It Really Was Magic

A while ago I mentioned how I was watching the show Merlin in order to help feed my addiction to British television but was having a difficult time getting into it. The story lines were cheesy, the characters were lame, the special effects were what you'd expect them to be: both cheesy and lame. But there was something about it that made me want to keep watching despite all of this. So I did. And I'm quite happy I did.

Because around the middle of the second season I realized something. The show was getting good. The characters were finally developing. The story lines were getting a little darker and more interesting. And the special effects were improving. I no longer cared that the show wasn't congruent with the traditional myths and legends. It pulled many elements from the myths, but obviously did not depend on them. The show had its own story to tell.

By the end of the third season, Merlin had grown into itself and become quite epic. The story lines were no longer light pieces of fantasy fluff. They were more intense. The stakes were higher for the characters. And the fight scenes were vastly improved and I actually enjoyed watching them.

look at the intensity! 

And by the fifth and final season, gone were the carefree and silly Merlin and Arthur. In their places were intense, determined characters whose responsibilities weighed heavy and whose futures were uncertain. Well, sort of uncertain. Everyone who knows the legends knows how their stories will end.

Of course I get into the show just as it's ending. The final episode aired on Christmas Eve. I knew how it would end. I knew it was going to be sad. But knowing did not prepare me enough. I was literally sobbing during the last fifteen minutes. (and when I use the word literally, I really do mean it. I know the definition and I know how to use it properly) Granted, it doesn't take much for me to get really attached to characters and thus become really emotional when they die. It's part of the reason I don't watch dramas with people around. I'd be too busy trying to not look like an idiot, crying over fictional deaths, that I wouldn't be able to properly engage in the program. I like to immerse myself in whatever I'm watching (or reading, or listening to), especially if it's the first time I've seen it. That's hard to do with a group of people.

It was such a good show in the end. Totally worth it.