Well, kids, it’s happened — we have lived through the very worst Merlin episode of all time. I won’t say it won’t get worse than that ever again, because that just seems like somehow the Merlin writers (because, let’s blame who’s culpable here — it wasn’t the actors, all of whom knocked their performances out of it park) would hear that and be all “challenge accepted!”
The Merlin writers and I — as I have often mentioned before — have a relationship that most closely resembles dating someone who is extremely insecure and emotionally unstable, but the sex is really good. Every time you think that that’s totally not enough to continue having a relationship, they go and do something super-sweet, which makes it harder for you to break up next time they act like a jerk. At the beginning of this season, our relationship was beautiful and idyllic and everything I have ever wanted from it. Our heroes were dashing, the storylines had some vague semblance of coherency, and many swashes were buckled. And then came last week, which was just meh, and this week, which made me long for snake-ladies all over again. I’m not even sure where to begin with what was so appalling about this episode, but I think what it comes down to is heinous, irresponsible writing.
Look, I’m aware that this show isn’t really Arthurian legend as much as it’s filmed Arthurian fanfiction, there are certain things that even I, someone who is normally in favor of screwing with the legend as much as physically possible, hold utterly sacred, and the Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot triangle is one of them. The entire point of Arthurian legend, which is something you see echoed in a lot of lesser stories (Gwaine and the Green Knight, Tristam and Isolde, the Holy Grail quest) is about the inherent fallibility of humanity, about the struggle between duty and passion. And that struggle exactly is both what leads to the greatest of human triumphs as well as the most dire of fuck-ups. While occasionally, like in the case of the Holy Grail quest, it can tend towards the side of preachy lecturing, it’s still open to interpretation and discussion. Is it, in fact, a tragedy that Lancelot’s greatest and only flaw is his impossible devotion to a woman he can never have? Was Guinevere really at fault for falling in love with someone when she’d only married Arthur out of duty? You (and probably the other students taking whatever Arthurian legends college course you’re discussing this in) decide! And chickening out of this entire narrative by having Lancelot not really be Lancelot and Gwen being enchanted ruins what is arguably the single most important story in Arthurian legend. It’s kind of like someone saying “okay, I’m going to shoot a movie of The Great Gatsby, but it’s going to be set in the future, and on Neptune.” The entire point of The Great Gatsby is that it’s about America in the 1920’s, and that’s just a central tenant you can’t really mess with.
By deciding to do what they did, Merlin opened a whole Pandora’s Box of issues, all of which are so vastly problematic I could probably write a thousand words on each of them. There’s the issue of the obscene amounts of sexism tied up in this storyline, the inherent message of slut-shaming, the creepy rape-y overtones of basically giving Gwen magic roofies, the fact that you come out of this scenario hating everyone (Arthur, why are you such a dick?), the giant, gaping holes of plot logic that are so big you can’t even do the normal Merlin thing of just side-stepping them by ignoring them in favor of staring at pretty people, and above all else, the irreparable damage this entire storyline does to the Arthur/Gwen relationship.
Now, it’s not like Arthur and Gwen had a great and exemplary relationship in the first place. (Single most unintentionally hilarious moment of the episode: Arthur’s robotic proposal to Gwen, because nothing says romance like the dude sounding as though he’s reading cue cards while proposing to you amidst so many candles I am 99% sure it is a miracle that the house did not just burn down around them.) It actually sort of concerns me that the show is trying to sell Gwen and Arthur as the truest of true loves the same way Twilight concerns me. It’s pretty clear that Merlin is trying to take Gwen and Arthur and somehow portray them as the ultimate great love story. Which – really? I mean, it was always a sort of tenuous sell, but you really expect me to be all, “yeah, nothing says true love like your boyfriend blaming you for being magic roofied, then him throwing you in jail, then him humiliating you by making you kneel at his feet and apologize (again for something you had no control over), then shake you, then tell you he’s banishing you, but don’t worry, he’s only doing it because he loves you and really you deserve to die?” God, you’re right. there’s nothing that makes me warmer and fuzzier than that. True love forever, you guys!
But the very worst sin this entire episode committed was being obscenely poorly written. The reason I’ve taken nearly half a week to write this article isn’t because I’ve been busy or attempting to marshal the words to explain my loathing, it’s because the entire episode was boring. It was slow. When I watched the episode I thought “that’s it?” That’s all the greatest and most famous love triangle in history boils down to? Look, I get that the show doesn’t have much of Santiago Cabrera‘s time, and so they were bound by scheduling confines. But that being said, as a writer, I’m insulted. I’m insulted because I could think of at least five other ways to have played this story out with the exact same results that wouldn’t have been sexist, stupid, or so damn boring. Heck, the easiest way they could have fixed it was to simply not have Gwen or Lancelot be enchanted. What if they just decided that Lancelot wasn’t really dead because he’d gone willingly into the underworld, and seeing him caused Gwen a resurgence of feelings? Considering how devastated she was during his funeral, that would have been utterly believable, and cut out the whole skeevy magic roofies scenario. Why didn’t Merlin and Gaius tell Arthur that Lancelot wasn’t really Lancelot? Why do Gwen and Lancelot have more chemistry just making eyes at each other in a tent than Arthur and Gwen have had in any episode ever? Why did we need to justify that by saying it’s just magic? Why was this episode’s script so half-assed and sloppy?
I don’t know. I don’t have an answer. All I know was that this episode was bad. It was terrible. I want to forget it ever happened. And you know what, for the sake of my continued peace of mind, I’m going to do just that.
Clacked by Julia Hass 
on Nov 29, 2011 @ 20:40 EST5EDT
The producers need a true love story for the family market and it must be heternormative. It is the ground rules they can not break. I understand it.
However, their storyline of the whole so called true love story is one of the worst scripted ever. It is forced and pushed. And everything impede in its way need to be thrown out of the window, the characters, the storylines and the logic.
I am always fond of romance. But with their storyline, ehh, I am now fully aware how manipulative the entertainment industry can be. I suddenly get it, it is COMMERCIAL and NO PURE AT HEART anymore.
THIS!! As usual, I agree. What angered me so much was the enchantmenet cop-out. Seriously!!?? SERIOUSLY, writers!!? I’m still mad. As you said, Santiago is otherwise engaged, so his time is limited. However, couldn’t the writers/PTB/whoever, have TRIED to use creativity with the wonderful love triangle. It is epic and they destroyed it. Completely. The acting was stellar. The sentencing scene, as well as the fight, was intense. The end…THE END when Lancelot came to life for a moment, I actually thought (stupidly) that was the ‘twist’ they referred to and Lancelot would be alive and open up a whole big-ass can of worms. Agghhh! I can’t stop ranting, so I’ll leave you to your own frustrations…*stomps off like a petulant child*
Arthur, why are you suck a dick?
Heh, I see what you did there. Yes, I giggled. Yes, I’m twelve.
Malapropisms aside, the absolute lowest point for me was when Arthur, one of the few living characters on the show I still liked, snuck into a Druid cave in the dead of night to steal a magic cup, which rightfully belonged to neither him nor Camelot, from them. Suddenly surrounded by awake but unarmed Druids, his first reaction was to grab a young Druid boy who wasn’t quick enough to flee and hold his sword to the youth’s throat. I chucked the show after that episode, and haven’t been back since. I have been following your episode reviews, though, and had hope this show had turned a corner this season. Sad to hear that this one was a bust.
When it comes to DETAILS, there are a lot of cases they lack the decency of writing. Julian Jones is the only writer I hold strong trust in. His episodes are never too exaggerating or pushing or shallow. Others? I don’t relly hold much faith in.
*POST AUTHOR*
Hah! That was a hilarious yet unintentional typo. I’ve asked the editors to fix it.
No! Don’t fix it – that made me laugh so hard.
Because it’s a family show so they couldn’t possibly have Gwen actually cheating on Arthur because that never happens in real life! I blame society for babying kids way to much.
I love this show but now there is probably a whole group of kids who think Arthur and Gwen are star-crossed lovers and no nothing of the real legend. They cheated to avoid having to actually deal with with the love triangle and then they basically say it’s noble to kill yourself if you cheat with someone! WTF
Totally agree with everything you said and I bet you that in episode 11, Gwen will be back and”true love” will conquer all. Can we just get on with this love story bullshit and continue with just MERLIN? Because of this stupid love story, I’m really slowly starting to hate Arthur’s character. He’s too hilariously shallow and stupid to boot(because of the writers). Sorry. Sorry.
That was a great review and I agree with all of it. 4.09 actually was even worse than I’d thought it was going to be. I was braced for the fact that they werent just going to foreshadow – they were going to play the actual triangle out for good before the marriage to get rid of it (when the main point of it was that it came after and THAT was the betrayal that destabilised Camelot). But they went further and as you say, removed all responsibility from both Gwen and Lancelot.
The show seems to be sliding further and further into writing cartoons (especially cartoon women) rather than 3 dimensional people. We have 2 female leads. One is Good! One is Evil! This Morgana cant feel any twinges of conscience and Gwen can not make human errors. Ever. Hence yet *another* piece of enchanted jewellery. (The snakes to enchant Merlin were actually a radical departure. Im sure there were many people in the writing team pushing for enchanted cufflinks.)
One of the most annoying things for me has been reading the producers posturing as if they’ve done something brave in addressing the triangle, when they must know that what they did was storytelling cowardice at its worst. TBH that ep could have been written by an A/G fanfic writer in denial of what was to come in legend- and they’d have done a far better and more realistic job.
It never ceases to amaze me how invested the producers are in the A/G thing to the extent that they’re prepared to compromise other relationships, the legend and the dynamic of the whole show to push it. Its just…weird. Look at the casualties: Merlin and Arthurs relationship all though S3; Merlin/Gwen; Merlin/Lancelot; Arthur/Lancelot (his First Knight) before his Kingship really starts; even Arthur as a character has been distorted cruelly to fit The Project. And what about what they’ve made of Gwen herself? She was so brilliant in S1 and 2 and now all she can do is make eyes at Arthur, do things to impress Arthur and want to be queen.
This episode – Guinevere’s big iconic emotional storyline – she wasn’t even allowed to make a mistake through guilt and relief (which would have been travesty enough of the G/L love story); they couldnt even risk giving her that much of a character flaw ,so they enchanted her instead to remove all blame. Poor Angel. All she was allowed to play was confused victim, but you really could see a hint of what she’s capable of in her scenes with Lancelot, which had the effortless passion ands chemistry so horribly missing in A/G. The contrast was stunning – she can be really sexy, as can Santiago.
Even if they insisted on the whole ‘but I dont love Lancelot at all any more – he was just a silly first crush’ (there goes one of the greatest and most enduring love stories of early Western literature) they could have allowed her a genuine error of judgement. Before the show I thought they would – that she’d be confused by guilt and relief that Lancelot wasn’t dead and make a mistake. But not only did they remove Lancelot’s culpability they removed Gwen’s. Magic made them both do it! Thus they sanitised the whole fabulous, complex tale of the human frailty of good people. And it was just another mad Morgana plot – and how many have there been of those now?
Since they didn’t have the guts to deal with it honestly, they should have left the triangle alone. Its as simple as that. They should have continued to do what they did while they were building it up so carefully through S1 and 2 – just hint at what was to come offscreen sometime in the future. If Santiago couldnt get away, just dont use Lancelot, but allow him at least the chance to return. Instead they killed him off just to make sure there isnt even the shadow of the triangle hanging over the Great Love Story. Their aim was to neutralise it for good by playing it out pre marriage which of course they did and just to make sure they killed poor old Lancelot- for good this time and left him stained by dishonour he didn’t actually have the chance to earn. The fact he survived Arthur in the legends was quite important to a few of them, but by this point, does it matter? After all unlike every legend that involves Lancelot & Guinevere, in Shines universe, Arthur is her True Love. There goes one of the most celebrated romances of early western literature.
The whole A/G pain at the end was meaningless and sterile because we know its all going to be fine very soon – that’s the problem with putting the supposed huge drama before the happy ending that the show has made absolutely clear is written in stone. This ‘estrangement’ is supposed to put ‘conflict and tension’ in a relationship so dull it could stun an ox, but we know that the only remaining issues are exactly how heroic Gwen will be when she comes back in a couple of episodes time and how bright the sunbeams and how loud the violins will be when she marries Arthur. So much for drama.
The playing the triangle out pre-marriage of course created the idiocies you describe – the whole shaming scene for a start would have fitted fine with the idea of a medieval wife and queen caught in flagrante. Thats clearly where they took it from – the legend. But it fitted with the legend, not with this. A peasant betrothed -not married -to a king, kissing someone else ? A betrothed woman incidentally, if they’re trying to claim historical accuracy, who is never chaperoned? No dynastic alliances ruined. No insult by a foreign princess. Just a lover letting another one down – apparently. Agravaine calling for the death sentence would have fitted with legend as well. This time it – and Arthur’s supposed restraint in not executing her and just exiling her instead, seemed ridiculous and tyrannical. You fancy someone else? Right! You’re banished!
It was pathetically ill thought out – it simply made Arthur look like a spoilt maniac to much of an audience who wouldn’t understand why he was ‘overreacting’ so badly. There has never been a bow to old standards of morality in this show -in fact Christianity is never mentioned, even when the Witchfinder was in town. Gwen, even when she was Arthur girlfriend/wife to be and everyone knew it, was in and out of Arthur’s bedroom constantly, unaccompanied. Yet when she’s caught having an illicit snog (still unmarried btw) thats death? Hmmm.
As for it being a family show so they have to show this is True Love Foreva – they don’t baulk at showing the ghosts of drowned kids (next week) yet the idea that relationships aren’t fairytales makes this not a family show? Actually in relationship terms that episode firmly established it as a kids show unfortunately; its Disney Princess writing for small girls. They don’t mind giving kids the screaming heebie-jeebies but relationship realism is too much. Apparently.
The acting was great as ever and it made the waste of the storyline’s potential all the more appalling. But again the contrast between G/L chemistry and A/G was painful. The proposal was one of the least passionate and romantic things I’ve seen – it felt more like a job offer. And the parting scene – actually Arthur yelling at Gwen was the only genuine believable emotion I’ve ever seen portrayed between them – like 2 real people – but at once he apologised and reverted to the Perfect Prince they write him as around her. The chemistry between them is just so, so *dead*. I know Arthur was supposed to be showing a stiff upper lip but the scene began as disappointed dad to hysterical teenage daughter then ‘this hurts me more than it hurts you’ – and it felt as if he was grounding her for a fortnight more than saying goodbye for ever. He was going to sacrifice his throne for her once was he? It did them no favours that Gwen’s big line was ‘all I’ve ever wanted was to be your queen.” Who thought that was romantic? Angel was great at the crying thing but I was so numbed by then I didn’t really care. The only scene that felt real was Lancelot’s goodbye to Merlin- as ever Colin (and Santiago) hit it out of the park.
So much for the promise of S4. What I don’t understand is how they expect to squeeze a 6th season and a movie out of what they’ve left.
As always in this show all the hard choices and mistakes, all the agonising human dilemmas, all the real, permanent loss and grief always rest on Merlin and to a lesser extent Arthur. But maybe thats why they seem like real characters surrounded by cardboard cut outs more often than not. Or maybe its just that their chemistry can make you believe anything and actually *care*.
“One of the most annoying things for me has been reading the producers posturing as if they’ve done something brave in addressing the triangle, when they must know that what they did was storytelling cowardice at its worst. TBH that ep could have been written by an A/G fanfic writer in denial of what was to come in legend- and they’d have done a far better and more realistic job.”
Hi MaxHeadroom! Harking back to the discussion we had here a few weeks back in anticipation of Ep.4.09 I was looking forward to reading your reaction to this episode, as well as Julia’s review. I totally agree with your comments which I have just quoted – the writers did, as I feared, largely sidestep all the issues which they should have been addressing re. A/G/L and at this point I’m just about finished with the show. I think the single thing that most annoyed me about this episode was the fact that here we have one of the most famous and heartbreaking love stories in all of literature and what do we get? Well, we get one of the parties portrayed as a totally passion-free zombie! As we came to the much-publicised G/L embrace and kiss, was he gazing lovingly into her eyes, whispering heart-felt endearments or indeed concentrating on her in any way at all? Was he heck, he was instead glancing around to make sure old Arthur and Aggy were in place to have a good gawp at the whole thing! It should have been a really special, iconic moment, but it didn’t work on any level for me, even within the context of the contrived triangle – surely even nice-but-dim Arthur could see there was something very odd and artificial going on here? And I don’t for one minute accept that Gwen would have believed that she had the real Lancelot in front of her when he came to her house (before he gave her the bracelet). She’s been portrayed all along as a sensible, shrewd woman who’s not easily fooled or deceived, but we’re expected to believe that she didn’t notice there was anything different about him? Pull the other one!
Having said that, I must confess that there were some things I DID like about this episode. The acting, cinematography and music were all excellent. Oh, and that final scene with Merlin and Lancelot – I thought my poor old heart was going to burst! I also think that the writers brought out something very interesting when they had Gwen tell Arthur that she was “overwhelmed” by Lancelot’s return. That rang a lot of bells for me. I think she has been “overwhelmed” by Lancelot right from their first meeting. In that episode she tells him that she has never met anyone like him. In the “Lancelot and Guinevere” episode she says she hasn’t known she could ever feel about anyone the way she feels about him and that those feelings will never fade. When he comes to the rescue with Percival in 3.13 she looks stunned when she sees him, and she is obviously distraught and overcome with emotion in 4.02 when she learns about his sacrifice. Does any of this equate to her loving him? I haven’t a clue, love takes many forms and means different things to different people. But if we are going to suspend belief and go along with the idea that she DIDN’T notice anything different about him before the enchantment took effect and genuinely believed that this was the REAL Lancelot, then to me it is not surprising at all that she should be perceptive and honest enough to admit to being “overwhelmed” when he “comes back from the dead”. It seems very consistent with her reactions to him in earlier episodes and that much I think the writers should be given credit for.
Finally! I´ve been waiting the whole week for your review! ;)
I totally agree with all the things you said, too. And also I have to say: the name of the show is “merlin”… and I think it´s just not enough character development in merlin to deserve the name… it´s all about Arthur and gwen now and merlin just sat in the other room alone and pretended to be happy about the fact that he´s not the number one for arthur anymore :/ god, I really hated the scene..
Overall I´m just upset about the whole episode!
I wanted to wait for your review to come here and rant (instead of saying anything on tumblr where everyone tries to shout each other down with snarky comments) BUT YOU SAID EVERYTHING. LIKE REALLY, EVERYTHING. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. There was no need to add that bracelet, there was no need to make Lancelot bad (although it was cool in other senses, but not for the affair). It would have contributed to a considerable amount of angst because the characters are torn. Even if one WANTS to make the Arthur Gwen relationship the greatest love affair of all time (and no, i’m not mocking this possibility)- even if they did want to do that, wouldn’t Gwen ultimately choosing Arthur over Lancelot (at least presently) contribute to a (temporary) stronger and happier relationship, and proving that Gwen is after all, HUMAN? Instead we get this AWFUL episode where the fandom retreats into little corners and hates on everyone in the triangle. The amount of Gwen-hate or Arthur-hate and blame game that’s going on in the fandom right now + the stridently feminists.
As someone who usually defends the Arwen relationship despite shipping Merthur (i think their scenes do have chemistry), the entire episode was devoid of it SO MUCH I COULDN’T EVEN BELIEVE IT. Setting aside my Merthur shipper heart, in all seriousness, the whole proposal scene was played out with disjoint. The worse was the confrontation between Arthur and Gwen after her “betrayal”. My heart went out to Bradley James’s and Angel Coulby’s acting, but I didn’t feel a single bit invested in Arthur and Gwen. And that’s seriously a first for me, as a very sappy person in general. Only Merlin saying goodbye to Lancelot made me feel anything.
And don’t get me started on how they dealt with Gwen in the end. When Arthur went all why-are-you-sitting-down-am-I-only-your-King I was appalled. That line totally RUINED the entire scene(And Gwen going I-only-wanted-to-be-your-queen followed as a close second). It was infuriating. I cannot believe that many felt this was one of the best episodes ever.
AT LEAST WE HAVE THE DELETED SCENES THOUGH. ALL MERTHUR PEOPLE SHOULD WATCH THE SCENES AND FEEL HAPPY.
Deleted scenes?
And… people think that was one of the best episodes??? Colour me gobsmacked. :p
They´re so amazing, no idea why these are the DELETED scenes…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R5LG9WgoexE#!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c4nTKFpovf0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PETkZQjIPwQ&feature=player_embedded
https://merlin-network.livejournal.com/229307.html#cutid1
The 4.01 scene is seriously to die for. 1st clip, 2.18 m in, I’ve been re-watching it a gazillion times. You don’t see Arthur giving Gwen anything (FROM HIS MOTHER!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!).
Just watched them- thanks Sarah! That first scene is really wonderful (though wasn’t Arthur going to pass on his ring via Merlin to Gwen at some point?) as is the one A & M talk about their fathers which was fanfic onscreen really. They play so fantastically well together – all the subtle nuances of feeling, awkwardness, affection, mutual interest. It really is showing not telling. Its unspoken but you can see how much they feel for each other.
The Merlin/ Lancelot scene was wonderful too – so, so telling – that was another great pairing. Im going to miss Lancelot just as a lovely, insightful character. :( I liked the Arthur/Gwen scene as well – I assume they left it out because Arthur was going too far in accepting magic for the SL? – but with all the whispering and stopping and starting it felt far more natural than the forced-romance A/G scenes they leave in. Yet again though, all Gwen had to say was ‘trust yourself’ which is all they ever give her as ‘wise counsel’ Interesting they see her as blaming magic for her fathers death though, not just Uther.
I was thinking watching these scenes that, inescapably, the vibe for me between A & G is at best uncomplicated, loving friendship and mutual admiration. No more. No passion or sensuality or real attraction at all – unlike G/L. With Arthur/Merlin it’s extremely *complicated* loving friendship (devotion on Merlins part :p) and mutual admiration, mixed liberally with clear-eyed exasperation, and status difference thrown in. Maybe thats why the latter relationship feels so much more real and interesting – to me at least?
I thought just about every scene they left out could have added something important – the Morgause/Morgana one gave Morgana a thread of motivation for being a crazed mass murderer. Agravaine’s ‘undying love’ too; like G/A it was telling not showing and totally inexplicable, but at least it was a stab at an explanation. And the little touches of the knights teasing Merlin in 4.04 and the shot of Arthurs horse almost stepping on a corpse in 4.01. When I look at some of the padding thats left in, I do wonder who’s making these choices.
I’m grateful they didn’t undermine the Arthur/Gwen relationship. I don’t think they’ve shown Gwen in love with Lancelot since “Lancelot and Guinevere”. To change that IMO would have been a retcon.
I can see your point if what theyre doing is putting on a kind if dress-up soap every week with characters they’ve invented themselves. But they’re meant to be retelling the legends – or so they boast. In the legends Guinevere honours Arthur but is ultimately hopelessly in love with Lancelot – but that relationship doesnt come to a head till after the A/G marriage, so they could have worked it perfectly reasonably. Not every marriage is blissful after all is it?
Since they introduced Lancelot at all as a character and semi-love interest for Gwen, the retconning has *all* been done in favour of A/G really. Lancelot was supposed to be Guinevere’s endgame – kind of like Romeo was Juliet’s; A/G is not the great love story of the Arthurian legends. In my view, they should have hinted at the triangle and no more, since they simply didn’t have the courage to deal with it.
MaxHeadroom, can I just say you’re awesome. First, let me say I love the moniker….’MaxHeadroom’..I missed that guy. He was funny. Second, I really enjoy your comments. You’re articulate and always considerate in your responses to those who have different views than you.
Your comment, “Thus they sanitised the whole fabulous, complex tale of the human frailty of good people” is so true. It’s such a shame TPTB went the easy route with little to no creativity with the A/G/L story. I also wish that if TPTB were too nervous to broach the betrayal, then leave it out. I’m curious to know if the reason Lancelot wasn’t made a full-time character in S1 is because, even then, Santiago was unavailable. As that was the introduction of Lancelot, cast someone else (I know, I know, Santiago’s awesome, but still…). I’ve wondered how the A/G/L storyline could have been if he had been a full-time character.
After watching the ep, I was stunned, STUNNED, even rendered speechless (and that says A LOT) that this was what TPTB thought was such a great twist. I’ve always taken ‘Merlin’ with a grain of salt because, IMO, it’s a campy little show with lots of funny and silly. However, with the way S4 was moving along, I’d thought things had changed. It wasn’t so campy and was growing a bit. As disappointed as I am about the A/G/L, and now have REAL, SCARY doubts about how the reveal may happen, I still love ‘Merlin’ and will continue to watch, albiet with a little less enthusiasm as I had.
Again, thanks MaxHeadroom for your thoughts, consideration, and insights.
@Adrienne: “I’m curious to know if the reason Lancelot wasn’t made a full-time character in S1 is because, even then, Santiago was unavailable. As that was the introduction of Lancelot, cast someone else (I know, I know, Santiago’s awesome, but still…). I’ve wondered how the A/G/L storyline could have been if he had been a full-time character. ”
I can’t exactly answer your question, Adrienne, but I do remember that there was an audio commentary on the Season 1 DVD for Ep. 1.05 in which Lencelot was introduced and one of the writers, can’t remember which, said that the Merlin writing team always had Santiago in mind as their choice for Lancelot and were amazed and thrilled when he accepted (I think they may have worked with him previously on the BBC’s “Shakespeare Retold” series). My take on things is this: given that this version of the Arthurian legend is set in the “early years” ie well before you’d expect to see Lancelot and the other Round Table knights introduced, and also the fact that the writers have presented A/G from the start as basically Prince Charming and Girl-Next-Door / Cinderalla rather than a couple in an arranged marriage, having Lancelot around too much in the first few seasons was always going to be difficult from a storyline point of view and therefore they had to limit his appearances. This set up something of a catch-22 situation whereby the writers couldn’t expect Santiago (or any other actor they might have cast) to turn down other work on the offchance that the Merlin writers might expand his role (and no-one had any guarantees the show would last beyond the first season anyway), the consequence of which is that the writers can’t always predict far enough in advance how Santiago’s other commitments might affect his availability, which kind of makes it difficult to plot a story arc for the character. It’s particularly frustrating that Santiago finds himself so busy elsewhere just at the moment when Lancelot could have been brought into the story in a much bigger capacity, ie now Arthur is king and the core group of knights has been introduced. It will be even more frustrating if Santiago’s role in “Alcatraz”, his current US project, turns out to be quite a small one, which would appear to be the case if his absence from most of the promotional material that has been released so far is anything to go by.
Gosh. Thank you Adrienne. I’m afraid Im guilty of becoming a bit too inspired by Julias’s reviews and unleashing some good old rants. And starting discussions. Im actually a terrible guest. :p
And while Arthur was talking about becoming Gwen’s husband, Gwen was all about being his queen. He kept saying it and she never said anything about just being his wife. Not his queen, but his wife. There’s a lot of difference there! I thought the writers were bonkers and missed that or perhaps they felt that was a nice touch? Stupid.
I agree nothing much more to be said , all long running shows have a few weak Episodes , some do Flash backs and mine past shows. However the last 2 episodes are a disgrace. Ep 8 i thought was the lazy writers one , but then followed by Lancelot well if this continues then forget Season 6 .. PLe4ase do not ruin the show by killing it slowly, Better a swift death by the sword , or Merlin should weave some magic Fast..
I’d like to address your comments on the necessity of the love triangle to Arthurian legend. First, just as a point of order: because there’s no Arthurian “canon” it’s tough to claim any piece that deals with the legends as “fanfiction.” I know most people go by Malory, but there are hundreds of stories that fall under the scope the Arthurian literature, and it’s hardly fair to say one is more valid than the other just because it’s less similar to the most famous ones. And saying that human fallibility is the entire point… I mean, that really depends on which stories you’re looking at. Again (if you’ll forgive the assumption) you seem to be focusing too much on a cross section of these myths. I know it can sometimes appear as though the “Merlin” writers don’t know their stuff, but there are a lot of little things in their episodes that show they really do know what they’re talking about and that their choices are deliberate. (Note: I’m definitely not saying that for a TV show the writing is perfect, or even very good a lot of the time. I just mean that I’ve seen things that, to me, say that they’ve done their reading.)
Also, the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot triangle is by no means essential to an interpretation of the legend. Lancelot wasn’t even entered into the mix until Chretien de Troyes started writing, and the legend had a long history before then, it just wasn’t written down much. For instance, Geoffrey of Monmouth was somewhat contemporary to Chretien and his “History of the Kings of Britain” (which is also considered one of the most important Arthurian texts) doesn’t have a Lancelot. Now, granted, when an interpretation does include Lancelot, one expects they’ll do a somewhat more traditional interpretation of the triangle, but what I’m saying is that just because it’s expected doesn’t mean it’s necessary.
I totally agree with this comment. I’m tired of hearing over and over again that “Merlin” is welcome to change every part of the legend except the fact that Guinevere cheats on Arthur with Lancelot. Why is this so important? This show has never followed the typical Arthurian texts so why should it start now? As DewOfHeaven mentioned, the love triangle isn’t even present in all the retellings of Arthurian legend particularly the older versions.
Let’s all put legend away, but TBTP successfully make Gwen a less person and her role model style is simpering and shallow. We know this society is heternormative and I understand they want to push A/G fairytale story. But when things coming into details, the character of Gwen is a joke.
And I am a guy and I will always look at the whole thing from a guy’s perspective.
I totally understand that it’s not in the legend, since the knight lancelot and the HOLY GRAIL itself was included to romanticize the story in the later cycles. But even this episode without (the knowledge of the legend) is utterly disastrous for the relationship between arthur/gwen as many disappointed arwen fans have pointed out- especially relevant was the fact that this was totally out of character for her yet nobody said anything (urgh elyan) or suspected magic, as merlin was wont to do when arthur was enchanted. if there ever was good line in the break-up scene, it was angel’s delivery of “all those times I’ve waited for you” and this is striking in her love for him compared to how Arthur banished her (yes i get all the arguments WHY he did it and why this is compassionate- but as julia says, this doesn’t convince me of their love). maybe it’s just me, but i’m very bothered by how Arthur’s last words to Gwen were “I’m so sorry”- which is such a detached statement, and attempting to play the hurt/withdrawal of arthur but instead came across as someone who passed a judgement and feels pity. Yes, not everyone probably sees it that way and possibly see this as a crisis that the couple will eventually overcome. I accept that. That said, DewOfHeaven’s arguments are also very sound and very well argued, and should be kept in mind.
But with regards to Andrea’s comments (for the first part), if we accept the triangle part of the legends as in Chretien de Troyes, then it should naturally come in because merlin hasn’t screwed with the legends to that degree. They haven’t upset and destroyed how the story was going to END. how did Arthur’s reign fall? Agravaine and Mordred brought the fall of Arthur, and they have been included in their warped way. but it was the betrayal of his best knight and queen that led to Arthur’s ruin. TPTB however, have destroyed the possibility of that even happening with Lancelot’s death- we don’t even need Gwen to necessarily betray Arthur in the show, and i’m all for them having a genuine loving relationship because this doesn’t necessarily jar with What Will Happen In the End Because Arthur Will Fall. Then again, this only holds if one accepts Lancelot and the triangle in the legends itself.
I’m not saying that people aren’t free to disagree with the way the writers have chosen handle the Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot love triangle. That’s a matter of personal opinion. I’m merely saying that calling one part of the legends “sacred” while accepting changes to other famous aspects of them doesn’t make sense.
But until now all they’ve done is played with the way they’re getting to the important parts of legend they’re telling. They’re putting them all in place – Camelot & the golden age, Arthurs kingship, Excalibur in the stone, the Lady in the Lake, the knights of the round table, Arthur’s marriage to Guinevere – all except this one which they’ve deliberately altered so radically they’ve completely changed how it ends and what it means. Arguably too this – the A/G/L triangle – was one of the most important aspects of the story. The legend they’re telling IS based on the medieval ones -about Camelot in the end, a kind of earthly paradise, which lasted for a while until it was finally brought down not primarily by outside enemies, but by simple human failings.
I’ve never understood this argument either. They’ve played fast and loose with just about every aspect of every iteration of the legend, from Arthur’s origins to the discovery of Excalibur, so I’m not sure why the Lancelot/Guinevere angle is somehow sacred. Fact is it’s been years since Gwen has shown interest in Lancelot, and the show has always depicted Arthur and Guinevere as it’s “flagship” romance, so I don’t know how this outcome was a surprise to anyone.
This is certainly true. Lancelot was introduced by Chretien. Geoffrey on Monmouth interestingly has Guinevere having an affair with Mordred behind Arthurs back which leads to Camlann. But most of the legends as we know them are medieval not the old Welsh ones. Shine isnt telling the Welsh legends. Everything we’ve seen comes from the backbone of Geoffrey and Chretien
Since Lancelot WAS introduced by Shine I disagree that changing the character’s destiny is unimportant. Or perhaps having introduced Excalibur they needn’t give it to Arthur? Leon can have it. Or indeed if Shine can change each characters fate on a whim why have Guinevere marry Arthur just because they introduced her? Or why not kill her off after the wedding? Have Arthur marry Merlin? Somehow I imagine the same people arguing that keeping some integrity in this telling of Arthurian legend isn’t important, might disagree then?
I’d say as well that Julia’s review point is relevant in this way – the stories as we know them are about human frailty as well as great courage and magic and they are so powerful they’ve lasted centuries. Shine have taken out the human frailty to replace it with ‘Prince Arthur Charming and the girl next door overcome a hurdle put in place by the wicked witch and live happily ever after’. I very much agree that turning the story into a Disney fairytale isnt something to be commended. However now Shine have made their choice (and I totally agree with Dew of Heaven that its a deliberate choice, not ignorance of legend), I look forward to the character of Merlin being given the same fluffy break from legend. No exile in the woods or getting trapped for eternity for him then. He can set up home with Arthur instead :p
Thank you Julia for a wise and coherent review. I have been torn between admiration for the performances – this is a superb cast whatever scripts they are given – and worry over the future of Merlin the series. If the way lies now with Disneyesque cartoon fairy tale romance then I will mourn, deeply mourn for the greatness of this series. I cannot fathom how Shine and TPTB felt that references to, and visions of the execution of children – I’ll say that again good and loud – Child Execution – was perfectly acceptable in a “family” show but any hint of adultery had to be obliterated. Thanks to Maxheadroom for reminding us that the adultery predates Chretian, who just replaced Mordred with Lancelot as Guinevere’s lover. Denial of the legends darkness and the tragedy at it’s heart weakens the story, and points towards nothing more than generic sword and sorcery.
Plus the fact that they didn’t hesitate to throw necromancy and suicide into the mix of a Saturday mid-evening “family” show!
500% agree with your review. I can’t explain it better (with my 2nd language english, surely not).
Poor actors, really…having to play that joke of a scenario.
They deserve better.
And I really don’t see how they will make Gwen come back with Arthur, it will look weird, I’m sure of it.
I didn’t even reconized Merlin character here (doing nearly nothing to improve the situation), and I hated the way other characters reacted to Gwen misfortune. The Gwen they know can’t do something like that. And that damn look her brother gave her, what was that ? It is your sister or not ?
I’m very disapointed, and I wonder how this season will finish.
The fact is that the show is about Merlin, and the writers are not about to delve too deeply into any story arc unless he can play an active part in it (I’m sure this must pose a challenge to the writers since it’s Arthur’s life that drives the action of the story.) A sustained focus on Arthur’s relationship woes reduces Merlin to a passive observer (or a voyeur depending on your perspective). I think the writers understand this, which is why imo, they were never going to delve too deeply into the Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot triangle.
I’m totally comfortable with the idea that all characters except Merlin are going to be secondary to the title character on a show called “Merlin”, so would agree with you that the writers were unlikely to spend very long on the A/G/L relationship. But once they had decided to include it at all, they were entitled and bound to expect any amount of feedback, be it positive or negative, on the way they actually handled that aspect of the story.
With regard to your earlier points, I don’t think there has ever been an assumption among viewers that “the Lancelot/Guinevere angle is somehow sacred”, in the sense that I never detected any great expectation from fans that those two would have a full-blown affair or somehow blow the Arthur Guinevere romance out of the water permanently. And yes, the writers have made it pretty clear that “Merlin”’s Arthur and Guinevere will end up together, but that is the case in just about every version of the legend, so no big surprises there. But none of this renders the writers immune from criticism as to HOW they handled the Triangle, my objections being that they avoided dealing with it on a human level, fell back on enchantment as an excuse, brought Lancelot back from the dead, ruined his reputation and then killed him off again, all of which I found so horrendous that I have decided to watch no further episodes of a show that I had previously watched (and largely enjoyed) for almost four full seasons. I’m saddened and disappointed, rather than bitter or resentful, about what they chose to do, and sincerely hope that viewers who ARE continuing to watch the show enjoy it for many more episodes, but the net result is that it’s no longer on MY viewing schedule.
Hi Dee :)
“And yes, the writers have made it pretty clear that “Merlin”’s Arthur and Guinevere will end up together, but that is the case in just about every version of the legend, so no big surprises there.”
I wouldn’t agree with this bit at all -Arthur and Guinevere marry but Lancelot ends up with Guinevere or she ends up alone or dead in just about every version of the legend- certainly the medieval ones. Arthur and Guinevere happy ever after is very much Shine’s invention and is the only major bit of legend they’ve truly disrespected. I wonder if they’ll be so kind to Merlin and give him a happy ending – given the fact that they reserve all suffering, all sacrifice and all loss for him.
Hi MaxHeadroom and Happy New Year! Thanks for replying to my comment. I should clarify that what I meant to say was “the writers have made it pretty clear that “Merlin”’s Guinevere will end up as Arthur’s wife and queen, but that is the case in just about every version of the legend, so no big surprises there.” You are, of course right about her having a relationship with Lancelot – at the same time as being Arthur’s wife and queen – in many of the legends, especially the later ones. Hope this clarifies what I meant to say in the first place.
You are absolutely right to point out, too, that the “Merlin” writers have messed about no end with the triangle (in my opinion to no good effect at all). I’ve probably said this before but, at the risk of repeating myself, my view, right from Season 1, has been that “Merlin’s” powers-that-be wrote themselves into a corner by portraying Arthur and Gwen as a fairytale-type prince and Cinderella (rather than a couple brought together in an arranged marriage), and then going on to try and have their cake and eat it by introducing Lancelot as a possible romantic interest for Gwen (rather than just giving him a storyline as a friend and confidant of Merlin and eventually as an iconic knight of the Round Table, for which they surely had plenty of scope). To me, the whole dynamic of the triangle was wrong, something had to “give”, but they ploughed on regardless and in the end they arrived at the horrible “twist” that was Ep. 4.09, when (having by that stage apparently lost track of who was supposed to feel what for whom),they resorted to using enchantment and necromancy as story devices which, for this viewer at least, backfired spectacularly.
Hope this clears things up!
With regards to you no longer watching the show because of the Lancelot du Lac episode I can’t help but think that is an overreaction the show must have had something going for it for you to invest so much into an episode and storm of in an huff and declare you will never watch it again.
Love the show, sad Lancelot will no longer be in it and to clarify Lancelot came in in series 1 and the writers were not going to bring in the A/G romance until much, much later. In the canon Lancelot and Gunivere have been in love before Gwen marries Arthur which is pretty much what happens in Merlin. AS for the whole romance thing this romance seemed to touch a cord with people who have been in romances that were not approved of by their families or social group and I think they’ve handled it really well.
The ratings were really high for ep9 S4 fell for ep10, rose again for ep 11 and ep 12 had the highest overnight ratings ever yet in the UK according to the merlin website, so you’re in a minority who fell out of love with the show because it did not do what you wanted it to do. Go write your own show and give yourself what you want.
I couldn’t disagree more. I wouldn’t say the show isn’t about Merlin – not any more. Merlin has been allow no character development or character coherence for some time. They can’t allow it because they need to keep him in stasis to continue the shows conceit – the sorcerer hiding as despised servant – and they apparently lack the imagination or basic storytelling guts to move on from it. So Merlin has become a plot device to progress the action for other characters. His powers and his behaviour change randomly from episode to episode; there is no coherent reason for him to continue to hide now Uther has gone.
‘The sustained focus on Arthurs relationship woes’ was created entirely by the producer s themselves as a desperate attempt to add some cardboard conflict to the A/G relationship which THEY choose to focus so relentlessly. The whole second half of S4 centred on it leading to an outcome so obvious a 5 year ld would have seen it coming – just as so much of S3 was riddled with A/G obsession – so to suggest that the producers were concerned that they were giving it too much time when they could be developing the character of Merlin, simply does not ring true to me. When A/G are featured, Merlin is used as the producers voice and becomes a crazily invested, (and in 4.11, petty and spiteful), A/G fangirl – to suit.
As for ‘not delving too deep’ into the iconic triangle – actually they didn’t have to delve at all given that the affair happened after the marriage. They chose to use it to neutralise it – not to explore it in any way – that was proved by the way they handled it. The show has certainly fiddled with legend, but its never changed the essential outcome of central iconic events – Excalibur still went to Arthur, the knights formed around the Round Table, Arthur became king, Morgana is his sister, he married Guinevere- ONLY the triangle was completely changed and reversed and that is *purely* because they wanted to remove all threat to their childlike Disney romance.
‘The sustained focus on Arthurs relationship woes’ was created entirely by the producer s themselves as a desperate attempt to add some cardboard conflict to the A/G relationship which THEY choose to focus so relentlessly. The whole second half of S4 centred on it leading to an outcome so obvious a 5 year ld would have seen it coming – just as so much of S3 was riddled with A/G obsession – so to suggest that the producers were concerned that they were giving it too much time when they could be developing the character of Merlin, simply does not ring true to me. When A/G are featured, Merlin is used as the producers voice and becomes a crazily invested, (and in 4.11, petty and spiteful), A/G fangirl – to suit. ‘
I think what you’ve written above is nonsense. The truth is that because of the way Bradley James plays the role of King Arthur, Arthur has really come to the fore. The romance between Arthur and Gwen is central to every Arthurian legend so it would also be central to Merlin the show. I love the romance Gwen has great chemistry with both Lancelot and Arthur and the romantic episodes tend to rate highly every series. Yes you could see that A/G would get back together again but I was intrigued by how they would come back together also I was taken by surprise by the last 15mins of E9 S4, it was a brilliantly done.
The chracter of Merlin has been very limited by the writers but judging by ep13 S4 things may be looking up and if not then maybe Colin should have a word with the writers about Merlin’s development as a character. He’s in a pretty powerful position to be able to have a say about where his character is going but then again he is still just a Shine employee the horrible truth of any actors life it that they will always be a commodity.
I don’t understand people like you who invest so heavily in a show they clearly have no respect for. You don’t like the writing nor much else by the sounds of it. If you like Colin Morgan then just look at pictures of him and this will stop you getting so upset about a show you clearly don’t really like.
Ive just seen your post, hence the delay in replying. With respect, ‘I don’t understand people like you’ who react to criticism of this show with personal hostility and ‘don’t watch it then’. The whole ‘I will not tolerate opinions that do not gel with my own’ thing that you and sadly many A/G fans seem to have going on; ‘if you don’t like exactly what I like, I demand you shut up’. Drama actually has a history of analytical criticism – its been going on for centuries.
If I had no respect for the show I wouldn’t watch it far less comment on it. Its because I see the shows potential that I care about it. I’m deeply disappointed with the way the show’s focus on Arthur’s deeply dull love life has distorted its writing, characterisation and dramatic potential. But Im on record as loving other aspects of it – I loved the first 7 episodes of S4 for example and praised them highly. If you want to defend the things you love and I dislike by all means go ahead – its called debate- but you could try being a bit less defensively aggressive and personally unpleasant.
As for the meat of your argument, I think its wishful thinking to imagine that its because of the way Bradley (much as I love him) plays Arthur that the character has ‘come to the fore’. He was always to the fore – he’s the co-lead. I’m delighted he’s to the fore. They’re the Arthurian legends. But using Merlin as a plot device is well past tired in my opinion.
The romance was central to the medieval legends the show is telling *because* it became a triangle that destabilised Camelot. It wasn’t central to the legends as some kind of kids idealised Disney thing. We’ll have to disagree on the chemistry between A and G – I don’t see anything there. Im very glad for you that you enjoyed 4.09 and didn’t see the end coming. I have to say though I can’t imagine what else you thought would happen once it was clear the whole thing was being played out for children. I would be very interested to know WHERE in canon L and G were in love before G marries Arthur. Could you give a reference perhaps? To my knowledge that is NOT true, but Im always willing to learn new things.
Im interested in your assertion that the romance has ‘touched a chord with people who’ve been in romances not approved of by their families or social group and they’ve handled it well’. To be honest it amazes me that you think it was handled in any but the most simplistic way. All A and G had to do was wait for Arthur to be king. One episode where Uther decides its not on, then he forgets about it – and that was the extent of the conflict. Oh apart from the episode in which Agravaine manages to convince Arthur to forget all about being in love simply by suggesting it – a desperate attempt to add some interest to the romance even if they had to make Arthur look incredibly weak and suggestible to do it. There was never any real pressure in this show on the happy ending for A/G – other than the shadow of Lancelot, and that’s now been removed, thus the relationship has not even the pretence of dramatic interest. I recommend you look at Romeo and Juliet for an idea of how the subject of people kept apart by families/social pressures can be handled with real emotion and passion and dramatic power.
Elaine: Just found this thread and though I usually only lurk in these types of forums, your comments compel me to respond.
I have to say that I could not disagree with your views more, and in turn, agree wholeheartedly with Max Headroom and Dee.
First off, no one is contesting that Bradley James is wonderful in the role of Arthur–he’s demonstrated since season one a charismatic, multi-layered performance. He is able to convey humor and physicality as well as the weight of Arthur’s responsibility, not to mention the rapport he shares with the title character, Merlin and the actor playing him. Over the past four seasons, we’ve seen him grow, mature and improve greatly as an actor–and that is, as I said, from a base that was already very good. This past year (season 4) he’s surpassed all expectations. I also particularly like his candor in interviews, and how well he understands his character and what works and doesn’t works. He agrees with me, with Max Headroom, with Julia and others in that he has never been onboard with the Arthur/Gwen relationship as it’s been done. He’s been quite consistent in his outspoken views on this.
The problem has been with his character and the writing, and in particular, the execution of the A/G storyline. Arthur seems to turn into Simpleton!Arthur around Gwen, rather like a puppy wanting to please. He’s always polite and well mannered with her, (except of course when he’s banishing her for kissing one of the knights), so I don’t think she really knows him all that well. I will not even go into the subject of chemistry between Bradly and Ms. Coulby–I am aware that chemistry and the perception of same can be subjective. I only see a relationship that feels more like mother-son or brother-sister than anything approaching a passionate romance. I’m also aware that Arthur/Gwen fans push their ship with the same shrill fervor and intensity of Justin Bieber fans, threatening beatings with rainbows and fluffy bunnies for the likes of me and others who do not believe in Disney-esque, unsophisticated fairy tales.
There is not much about Arthur and Gwen as presented on the show Merlin that feels believable or interesting to me. All of the drama surrounding it has been manufactured, teenaged-style angst. Arthur barely even noticed Gwen until season 2, and then tells her he can’t pursue her, because his father’s pulling the strings. Arthur’s father insists Arthur not marry below his station? Arthur shouts that he’ll give up his title, his kingdom, his very life for her, in the long standing tradition of the very young and infatuated everywhere. No matter now, Uther’s dead, so Arthur’s free to marry whoever he wants these days, until, of course, Agravaine tells Arthur the same message. Oh, um, okay, well, Arthur will do just what Agravaine says, because he’s really putty in his uncle’s hands, and has no talent for judging character or discerning loyalty. Gwen’s not “appropriate” for Arthur, after all. Until Arthur changes his mind again, of course, and Saint Gwen (and man, isn’t she perfect to an almost otherwordly degree), forgives him without hesitation. Then he proposes, but Zombie!Lancelot shows up, gives her a bewitched bracelet that no one knows about, and Arthur finds them in lip-lock together. Way to end an engagement really really quickly. Off you go, Gwen, out of Camelot. Arthur’s doing you a favor,letting you live, after all, and Gwen knows it too, she can never forgive herself. She DESERVES to be banished and scorned, she tells Merlin, because she is a saintly martyr and the writers and producers want to make sure everyone knows it. Hell, they even have Merlin declaring that it’s Arthur’s FATE to marry her (no explanation given on where he heard that or when). He becomes the show’s production staff’s mouthpiece. So, when Arthur actually does behave like a king for once and arranges (as was often the custom in midevil times) a treaty with another kingdom and sealing the deal with an engagement with Princess Mithian, Merlin has to tell him, often and loudly, just how wrong headed he’s being. And Arthur responds by threatening Merlin with exile. He can’t cope, can’t function without Gwen, now, and this is just one more way of demonstrating same. When Arthur does recant his marriage decision, he caps things off by giving away chunks of Camelot, land that soldiers he commanded probably died in defense of, and by telling Mithian that his kingdom, his people, his title means nothing without his love for all the ages, Gwen. And the writers present this as somehow a good thing for a king. (I will not even go into how many ways this is not even believable, beginning with the fact that marriages at the time, particularly between royals, were ALWAYS arranged. There are absolutely no versions of the Arthurian legends where Arthur and Gwen courted, fell in love and then mutually decided to marry. That simply was not done at that time. Their fathers arranged the marriage. And while Arthur and Gwen of legend shared friendship and affection, theirs was not a romantic union.)
What this all showcases too is that Arthur is nowhere near to being the king he needs to be, or as Tristan said, something special. He just isn’t. Even Excalibur is just a regular old sword in his hands. A large part of it is because the writers make him stupid and oblivious, unobservant, and still wildly and mindlessly trusting the wrong people. (Darn good thing Gwen is so without flaw, then, isn’t it…)
The other part of the problem is the TPTB’s continued insistence on emphasizing the Arwen. They give Gwen very little of real depth to do (there have been times when I’ve truly wondered why she was there in a scene), and sometimes (such as in 2 episodes this past season), she’s not there at all. Arthur continually tells us that he’s in love with Gwen (and Merlin does too, because after all, if Merlin says so it must be so), and they work hard at bringing the idea home with backlit, slow motion kisses and orchestrations of violins and harps–but they never actually show us. I’m not believing it. They effectively remove any organic source of dramatic tension or conflict for these two (case in point: Lancelot in this episode) so that nothing and no one can ever cast any doubt on the all-encompassing epic-ness of Arthur and Gwen.
It’s funny, too, because Bradley just did an interview with a French magazine where he points out that the show’s largest viewing audience are young and female and the show runners try to play to that demographic. This explains a lot, why we don’t see any real exploration of their trust issues, for example, or any realistic-seeming conversations. The Harlequin romance crowd isn’t interested in reality or believability; they just want another kiss. They want to BE Gwen.
So why do I keep watching a show I am so, so disappointed in? One that I positively loved at the beginning of this season but have come to wonder if I’ll continue to be there when season 5 is shown next fall? Why do I speak out about it, risking the possibility of having the rather crazed and hostile Arwen fanbase’s wrath brought down upon my head? Well, mainly because I still have some hope that I’ll be heard by TPTB, somewhere, that they’ll read forums like this, or hear fans like me at conventions and such. After all, in the interview with the knights Julia did recently, they did say that fans have influenced what shows up onscreen. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way; I know my views are actually in the majority for my age group. So maybe there’s still a chance things might improve. Maybe they won’t settle for a mindless, polite, passionless marriage between Arthur and Gwen in season 5, with Merlin cheerleading from the sides constantly. Maybe, instead of what we’ve been given for the past four years, a dose of realism might be injected into the relationship, there’ll be attempts to communicate, the two of them will realize just how really things aren’t as great as they thought, and they will settle into an affectionate but less than perfect partnership, which would be more in keeping with the actual legends.
One can always hope.
The truth is, this is a show called Merlin. That implies, logically, that the show is about Merlin. It isn’t called Arthur, and it certainly isn’t called Arthur & Gwen and Their Incredible Super-Duper Sunlit Kisses. I want the show to be about Merlin, because that’s what this show is supposed to be about. I want to see him helping and advising Arthur, I want Merlin to be able to reveal himself, I want to see him with his friends. I think the show should focus on Merlin, and it hasn’t always, especially last season. I’m over-saturated and underwhelmed with Arthur and Gwen’s story, as shallow and boring as it is.
One more thing, can you tell me why you feel that the romance “‘touched a chord with people who’ve been in romances not approved of by their families or social group and they’ve handled it well’. ??? Because I couldn’t see that at all. How exactly do you think any of their issues were addressed? The show’s message was pretty much, wait until your father dies, and then when your new friend’s girlfriend dies and you see how sad he is, you should probably go ahead with your original plans.” Simplistic, mindless, and incoherent.
Also, your statements about the show’s ratings going up in episodes that feature Arthur and Gwen? Can you give me any statistics that corroborate this? I keep a close eye on ratings at various sources and they contradict what you’ve said. On the other hand, I’m aware of several Arwen fans who hit the refresh button on Arwen vids over at Youtube, over and over again so that it will show more hits, and they’ll “win”.
Dear Elaine: If you go back and read my post in this thread dated 1 December 2011, you will see that I in fact showered praise on certain aspects of this episode, specifically in respect of the acting, cinematography and music. I have also made it clear that I really disliked the storyline of this episode, and I hope I have done so in a coherent and logical way. I really don’t understand your “overreaction” and “storm of (sic) in a huff” comments- I did neither. I simply decided that I had had enough of the show and decided I didn’t want to waste any more time on it. You may be a bit surprised to know that my life went on as usual despite my being “in a minority who fell out of love with the show” and I didn’t find that I was missing the show at all on the following 4 Saturdays! On the other hand, I am very glad that many other people continued to enjoy Merlin – I certainly wouldn’t expect every viewer to share my opinions! BTW, I think you will find that the jump in ratings for Ep. 4.12 was largely due to no oposition from X-factor and “Merlin” being sandwiched between the two parts of the “Strictly” final, which was a nice boost for the show.
With regard to your assertion “In the canon Lancelot and Gunivere have been in love before before Gwen marries Arthur”, I will leave others who are more qualified than myself in Arthurian legend to respond to that.
Finally, with regard to the last sentence of your post, I’d just like to state that I hope I am never, ever, as rude to someone when responding to their comments. I forgive your rudeness, as I imagine you are rather young and inexperienced, but I do think you will find internet forums, and life in general, to be nicer places if you remember your manners.
First of all, forgive me I’m seeing S4 on SyFy and am commenting having watched it an hour ago. Every comment stated in this article and comments that I, I truly agreed with. This season has taken a turn for the worse and this episode was just awful, gut wrenching and disgusting! I just hate how the triangle was virtually non-existent. Most writers will stretch the hell out of love triangles to boost ratings but these dumb***es did away with it, why? First, this episode was rushed. Second, why would Morgan need a coin to make a wish when she could have wished for the throne in the first place. She could have wished Arthur or Merlin dead. That was truly the dumbest part of the show. Third, Merlin knew Lancelot was a shade and did nothing. What good is Merlin if he can’t tell his friends Arthur and Gwen that they were tricked by Morgana. Arthur should be warned of Morgana’s intentions, why hide it, again stupid!!! Fourth, WTF, does splitting up Arthur and Gwen have to do with Morgana getting the throne and keeping Gwen from it was just stupid! Lastly, the upcoming shows won’t make any sense now. Will they ever find that stupid bracelet? If there isn’t a happy ending to this show(this Merlin), I am done with Merlin. Merlin punked out on this show!
I actually don’t mind the Guinevere Arthur relationship, but I can’t stand the idea of Guinevere and Lancelot because so many people make it seem like this epic love story of star crossed lovers. Like I reminded a friend before me, in the legend when Guinevere slept with Lancelot, she felt guilty afterwards, so guilty in fact, she joined a nunnery. She realized after the affair, that her feelings for Lancelot stemmed from passion and lust (not love) because Guinevere didn’t feel passion for Arthur, just great duty and respect for him (as a citizen of Camelot would). She cut herself off from both Arthur and Lancelot, shut up in a nunnery. This is not epic and the greatest love story of all. But I like Guinevere and Arthur here, even though this isn’t an epic, great big romance; the relationship is somewhat practical but still has some feeling to it as well, and at least the potential to forcibly strike the heart later on in the series; Guinevere gives Arthur support and advice and in return Arthur gives her confidence and courage, since she is visibly rising above her insecurity as being only a servant, but a woman that is able to captivate a king’s heart. And in the legend, Lancelot was a womanizer. He was very noble with all things concerning chivalry, but when it came to women, he was with anyone he could get. But when considering Guinevere and Lancelot in Merlin’s version of the legend, I still don’t see why they brought him back, even if this Lancelot was a cleaner and better version than the one in the legend. When remembering the previous seasons of Merlin, I thought Lancelot was Guinevere’s second choice. She was interested in Arthur amd Arthur was starting to show interest with Guinevere, but he wasn’t comfortable enough in his attraction to Guienevere to act on those emptions, so she gave Lancelot some attention, because he had noble qualities and was just as dashing as Arthur. But Lancelot left, leaving the inevitable attraction to Guinevere and Arthur to flourish and go beyond the boundaries of the status quo. Arthur began to be more committed to Guinevere, then Lancelot had died when he eventually came back to Camelot. I thought this would be the end. I agree, the enchantment that Gwen was under and Lancelot being turned into a zombie, resulted in a bloodless and passionless “affair” between the two, so if anyone was rooting for this couple, they didn’t get what they wanted. And I also agree with the reviewer, I felt strong themes of Mysogyny in this episode that I have never felt in Merlin, and the implications of the “loss” of a female’s reputation. I didn’t like it all because this was never Merlin, except for those subtle hints about class and gender restraints, but they were subtle. Yes, people would tease and never take Merlin seriously because he was a servant, but it was never so serious and hard-handed as the female-bashing scenes in this. No one, even Gaius, expected Guinevere to be acting under an enchantment, they just assumed it of her, like “thats what females do when there under desire” or “females can be harlots sometimes” But if Merlin acts strangely, or any other characters, which has happened, they automatically expect it was the work of an enchantment. Season 4 so far has been a dissapointment, moving slow with erractic pacing; one episode will have something so random, about a serpent girl making a village thats very distant from Camelot, ill and sick with magic; and haveing only the occasional episode getting cloer to the major points of the story, like this episode almost making Gwen queen, which could be considered a major plot point in the story, but the writers completely abandoned it; at the end of the episode it didn’t prolong the overall story; which is Athur someday finding out about Merlin’s magic, or Merlin and Arthur creating a more peaceful Camelot by allowing magic, and then Arthur and Gwen marrying each other and making a good King/Queen commanding force. When are they going to get to any of these points, or are they trying to save it for the next season, or the next season, or no the next season? Make up your mind writers. And the reason why the shows may not seem consistent or the charaacters sometimes, is because the shows have different writers.