Merlin (BBC) (original) (raw)

Merlin (BBC, 2008)
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Drama, Family
Popular Pairings: Merlin/Arthur
Series Length: 13 episodes (commissioned for a second season. Likely to return around September '09)
Episodes Watched: 13

Plot: A reinterpretation of the early days of Arthur's life with Arthur and Merlin being of similar age. Gifted with magic in a kingdom where its use is punishable by death, a teenage Merlin is sent to live with the royal physician in Camelot where it is hoped he will learn to control his abilities before they are discovered. Soon saddled into a position as the rather pompous and irritating Arthur's squire, Merlin spends his days secretly and haphazardly protecting the kingdom and Arthur from harm with his magic while learning more about the man he is apparently bound to by destiny.

Verdict: Unimpressive in writing and execution, but potentially fun for those who like a light, fun fantasy story with charming characters and can stand their show not winning any awards for maturity or creativity. A show that would be admitted even by non-slash fans as having some 'bromance,' slashy relationship between mains is strong and noticeable from the first episode. Relationship/characters may lack complexity due to lackluster writing, but has good doses of endearing interaction such as teasing, bickering, and large levels of trust, with a little tasty tension sprinkled throughout caused by Merlin's secrecy about his abilities.

Links of Interest:
Merlin/Arthur Slash LJ Com
Merlin Slash LJ Com

Comments and Pics:
Plot, characterization, character development, dialogue, and other-such-areas-wise, Merlin is honestly kind of a lame show. Episodes are mostly 'magical danger of the week' situations and not horribly creative. Characterization is pretty shallow, with Merlin being the 'lovable dope who's more than he seems' and Arthur a 'rough on the outside with an obvious heart of gold' type.

On the other hand, the show and characters do have a pretty decent amount of charm. This may not have worked for me if I saw hokey fantasy/action TV shows more often and had more standards developed, but we don't get these a lot, and so I'm able to be a little less analytical of every silly or lame development or line and just take what fun there is in it to be had. If you're looking for something that will rivet you with its writing and drama this is definitely not recommended, but if you've got some toleration for trite scripts and characters, you might be able to have some fun with this. (Personally, I had sewing to be done and left this on for some very decent background entertainment.) If I had a lot of better things to watch I might have dropped it, but as things were it was fairly pleasant, especially considering the slash potential.

Which it does indeed have healthy doses of. Initially, Arthur and Merlin start out with a very antagonistic relationship, with Merlin believing Arthur to be simply a stuck-up prince. Their exchanges of dialogue and scuffles in the first episode are so pumped full of silly masculine competitiveness (of the type males so often use to impress girls) that it's quite easy to see it as flirting.

However, Merlin becomes Arthur's squire fairly soon, and after that the tension from this immediately dissipates and is replaced by a relationship that is still a bit antagonistic but only playfully so. Arthur and Merlin bicker and insult each other, are sometimes genuinely annoyed with one another, but in the end are quite clearly, to both the audience and likely themselves, quite fond of one another. They regularly risk their lives to help the other and show a great amount of familiarity.

While I was sad to see the competitive/antagonistic relationship go (I'm a bit of a sucker for that stuff), all that's probably enough for any slash fan to have a field day with this series. Personally, though, I need at least a little bit of tension in a romantic relationship in order to find it very intriguing to play around with. Luckily, this one does have a smidge left, since despite the supposed trust Merlin vows he holds for Arthur, he resists telling him about his forbidden magical abilities. This secret provides a nice wrench in the gears of the potentially slightly-too-smooth relationship. This conflict is brought up multiple times in the series, so while things got a little dull for me occasionally in the meantime, it was still frequent enough to keep a little tension going.

While Arthur and Merlin's interactions and relationship don't take center stage every episode, theirs is clearly the main interpersonal relationship upon which the show hinges. And even when other aspects of the show aren't that spectacular, and even when the heavy-handedness of their displays of dedication take some of the squee away from me, it's hard for a slash fan not to be happy about that.