Monday, 16 November 2009
In which Viorica is bitterly disappointed by the second season of "Merlin"
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Back when I first joined Ferretbrain, I posted an article extolling the virtues of BBC's Merlin. Despite the show's cheesiness, and the fact that it was aimed at children, it managed to provide compelling characters with real emotional honesty. The second season began in September, and, well . . . it's kind of awful. So awful, in fact, that I have to divide the article into subsections, or risk the whole thing turning into a flailing mess of incoherence. Much like the show itself.
Who Is This Show About, Again?
The first season of the show lived up to its name; even though we had several characters, Merlin himself was the heart of the show. He made mistakes; he grew; he learned. True, the other characters had arcs of their own, but it was really Merlin's show, with his actions driving the plot. This season, he's faded into the background. Where an earlier episode's plot would have been driven by (or at least dominated by) him, we now have Uther and Arthur taking centre stage. What's worse, Merlin isn't even allowed to be a dignified background character. He's essentially been sidelined into crude comic relief, lacking any intelligence or genuine emotion. Oh look, Merlin fell into a pile of horseshit! Oh look, Merlin's got leeches on his face! Oh look, Merlin thinks that he's in no danger from a Witchfinder, because he's not a witch! That last one in paticular irked me, because it completely went against everything we knew of Merlin from the previous season. The exact line- "But I'm not a witch! I don't have a dress or anything!" signified, more than anything, the tumble Merlin's character has taken this season. From the determined, compassionate young man who struggled with his destiny and fought against Uther's persecution of magic-users, to the boy who thinks that a witch-finder won't suspect anyone not wearing a dress. Merlin, we hardly knew ye.
The Writers Say I Love You
If you're going to talk about the problematic relationships of this season, you really have to start with Arthur and Gwen. Now, the fact that they were going to end up together was pretty much inevitable. They're Prince Arthur and Guinevere, and no matter how much the series differs from Arthurian "canon," there are some storylines that just do not get retconned. At the beginning of season two, I had no real opinion of a potential romance between the pair. Their personalities seemed fairly incompatible, but surely the writers would find a clever, true-to-character way of bringing the two together while simultaneously staying true to the Arthur and Gwen that the audience had grown to love back in season one. After all, it wasn't like they would completely disregard both their personalities and shove them together in the space of one poorly written epis-
-oh. Wait. That's exactly what they did.
In 2x02, "The Once and Future Queen," Arthur decides that he wants to prove himself outside of his role as the Prince of Camelot, so he enlists in a jousting tournament under a false name, and hides out in Gwen's house in order to do so. So far, so good. But then it went downhill like a snowball, gathering inconsistencies as it rolled. Arthur, who had previously been a respectful and polite guest in "The Moment of Truth" behaves like an inconsiderate jackass; Gwen, who had previously been portrayed as quite shy and awkward- especially around boys, and especially around boys who she had feelings for- snaps and yells at him, and it all culminated in a thirty-second kiss, backlit by sunlight, as "ooh, isn't it epic?" music swells in the background. Alas, at the end of the episode, Arthur tells her that they can't actually have a relationship due to their respective social statuses, and they spend the rest of the season staring mournfully at each other. Mind you, the show never actually explains why it is they're attracted to each other; Arthur apologizes for his behaviour by saying that he "doesn't know how to act around people [he] cares for." but we never actually find out WHY they care for each other. They have no similar goals or interests; they never actually discuss anything of weight or significance. The motivation behind their feelings remains stunningly unclear, and we just have to take the writers' word for it that those feelings exist. The show takes every opportunity to remind viewers that Their Love, It Is Epic And True, but without any real foundation, their efforts fall entirely flat. There isn't even any chemistry between the actors. Then again, it's hard to have chemistry when all they do is stare and stare and stare.
The relationships between the other characters fare just as badly. Even though Arthur and Morgana were raised as siblings, and were shown to be quite close last season, they barely speak. (One paticularily egregorious example would be when Morgana and Gwen get kidnapped in 2x04. Morgana escapes, and when Arthur kinds her wandering half-naked and terrified in the middle of the woods, his immediate reaction is "Where's Gwen?" This is an example of both the show's repeated attempts to show that Arthur Really Wuvs Her, and the complete failure to keep any kind of emotional realism.) Similarily, Arthur and Merlin grew rather close last season; by the finale, they had become something resembling friends. But when season two starts, they're right back to where they started, with constant insults and put-downs on Arthur's part, and beleagured acceptance on Merlin's. I wouldn't mind it so much if there was some rhyme or reason behind it all, but there just isn't. It's like they set some sort of reset button and populated the show with entirely new characters.
It's Up To The Women
This is where I stop being angry at the lack of continuity and emotional sincerity, and become enraged at the writers' handling of female characters. The way Johnny Capps and his crew have handled Gwen and Morgana (and the female guest stars) shows a complete lack of respect for the women of the show.
I've already discussed Gwen's relationship with Arthur at length, which is really the only thing about Gwen to discuss in regards to this season. Not only has she been shoved haphazardly into a nonsensical love story, she's been given nothing else whatsoever to do. The only non-Arthur plot she's had this season is in episode four, "Guinevere and Lancelot," wherei she gets kidnapped and tossed into the same dungeon as Lancelot. She promptly falls for him, which somehow entails leaving him to die after he helps her escape. He gets away anyway (can't have people dying on a family show) but absconds when he realizes that Arthur has feelings for her, leaving her to cry quietly and exchange some more angsty stares with Arthur. Now, I don't object to female characters being love interests; what I object to is them being nothing but love interests. At no point in the season does Gwen get to do anything besides pine after various men. The only time she shows any sort of autonomy is when she exhorts Arthur to save the Witchfinder's victim by blaming him (Arthur, that is) for her own father's death. Not only is this completely out of character, it makes no damn sense. Gwen's father died attempting to escape from Uther's dungeon; Arthur was never involved. And of course, it says a lot for their relationship when she's forced to guilt-trip him into doing what she wants. It's also worth noting that Gwen's first-season costume has been exchanged for one with a significantly lower neckline, signifying her new status as The Hot Love Interest. I'm reminded of my other fantasy favourite, "Legend of the Seeker," which features a female lead who- although sporting a dress that barely covers her breasts- has a mutually respectful relationship with the hero and gets storylines of her own. Gwen, sadly, is not so lucky.
The other main female character, Morgana, fails just as miserably. There were hints throughout the first season that she saw the future in her dreams, and that the stress of it was eroding her mental stability. The second season has all of one episode dedicated to that, while she fades into the background for the rest. There are even some episodes ("The Once and Future Queen") where she doesn't appear at all. Not only that, but her sole role is that of a victim. In "The Nightmare Begins" (the one episode where she actually has a significant role) she finds out that she's a seer, flees the castle, and immediately gets attacked by some giant scorpions. Since she neglected to bring a sword with her (a curous oversight, since we've seen her fighting with ne before) she can't do anything besides cower and scream, and she's only saved by the handy appearance of some (male) druids. She lounges around their encampment for a bit, thrilled to have found people like her, but is forced to flee when Uther- assuming that she's been kidnapped- has his soldiers hunt the Druids down. So she returns to Camelot, after one of the Druids is killed (I suppose it would be a bit of a cheap shot to point out that the dead druid also happens to be black) and everything returns to status quo. For the rest of the season, she fades into the background, never having any kind of role or influence. Compare and contrast to the first season, where I can pick out at least four episodes ("The Gates of Avalon," "The Beginning of the End," "The Moment of Truth," and "To Kill the King") where she had a direct influence on the plot. Even when she didn't, she at least got to express her opinion of things like Uther's anti-magic policy and Arthur's obedience to his father. This season, she's a nonentity.
The female guest characters fare little better. In the series' first two-parter, "Beauty and the Beast," Uther is enchanted into marrying a female troll. The actor playing her, Sarah Parish, is extremely talented, but she doesn't really get to do much besides provide a lot of scatalogical humour. Merlin's mother- whose relationship with her son was a high point last season- has yet to appear at all. Morgause gets to do a bit more- she kicks Arthur's ass in a swordfight, and is instrumental in Arthur learning the truth about his mother- but Igraine doesn't get to do anything besides express her love for her son (and her anger at his father.) Next week's episode is set to feature a one-off love interest for Merlin, who he rescues from captivity and promptly falls for. She spends most of the promos covered in dirt and bruises, looking scared and weepy. One active female character out of a total of five does not say anything good about the writers' opinion of women. It's a shame, because girls got to kick significant amounts of ass last season, but they've gone the same way as everything that made season one good.
Conclusion: Your Show Is Bad, And You Should Feel Bad
It's not a surprise when TV shows lose steam after a few seasons. The actors get bored, the writers run out of storylines, and the audience moves on. What's rare is what's happened to Merlin, which is the wholesale destruction of everything that made it good in the first place. The characters have been randomly assigned new personalities so as to fit into their new roles, the writing makes no sense, and the lack of loveable characters and engaging storylines makes things like plot holes and corny dialogue that much more obvious to the viewer. Instead of the continuation of a show I loved, Merlin's writers have delivered an entirely strange and unenjoyable second season. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I almost hope that the second season is the last. Given the damage done to the show at this point, the only favourable outcome I can see is letting it die a merciful death.
Who Is This Show About, Again?
The first season of the show lived up to its name; even though we had several characters, Merlin himself was the heart of the show. He made mistakes; he grew; he learned. True, the other characters had arcs of their own, but it was really Merlin's show, with his actions driving the plot. This season, he's faded into the background. Where an earlier episode's plot would have been driven by (or at least dominated by) him, we now have Uther and Arthur taking centre stage. What's worse, Merlin isn't even allowed to be a dignified background character. He's essentially been sidelined into crude comic relief, lacking any intelligence or genuine emotion. Oh look, Merlin fell into a pile of horseshit! Oh look, Merlin's got leeches on his face! Oh look, Merlin thinks that he's in no danger from a Witchfinder, because he's not a witch! That last one in paticular irked me, because it completely went against everything we knew of Merlin from the previous season. The exact line- "But I'm not a witch! I don't have a dress or anything!" signified, more than anything, the tumble Merlin's character has taken this season. From the determined, compassionate young man who struggled with his destiny and fought against Uther's persecution of magic-users, to the boy who thinks that a witch-finder won't suspect anyone not wearing a dress. Merlin, we hardly knew ye.
The Writers Say I Love You
If you're going to talk about the problematic relationships of this season, you really have to start with Arthur and Gwen. Now, the fact that they were going to end up together was pretty much inevitable. They're Prince Arthur and Guinevere, and no matter how much the series differs from Arthurian "canon," there are some storylines that just do not get retconned. At the beginning of season two, I had no real opinion of a potential romance between the pair. Their personalities seemed fairly incompatible, but surely the writers would find a clever, true-to-character way of bringing the two together while simultaneously staying true to the Arthur and Gwen that the audience had grown to love back in season one. After all, it wasn't like they would completely disregard both their personalities and shove them together in the space of one poorly written epis-
-oh. Wait. That's exactly what they did.
In 2x02, "The Once and Future Queen," Arthur decides that he wants to prove himself outside of his role as the Prince of Camelot, so he enlists in a jousting tournament under a false name, and hides out in Gwen's house in order to do so. So far, so good. But then it went downhill like a snowball, gathering inconsistencies as it rolled. Arthur, who had previously been a respectful and polite guest in "The Moment of Truth" behaves like an inconsiderate jackass; Gwen, who had previously been portrayed as quite shy and awkward- especially around boys, and especially around boys who she had feelings for- snaps and yells at him, and it all culminated in a thirty-second kiss, backlit by sunlight, as "ooh, isn't it epic?" music swells in the background. Alas, at the end of the episode, Arthur tells her that they can't actually have a relationship due to their respective social statuses, and they spend the rest of the season staring mournfully at each other. Mind you, the show never actually explains why it is they're attracted to each other; Arthur apologizes for his behaviour by saying that he "doesn't know how to act around people [he] cares for." but we never actually find out WHY they care for each other. They have no similar goals or interests; they never actually discuss anything of weight or significance. The motivation behind their feelings remains stunningly unclear, and we just have to take the writers' word for it that those feelings exist. The show takes every opportunity to remind viewers that Their Love, It Is Epic And True, but without any real foundation, their efforts fall entirely flat. There isn't even any chemistry between the actors. Then again, it's hard to have chemistry when all they do is stare and stare and stare.
The relationships between the other characters fare just as badly. Even though Arthur and Morgana were raised as siblings, and were shown to be quite close last season, they barely speak. (One paticularily egregorious example would be when Morgana and Gwen get kidnapped in 2x04. Morgana escapes, and when Arthur kinds her wandering half-naked and terrified in the middle of the woods, his immediate reaction is "Where's Gwen?" This is an example of both the show's repeated attempts to show that Arthur Really Wuvs Her, and the complete failure to keep any kind of emotional realism.) Similarily, Arthur and Merlin grew rather close last season; by the finale, they had become something resembling friends. But when season two starts, they're right back to where they started, with constant insults and put-downs on Arthur's part, and beleagured acceptance on Merlin's. I wouldn't mind it so much if there was some rhyme or reason behind it all, but there just isn't. It's like they set some sort of reset button and populated the show with entirely new characters.
It's Up To The Women
This is where I stop being angry at the lack of continuity and emotional sincerity, and become enraged at the writers' handling of female characters. The way Johnny Capps and his crew have handled Gwen and Morgana (and the female guest stars) shows a complete lack of respect for the women of the show.
I've already discussed Gwen's relationship with Arthur at length, which is really the only thing about Gwen to discuss in regards to this season. Not only has she been shoved haphazardly into a nonsensical love story, she's been given nothing else whatsoever to do. The only non-Arthur plot she's had this season is in episode four, "Guinevere and Lancelot," wherei she gets kidnapped and tossed into the same dungeon as Lancelot. She promptly falls for him, which somehow entails leaving him to die after he helps her escape. He gets away anyway (can't have people dying on a family show) but absconds when he realizes that Arthur has feelings for her, leaving her to cry quietly and exchange some more angsty stares with Arthur. Now, I don't object to female characters being love interests; what I object to is them being nothing but love interests. At no point in the season does Gwen get to do anything besides pine after various men. The only time she shows any sort of autonomy is when she exhorts Arthur to save the Witchfinder's victim by blaming him (Arthur, that is) for her own father's death. Not only is this completely out of character, it makes no damn sense. Gwen's father died attempting to escape from Uther's dungeon; Arthur was never involved. And of course, it says a lot for their relationship when she's forced to guilt-trip him into doing what she wants. It's also worth noting that Gwen's first-season costume has been exchanged for one with a significantly lower neckline, signifying her new status as The Hot Love Interest. I'm reminded of my other fantasy favourite, "Legend of the Seeker," which features a female lead who- although sporting a dress that barely covers her breasts- has a mutually respectful relationship with the hero and gets storylines of her own. Gwen, sadly, is not so lucky.
The other main female character, Morgana, fails just as miserably. There were hints throughout the first season that she saw the future in her dreams, and that the stress of it was eroding her mental stability. The second season has all of one episode dedicated to that, while she fades into the background for the rest. There are even some episodes ("The Once and Future Queen") where she doesn't appear at all. Not only that, but her sole role is that of a victim. In "The Nightmare Begins" (the one episode where she actually has a significant role) she finds out that she's a seer, flees the castle, and immediately gets attacked by some giant scorpions. Since she neglected to bring a sword with her (a curous oversight, since we've seen her fighting with ne before) she can't do anything besides cower and scream, and she's only saved by the handy appearance of some (male) druids. She lounges around their encampment for a bit, thrilled to have found people like her, but is forced to flee when Uther- assuming that she's been kidnapped- has his soldiers hunt the Druids down. So she returns to Camelot, after one of the Druids is killed (I suppose it would be a bit of a cheap shot to point out that the dead druid also happens to be black) and everything returns to status quo. For the rest of the season, she fades into the background, never having any kind of role or influence. Compare and contrast to the first season, where I can pick out at least four episodes ("The Gates of Avalon," "The Beginning of the End," "The Moment of Truth," and "To Kill the King") where she had a direct influence on the plot. Even when she didn't, she at least got to express her opinion of things like Uther's anti-magic policy and Arthur's obedience to his father. This season, she's a nonentity.
The female guest characters fare little better. In the series' first two-parter, "Beauty and the Beast," Uther is enchanted into marrying a female troll. The actor playing her, Sarah Parish, is extremely talented, but she doesn't really get to do much besides provide a lot of scatalogical humour. Merlin's mother- whose relationship with her son was a high point last season- has yet to appear at all. Morgause gets to do a bit more- she kicks Arthur's ass in a swordfight, and is instrumental in Arthur learning the truth about his mother- but Igraine doesn't get to do anything besides express her love for her son (and her anger at his father.) Next week's episode is set to feature a one-off love interest for Merlin, who he rescues from captivity and promptly falls for. She spends most of the promos covered in dirt and bruises, looking scared and weepy. One active female character out of a total of five does not say anything good about the writers' opinion of women. It's a shame, because girls got to kick significant amounts of ass last season, but they've gone the same way as everything that made season one good.
Conclusion: Your Show Is Bad, And You Should Feel Bad
It's not a surprise when TV shows lose steam after a few seasons. The actors get bored, the writers run out of storylines, and the audience moves on. What's rare is what's happened to Merlin, which is the wholesale destruction of everything that made it good in the first place. The characters have been randomly assigned new personalities so as to fit into their new roles, the writing makes no sense, and the lack of loveable characters and engaging storylines makes things like plot holes and corny dialogue that much more obvious to the viewer. Instead of the continuation of a show I loved, Merlin's writers have delivered an entirely strange and unenjoyable second season. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I almost hope that the second season is the last. Given the damage done to the show at this point, the only favourable outcome I can see is letting it die a merciful death.
Themes: Damage Report, TV & Movies, Young Adult / Children
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What has really drawn me out of my shell to comment is the latest two episodes of Merlin, which like Viorica I was enjoying very much in the first season and still had fun watching in S02. Having read this article when it appeared on the website I then had its content in the back of my mind when watching subsequent episodes, and oh dear, how badly the show is doing!
I assume you're no longer watching, because the latest two episodes practically deserve a new article of their own!
The first one, The Lady In The Lake was a truly dire episode for more reasons than just its awful portrayal of women (dialogue, characterisation, plot, laboured Serious Love Plot...- it took me three attempts to just get through it). The plot revolved around Merlin meeting and then freeing a captured slave girl. Because he feels an instant connection with her and falls in love with her. This is bad enough. Do we need yet another skimpily dressed girl with no personality who is an object of love interest for no good reason and who is scared and powerless and completely dependent on a man? It gets better. The girl was captured because at midnight she actually turns into a monster and kills men! Why? Because she killed a man who was trying to rape her and
Grendel'shis mother cursed her. I don't think I even need to explain the many levels of wrong in this. Anyway, the result of this is that Merlin tries to help her, the girl-as-monster recognizes Merlin's help because he is a good guy who wants to protect her (aw how sweet) but dies from an injury anyway. I'm not so experienced at criticizing things the way you guys are so I'm not sure I know how to unpick everything in this (and I think there's a lot there) but I know I dislike it massively.The following week's episode, Sweet Dreams, was little better, though at least it was treated as a comic episode.
For various reasons a princess called Vivian is visiting Camelot. She is a whiny, blonde, spoiled brat who Arthur justifiably dislikes and vice versa. For The Sake Of Plot someone evil gives Arthur a love potion and he falls in love with her. She doesn't reciprocate so she is also given one. Then they try to get at it like rabbits. This threatens the peace of the world so Merlin asks John Hurt the Dragon how to lift the spell. Apparently the only way for it to be lifted is with a kiss from his true love. (How original!) Merlin immediately ropes in Gwen who has spent most of the episode doing her usual routine of pining while Arthur treats her even worse than ever. Nevertheless, she is sufficiently self-sacrificing to agree to kiss Arthur to save his life. Then all is well. Apart from Vivian who is never allowed to be free of the love spell and is sent away to a convent or somewhere because she can't control herself. Hilarious.
The portrayal of Gwen and Vivian in this episode just beggars belief. The preview for next week's episode shows that Morgana is finally going to go evil. I can't wait to see the writers' sensitive and complex handling of this fascinating character development.
Thanks for writing such insightful reviews- am off to track down Graceling next!
I heard about next week, but haven't seen the preview yet. Considering that Morgana's had about ten lines this season, I doubt it'll be well-handled.
Thanks for the feedback!
I do wonder if perhaps Arthurian canon was their underdoing? One of the main pleasures of the first season (for me at least) is watching them throw the legend out gleefully out of the window. But I imagine trying to bring it back in line - as they seem to be trying to do with Arthur/Gwen - would just not work, now that they've departed so far from it.