Insta-review, Merlin s2 ep2

[vanessarama]

I realise an unpopular opinion with some of the fandom, but I loved this episode.

Good Thing 1: Gwen telling Arthur off. I mean, honestly. SHE WAS FUCKING FANTASTIC. And give Arthur a bit of time - he may be razor-sharp when it comes to battle and strategy but with people, he moves much more slowly. He's completely emotionally stunted due to growing up with no mum and only Stern Daddy Uther, and that means he A) desperately wants Stern Daddy's approval, B) desperately wants to be loved, C) has no idea how to express his emotions, and D) as a parallel to that, has little to no idea that other people HAVE emotions. He started learning that in the last season; Merlin began that process for him because he *did* stand up to Arthur and make him see that everyone else isn't just there as a rival, a servant or an authority figure. When he yelled "Now YOU'RE doing it!" at Merlin, that was a big indication that he doesn't expect Merlin to toady, he expects Merlin to be honest with him, because he's one of the few people who will do that. Now he's got another, in Gwen. It will take time but the pair of them are humanising Arthur.

Good Thing 2: Merlin telling Gaius off. Go Merlin go! He's usually so easygoing and pleasant and accommodating to everyone, I love it when he gets aggro-flaily and gets his PutUpon face. Not hot, like his AngryFace, but you do actually feel for him. Which is what's supposed to happen. Also, bits of Irish slipping through, just a tiny bit. It is my duty to find these accent-slippage moments because I find them utterly adorable, mainly because he's so damn good at the accent most of the time. OH, COLIN MORGAN.

Bad Things: not many. Needed moar Morgana, but it looks as if we're getting that in the next one. I suspect that this season will progress with more character-centric episodes, so we will have our eps that have less of one character than we'd like, but it will all even out in the end.

I don't think the Arthur/Gwen smooch was as rushed as people say. He's all worked up with tournament fever, he's been told off and actually had an honest conversation with someone, which is not something he does a lot, and as a result he's feeling all open and honest and emotional, and then the person who told him off produces a token which means, good luck, I hope you win, I hope you don't get injured, I still admire you even though I told you what a prat you are, which he didn't expect. Of course he kissed her. Plus, she looked absolutely gorgeous in this episode.

And then:



THE CHICKEN SCENE. I mean, come on. How can you not love the chicken scene? That is the best comedy moment in Merlin, EVER. I'd love to think it was Bradley's idea.

Comments

[true_statement]

THE CHICKEN SCENE. Bradley totally came up with that, I'm certain of it. I wish they'd done more with whole delicious cooking scenario. So much better if Gwen had implored Merlin to save her home from certain destruction, and Merlin refusing to fetch food for Arthur from the castle and instead having some demented Iron Chef throw down with him, and Gwen eventually returning from her walk to find them+house in complete food-riddled disarray, and she whaps them both with her broom and makes them clean up their mess, and they all roast the chicken like marshmallows over an open fire together and then hop onto Arthur's enormous mattress for ot3 good times. It was such a missed opportunity!

Actually, my only real wtf moment in this otherwise wonderful ep was Gwen's weird delayed reaction to the castle dishes. She must have known from the instant Arthur offered to cook where it was all headed, and obviously she'd recognise her own plates/ingredients/etc when she saw/tasted/etc them, so I didn't quite understand why she acted so credulous up until the very last moment. It would've made more sense if she'd played along the whole time only to light into him at the last second, but the way it played out it seemed as if she actually thought he'd cooked for her all along and was hurt to find out otherwise. Even Arthur's charms wouldn't make her that thick.

[true_statement]

I lied: I had one other (possibly paranoid) WTF thought for this episode. I couldn't help but notice that Treacherous Camelot Guy was played by the only overweight actor. OBESITY=TERRORISM AND ALL THAT.