Merlin – Goblins, farts, and donkeys, oh my!

Every once in a while, the writers of Merlin sit down, take a coffee break (or maybe they break for tea, I don’t know, they’re British) and go, “Oh, right, during our trajectory of darker and more mature, we forgot we were supposed to be a kids’ show, didn’t we?” I blame those sorts of revelations for the reason we get episodes like this. Not that it was terrible, mind you, but it just wasn’t the usual Merlin fare. It wasn’t quite … oh, how about Ruby and I break it down for you.

Julia: So I remember that sometimes, when I was reading the Harry Potter books, Harry would seem irredeemably stupid. I honestly could not believe that he’d stayed alive that long when he was incapable of noticing how often people wanted to kill him. And I was totally convinced that there was no way a fantasy hero could get any dumber than Harry Potter, until Merlin came along. Oh, Merlin. You are adorable. You looked extra adorable this episode when the writers let you smile and stuff instead of being in constant kicked-puppy agony. But by god, you are dumb. Oh, look, you’re in a super secret room and there’s a moving, locked box! Yes, I think that there’s no way opening it could possibly go wrong. And then he was all, “Oh, woe is me, there’s a goblin running around Camelot.” Well whose fault is that, do you think?

Ruby: The goblin was just YUCK. Nasty little booger. I don’t think better CGI would have helped him. I am so glad we didn’t have to see his ugly little mug for most the episode. Gaius makes for a much cuter — dare I say lovable? — goblin. Richard Wilson just rocked this role. I mean, from spitting in Sir Leon’s face to calling Geoffrey of Monmouth a fattie, he nailed every line, every gleeful facial expression.

Julia: More Geoffrey of Monmouth! I want him in every episode! Mostly because I want more shots of that library, which was delectable. Though I’m still confused over whose stupid idea it was to put a goblin in a library though. Because no one will find it there! It’s not like people read or anything!

Actually, no one reading in Camelot would explain so much of the stupidity that goes on there. Like how no one seemed to notice how weird Gaius was acting. And then they drank his potions anyway.

Ruby: Goblin Gaius laughing in Morgana’s face was SO satisfying. He’s like, “Hey, Miss Smirkypants, your secret’s not-so-safe with me! Hahaha. Here’s some fart-juice, er, I mean Nyquil, for you. Sweet dreams!” You know, after Gaius has announced all too gleefully that he knows you’re trying to kill the king, do you really think it’s a good idea to drink any old purple potion he hands you? I guess being evil makes one stupid, as well as sickeningly beautiful.

Julia: This is exactly what I’m talking about! Morgana, seriously, I know you’re sleep deprived, but you need to be more on-the-ball than this. I don’t know, by the way, if I should be proud that I noticed Morgana’s magical sleeping bracelet in Gaius’ loot before she came to him or sad that I’ve watched each Merlin episode so many times I can pick it out. I would have enjoyed Merlin finding it when he was unknowingly ransacking Morgana’s jewelry and recognized its magic. That would have been a cool plot point. But I’m also cool with the whole running Merlin-is-a-crossdresser gag. Poor Merlin, it’s a good thing it’s always Gwen who catches him. She’d totally help teach Merlin what eyeshadow would really make his coloring pop.

Ruby: My wish for more Merlin-Gwen interaction was granted. I loved that aspect of this episode.

Julia: I still maintain that Merlin and Gwen’s Magical Detective Agency would be an awesome spin-off for this show, as well as give Gwen a chance to actually have a personality for a change, not just in relation to when Arthur conveniently appears. I think this was the first episode in a while where the Arthur/Gwen interactions only made me a little bit nauseated. The whole finding Arthur as a donkey followed by laughing at him with Merlin sequence made me actually … like them together. Not romantically, but at least I wasn’t making moaning noises at my computer screen and watching from between my fingers.

Ruby: What really made my day was the “warts and farts and all” conversation — Merlin got it so right. Love is not love if it can’t handle a few farts (as people often only discover after getting married). The awesome thing is that Gwen’s embarrassment wasn’t glossed over. It would have been way too easy to skip that part, consign it to the Locker of Comedic Moments Never to Be Mentioned Again — but instead her feelings of humiliation are addressed in a relatively realistic way. Even better, after Arthur endures his own humiliation, A-Midsummer-Night’s-Dream style, they now have this shared experience that is only going to strengthen their relationship. They’ve seen each other with “warts” and laughed about it; as a result, the burden of being perfect and living up to some romantic ideal has been lifted. They can be themselves and get to know the “real” Arthur and Gwen, not the idealized version.

Clacked by Julia Hass
on Sep 26, 2010 @ 13:02 EST5EDT