Merlin Episode 3 Series 4: The Wicked Day.

Actually …

That’s a VERY to the point title for episode three, that really is …

I think you know me well enough by know to be able to guess I like a certain dark tone to my television fantasy and SF.

Hmmm …

The old portmanteau, telefantasy, springs to mind, here, but explaining that is possibly for another time.

At any rate …

I’ve got to admit I’ve been watching — and re-watching — last night’s episode of Merlin: episode 3, if you didn’t know, and called The Wicked Day for a reason.

Episode three opens on Prince Arthur’s birthday: and the pre-title teaser shows us a group of gleemen arriving to help Camelot celebrate thew Prince’s birthday.

The day is spoiled, though …

Because a botched assassination attempt on Arthur sees his father, Uther, fatally wounded.

Please notice the fatally bit, there.

Because the extent of Uther’s wounds … ?

See Arthur decide that the only way that Uther can be healed is through magic.

And for that, he seeks Merlin and Gaius’ help in finding a sorcerer* who can heal Uther.

A healing attempt that — I should add — is thwarted by Morgana, with the help of Agravaine.

And a healing attempt …

That leads to the inevitable happening.

The death of Uther Pendragon.

»»Å««

The King is dead …

Long Live The Kingª.

»»Å««

Phew … !

Now, I’ve got to admit, I think the BBC’s hit a good one, with the three episodes of Merlin series 4.

Normally … ?

Dr Who fan that I am, I believe that series 6 — Matt Smith and Stephen Moffat’s second in place — to have been generally good, but a touch on the messy side, and not help by the big gap between episodes 7 and 8.

And I’m ALSO convinced that — in comparison — series 4 of Merlin is a hell of an improvement.

Both on its predecessors and on the Matt Smith episodes of Dr Who: although, granted, Moffat and co are effectively only on their second season of a completely different show.

Last night’s episode … ?

I think last night’s episode only show’s that, very well: cast, crew and writers are coming to something of a head.

AND in showing us Uther’s death, and Arthur’s coronation, has moved this version of the Arthurian myth further along to it’s sources.

All this?

And it’s still only episode three.

* Merlin: basically reusing the disguise he uses in last season’s The Queen Of Hearts. These scene’s provide a heck of a lot of the much needed comic relief for the episode.

ª There’s a possibly apocryphal story: that says when the late Queen Mother was told of her husband, George 6th’s, death, she turned around to the messenger who’d brought the news and said “You’d better inform Princess Eliza … ”. Then stopped, took a deep breath and said “You’d better inform Her Majesty of her father’s death”.

Merlin Episode 2 Series 4: The Darkest Hour: Part 2.

You know, I’ve got to make a quiet confession, here.

Usually, I’ll be re-watching an episode that I’ve just seen, in order to keep myself famillier wityh what I’m going to write.

Usually.

But I’ll happily confess I’ve got the Was (Not Was) album, Boo

Give it a listen if you get the chance.

It’s both fascinating and beautiful.

That’s just my opinion, though: if you do get a copy* … ? Let me know what you think.

»»·««

Let me get moving on to tonight’s episode of Merlin, shall we … ?

Yes, let’s … !

Part 2 of The Darkest Hour sees Arthur and the bulk of his knights — Leon, Perceval, Elyan, Gwaine — heading on for the Isle of The Blessed whilst Lancelot takes Merlin back to Camelot.

A Camelot that is suffering under Agravain’s leadership: unbeknown to anyone, Agravain is ready and — seemingly — willing to follow every order given him by Morganaº.

And a Camelot that is being protected from Agravain’s mismanagement by Guinevere and Gaius.

Which leaves Guinevere almost fatally harmed by Morgana.

At about the same time that a healed Merlin and Lancelot rejoin Arthur and the crew on the Isle of the Blessed, facing the Cailleach.

And facing her in a way that ends — for me — very surprisingly.

With Lancelot sacrificing himself to close the veil between worlds.

That’s put the cat amongst the pigeons … … … !

»»·««

Actually, for those of us who know the old stories?

That has a bit, hasn’t it … ?

I’ll be frank … ?

I am HOOKED … !

Hooked: and although I only know only a little of the old legends?

I’m wondering how Merlin’s producer’s are going to script themselves out of this one … !

* From the Head to The Heart is just down beautiful, it really is. Your Luck Won’t Last and Big Black Hole are pure funk, Needletooth is the STRANGEST thing I’ve heard, this side of the ODD Zappa I’ve indulged in … or Hello Dad, I’m In Jail, now I come to think of it. THEN there’s Crazy Water. WHY Crazy Water wasn’t a number 1 hit in every English speaking nation on the planet, I do not know … !

º Hmmm … You know, in part 1 of The Darkest Hour shows us Morgana having a vision of a battle field where crows are flying around. Now, I know the Wikipedia entry the Morrigan links her to Morgana, but I’m sure I’ve heard them linked, before now.

Merlin Episode 1 Series 4: The Darkest Hour.

You know, I’ve REALLY go to be thankful — in a bizarre sort of way — that Grub’s not a fan of Merlin.

No, really … !

It means there’s at least one TV show I can happily write about, right here.

Rather than over here … !!!

»»·««

Which does sound a little silly, now I come to mention it, doesn’t it … ?

But I’m ALSO very aware that Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar has been a little shy of material, just recently.

Life’s quiet at the moment.

What CAN I tell you … ?

»»·««

APART from one little thing … ?

I’ve just seen the first episode of the new fourth series of Merlin —The Darkest Hour: Part 1 — and I’ve come away impressed.

Until someone comes up with a synonym for ‘impressed’ that I like the sound of!

(I’m running out of thesaurus entries. And thesauri, before you ask.)

But at any rate … ?

At any rate, I managed to see The Darkest Hour: Part 1, and came away having thoroughly enjoyed the series 4 opening episode.

The Darkest Hour: Part 1 opens a year after the finish of series 3, with a small group of Camelot’s knights on the path of a suspicious women with a cart.

A woman who turns out to be the gone-to-the-bad Morgana — Katie McGrath, as ever — who’s transporting her dying sister, Morgause — Emilia Fox — to the Isle of the Blessed.

Not for any kind of healing, for those of us familiar with the legends.

No …

Morgause is helping her sister in the only way she has left.

By being sacrificed.

At midnight, on the night of Samhain’s Eve.

Allowing for the vail between the world of the living and the dead to be broken, and allowing both the spirits of the dead to run riot.

And the scary figure of The Cailleich to show herself to both Morgana: a figure who warns Morgana about the magic worker who will be her doom.

And capping all that … ?

Capping all that we ALSO find that Arthur, and Camelot, have been receiving help from Arthur’s Uncle Agravain.

As has Morgana, as this episode makes perfectly clear …

»»·««

Now …

I’m going to happily admit, I’m a huge fan of Merlin and have been, this day 1.

But this opening episode, darker than the previous three as it is … ?

Yes …

I think it bodes for an interesting series …

Merlin Series 3, and Episode 13: Here’s my Current thinking

You know, I’ve got to admit, I think — having just watched episode 13 of Merlin, again — that I’m still impressed with the Series 3 finalé.

I really am.

The Coming of Arthur - Part 2 had near enough something for everyone.

Actionª — a really healthy dose of it — for those of us who wanted it.

Added emotion: and romance, as well, for those looking to see the development of Guinevere and Arthur’s relationship.

Magic in buckets!

All in all … ?

I’m thinking that The Coming of Arthur - Part 2 was the best season finale the cast, crew and writers of Merlin have put together in the three years of its production.

The Coming of Arthur - Part 2 sees Arthurº leading a small force of knights — that includes Merlin, Gaius and Guinevere as honourary knights along side Lancelot, Percival, Gwaine, Leon, and Gwen’s brother, Elyan — to an abandoned old castle, to lead a counterstrike against Morgana‡, who — as we saw last week — has taken power in Camelot.

And who, with her sister, Morgause^, has both an invincible army and the Cup of Life in their favour.

Merlin, though, has an ace up his sleeve: he’s told that the only way to defeat the invincible army …

Is to kill the soldiers one by one, with the Sword* he hid in the lake in Series 1.

Or to wipe them out totally by emptying the blood from the Cup of Life.

That oh-so-heavily-guarded Cup of Life …

I’ll leave you to watch the episode, itself, to see how he and Gaius achieve that.

«•»

Now, let’s talk about the series as a whole, shall we … ?

Overall, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Series 3.

Now, granted I felt one or two episodes were padding: good quality padding, but padding, none-the-less.

And granted, other’s were down-right stand-out highlights: episode 9, Love in the Time of Dragons was one such, making such good use of Richard Wilson and guest star, Pauline Collins as it did.

Saying that … ?

I felt the season climax was the real shiner star of series 3: and can’t help but wonder if doing it as a Children of Earth style five night mini-series would have worked just as well.

Either way … ?

It’s worked.

And worked well enough for the BBC to commission a fourth series.

I’m looking forward to that.

One thing I believe Merlin’s third series has done well at, is in slowly — but surely — reinterpreting and updating the old myths of Camelot.

And bringing an old tale to now …

«•»

* OK, I know it’s Excalibur. You know it’s Excalibur. But let’s not confuse the kids, just yet, shall we … ?

º Actually, I think that lead to possibly one of the more inspiration scenes in last night’s episode: I’ll let you judge that for yourself, though …

ª Oh, boy, action indeed …

‡ The one flaw in the ointment? I think that Morgana’s been underused, in this series. Granted, the writers have used Guinevere well, but …

^ Actually, it’s nice to see Gaius showing us what we’ve known since series 1: he has magical power, but generally doesn’t use it as he did in helping Merlin defeat Morgause …

Merlin: Episode 13, The Coming of Arthur — Part 2

You know, right now … ?

I’m watching this with episode 13 playing live — right now — in the background.

You want to know what I think … ?

It’s a bloody CRACKER … !!!

Tonight’s episode follows on from last weeks: it’s sees Morgana finally outed as Uther’s daughter — and eldest child — and on the throne.

And sees Arthur naming both his knights of the round table …

And explaining the resonance of the table, itself …

Now, I’m probably going to be adding more later, as Kevin D, Squeaky and Big Josh are all comfortably having dinner in my front room.

Catch you all after tonight’s movie, folks … … !

Merlin: Episode 12, The Coming of Arthur — Part 1

*Spoilers*

You know, I think I’m …

Whoah, now hang on, just a second, and think, here, shall we, Paul … ?

You’ve probably read quite a bit of my posts, by now, haven’t you?

So me telling you that I’m impressed by … impressed by something … ?

Is going to be about par for the course, isn’t it … ?

Even if it’s not strictly accurate.

Now, if you haven’t read the title’s post … ?

I’m talking about the twelve episode — the penultimate episode — of series three of Merlin: The Coming Of Arthur — Part 1 … … … …

Couldn’t see that one coming, could we … ?

And I’ll happily admit, I’m impressed …

In part …

Tonight’s episode … ?

The Coming Of Arthur — Part 1 starts fairly innocently, with one of Camelot’s patrols attacked and killed on the borders between Camelot and Cenred’s realm.

And it’s leader, Sir Leon being helped by nearby druids: who bring him back to life with the help of something called ‘The Cup of Life’, last seen being wielded by Nimueh (Michelle Ryan) way back in series 1.

«•»

I’ve got to admit, I’d completely forgotten bout that.

But, of course, given that Merlin is the 21st century take on the stories of Arthur, its version of the Grail was going to make an appearance — or re-appearance, I should say —at some point.

«•»

Where was I … ?

Cup of Life , yeah … !

The now healed Leon reports back to Camelot: complete with details of how he was healed. Including the fact that the druids had used the Cup of Life.

Uther, Gaius — and Merlin — know of both the cup, it’s abilities and about how it can be misused.

By the likes of … oooh … an evil warlord, looking to take over Camelot.

So sends Bradley James’ Arthur — along with Merlin, played by Colin Morgan, and joined by Gwaine, played by Eion Macken — out to find the Cup, before it falls into the wrong hands.

«•»

You know, it’s really a shame Cenred — played by Tom Ellis — gets treacherously betrayed and killed by one of his own — now immortal — troops, at the behest of Morgause, played by Emilia Fox.

Thought he had a lot of potential as a long term villain, that chap …

Cie la Vie …

«•»

Now, my first urge, here … ?

Is too try and be polite, and try not to spoil things, too much.

But to hell with it … !

I have put the word Spoilers at the top of the page for a reason … !

Now, I’ll happily admit that with the rebooted Dr Who, I’ve generally felt the the penultimate episodes are generally stronger the the season climax: with the possibly exception of the Matt Smith, Karen Gillane, Stephen Moffat season five climax: I thought both were quite strong.

Part one of The Coming Of Arthur, though … ?

Isn’t the strongest episode, I believe: but is a nice way to start the season finale.

And, as a big climax … ?

Has a very powerful show and tell as it’s closing scene …

Enjoy the episode, when you see it, folks …

Let me know what you think of it.

And as a final thought … ?

Get ready for next week: I’m hoping this particular two-parter may improve …

Merlin Episode 11: The Sorcerer’s Shadow

*Spoilers*

You know, I’ve got to admit, I’ve started this one, towards the end of tonight’s episode of Merlin, The Sorcerer’s Shadow.

And I’m quietly impressed …

Tonight’s episode sees Camelot hosting a no-holds-barred, open knockout tournament.

And I mean knockout.

One in which Uther himself intends to take part in.

But which also sees an unknown young man — Gilli, played by Ian Burfield — taken to the field.

A young man who unknown to all but the perceptive Merlin and Gaius, is using the powers inherent in a magical ring that’s Gilli has inherited from his father.

And his intention … ?

His intention is one that sees Merlin going for help to the Dragon.

Gilli intends to have a serious go at Uther, himself …

||»»—««||

Now, I said I was impressed with this episode.

And that’s true …

It strikes me that Shine and co are doing rather well with the more character driven episodes.

And The Sorcerer’s Shadow — while I think it’s not necessarily going to add anything huge to the overall Series 3 story arc — is much like Love in the Time Of Dragons.

Something that tells of about the characters we’ve come to know.

||»»Ω««||

Merlin, Episode 10: The Queen of Hearts

You know, I’ve got to admit, I would have written this post up, last night, if it hadn’t been for a couple of things.

First off … ?

I was feeling dog tired.

Enough to get a seriously early night.

The other thing … ?

Was something that gets to be a pain if it happens with any kind of regularity.

My Googlemail account got hacked.

From Google’s end, if I’m any judge.

The clue, for me, should have been the fact that I couldn’t upload any photos to the original version of the post.

Well …

That and the fact that, I couldn’t sign onto my own blog, this morning …

Suspicious activity, apparently.

When I did mange to get everything corrected — mostly by resetting the password on the account, itself, and on my copy of Mail.app — Mail.app did its thing, and downloaded all the messages in my Gmail inbox.

Including a lot of ‘Delivery Failed’ type messages.

Ahem!

Somebody was playing Silly Buggers, by the signs of things.

»»•««

The problem, as far as I’ve understood it, though … ?

In part is caused by the simple fact that many of us send — or have sent, in my case, very much in the past — chain emails.

And don’t bother to delete other people’s addresses from the body of the message.

It is, I’m told, one of the main ways that the folk who send spam find out about active email addresses they can hijack, to send spam from.

I’ll admit, I’ve already sent a message to one or two relatives I know that are guilty of the same mistake.

Hopefully, it’s got through, ok …

|||»»»•«««|||

Now, where was I … … ?

Oh, yeah …

Merlin… !

Actually, I should add, here, that I’m talking about last night’s episode of Merlin, The Queen of Hearts.

Which was …

Hmmmm …

Lets try to some it up, first, shall we … ?

The Queen of Hearts sees Morgana warned — in a nightmare — about the relationship between Arthur and Guinevere: and, on the advice of her sister Morgause, deciding to let Uther know about this.

In a very roundabout way.

Involving a horse …

OK, a horseride, I should say: before anyone gets any funny ideas …

That doesn’t sound any better, does it … ?

At any rate, Morgana sets up a plot to get Guinevere banished, and Arthur following her.

And as a fall back … ?

Leaving Uther convinced that his son and heir has been enchanted.

Leaving Guinevere convinced that’s Morgana’s up to something.

And looking very surprised when the evil sorcerer — who looks suspiciously like Christopher Lee’s version of Saruman the Wise — actually turns up.

|||»»•««|||

Now, I’ll happily admit, this isn’t the character driven stunner that last week’s episode — Love in the Time Of Dragons — was.

It does have its highlights, though.

For starters, the writers seem to have turned down the need for Katy McGrath to so quite obviously villainous: as written — and played — both they and her are going more for subtle, rather than obvious.

Colin Morgan’s handling of the central character — even down to the incredible amounts of premium ham he laid on for his ‘evil old sorcerer’ routine — was beautifully done.

Stars of the show, this week, I’m thinking … ?

Were Bradley James, Angel Coulby and Anthony Head as — respectively — Prince Arthur, Guinevere and King Uther.

And while Queen of Hearts isn’t one of the stronger episodes of season three, those highlights will make it worth a mention, I think.

|||»»»Ω«««|||

Oh, just as a final note … ?

I’ll leave you with this …