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MERLIN |
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Merlin - Colin Morgan Arthur - Bradley James Gwen - Angel Coulby Uther - Anthony Head Gaius - Richard Wilson Morgana - Katie McGrath 
OTHER MERLIN SERIES Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Series 5 OTHER MYTHICAL SHOWS Mists of Avalon The Dresden Files Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire Jason and the Argonauts The Sword of Xanten 
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The Darkest Hour Part 1 - first transmitted 1st October 2011Uther is a broken king. Arthur is effectively on the throne, ruling with the aid of his uncle, a man who is secretly plotting with Morgana. Morgana sacrifices her sister to break the veil between worlds and allow the spirits of the dead to roam at will and kill the living. MERLIN is back and there is no hint of the children's show that it started out as. This is impressively dark. Starting with a dark sacrifice, filled with the fear of creatures that cannot be killed and can only be warded off by fire and cast into shadow by a sense of portent. The only way to save the day is to give the same sacrifice Morgana did. Arthur is willing to give his life for the kingdom. Merlin is willing to give his life for Arthur. Either way, someone is going to die. As an opener to a series, it's hard to fault. Strangely, the banter between Arthur and Merlin that was previously such a bedrock of the show's success seems out of place here. This is perhaps a sign of how the show has developed and grown. The cast are all now able to handle their roles with aplomb, even with dark and serious tones evident here. Welcome back indeed. Written by Julian JonesDirected by Alice Troughton Top The Darkest HourPart 2 - first transmitted 8th October 2011As Arthur continues his quest to seal the rift and save Camelot, Merlin is dying and Morgana has plans to rid herself of Gwen. Someone must die. Taking its cue from the previous episode, this continues to be dark and shot through with the spirit of unwilling sacrifice, but it takes a rather unfortunate diversion through tunnels filled with giant hairless moles that remind of the worst moments that the show can come up with. They're an unnecessary sop to the younger audience and the kind of thing that the show really has outgrown. When it comes to the sacrifice on the incongruously named Isle of the Blessed, things go pretty much as expected, but this gives such a huge kick to the legends that you know it will not stand. It is impressive, nonetheless. Written by Julian JonesDirected by Alice Troughton Top The Wicked Day- first transmitted 15th October 2011A carnival troupe strikes at Arthur, but ends up mortally wounding Uther. Arthur is driven to the point of using magic to heal the king, but Morgana has other plans. After the darkness of the last opening two episodes of this series, it looks initially like this is going to lighten the mood a little with the carnival assassination attempt, but then things take a different direction and, though flashes of the light touch and humour shine through, it continues in a more adult, darker tone. If this is how the rest of the series is going to be then it's going to be unmissable. There is the return of Merlin's older self, the sorceror who is able to say all the things that the young man can't, leaving Arthur confused and the audience amused. The makeup is once again pretty good and Colin Morgan does a good job of acting the crotchety old man. It is also a genuine relief to see the dodgy CGI monsters given a rest as the episode revolves solely around the characters. Arthur struggles with the rights and wrongs of using magic to save a man who has hated it all his adult life and Merlin struggles with the opportunity of doing great good for his kind at the risk of causing great damage. And then, just when you think the story is leaving it a bit late for its get out jail free card to be played, it sticks to its guns and changes the game completely. This is excellent stuff. Written by Howard OvermanDirected by Alice Troughton Top Aithusa- first transmitted 22nd October 2011A man from Gaius' past arrives with a plan to find the last dragon egg. Gaius refuses to help, but Merlin agrees in order to set the creature free. When he is betrayed, Merlin and Arthur set out to stop the thief. The season finally lightens up a bit with this standalone story that involves some comedy sequences involving woodworm, food and falling trousers and the like. The story is fairly slight and needs this incidental humour to pad it out to full length. James Callis (of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA pops up as the thief Borden, but it's a fairly background part that could have been played by anyone. The CGI beastie of the week is somewhat cute for the smaller members of the audience and clearly will play a part in later developments. Written by Julian JonesDirected by Alex Pillai Top His Father's Son- first transmitted 29th October 2011Arthur takes some bad advice and ends up facing a war with Caerleon's widow. To avoid the bloodshed, he offers a trial of champions, but decides that he himself will be his own champion, not knowing that Morgana has enchanted his sword. Once again the show takes on some grown up themes, in this case the influence that a father can have over his son, even after death, through his reputation. It's an intriguing take on things, but the plot doesn't quite come up to theme. It's never convincing that the death of a man who has invaded another kingdom could expect clemency, that the war would inevitably follow or that anyone could think there would be any other outcome in that day and age. Also, the big duel scene with the enchanted sword turns out to be a bit of a damp squib to say the least. Lindsay Duncan appears as Caerleon's widow, but even her good performance can't lift this episode above the average. Written by Jake MichieDirected by Alex Pillai Top Servant Of Two Masters- first transmitted 5th November 2011Merlin is taken prisoner by Morgana who implants one head of a hydra-like creature into his neck, thus taking control of him. She instructs him to kill Arthur, but he fails and Gaius learns of the creature. He can only make it sleep, but that gives Merlin a chance to face Morgana in the guise of Emrys. It seems that the old-Merlin makeup was a big hit with the production team as it is used yet again in this story. The early section has Merlin acting as a sort of Wile-E-Coyote of Camelot as he proves to be the worst assassin ever, thus ensuring that there is no sense of threat to Arthur at all. After that, the story changes to Merlin and Morgana facing off, but this is a lacklustre battle of magic that sees them both knocking each other through the air a few times until one of them fails to get up. Considering what a chance this was for some spectacular fireworks, it is really a damp squib. Written by Lucy WatkinsDirected by Alex Pillai Top The Secret Sharer- first transmitted 12th November 2011Morgana decides that she needs to know who is feeding information to Emrys and hires Alator, a follower of the old ways, to kidnap Gaius and gain the identity of Emrys from his mind, framing him as a traitor along the way. Merlin can't convince Arthur otherwise and must go after Gaius with only Gawain willing to help. There is a sense that the budget constraints of this episode is translating into the creative sphere as well. Morgana goes in search of the great Alator and finds him in a Moorish marketplace just off the British coast! There's something that you don't come across in the history books too often. There isn't anything to say that this is a magical place, just a bit of errant production design. Gary Lewis makes for an intense Alator and the character's progression hardly comes as a surprise, but at least allows the episode a little bit of depth that would otherwise be missing. It is also hard to believe that Arthur would immediately suspect Gaius despite all that the old man has done in his service and that of his father. Written by Julian JonesDirected by Justin Molotnikov Top Lamia- first transmitted 19th November 2011Merlin, Guinevere and some of the knights are sent to investigate a sickness in a small village. It turns out to be caused by a young girl who can enchant men's minds and soon enough the knights are walking into a trap and taking Merlin and Gwen with them. This is a fairly ordinary standalone episode that has an OK plot, but one that doesn't quite fill the available running space and so there are multiple scenes of the knights turning on Merlin and treating him badly. This soon becomes repetitive since nothing ever comes of it. The CGI beastie when it finally appears (though it is kept in the dark a lot to hide its shortcomings) is pretty unconvincing at best. Written by Jake MichieDirected by Justin Molotnikov Top Lancelot du Lac- first transmitted 26th November 2011Arthur asks Guinevere to marry him, spurring Morgana into drastic action. She raises Lancelot from the dead, but a Lancelot who is compliant to her will. He is to seduce Guinevere and she is given a magic bracelet that renders her vulnerable to his advances. This is a very imaginative take on the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot triangle, made necessary by the fact that the knight died a few episodes ago. This continues the way in which the show plays with the traditional stories to come up with new and enticing variations. As it is the story of the three lovers, Merlin is reduced to an onlooker and his inaction makes the episode somewhat unsatisfactory, but it does allow for the human drama to play out and both Bradley James and Angel Coulby make the most of the emotionally charged scenes that they are asked to play. Written by Lucy WatkinsDirected by Justin Molotnikov Top Herald Of A New Age- first transmitted 3rd December 2011Guinevere's brother Elyan is possessed by an unquiet spirit who wants to find peace by the only means possible, the death of King Arthur. A ghost story in chain mail armour, this fails to really convince because the spirit is a wet child (borrowed from many places, not least RINGU) who doesn't actually do anything and yet terrifies the heck out of a strong and confident knight. Though it was a different time and the supernatural was a stronger force of fear, that isn't properly communicated by the plot. Arthur's pained confession gives Bradley James another chance to stretch himself and moves the character of Arthur forward. Written by Howard OvermanDirected by Jeremy Webb Top The Hunter's Heart- first transmitted 10th December 2011Guinevere is taken hostage by a mercenary who is building an army for Morgana. She takes word of the plan to Camelot, but is turned into a deer just as Arthur's hunt approaches. This whole episode smacks of filler material as it is merely a set up for the big two-part climax that has become the traditional end to a season of MERLIN. Arthur's being wooed by a princess allows for a few moments of fun, but nothing more and the sequence where Gwen is turned into a deer serves no purpose whatsoever other than to fill in the time. Still, the scene is now set for the big finale. Bring it on. Written by Richard McBrienDirected by Jeremy Webb Top The Sword In The StonePart One - first transmitted 17th December 2011Morgana takes Camelot and the King and those loyal to him must go on the run. Arthur is hunted and Merlin puts a spell on him to make him more biddable, but a meeting with a couple of bandits may prove a relief. This is the penultimate episode and sets up the big finale, but there is plenty of the humour that works best when Arthur and Merlin are alone, something that happens a lot here. The pursuit is also tense and Katie McGrath gets to overdo the pantomime villainess thing a bit more. Written by Jake MichieDirected by Alice Troughton Top The Sword In The StonePart Two - first transmitted 24th December 2011Arthur's confidence is broken and his morale is low after losing Camelot to Morgana. Merlin needs something to show him that he is the king and that something just might be Excalibur. The legend of the sword in the stone is born and it's mainly something cobbled together to give Arthur's ego a boost. A bit of a waste of a legend, but it still manages to work, just. Tristan and Isolde, introduced in the last episode, are proven to be a waste of time and plotting. They really didn't need to be there at all. Fortunately, the final assault on the castle has all the thrills, spills and twists that you could ask for. Just as well really. Written by Julian JonesDirected by Alice Troughton Top |
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