heather11483 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
heathershaped) wrote2009-11-21 02:32 pm
heathershaped) wrote2009-11-21 02:32 pm
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Merls 2x09, The Lady of the Lake
I barely feel like rehashing this one, but it did have some lovely moments, and I would feel weird not doing a reax post. SO. MY THOUGHTS ARE THESE (um, upon reading them over, they may or may not make sense):
+ Colin Morgan emotes more beautifully than anyone. He's such a lovely actor you guys, it's hard not to feel what he feels. And he is adorable. It was so cute seeing him in love, as random as it was.
+ Random useless Arthurian episode titles, yay. Is this series going to have an actual Lady of the Lake? Niumeh's out, this girl's more like the Lady Who Died On The Lake, so I guess third time's the charm? :P
+ Julian Jones wrote this one, as he did 2x01, and I notice he likes writing Arthur EGREGIOUSLY PRATLY. Arthur's first interactions with Merlin felt like the Sigan ep, for serious. They were funny, though, and don't feel malicious or anything. And to a point Merls gives as good as he gets, as per usual.
+ Also,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
peopleareshapes pointed out to me that they like making Arthur gratuitously shirtless in episodes where he has less to do. LOL SO TRUE. Not complaining (unf), but. I would keep watching even if you didn't do that, show, it's all right. If the girls didn't show up, then we would have a problem.
+ SPEAKING OF WHICH. Morgana didn't even get a CAMEO? NOT EVEN A BACKGROUND REACTION SHOT? UN. ACCEPTABLE. UNACCEPTABLE. I understand that the show is deliberately placing Morgana at a distance from Merlin; that's been clear since the end 2x03. So when Merlin has episodes centred on him she isn't going to feature as heavily; rather the people closer to him will. But she's a regular cast member, she should at least appear. It also makes me sad for other reasons that I will get to in a minute.
+ LOL Gaius randomly caring about innocent lives again.
+ Merlin putting Arthur on a diet was hilarious. Arthur being EXTREMELY OFFENDED AT THE INSINUATION was even more hilarious. Oh, boys. I love your faces. I don't care if it would've been easier for Merlin to just get the food from the kitchens.
+ GWEN APPEARED. This is significant (to me, shuddup), because the rumours had it that she would not. (turns out that was Morgeezy, heh. UNCOOL). Her one scene was glorious, though. GLORIOUS. Walking in on Merlin with the dress, not buying his lie for a second, being adorably hilarious about it all. Gwennn, I love your face too. That was all she got to do, though.
+ Most of the Contractually Obligated Minimum Girltiem-Per-Episode Quota was filled by Freya this week. (Which I had totally been pronouncing wrong, by the way.) I was ... not happy, with ANYTHING involving the main plot this week. I love to root for the girls, you all know this, but this one I was so hard pressed to even care about. What did Merlin see in her apart from being able to project his own loneliness and feelings of isolation onto her? She was devoid of personality and her main role was to sit there shaking like a leaf, being victimized and emo. I expected this, but I'm just tired of the genderfail. It's getting old. Because of course, she is magical and since she can't be evil, she must be weak and helpless/powerless and evil-despite-herself. Please spare me, Show. Another girl with powers who can't have agency and be good at the same time, who needs to be saved by Merlin.
Next time Merlin falls in love, let HIM be the one who's half naked inna cage, needing to be saved by some spunky, strong young woman, and then they can embark on their Angsty Tortured Romance.
And of course, Merlin must destroy her, because she's some kind of were-hippogryff thing. I knew the ~beast~ would be her. Anyone have SPN flashbacks? Yes,Madison Freya must be stopped for the good of society. She can't help it! She can't control herself and must be put out of her misery! But then once she saw Merlin in the courtyard, she COULD control herself, somehow! Because. Because she loves him! And isn't that romantic! *facepalm*
I'm glad they didn't actually have Merlin be the one to kill her, though; that's what I was expecting.
+ But let's be real, the episode wasn't really about the girl or the romance, it was about Merlin and how trapped he feels being different and not being able to talk to anyone. I feel for him, I really do, but at this point, his not being able to talk to anyone is a choice. he has options, he has friends who care about him. His scene with Gwen was adorable but strange -- in what universe would she not have helped him if he'd told her even half of the truth? I seem to remember her doing anything to help him in the past; I seem to remember something very similar with Mordred, actually. He wouldn't have had to tell her everything, as nice as that would be. But she's his friend, last I checked. Arthur, too - though after last week, I can see how it's even harder to open up to him. It just makes me sad that his lies are getting worse, and all the more jarring because he turned right around and opened up to Freya.
Anyone else feel like they were watching Bizarro!Merlin in his scenes with her? All the bonding, the telling the truth, the being more forthright than I've ever seen him with anyone? I'm sorry; why couldn't he have been having that same conversation with Morgana again? Because I forget. That was surreal. I get that Morgana's going bad, but they have to do a little more show and a little less tell, because Merlin trusting Freya and not trusting Morgana made no sense. WE know what will happen, but he doesn't, and even if he's taken the Dragon's warning to heart, it makes NO SENSE for him to trust Freya more at that point.
Which is why I think it's projection more than anything, for Merlin. It's more personal and less about her - and I don't blame him for that. It's a theme that they've been touching on here and there for his character all season. He's been feeling isolated and frustrated and sick of it all, and here she is, presenting an escape. But he was going to run away with her. WHAT. I'm just as weirded out as I was when Morgana wanted to stay with the Druids. What about the people you care about, ya'll. It really kind of made it clear where Merlin's priorities are - the freedom to be himself means more to him than staying with Arthur and helping Camelot. The way he sees it (and frankly the way he's made the situation), he can't have both at once. At least right now, it's mostly duty that's keeping Merlin there. I'm not saying this is bad or that he doesn't still care about Arthur/Gwen/etc (obviously he does), but it's kind of huge, characterization-wise and it means the situation he's in now with regards to his secret is untenable.
I mean, Merlin nearly dropped a boulder on Arthur. O_o Obviously he wouldn't WANT to hurt Arthur and Arthur wasn't hit, but Merlin put Arthur in danger to save Freya. And it seemed unnecessary to the scene - Freya didn't need to run past the knights, she needed to fly up and away. She could've done that at any point. It seemed like a pretty deliberate way of showing Merls' priorities.
IDK, IDK. This is probably one of those eps I'm not meant to think so much about.
+ The scene between Merlin and Arthur at the end was SO lovely. Better interaction than they've had for a while even though the lies are just sort of overlaying everything these days.
Obvs I had a lot to say about this one. :/
On a happy note, SEASON THREE CONFIRMED! *\o/*
+ Colin Morgan emotes more beautifully than anyone. He's such a lovely actor you guys, it's hard not to feel what he feels. And he is adorable. It was so cute seeing him in love, as random as it was.
+ Random useless Arthurian episode titles, yay. Is this series going to have an actual Lady of the Lake? Niumeh's out, this girl's more like the Lady Who Died On The Lake, so I guess third time's the charm? :P
+ Julian Jones wrote this one, as he did 2x01, and I notice he likes writing Arthur EGREGIOUSLY PRATLY. Arthur's first interactions with Merlin felt like the Sigan ep, for serious. They were funny, though, and don't feel malicious or anything. And to a point Merls gives as good as he gets, as per usual.
+ Also,
peopleareshapes pointed out to me that they like making Arthur gratuitously shirtless in episodes where he has less to do. LOL SO TRUE. Not complaining (unf), but. I would keep watching even if you didn't do that, show, it's all right. If the girls didn't show up, then we would have a problem.+ SPEAKING OF WHICH. Morgana didn't even get a CAMEO? NOT EVEN A BACKGROUND REACTION SHOT? UN. ACCEPTABLE. UNACCEPTABLE. I understand that the show is deliberately placing Morgana at a distance from Merlin; that's been clear since the end 2x03. So when Merlin has episodes centred on him she isn't going to feature as heavily; rather the people closer to him will. But she's a regular cast member, she should at least appear. It also makes me sad for other reasons that I will get to in a minute.
+ LOL Gaius randomly caring about innocent lives again.
+ Merlin putting Arthur on a diet was hilarious. Arthur being EXTREMELY OFFENDED AT THE INSINUATION was even more hilarious. Oh, boys. I love your faces. I don't care if it would've been easier for Merlin to just get the food from the kitchens.
+ GWEN APPEARED. This is significant (to me, shuddup), because the rumours had it that she would not. (turns out that was Morgeezy, heh. UNCOOL). Her one scene was glorious, though. GLORIOUS. Walking in on Merlin with the dress, not buying his lie for a second, being adorably hilarious about it all. Gwennn, I love your face too. That was all she got to do, though.
+ Most of the Contractually Obligated Minimum Girltiem-Per-Episode Quota was filled by Freya this week. (Which I had totally been pronouncing wrong, by the way.) I was ... not happy, with ANYTHING involving the main plot this week. I love to root for the girls, you all know this, but this one I was so hard pressed to even care about. What did Merlin see in her apart from being able to project his own loneliness and feelings of isolation onto her? She was devoid of personality and her main role was to sit there shaking like a leaf, being victimized and emo. I expected this, but I'm just tired of the genderfail. It's getting old. Because of course, she is magical and since she can't be evil, she must be weak and helpless/powerless and evil-despite-herself. Please spare me, Show. Another girl with powers who can't have agency and be good at the same time, who needs to be saved by Merlin.
Next time Merlin falls in love, let HIM be the one who's half naked inna cage, needing to be saved by some spunky, strong young woman, and then they can embark on their Angsty Tortured Romance.
And of course, Merlin must destroy her, because she's some kind of were-hippogryff thing. I knew the ~beast~ would be her. Anyone have SPN flashbacks? Yes,
I'm glad they didn't actually have Merlin be the one to kill her, though; that's what I was expecting.
+ But let's be real, the episode wasn't really about the girl or the romance, it was about Merlin and how trapped he feels being different and not being able to talk to anyone. I feel for him, I really do, but at this point, his not being able to talk to anyone is a choice. he has options, he has friends who care about him. His scene with Gwen was adorable but strange -- in what universe would she not have helped him if he'd told her even half of the truth? I seem to remember her doing anything to help him in the past; I seem to remember something very similar with Mordred, actually. He wouldn't have had to tell her everything, as nice as that would be. But she's his friend, last I checked. Arthur, too - though after last week, I can see how it's even harder to open up to him. It just makes me sad that his lies are getting worse, and all the more jarring because he turned right around and opened up to Freya.
Anyone else feel like they were watching Bizarro!Merlin in his scenes with her? All the bonding, the telling the truth, the being more forthright than I've ever seen him with anyone? I'm sorry; why couldn't he have been having that same conversation with Morgana again? Because I forget. That was surreal. I get that Morgana's going bad, but they have to do a little more show and a little less tell, because Merlin trusting Freya and not trusting Morgana made no sense. WE know what will happen, but he doesn't, and even if he's taken the Dragon's warning to heart, it makes NO SENSE for him to trust Freya more at that point.
Which is why I think it's projection more than anything, for Merlin. It's more personal and less about her - and I don't blame him for that. It's a theme that they've been touching on here and there for his character all season. He's been feeling isolated and frustrated and sick of it all, and here she is, presenting an escape. But he was going to run away with her. WHAT. I'm just as weirded out as I was when Morgana wanted to stay with the Druids. What about the people you care about, ya'll. It really kind of made it clear where Merlin's priorities are - the freedom to be himself means more to him than staying with Arthur and helping Camelot. The way he sees it (and frankly the way he's made the situation), he can't have both at once. At least right now, it's mostly duty that's keeping Merlin there. I'm not saying this is bad or that he doesn't still care about Arthur/Gwen/etc (obviously he does), but it's kind of huge, characterization-wise and it means the situation he's in now with regards to his secret is untenable.
I mean, Merlin nearly dropped a boulder on Arthur. O_o Obviously he wouldn't WANT to hurt Arthur and Arthur wasn't hit, but Merlin put Arthur in danger to save Freya. And it seemed unnecessary to the scene - Freya didn't need to run past the knights, she needed to fly up and away. She could've done that at any point. It seemed like a pretty deliberate way of showing Merls' priorities.
IDK, IDK. This is probably one of those eps I'm not meant to think so much about.
+ The scene between Merlin and Arthur at the end was SO lovely. Better interaction than they've had for a while even though the lies are just sort of overlaying everything these days.
Obvs I had a lot to say about this one. :/
On a happy note, SEASON THREE CONFIRMED! *\o/*
no subject
THIS. EXACTLY. Morgana is right there. All the time. And it isn't as if Merlin has any respect for class differences that would make him reluctant to talk to her frankly.