Merlin 1x01-1x03 (only very vague spoilers)

[timepiececlock]

I've been watching the new BBC show Merlin for three episodes now. The "historical" inaccuracies are grating on my brain, but other than that, it's light and entertaining fare. I actually think the adventures of Merlin as a young man are a cool idea, and I like the notion of Arthur being a better person (and thus wiser king) as a result of Merlin's stalwart friendship.

But...I just wish they hadn't adjusted the age and storylines of EVERYONE to make this teen soap opera possible. I mean... it's like reading a high school AU fic for the "characters" of Camelot... Merlin, Morgana, Arthur, and Gwenivere are all somewhere between 17 and 22, they're all living together at Camelot while its under the rule of Uther Pendragon, and everything is hunky dory.

...Except there appears to be UST between Morgana and Arthur, which is just weird because in all the Arthurian legends they're half-siblings. Except, I'm not sure if they ARE brother and sister in this show...it hasn't been stated. And Gwenivere is a commoner and handmaiden to Morgana....odd. And they all play "Uno" and drink mead on the weekend nights, I guess.

The show right from the beginning ignores the story of the unknown boy who pulled the sword from the stone, and surmises that Arthur was raised by Uther as a loyal son. Al these adjustments...I'm not objecting to the principle of messing around with legend, but I think you should only mess with "rules" of a traditional story if the changes will benefit the story in new and exciting ways. "Everyone is a young adult together!" is neither new nor exciting. And it's sacrificing all the cool stuff at the same time. If anything, Merlin's story of "young nobody to protege of court physician and high status" is looking more like the traditional back story of Arthur than Arthur himself does here.

Anyway, I'm watching episode 4 right now. I'll probably keep watching it as it goes along. It's less vaguely irritating than Robin Hood, and I got through nearly two seasons of RH before I quit. And hey, Anthony Stewart Head as Uther Pendragon is a nice bit of perfect casting.


eta: Although I *am* enjoying elements of it (and hey, I love fantasy sci/fi most of the time anyway), I kind of wish this was instead about young Merlin wandering the countryside learning lessons in magic and politics and the human condition. You know fight an ogre here, accidentally kill someone with magic there, end a famine today, accidentally burn down a forest tomorrow. Solve the mystery of the disappearing bronze in one village and steal a magical item from the next. He could make a life-long bargain with a dragon and, by the end of season 1, start upon the seeds of events that would create Camelot. That's kind of the show I was hoping this could be... sort of Merlin as Sparrowhawk, I guess.

Comments

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

Now that someone has given me a clear picture of exactly what in the hell this series is about, I can safely say I'll pass.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, the series is enjoyable. Anthony Stewart Head is a great Uther Pendragon... he's acting more than anyone in the cast, and I actually wish they'd have him be a little MORE ruthless. Right now he's at Your Average Dark Ages British King level of ruthlessness (i.e. cold-hearted but pragmatic bastard), rather than Your Especially Nasty Dark Ages British King, which I think Uther was, supposedly.


Then actor for Merlin is likeable enough, although it's hard not to notice that he was cast because he looks like Book!HarryPotter. The other cast members I'm "whatev" about, but like I said, I do like Merlin and Uther enough to give the show a few episodes yet. Luckily, british tv is never a very long investment, so I don't feel like I'm committing to much.

On a completely separate note, watching BBC shows always makes me conscious of how much more normal the women look compared to super-skinny girls on American tv. And they're presented as normal...normal and beautiful. I know it's an old complaint but it just disgusts me that these slim and slender women would be considered "curvy" or "wide" next to a lot of American tv actresses.

[settiai]

The "historical" inaccuracies are grating on my brain, but other than that, it's light and entertaining fare.

That part actually hasn't bothered me too much, simply because they've stated that this version's not taking place in Britain - they've given it a fictional name. *shrugs* My brain's weird, I guess. That's all it takes for it to not bother me.

The changes are part of what's attracting me to the series as well, to be perfectly honest. I know how the legend goes, and I've seen it done dozens of times. With this - I'm honestly not sure what direction they're going to end up going in.

Except there appears to be UST between Morgana and Arthur, which is just weird because in all the Arthurian legends they're half-siblings. Except, I'm not sure if they ARE brother and sister in this show...it hasn't been stated.

Since Uther specifically used the word "ward," I'm thinking that they're not supposed to be related in this version. Since in quite a few versions of the legend they have an incestuous relationship, I just figured that the BBC wanted to do something with their relationship without actually having the incest.

[mswyrr]

I saw the trailer and I was like: can't Merlin be more eldrich and less... sappy feckless young angsty boy? And why does everything have to be homogenized into the equivalent of bloody high school fer god sakes?

Not my thing. But! I'm glad you're getting some enjoyment out of it.

And somebody on my flist is having a good time writing kinky Merlin/Arthur apparently.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Well, he's definitely young and sappy and feckless, but thankfully he's not angsty in the least. At the most he's impatient and frustrated that he can't throw his super magic powers around whenever he wants. He's actually quite earnest, sincere, and kindhearted. If I were writing the show I'd make him a little more edgy with the magic stuff, and show the dangers of arrogance and power for the sake of power, not just the oh-so-boring dangers of power used with good intentions gone wrong. He's supposed to be a boy let him have a few bad intentions along with all the good ones.

Although, I suppose I could like the idea that Merlin starts as a young boy pure of heart/mind/soul and Arthur starts as a bully, only to have Arthur become more noble while Merlin becomes more callous and pragmatic with his increased magic and status. --though, I hardly think I could watch this show another 20 years just to wait for that to happen.

If Merlin were angsty, I probably wouldn't watch it. As it is, Arthur's got the angst bit with struggling to live up to his father's expectations. Basically Arthur in this show is like a vanilla version of Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars. Introduced as a bully, revealed not to be a bad guy, has daddy issues. ...except Logan was played by a better actor and given better character development in the writing of season 1.

The show is pretty straight-up het oriented, but I can see in a generic sort of way why you'd slash Arthur/Merlin. Just like I typically want to fangirl a het pairing from the main cast of most shows, and other people want to fangirl a slash pairing...pick two young pretty things and ship them. The show is pushing Merlin/Gwen, but that's just weird because I keep waiting to see undercurrents between Arthur and Gwen, and so far there are none. WHICH IS WEIRDING ME OUT. I guess I'm as old-school as you can be with shipping those two.

Gwen's a bit boring, but it's not the actresses' fault, as she does the best she can with the material. On the other hand, Morgana SHOULD be awesome, but the actress just makes her come off as snotty. I have to shake my head...in a Young Adult version of the Camelot legends, how can Morgan le Fay *not* be my absolute favorite character? Yet she is kind of my least favorite right now.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Like I said, I'm not against changes. I just don't really see that much has been gained by the changes made in this case. Although, I'm probably not the target audience...I think it's meant for people younger than me, tweens or something. Which would explain why the whole set-up just doesn't thrill me... it might have appealed more to me when I was 14/15, and was more into teen soaps.

Although I *am* enjoying elements of it (and hey, I love fantasy sci/fi most of the time anyway), I kind of wish this was instead about young Merlin wandering the countryside learning lessons in magic and politics and the human condition. You know fight an ogre here, accidentally kill someone with magic there, end a famine today, accidentally burn down a forest tomorrow. Solve the mystery of the disappearing bronze in one village and steal a magical item from the next. He could make a life-long bargain with a dragon and, by the end of season 1, start upon the seeds of events that would create Camelot. That's kind of the show I was hoping this could be... sort of Merlin as Sparrowhawk, I guess.

[mildmay.livejournal.com]

I kind of love this show. Because it cracks me up. The historical inaccuracies hurt me a little but they're fun to mock, so I'm okay with it. And ASH as Uther is awesome. I love him.

Also, it's really not that unusual for Morgana and Arthur to have UST, is it? I mean, in the legends they do have sex and have a son together who later comes back and kills his dad, so. I sort of expect it. I'm kind of figuring that they aren't really siblings here, though. She's been called Uther's ward. I guess that could mean she's a step-daughter, but I'm assuming not. Though I could be wrong.

And, yeah Gwen as a commoner weirds me out a little. I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point.