Merlin – Recap & Review – The Dragon’s Call

photo: nbc

Merlin
The Dragon’s Call

Original Air Date: June 21, 2009

Andi – Senior Reviewer
andi@thetwocentscorp.com

This is a Public Service Announcement: At this time we would ask that all viewers and readers please abandon any prior knowledge of Arthurian lore that you may have, as it has no bearing whatsoever on this show. Seriously. This is a show about kings and knights and magic and dragons, and it is pretty good in a family friendly, benign, pre-watershed BBC kind of way. But if you’re an Arthurian purist, run fast and far, for this show will bring you only pain. For the rest of us, let’s just enjoy the quirky fun, yes?
That concludes our Public Service Announcement.

So, we have here for your reading pleasure, the recap of Merlin.

And here he is now, all young and beardless, walking meaningfully through what appears to be Switzerland and…WHOA, look at the ears on that kid! It’s like someone sewed Frisbees to the sides of his head! Wow. Anyway, Merlin is jaunting happily on down the lane and into Camelot whilst John Hurt voice-overs about destiny and some such business.

(These opening credits are a little cheesy, but I’m willing to overlook that because this cast is absolutely delightful.)

We’re still following Merlin and his bouncy little jaunt and his floppy ears, as he wanders through town so we can get nice and acquainted with the art direction and set design and the director can play with the camera. It’s actually pretty fun.

But then there’s a sad little hitch in Merlin’s step when he finds what appears to be an execution in the town square. King Uther Pendragon announces that this man is to be executed for using magic, which is evil and banned and apparently has been for twenty years, so why he’s just telling them now is beyond me, since this fact is motioned at least a million times throughout the episode.)

Then there’s a beheading and I’m not terribly pleased with you, Giles! For yes, dear reader, Uther is being played by Tony Head. And, man, this is almost as bad as the time he helped Principal Wood try to kill Spike. (But, really, I giggle every time I see him with that little crown on, so I’m going to forgive him as long as he keeps wearing it. But I digress.) The mother of the recently headless has herself a hissy fit and tells Uther she’ll be getting even, before using magic to go poof and escape. (Which begs the question of why she didn’t use magic to free her son? Guess she’s not very smart.) Then Uther announces that it’s time for a party and everyone kind of goes, “Err…yay?” (Because, you know, post beheading is the optimal party time.)

Merlin jaunts (a little less happily) over to the apartment of Gaius, the Court Physician, where he saves the man from falling by using his mad magick skillz. Apparently, Merlin’s quite the prodigy and his mother has sent him off to Gaius in order to help him 1) keep his magic under wraps and 2) teach the little urchin how to earn a living, since apparently Avalon does not exist and he can’t go off and become an awesome Druid Master of Machiavellian political strategy or whatever it was that Merlin allegedly did.

Cut over to a hallway where Uther and Morgana have a stare-off because she is most certainly not on board with his awesome party to celebrate beheading the magician. (Gosh, I wonder why?) BTW: I might die of internal brain hemorrhage due to ignoring all these diversions from standard lore, which is irritating because this show really is adorable. So if I just drop off the face of the Internet, assume the worst.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest, Gwen Cooper is pissed at Torchwood for losing her in the middle ages. And then the rabble-rousing mother from the square shows up and kills her. (Oh, Jack Harkness, you’ve got to stop getting your crew killed.) So, the old lady uses her mojo to take on Gwen’s appearance (and at this point I’ll start calling her Lady Helen, since we’re probably going to meet Guinevere here soon and that’ll be confusing. Except she’s not really Lady Helen, so let’s call her Lady Not-Helen.). She’s the best songstress in the land, btw, and she’s on her way to sing in Camelot, natch.

The next morning, Merlin is in bed asleep when he hears a voice say his name, but there’s no one around. Spoooky. Then he’s off to run errands for Gaius and meets Arthur, who is a typical prince – arrogant, attractive, talented, possibly gay, all that usual stuff. (He also appears to be the same age as Merlin and I’m not even going to touch that one.) Arthur’s busy objectifying some underling, which Merlin does not think is funny, so he tries to stop him. Merlin and Arthur hate each other straight off because that’s how these great romances…er…I mean friendships always start. So, Merlin tries to hit him and Arthur has him tossed in jail and you’re off to a great start there, Merlin!

Merlin hears his name again and realizes that it is coming from (dun…dun… DUNNN!) the floor of the dungeon cell he’s locked in! Gaius springs the lad from the pokey, but not without consequences – Merlin gets to spend the day in the stocks getting pelted with fruit and vegetables. This is where he meets Guinevere, who goes by Gwen, and she’s not only Morgana’s maidservant, but she’s black as well. Yay for diversity! Also, she’s kind of likable, which is new, since I usually find Guinevere highly irritating.

Later that night, Merlin and Gaius share Expository Stew and we learn that Merlin’s magic is unique and that the last living dragon is locked in the Chamber of Secrets… er… I mean a cave under the castle.

Cut to Merlin slinking around the castle, delivering a “preparation” to Lady Not-Helen, where he finds suspicious things in her room. On the way back, he runs into Arthur and they promptly get into a fight. Merlin loses, but does a fair bit of discrete magic along the way. Arthur lets him off the hook, though, because Merlin’s brave and there’s something about him that Arthur “can’t quite put [his] finger on.” (But I bet he’d like to! I kid, I kid… kinda. Okay, no I don’t. There’s massive amounts of big heavy subtext there.)

Gauis reads Merlin the riot act and Merlin gets all teenager-y on him; pouting that if he can’t use his magic then life’s not worth living, and stomping off to his room. Magical teenagers destined to solve the problems of all humanity – you can’t live with ‘em and you can’t kill ‘em.

Later, Gaius shows up in Merlin’s room and instructs him to take his shirt off. Yes, yes, I know, I was alarmed as well. But apparently he just wants to put medicine on Merlin’s bruises. Phew. By this portion of the evening’s tantrum, Merlin’s moved on to insecure and broody, so they discuss why Merlin is the way he is and if he’s a monster. They come to no conclusions. And neither does the viewer. Confusion all around, barkeep, the tab’s on me!

Meanwhile Uther and Not-Helen have dinner and it’s boring because we already know she’s gunning for Arthur, not Uther. Nothing to see here. Move along.

That disembodied voice is back, but this time Merlin knows from whence it comes. So, down into the Chamber of Secrets he goes and there he meets The Dragon and they chat about his destiny to protect Arthur and help him unite the country and about existentialism. Then they have tea and read poetry and burn pictures of their old boyfriends. Okay, maybe not those last three.

Next morning, Merlin is off to deliver medicine to Morgana because she has nightmares. I wonder if that’s going to come up later. You know, in a, “OMG MY BELOVED FOSTER CHILD WHO I AM TRYING TO MARRY OFF TO THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING IS A SORCERESS,” kind of way. So, is she not Arthur’s sister? I’m confused on exactly how they’ve wedged Morgana in here. Uther calls her his ward, but is she not Igraine’s daughter too? (Also, do you think Katie McGrath is doing that weird accent thing on purpose?)

Speaking of weird accents, Not-Helen is doing a decent job of not sounding Welsh while she kills some maid for figuring out she’s not who she seems. And then it’s off to the party where she sings an incantation that puts everyone to sleep and makes cobwebs grow all over the place. But Merlin’s got her figured out and just as she’s about to strike, uses his mad magick skillz to drop a chandelier on her sorry ass, which breaks her spell.

Oh ho, but she’s not dead yet! Just after everyone wakes to find Lady Not-Helen turned back into the old hag, she flings a dagger at Arthur and promptly rolls over dead. But, of course, Merlin pulls him out of the way, saving his cute little ass. Uther is so pleased with him for saving Arthur that he “awards” him with a position as Arthur’s manservant. Both Arthur and Merlin look mightily irritated by this, which I can’t blame them for.

That night, Gaius gives Merlin his old Magic for Dummies book and everyone’s happy.

So, what’s the consensus? It’s pretty fun, I think, even if it’s almost Arthurian blasphemy. Having already seen the next episode, I can honestly say it gets more interesting.