Merlin Series 5 Episode 3
Uther Comes Back From the Dead
Pros: Uther being Mr. Malevolent.
Cons: Feels fairly stale.
SPOILER LINE
Merlin and Arthur save an old woman from burning, only for her to die off two minutes later. Before she snuffs it, however, she gives Arthur a horn that summons the dead.
Give him a toy, and what does he do with it? Merlin should have taken the blasted thing away from him...
Arthur, being Arthur, wants to have a chat with dear old dead Dad. So he does whatever Gaius said to do (stupid), blows the little horn (stupider), and walks on through to have a visit with Uther (this kind of risky behavior always happens with him. Seriously. No wonder he and Merlin deserve each other.)
But Uther doesn't give him Christmas cards or a cake for visiting. In fact, he's downright bloody mean. He criticises everything Arthur has done the last three years since his dad was offed-marry Gwen, hire non-nobility for the Knights, the Round Table, being NICE to the citizens of Camelot, saving old women from burning...)
Uther says he still loves Arthur, which was always true even when Uther was being a complete dick to everyone else. Even when he locked him in the dungeons, he was doing it out of love for Arthur's own well-being, even when we all thought he was being a complete ass.
Arthur leaves the dead lands and goes home slightly depressed...and that's when trouble begins.
To be frank, it's not a lot of trouble. Poltergeisty. Mostly property damage. Some slammed doors, windows, and a bunch of shelves knocked over. He breaks the chandelier above the Round Table. Shoulder wound for Percy (lots of screen time for lovely muscled Percy and not much for everyone else but Leon), and head wounds for Arthur and Guinevere both (I remarked they had matching concussions along with everything else going on.) Gwen has a bit of smoke inhalation, too, and Merlin got spears through his coat.
It's actually sort of pathetic and I wish Uther had really bonked someone, but apparently 45 minutes and the fact this is a children's show means minor damage all around. And the guards finally had a week off from being murdered all the time or knocked out so someone could escape from jail again.
I do like how Arthur isn't as big an idiot as Uther, actually sees reason after Gwen gets concussed, and actually wants to fix the problem rather than make it worse.
The solution to get rid of Uther means a slightly comic moment where Merlin and Arthur have to drink nasty potion, but Gaius SHOULD have sternly reminded the two of them that if they want to let dead people out to knock around people and things, then they should DAMN well suck it up and drink the potion to be able to get rid of him.
So they drink the potion (it helps them see him.)
Merlin finds him first. And that's when Uther finds out he has magic. Of course this pisses him off most extremely. A SORCERER by his SON all this TIME? GETTTTTT HIIIIIIIIMMMMM...
Arthur finally decides he doesn't really need Dad's approval and banishes the old fool back to the dead, just as he screams that Merlin has m....
Yup. Cut him off mid-Big Humongous Reveal of the Century. This has happened so much I didn't even bother swearing anymore when it did. Sigh.
I don't see how this aids the overall plot any. Morgana's not going to be messing around with the horn since it's going into the Camelot vaults and won't come out again (and why would she summon Uther, anyway? She hates the man.) Unless she can get in another way and Uther is urgently trying to get through, there's no point to this.
Uther almost blowing Merlin's cover is the same old shite, different week. Come on. How many bad guys have been knocked off, blown up, or taken out with the knowledge that Merlin has magic and the ability to hand it to Uther or Arthur at any moment? Old hat. Boring. Play another card. Unless Arthur calls Merlin on it in the near future or unless you're planning on Uther busting through and wooshing it into someone's ear, not letting him finish the word 'magic' felt like the same old retread.
I don't particularly like the lack of apparent respect Arthur has for Merlin. This had better change fast. Merlin has proved himself a worthy friend and for heaven's sake, give him some credit, Arthur. Even without the knowledge of magic, who's with Arthur on his hunts more often than anyone else? Merlin. Who is at his side nearly 24-7? Merlin. Who does Arthur talk to more than anyone else about things he won't discuss even with Gwen? Merlin. Merlin is his closest and truest friend and he should bloody respect him already.
Next week: Mithian shows up and gets sick, Morgana gets banged (into a wall. Hopefully it's Merlin killing her again, and this time for permanent.) There's some fighting.
Really kind of silently hoping (not much, but some) that Morgana finds out Merlin has magic in next week's episode and gets all mad and angry and eye-flashy and stalky. You know. When she's really plotting and really angry, she walks like she's moving in on her prey.
Eh. Merlin will kill her anyway. Again.
Ta,
Bec
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