Dear Merlin,
We have a complicated, semi-abusive relationship, you and I. The thing is, I love you, but sometimes I also hate you a little. You delight me, and yet, you frustrate me, because I see how much potential you have and you seem to have a pathological desire to fall just short of it. It’s like you’re afraid of how totally, completely, brain-bendingly awesome you could be.
Don’t take me wrong, darling show of mine. You are still pretty awesome. But, well, let’s take this episode. You did a whole lot of good. You did so much good it was suspiciously as though you were reading my thoughts on how to make Season four consistently better instead of flashing from hot to cold like you’re going through menopause. You were like, 90% perfect.
Let’s take, for instance, the fact that you gave Gwen a plot that had almost nothing to do with Arthur. How great was that? So great! It was like the good old days when she was actually a human being with a personality instead of this weird, bland, pointless character who existed solely as a romantic interest. This was an entire episode where I didn’t hate Gwen’s characterization or want to roll my eyes at her, which is such a relief.
Gwaine’s also a pretty fantastic addition to our merry band of heroes, and I enjoy his swashing and buckling a potentially unhealthy amount. And let’s be honest, the plot this week? Fab-u-lous. And I say that with an implied appreciative snap in Z formation. You’re always so much better when you stick to something remotely related to actual Arthurian legend instead of Merlin and Gaius defeating the creature of the week with magic while Arthur’s conveniently knocked out.
You’re even making real progress so far as Merlin and Arthur go. Arthur, even though he did stick with the whole Unconsciousness Is The Best Defense approach to conflict, got to actually look competent for a change. After all, he had Morgana draining his life force out through the magical bracelet of the week (what is it with bracelets on this show?) and he still made it through the not-at-all ominously named Perilous Lands and made it to Mordor — er, the Fisher King’s tower — without Merlin’s help. And Merlin! For once he didn’t need Gaius to deus ex machina in with an old book and tell him exactly what to do, he got to step in there and Dragonlord it up like a boss.
There are faults about you that I accept cannot be changed and will attempt to learn to live with, like the Arthur and Gwen storyline, which I’m pretty sure is the most awkward thing I’ve witnessed since middle school. I also can learn to accept that Morgana no longer bears any resemblance to the character previously known as Morgana in prior seasons, because Morgana 2.0 seems to really, really hate Arthur, and I’m pretty sure Morgana 1.0 thought he was kind of chill.
In general, I love you, show. And this episode was great. But I have one tiny, insignificant quibble; I appreciate that you’re trying to make an effort to have a Merlin and Arthur episode where we’re reminded of their epic destiny, because you’ve been skimping in that department. But here’s the thing, it could have been so much better if they had gone on a quest together.
I know you’re very leery of putting Merlin and Arthur together at all, lest someone read into it and think they’re gay. Believe me, considering the strict template you’ve started following for all their scenes together (I call the two scenarios “Arthur and Merlin do a Bert and Ernie Impersonation” and “Merlin Gives Good Advice”), you could not have made that more clear. You would rather shoot your own mother than have them be gay. And while I disagree with this, I can be mostly respectful of your stance.
But what can’t be sacrificed in your No Homo campaign is the fact that Merlin and Arthur are supposed to, at some point, become friends. Remember, two sides of the same coin, that half that makes the other whole? All that stuff the dragon talked about? Isn’t that why there was all that epic questing and life-risking and soul bearing in the first two seasons?
This entire season has felt kind of off for me, mostly because it seems like Merlin and Arthur are now existing in completely separate universes. It’s like Arthur’s in his own little world and Merlin’s running after him picking up his messes, and the distance between the two characters is growing. Merlin and Arthur scenes are what you’re best at. And, if YouTube hit counts are indicative of popularity, what people like the most. Those handful of moments between the two of them? Greatest part of the season. I don’t think it’s greedy to ask for more of something like a sharing feelings around a campfire scene, show, especially when it’s what you’re best at.
I want only good things for you, Merlin. I want you to be amazing and all sorts of epic. But making this gulf between Merlin and Arthur is not only making it hard to believe that one day they really will be the legendary dudes who untie all of England — sorry, Albion — together but it’s putting a gulf between us.
And I don’t think either of us want that.
With all the love in the world, Me.
Clacked by Julia Hass 
on Oct 31, 2010 @ 10:28 EST5EDT
As always, I agree with you completely.
Right now, there is more open friendship between Gwaine and Merlin who have know each other a short time than Arthur and Merlin who have know each other for years. There are always glimmers of hope in each episode, in this one it was when Arthur was concerned when Merlin was locked behind the throne room door and when he slapped him on the shoulder when he saw he was all right, but honestly, very little. Even if Merlin and Arthur did not go on the quest together, Arthur could have at least said “thanks” to Merlin when he saved his life and took off the bracelet (as Arthur thanked Merlin at the end of the Poisoned Chalice way back at the beginning of Season 1). I know it’s a running joke that Arthur has emotional constipation and we are to presume that they really like each other, but it is wearing very, very thin and becoming frustrating not enjoyable to watch. With the season already wrapping up, and next week about Gaius and his girlfriend, we are running out of episodes in Season 3, although I know there will be a short 10-episode Season 4 coming. What we need is Merlin laying his life on the line as he does every week and Arthur thanking Merlin and just telling Merlin what he thinks about him for once (not that complicated!).
Having said that, the LOTR plot and CGI were better this week, Gwen is developing as a character nicely, and Gwaine is always fun. Who else but Gwaine could call Arthur a “Princess”!
Hey!
I just want to say that I very much look forward to your Merlin columns; been keeping up with them since Season Two was shown in the States. They’ve been full of such love and cheerfulness for the show, that it’s been such a delight to read your (and Ruby’s) insightful commentaries.
Recently, however, they’ve been increasingly pessimistic and one-noted, weighed down by your obvious frustration about the No Gay policy and heavy-handedness the BBC has taken with the Arthur/Gwen relationship. You have every right to be frustrated and express your feelings in like manner.
By your comments it’s seems clear you’re aware that this show has never tried or claimed to be socially transcendent – I suppose it just baffles and depresses me that you continue to have these hopes and expectations that will never be delivered. That you know will never be delivered.
I guess what I’m trying to say is – I miss this column as a happy place? About commentaries on the various elements within the episode? I don’t know – you say this episode was 90% perfect, yet the tone of this piece says you felt it was 80% bad, and that the last 20% hardly matters because of the ugly stain on the carpet. *pets carpet* Don’t worry! I know a steam cleaner!
Um. So, feel free to ignore me and things; I’m just a reader and columns often are both meta and social commentary-ish. Uh. Yeah. I’m awful at the words, so I hope these two cents carry the respect that I definitely hold for the column and its writer.
Looking forward to the next. :)
*POST AUTHOR*
I think the reason I focus on it so much is because it’s gotten to the point where it’s negatively effecting the show. I’d love to go back to the happiness and sunshine. I’d love to have an episode that wasn’t wrapped up in or bent to accommodate Arthur and Gwen’s relationship. That and Morgana’s evil smirking is a lot of what Season 3 has been ABOUT.
I think what hurts isn’t just that it was hard for me to extinguish hope after the first season, even though I knew it was unreasonable. Even after the Arthur/Gwen episodes of the second season, there was so much other plot and stuff going on around Arthur/Gwen it was easy to skip. This season it’s so self-consciously disparaging of anyone who ever had the nerve to think Arthur and Merlin might like each other that it’s honestly insulting and makes it hard to enjoy the parts I might have in the past.
Also, television to me, especially television I really care about the way I care about Merlin, transcends television to me. I think shows should hold up to examination and meta, and I think it’s important to examine what shows say inherently as much as they say overtly. Fans are, in general, a lot smarter than show writers like to think, and they think about these things, and they contextualize what’s happening to the characters on screen into their own lives. That’s what good television does.
Next week I’m pretty sure there will be no Arthur/Gwen v. Arthur/Merlin parts to discuss. It’ll probably be an examination of Gaius, or it’ll be a fake script. But if the summaries for episode 10 are anything to go by… well. You might want to skip that review.
Heh heh. Yeah. I see what you mean. Especially Morgana v.2
I honestly have no problem with your Arthur/Gwen v. Arthur/Merlin discussions. I get irritated by their (A/G’s) destined Epic Love in their -centric episodes too, as it’s difficult to see it as anything but their Epic Marriage, Soon to be Tragedy. Then again, my view of Merlin and Arthur’s relationship is more of a living sword and its master, sharpening the face of the other (unintentional innuendo, hee!). But yeah, though nonsexual, still the most moving and important relationship in the show. I adore them!
ANYWAYS. My point before getting side-tracked is, even as a reader who largely agrees with you and likes to hear your opinions, it gets sort of depressing to see only the bad and upsetting things get emphasized. The same points discussed. And while the show is most definitely not the constant happiness and sunshine that it used to be, it also seems unrealistic to take snapshots of downpours and tornadoes and have that be all this show represents. Aren’t the good things worthy of being pointed out too?
LOL. This comment is ridiculously sentimental; I hope you can forgive me for it. Your reply was a happy thing to read, and loved hearing your thoughts on works that transcend their original media (fanworks, y/y?). Fandoms are a strange and wonderful movement, aren’t they? It’s the best being part of one. :)
Dear Julia, please keep on your good work. I think you are very incisive on the show and I love that.
As an emotionally mature audience, I think NO ONE can deny who loves Arthur best in this show (whateve kind of love it is) and who is perfect match for him. That is Merlin. But I agree I myself am very tired of the show recently.
Julia is depressed without me. But we were tired of all the slash fiction being written about us…
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh, Ruby,as usual you see right through me. I’m starting to think what they said about us gazing into each other’s limpid pools of desire was true!
(PS – I may need your help for Ep 10, I’ll e-mail you.)
Julia, I like your review a lot. And I can understand your hurt for Arthur and Merlin. I myself is experiencing that hurt A LOT these days. Actually, my heart is aching so much for the show now.
My feeling is that the producers are quite homophobia as this is supposed to be a kid show and Arthur and Merlin can not be gay. But in their desperate effort to push the heterosexual romance (and I don’t know how cheesy is the whole storyline of that), unfortunately, they have to sacrifice the chemistry between Bradley and Colin, which is Seldom seen on the TV show.
So many people are talking about A/M ever since the start of the show, that really means something. But I think even BBC can be homophobia to some extent sometimes.
I agree with all that has been said. Although we are discussing the network homophobia issue (that was mentioned in earlier posts in connection with the cutting of the last “no man is worth your tears” scene of 2×13 by SyFy in the US), I would be satisfied with just more airtime for A/M, even if they are chatting about the weather in a friendly instead of angry-A/hurt-M tone. Honestly, the family show issue is a distraction since most of this goes over children’s heads anyway (for example, the famous “hug” scene is thought of by most as just funny not anything else). We do have a few good moments in each episode, but not much. Right now, the A/M scenes are short and full of petty squabbles (for example, 3×01 — M laughs off A’s practice with the sword with a nasty comment, A makes fun of M in front of the knights, M makes A fall in the mud as payback). This is not the fabled “banter” we hear so much about. Maybe the end of Season 3 and Season 4 will give the loyal fandom what they really want — more A/M adventures together, with a more Merlin/Gwaine feel to them.
My ache is that where is the Bromance? It is not sexually involved so that will be safe for a family show (or whatever). But to avoid any potential homoerotic, even the Bromance is not there anymore (in my eyes). That’s really bad. The pure and most beautiful relationship between Arthur and Merlin is sacrificed and Bradley and Colin’s chemistry are toned down for that. (Even in the very rare scenes of A/M, we can still sense their chemistry. This is why their chemistry is so precious and gorgeous).
agree! 100% on A/M scenes!
Although Gwaine’s hair rocks ALL.THE.TIME.FOREVER. , I’d appreciate better A/M moments. Gwaine can’t hog all the campfire shots of feelings! This show is about ARTHURxMERLIN! Right?! Show!!! Listen to us! We cannot wait for Season 4! We are barely surviving as it is! Remember to love us, coz this eps alone hit 5000 dls on torrents. So yeah, you must love us. And dragon scenes please ^_^
BTW, you have slash fiction?? where? link please ^_^
The writers and producers of Merlin should read this… I am trying REALLY hard not to hate my favorite show because of what the writers have done to it.. and it really breaks my heart.