about Agravaine, and is outfoxed by Morgana's nifty xerox spell. And again, with the threats of banishment. What the hell, Arthur, are you planning on sending away everyone who loves you?

-I appreciated the fact that the show didn't go the route of making Mithia unlikeable or ridiculous, like the other princesses we've gotten on the show before. Just because Arthur/Gwen is the endgame doesn't mean the rival needed to be demonised. Mithia was absolutely charming, which of course made Merlin's attempts of sabotage even more awkward. And smart girl, figuring out that the way to Arthur's heart is apparently through Merlin.

-As painful as it is, I appreciate any Morgana/Gwen scenes we get, even though the spectre of the once awesome femslashiness is hard to ignore (yeah, Morgana, Gwen remembers you were friends, do YOU?). When Morgana knocked Gwen unconscious, I was rolling my eyes at the upteenth use of the “throwing people around” spell...until she went and pulled what was probably the most cruel and genuis evil plan. The whole scene with deer!Gwen managed to make me tense (and of course Merlin's reactions made the whole thing even more effective) , and leaving aside the Doylist “Gwen is too integral to kill off” reassurance, within the show, if Merlin's and his Special Senses weren't there, there's no question Gwen would have died at Arthur's hand (and I'd bet everything the spell would wear off as soon as she did). Between the fucked-upness of that plan, the forging of alliances to attack Camelot and the hilarious bossing around of Agravaine, Morganna gets top marks for effective villainy.

-The Gwen/Merlin hug made me grin like an idiot-if we can't have Gwen find out about the magic anytime soon, I'll settle for stuff like Merlin healing up Gwen's leg (by placing his hand decidely not on her leg, LOL), them sharing information and generally being awesome together.

-If Morganna's part on the Lancelot thing is not revealed, I'll be pissed. I liked that Arthur forgave Gwen despite not knowing the truth, but this show doesn't need yet one more secret. And Gwen doesn't need to feel like she deserves the shitty situation she's currently in.

-I liked how humble and contrite Arthur was in his rejection of Mithia, as well as how gracious she was about the whole thing too (without immediately letting him off the hook). A Merlin episode with THREE well-written women (and after last week's sausage fest) in it? Pinch me, I'm dreaming.

-Between last week's reveals and development and the final scene between Arthur and Merlin this week (the asking of advice bit, not the obligatory “Merlin, you idiot” bit), I'm kind of blown away with Arthur's character journey this season.

Comments

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Yes, I drew (from my own twisted vision) the Santa....
Tis the season to... whatever.

Well I'm guessing Merlin's secret will last until the last season then, and maybe the reason for keeping Gwen ignorant is that she would tell Arthur immediately if she knew?

They went out of their way to show Gwen throwing the bracelet into the corner of the dungeon, so I assumed it would be wanted as a plot point later (just as Morgana throwing the ring necklace away meant that Arthur could stumble across it later...).

BTW Misfits was hilarious this last weekend (zombies! why are zombies so funny?). I haven't seen the latest Dexter yet....