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emeraldstagI'd fallen behind on Merlin and hadn't been commenting on individual episodes as I had been doing but I just watched the series 3 finale and wanted to post some final comments. It's going to be a LONG wait until 2012 (and only 10 episodes?!).
I think my excitement about the quality of the season may have raised my expectations of the finale too high, because I ended up being underwhelmed with the final episode of series 3. I had forgotten about the fact that the show was modeled/inspired from Smallville and as a result the cliffhanging teases would end in smoke and mirrors than actual pivotal change in the series.
There were a lot of nice moments in the finale, seeing Freya again and the allusion to her being the Lady of the Lake!, the appearance of the round table, the return of Excalibur (but yet again it does not get into Arthur's hands) and Merlin's decision to put it in a stone was brilliant (called it the moment the Dragon said Merlin had to put it where no one could get it). The return of Lancelot, the introduction to Percival, Gaius magically smacking down Morgause.
But I was disappointed with the lack of magical clash between Morgause/Morgana and Merlin. Honestly it was just a bunch of pushing into walls and that was it. Very anticlimactic. Also Gwaine felt like a background character in this episode compared to Part 1, I honestly had to look a few times wondering if he was even there on the screen anymore. I didn't like that they really never touched much on Lancelot showing up, it was just like he was any other guy.
The anticipation I had for series 3 really fizzled in the finale and as a result I'm tempering my expectations for series 4. Uther will still be king, I'm sure they'll explain that the new Knights have been sent out to recruit or something and if the villains for the series is just Morgana and Morgause again it might feel like a retread.
But series 3 was the best so far of Merlin, and throughout the season I enjoyed the moments between Arthur/Merlin, how well Gaius and Uther were used, and Gwaine was so fun I wish he was a part of the regular cast. The only storyline I was unsatisfied with was Morgana and her evil glares, I really feel like they went too soon to push her evil, and I am still not over how bad Merlin and Gaius was to her in series 2.
I think my excitement about the quality of the season may have raised my expectations of the finale too high, because I ended up being underwhelmed with the final episode of series 3. I had forgotten about the fact that the show was modeled/inspired from Smallville and as a result the cliffhanging teases would end in smoke and mirrors than actual pivotal change in the series.
There were a lot of nice moments in the finale, seeing Freya again and the allusion to her being the Lady of the Lake!, the appearance of the round table, the return of Excalibur (but yet again it does not get into Arthur's hands) and Merlin's decision to put it in a stone was brilliant (called it the moment the Dragon said Merlin had to put it where no one could get it). The return of Lancelot, the introduction to Percival, Gaius magically smacking down Morgause.
But I was disappointed with the lack of magical clash between Morgause/Morgana and Merlin. Honestly it was just a bunch of pushing into walls and that was it. Very anticlimactic. Also Gwaine felt like a background character in this episode compared to Part 1, I honestly had to look a few times wondering if he was even there on the screen anymore. I didn't like that they really never touched much on Lancelot showing up, it was just like he was any other guy.
The anticipation I had for series 3 really fizzled in the finale and as a result I'm tempering my expectations for series 4. Uther will still be king, I'm sure they'll explain that the new Knights have been sent out to recruit or something and if the villains for the series is just Morgana and Morgause again it might feel like a retread.
But series 3 was the best so far of Merlin, and throughout the season I enjoyed the moments between Arthur/Merlin, how well Gaius and Uther were used, and Gwaine was so fun I wish he was a part of the regular cast. The only storyline I was unsatisfied with was Morgana and her evil glares, I really feel like they went too soon to push her evil, and I am still not over how bad Merlin and Gaius was to her in series 2.
