Merlin – Dragon stuff and nonsense

I tend to judge a show based not only on how glorious it can be at the apex of its awesome, but based on the quality of its filler episodes. Because let’s face it, there is no such thing as a show that doesn’t have filler episodes. And no matter how a show tries to hide it, you can always tell which ones they are, too. The better quality a show is, the less you care about the fact that they exist because they’re still completely delightful. The more the quality dips, the less it tends to dip during sweeps or premieres or finales, but during the filler episodes.

Merlin is a pretty good example of this axiom. The first season had almost no episodes that felt like filler even when they were. It might have, in part, just been shiny new-show smell. Seeing another tournament or magical creature wreak havoc didn’t feel as played out then because it wasn’t played out, yet. It is entirely possible that if some of the season 1 episodes aired next week, I’d go “what is this crap?” and feel totally unfulfilled. Season two’s filler was more obvious, but still highly enjoyable. Season three sank to near-unbearable levels of tedium and terrible writing during filler in spite of the phenomenal efforts during the premiere and finale.

This is the first episode of season four that has been filler, and I have to say, if this is going to be the state of filler for the rest of the season, we could very easily reach season two levels of campy mindless joy, if not season one levels. This is not to say that it was a deep episode or that there’s a lot to say about it — it wasn’t and there isn’t. Like, I feel bad for not being able to write my usual 1500 word feelings-vomit that occasionally brushes past actual philosophical depth, but this episode was just not the kind of episode that inspires that. Which is not to say it was bad, because it was a thoroughly enjoyable and Merlin-esque magical romp, it just wasn’t particularly deep.

What it was was an excuse to show off every possible angle from which Colin Morgan‘s face is a stunning piece of artistry and then have Bradley James pantsless and/or walking through a waterfall like the male love interest in a late ’90s music video. Oh, they threw in a lot of good moments to cover up what was pretty much shameless male objectification (no complaints).  The knights continued to be what I believe was the original template that all frat members have been copying for centuries. There was a heavy dose of dragonlore, which is always my favorite piece of fantasy universe-building (and oh my god, I want a baby dragon and I want one now). And there was so much rampant gayness I was not entirely sure that the episode I downloaded was the correct file and not some sort of soft-core porn remake that had been mislabeled. (Really, scriptwriters? Was there actually a narrative need for Merlin to get Arthur half-naked and then wrestle him on the floor? Especially in the same episode where they were crawling around together in Arthur’s bed? Again, I’m not complaining, I’m just asking for the sake of clarification.) I appreciated that Merlin got to be happy. I would like to see him be happy more, preferably because the baby dragon is not going to go away, but rather will become his plucky sidekick that follows him around and hides in his shirt sleeves whenever someone else passes by. But since we know that’s not going to happen, and knowing that we’re now entering the filler portion of the season, I vote we keep all future filler along this vein — forty-something minutes of pure fantastical camp, adorable shenanigans, and eye candy. Lots and lots of eye candy.

Clacked by Julia Hass
on Oct 23, 2011 @ 11:09 EST5EDT