Mania Grade: C
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Info:
- TV Series: Merlin
- Episode: The Mark of Nimueh
- Starring: Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Anthony Head
- Written By: Julian Jones
- Directed By: James Hawes
- Network: NBC
- Series:
Merlin: The Mark of Nimueh Review
Don't Drink the Water in Camelot By
Stephen Lackey
June 30, 2009
Merlin(2009).
© N/A
The third episode of Merlin introduces a serialized element to the show with the mysterious sorceress Nimueh makes her first appearance. She casts a spell on an egg and sends it spinning into the water supply for Camelot. The egg cracks open in the water and people who drink it begin dying. The King orders a door to door investigation of the citizens of Camelot looking for evidence of magic that is causing this plague. Merlin and Gaius begin their own intensive investigation to discover the cause of the plague.
Merlin again finds himself conflicted and being held back by Gaius. Merlin wants to crack open the magic book and save the day, but Gaius warns that now is not the time for Merlin to reveal his abilities to Camelot. Of course, Merlin waits for the opportune moment to break into the book and find a spell when Gwen’s father falls ill. As you might expect, Merlin has to learn a lesson from his actions.
The challenge of creating a serialized mystery is to get the viewer involved with that mystery. This episode of Merlin never gives enough back-story for us to care about this mysterious sorceress. I’m a fan of LOST so I have an appreciation of vagary in serialized storytelling but in that series, the creators manage to invest us in the mystery. The mystery in Merlin, at least in this episode, doesn’t come off as intriguing as it should. The history of Camelot obviously involves a tragic era of magic nearly destroying the kingdom and it’s easy to assume that this witch has something to do with that era. This new twist should be exciting but it just isn’t. By the end of the episode, there are some minor, very minor hints, about who the sorceress is.
If you’re a fan of the original story of Arthur and Merlin, there’s a lot in this series to turn you off. If this show had the campy feel of something like The Sword and the Sorcerer or even Krull it could be a lot of fun on that level and it would be easy to overlook the changes in the classic story. Merlin never quite gets to that level of cheesiness though. The inconsistencies in Merlin’s magical abilities are at play again this week. Merlin can just stare at a blanket to move it off his bed but later when he wants to slightly move a door, he must whisper some magic words. Of course, whispering those words is supposed to make the scene more suspenseful because just by speaking he could be giving himself away. It doesn’t work though.
This episode is an improvement over the second hour episode last week called Valiant. There wasn’t a bunch of horribly choreographed fight scenes in this one. So, we can be happy for small favors, right? The thing is some of these actors have good charisma and the fantasy setting is fun. The episode isn’t horrible, but it’s just not that exciting either. I’d love to see the show pick up but by episode three, the best score the show can muster is a “C”, so that doesn’t bode well for its future.
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Haven't seen this show yet, but the girl in the picture looks good.