Merlin

[altariel]

Contains sort-of spoilers for this week's episode - but, really, are you watching it for the plot? Are you even still watching it?

***

To my absolute delight, all of the Merlin fanfiction at ff.net appears to have been posted since this week's super-slashy episode (in which Merlin DRINKS THE POISONED CHALICE meant for Arthur then SWEATS PALELY IN BED while Arthur RISKS HIS LIFE AND THE WRATH OF HIS FATHER to bring back a single flower needed to make the antidote and, in between times, they exchange BARBED COMMENTS THAT SERVE ONLY TO SHOW THEIR SPESHUL BOND. (I tried to do the text equivalent of: "We don't need this, it's only plot" for you there.)

Here at Castle Altariel we are rather loving Merlin. I'll leave mraltariel to justify his ways to you, but I myself like it for several reasons. First of all, it reminds me of one of my most beloved TV shows, Jim Henson's The Storyteller, not least because of John Hurt. I like the unspecified historical setting, and I'm interested at the total absence of religion from that setting.

Visually, it obviously owes a lot to the LotR films (particularly the music, which is gorgeous), but also in the colour palette. However, because this is TV, the colours are warmer and more intimate. It's lovely to look at. This gives me hope that one day LotR will be done on telly and therefore the BEST STORY EVER will appear in the HIGHEST ART FORM MAN HAS CREATED.

The lad playing Merlin is a cutie. Bless. The lad playing Arthur is giving integrity to the part of the prince, which I think is quite tricky to do these days (the actors playing Caspian and Peter in Prince Caspian couldn't do it). And Anthony Head is sternly brilliant and totally authentic in every one of his scenes.

I think it has some scripting and plotting issues to smooth over, but all in all, a jolly good show, lads and lasses, and let's see more of it.

Comments

[watervole.livejournal.com]

The annoying thing about Merlin is how much I enjoy it. It's total dross on one level, but it's enjoyable, colourful, slashy dross with good eye candy!

(The holes in the plots are horrendous, but I'm sternly ignoring them)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It's exactly what I want on a Saturday evening. I think it's charming and that everyone is giving it their not-inconsiderable all.

ETA: Oh, I gather it was modelled on Smallville, but with only 13 episodes, it will hopefully not be anywhere near as repetitive as Smallville was.

[dberry.livejournal.com]

It's been pointed out to me that Merlin spent several scenes sweatily moaning his master's name, with one hand conspiculously under his sheets...

but, really, are you watching it for the plot?

I was! After episode two, I innocently came on LJ to find some Merlin-related icons, but having stumbled upon this (http://literati.slashverse.com/misc/imhp/litmer_33.png) and this (http://literati.slashverse.com/misc/imhp/litcross01.png) and this (http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b367/Draykonis/merlinicons/th_offscreenarthur.jpg) and this (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/duskwillow/pbpdlifechuckmerlin/duskwillow-arthurmerlin-dresseshim.png), I watch it in an entirely different way.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Those icons are joyous. Truly, I love the internet.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

LoTR would be incredibly well suited to adaptation as a TV serial, but the rights issues would be non-trivial. Without knowing any details, I suspect if it were ever to happen it would be over C. Tolkien's dead body. Literally.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I watched two episodes and then decided to give up as it was making Robin Hood look good, since when various people have tried to persuade me that no, no, it got much better after the first two episodes.

But I could see they were going to go for the Speshul Bond, whereas I thought the more entertaining solution would be to keep Arthur totally obnoxious throughout, while Gwen and Merlin rush round doing Good Deeds and passing them off as his, on the grounds that the Nation Needs To Believe In Its Prince. And then maybe in the final episode, when Gwen and Merlin are in some life-threatening situation with no prospect of saving themselves, Arthur happens to do something which happens to rescue them, and they assume it was an accident, but Arthur slyly indicates to the audience that he knows perfectly well what's going on, but why bother being good when they do it so much better than he does?

[executrix.livejournal.com]

I have not had an opportunity to watch this show, although, like anyone who watches Dante's Cove, I certainly *would* but my response to:

in which Merlin DRINKS THE POISONED CHALICE meant for Arthur is:

MOUNTAIN DEW!

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I'll cheerfully credit the actors. They all perform well. Arthur manages the balance particularly well. (Yes, it was inspired by Smallville and you can see the connections - but I like Smallville in reasonable sized doses.)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

At least we both have a fairly good chance of surviving him. And getting to pitch it.

[kathyh]

I must admit I'm loving Merlin. I particularly like the way they've torn up the standard version of the legend and reassembled it differently, which I'm finding very enjoyable. The lads are pretty too and can actually act which is a nice bonus.

I wish you hadn't mentioned an LotR TV series. It's now gone straight to the top of my wish list.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I think Merlin is really showing how a TV version of LotR is possible. And how the story would be different from the epic that is the films. TV excels at intimate scenes, or the converse of that claustrophobic scenes. Imagine Denethor and Faramir battling each other... or the warmth of Bag End as the Shadows gather outside... or Sam's quiet despair next to Frodo's body... TV could deliver all of this, and a long series would have the time to develop plot strands that the films didn't have.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

You realise if he drops dead mysteriously the cops will be knocking at both our doors?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

At least we would then be able to experience the Prisoners' Dilemma for ourselves.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-D

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh, I really liked it from the first episode, infinitely better than Robin Hood, IMHO. I like your version of it too.

(PS: Thank you for the Penguins By Post.)

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting show, though I'm bothered by how late the armour is-- to me, Arthurian times were 5-7th centuries AD-- plus Merlin aged backward... still, it's a fun, light show to watch.

[kathyh]

Oh, the exquisite torture of imagining its perfection :) I honestly never thought I'd see it filmed let alone televised.

[furius.livejournal.com]

I'm actually surprised by how much I love this show and all the twists they've given in this retelling, and trying to see how that eventual future dynamic may be established. As you said, the music and colour palette are gorgeous, but its the characerization that captured my interest. I love how everyone in this show actually has a personality. Never mind the plot holes, Arthur does seem like a prince in all his obnoxiousness and nobility and Merlin is, refreshingly I think, not a trickster in spite of his magic.

I really love the premise that Merlin actually have to *grow up* to become the greatest sorcerer in a kingdom that banned magic. The slash's bordering on the epic with episode 4, but the show's really is a developing love story, I think, considering it's been repeatedly emphasized that each is half of one whole.

[mraltariel.livejournal.com]

I thought I was going to be annoyed by that, too... And then I realized that I love the fact that the Arthur story is really high medieval, and we get that, but with some hints of the brythonic, latin and anglo saxon poking through.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying it. It's good, undemanding fun, even if it doesn't seem to be at all sure what time period it is supposed to be set in. (When we first saw Merlin in episode 1, he was wearing clothes that wouldn't have looked out of place in 2008.)

I think that Richard Wilson is by a wide margin the berst thing in it. I have also fallen in love with the actress playing Gwen (or is it "Guin"?).

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

There was a superb radio dramatisation by the BBC some thirty years ago, which I highly recommend.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I adore this radio dramatization, which I first heard with my dad when I was eight years old. I taped it when it was repeated in the mid 80s, and have listened to it almost every year since. (Slight hiatus when the films came out.) In many ways it is my default version, sometimes even coming close to displacing the book!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I love how Richard Wilson is sweetly irascible in his scenes with Merlin. The actor playing Gwen, Angel Coulby, was Madame de Pompadour's friend in 'The Girl in the Fireplace'.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one enjoying it! I like the "growing up" premise too, and idea of the banned magic, which is so simple, but delivers plots by the bucket-load. And you're dead right that a lot of the fun is trying to work out from what we've given how the future dynamics would work (how is Gwen going to become Queen?!).

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

With fantasy, I think that radio can actually have an advantage over TV and films, in that the images that the listener imagines can be superior to anything that the special effects people can come up with. (The same applies to books, of course.) "Hitchhiker" is another example, where the TV version was (at least for me) something of a let-down after the original radio series.

One pleasure of the radio LotR was how much of the poetry and songs they managed to fit in, and how well they were done.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Apologies for having used the non-PC term "actress". I'm afraid that old habits die hard. At least I can be fairly confident that I'll never get into trouble by referring to your good self as a "writress". :)

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

We watched the first one and thought, "god, that was pants." I did plan on recording the second, but given the Beeb's stunning eye for promoting its flagship Saturday evening entertainment, I hadn't noticed that they'd shifted it forward an hour and a half.

We didn't feel particularly compelled to rectify this oversight.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I hadn't noticed, just used "actor" automatically! Hope it didn't come across as shirty! "Writress" has a nice sound to it!

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

The LoTR radio series is truly splendid, but suffers from the disadvantage that fight scenes are basically impossible to do in any satisfactory way in an audio medium.

[rakshathedemon.livejournal.com]

I tried to go to the Merlin site; but my dial-up computer wouldn't load. Anyone have a link to photos of "Arthur" and "Merlin"?

And I'm delighted that Giles-er-Anthony is getting deserved screen time.

Maybe the series will cross over to the U.S. one day. Of course, if it is meant to be slashy, I might well ignore it. I cannot envision Merlin and Arthur as being in love with each other...

It would be lovely to see LOTR as a TV miniseries if they did full justice to the story (and did a good job casting and writing Faramir)....

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Here they are. It would be a shame if you didn't watch it on the grounds of the slashiness, as it's perfectly possible to watch it as good old action-adventure.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

No doubt I'll send dispatches from the front as Christmas creeps ever closer.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Helm's Deep gets a bit incoherent. I like the crowd scenes where they sometimes have as many as four people shouting, "Hurray! Hurray!"

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

:)

Ooh, I hadn't noticed, just used "actor" automatically! Hope it didn't come across as shirty!

No, of course not. I intended to set your mind at rest this morning, but LJ was in one of its "I don't want to play" moods.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-)

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

This show is now totally on my 'to-watch' list. It sounds amazing. I pitched it to my flatmate L: "It's about Arthur and Merlin, and they're young and beautiful and love each other!" She, like me, was sold.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's smashing. Everything about it is pretty.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even heard of this show until now. How did I manage to miss it?! Clearly I need to get out more (at least when it comes to popular culture).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Or stay in more! It was on last summer - we saw it while we in NC - on USA, IIRC. You're on the second season now, although it's on a mid-season break at the moment and you'll be getting the second half some time in the new year.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I thought you were asking about Burn Notice! Ignore my previous comment!

Er, I don't know when you'll get Merlin - I guess BBC America will pick it up at some point, if no-one else does.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Someone's picked it up; I've seen a couple of my fellow Americans on LJ commenting on it. I have no idea what channel it's on, though. I guess I need to start asking!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh, here you are: NBC have picked it up for broadcast in January 2009. I guess your fellow Americans have been downloading from somewhere?

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I suppose they must be. I forgot about that possibility, I'm ashamed to say!

[rakshathedemon.livejournal.com]

I've been watching Merlin for a few weeks now; it's being shown here this summer!

I must confess that if not for the charm of the young man in the title role, I probably wouldn't bother with the show - most of the other characters don't enchant me the way he does (without Merlin, the show is basically that of an overbearing father and his stressed son). But young Merlin as a nameless orphan hiding his developing talents is a tasty idea; and the show gets huge brownie points for the dragon in the basement (voiced by John Hurt...ahhhh). Well, dragon in the dungeon actually. A very big dungeon.

I keep hoping that Merlin and the sweet little Guinevere could fall in love and run off together to make a new, magic-tolerant kingdom, but I doubt that will happen, LOL.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Glad you're appreciating Colin Morgan at least - and, yes, John Hurt adds value to anything. I loved him as the Storyteller in Jim Henson's programme of the same name.


an overbearing father and his stressed son

Sounds like how I write Denethor and Faramir... ;-) I like Anthony Stewart Head in this part, unusually unsympathetic for him, and I rather like how the lad playing Arthur manages to make sympathetic what could be a thoroughly unlikeable character.

Yes, pity about Merlin and Guinevere, LOL!

[rakshathedemon.livejournal.com]

Anthony Stewart Head is a fine actor; but I just hate the character. uther would execute Merlin alive if he caught him using magic to save Arthur's life, with no regrets.

The Uther/Arthur relationship reminds more of Denethor/Boromir; since I could see young Boromir being a bully, but never Faramir. There's no denying that there is some good in Arthur, and Merlin has helped to bring that out more.

I kinda wish Lancelot would return and stir things up some more; and maybe reveal his true heritage (betcha he's some lord's bastard, wouldn't it be a hoot if he was Uther's?!)...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

The Uther/Arthur relationship reminds more of Denethor/Boromir

Yes, I think you're right about that. I hope we do see Lancelot again, plenty of potential there: season 2 is due to start here pretty soon (possibly September?).