Merlin Episode 6: (Death Is) A Remedy to Cure All Ills.

[crabby_lioness]

A clever plot disguises a massive exposition dump, but has a weak ending.

 

Let's break it down:

The Clever Plot:  An extremely clever and very slick evil physician-sorcerer cons his way into the castle to discredit Gaius and kill Uther.  This guy didn't miss a beat the whole episode.  I was impressed.

The Massive Exposition Dump:  We get a dump-truckload of back-story about what was going on around the time Arthur was born.  Which, it turns out, was about 25 years ago, the same time as the Great Purge when Uther killed all the magic users.  Except for Gaius his court physician, who at least stood back and watched as his colleagues were massacred, if not collaborated in it.  The records from that period were sealed by Uther.  Gaius knows the Great Dragon, who is looking forward to Uther's death with great anticipation.

The Weak Ending:  Merlin as deus ex machina.  Meh.  The awesome bad guy deserved better.

If I were watching a Who affiliate, I would bet this was the double-banked title-character-light episode.  Since BBC Wales made it, it's probably a safe bet.

In the end it's a character study of Gaius, but what does it tell us?  That 25 years ago he stood back and let all the other magic-users be killed.  Even now, when push comes to shove he always sides with Uther, even if it means endangering Merlin.  Why?  We are left with no idea.

 A character study is supposed to illuminate a character.  Interesting word that, it can mean both "clarify" and "lighten".  We get a clearer picture of Gaius, but not by much.  And instead of being lightened, he's become a much darker character.

All this back-story better be going somewhere before the end of S1.

Episodes 1 - 3

Episode 4 Review: Innocence at Camelot

Episode 5: (The Once and Future) Lancelot

Episode 7:  Deception for Dummies

Episode 8:  Deception for Non-Dummies 

Episode 9:  What Color is Your Fairy Tale?

Episode 10:  The Practical Exam
 
Episode 11:  Today is a Good Day to Die

 

Comments

[theafterimages.livejournal.com]

I was definitely really impressed with Edwin, I remember that. (Though I have to add that I loved how he died, just because Merlin's complete and utter lack of hesitation or remorse about killing people kind of makes my life). And Arthur turns 21 in episode 9, for what it's worth.

[clancy-s.livejournal.com]

complete and utter lack of hesitation or remorse about killing people

Agreed. There were a fair few people in the comms I follow saying that was wrong for the character: IMO given what we know of the times it made sense.

wrt the history, it was a bit unclear but as Uther said in ep1 the ban on magic (and Arthur) was 20 years old at the beginning of the series. Presumably Gaius had been working for Uther for 5 years at the time of the ban.

eta: having seen all the eps I find I find it difficult to discuss things in any detail without getting caught up in spoilers. wrt Merlin as Deus Ex Machina, I can see why you call it that but IMO it also fits with a theme you identified in ep 4 and which is central to the show: Merlin has a natural magic the other sorcers we've seen don't and although he's a novice at spell casting Merlin has a lot more native power than anyone else has shown so far.

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

Some of the sweetest people I know also think that there's just some folks what needs killing.

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

The called it the Dark Ages for a reason.