2012-The Year in Review

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In 2012 the best move i've watched was Hobbit and the best game - Far Cry 3!

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Limiting this discussion to live-action tv series in the fantasy and/or sci-fi genre, and further limiting it to stuff that was released this year or was mentioned by one of the other posters, Merlin is all I’ve got left to discuss. Series 5, specifically.

Series 5 of Merlin feels a lot like what Voyager was to Star Trek. A season/series that could have/should have been great, but was afraid to seize it. Yes, it was the last season and an arbritarily declared one as such. So naturally, plotlines would have to be wrapped up, right? Well, sort of. It’s here that the lack of foresight really shone through. Saxons are an enemy now. Many years have passed since season 4, but Mordred is the only character who reflects this physically. Guinivere is corrupted by Morgana…but is restored two episodes later. There’s a build-up to Mordred betraying Arthur, but while tensions increase between him and Merlin, him turning on Arthur is confined to a single episode that makes it less like a stand for the druids/Morgana, and more like a temper tantrum because his girlfriend was executed when by all rights should have been executed anyway.

I don’t want to nitpick too much. Obviously it’s a show without the budget to show Camlaan off in all its glory, but it doesn’t help when it’s conveyed the way it is. It doesn’t help that Morgana declaring war on Camelot feels hollow because she technically did so two seasons ago (continuity, what’s that?). And the ending, and the character development or lack of it by said ending…ugh.

Merlin could have been more. It could have taken risks, should have given the characters the send-offs they deserved. Not what we got.

I just finished watching this. The whole thing felt rushed. It was infuriating watching Morgana wreck havoc when they should have killed her five times by now, and the baby Dragon should be a non-issue. The thing with Mordred was particularly frustrating, given Merlin's inability to notice that he is the facilitator of a self-fulfilling prophecy for the second time in a row. One second Mordred seems like a reasonable guy...and then all of a sudden he's not. People in this show turn evil way too easily and with not enough build-up. King Giles had a crappy conclusion to his character arc. And where the hell is Lancelot? This whole last season was just frustrating for me to watch. Still, Arthur & Merlin have the best interaction ever. "He's in the tavern, isn't he?" :P

[Hawki]

Huh. Didn't expect this to be resurrected.

Anyway, been ages since I've seen Merlin, but there isn't really anything with the above statement that I disagree with. Assuming "King Giles" is a reference to King Uther/Anthony Head/Rupert Giles (I had to do a Google search to get those references), I'm kind of on the fence about that. On one hand, Uther's one-episode resurrection was unnecessary, and almost a complete 180 of the emotional impact his death brought, not to mention that said 180 has him going homicidal even on his own son. On the other hand, it at least gave Merlin the chance to finally get some verbal beatdown on Uther after all those years, and Arthur reaffirming his own beliefs. At the end of the day, it's a service to Merlin and Arthur's characters while doing a disservice to Uther's.

As for Lancelot, can't say I miss him. He died, was ressurrected, died again, we don't need a second resurrection.

So, that's Merlin. Decent show, could have handled the final season much better and done a lot more with the characters leading up to said season IMO, but hey, nothing's perfect. Hopefully Atlantis will be a good replacement.