Reply 67#67 bala's post
I disagree - ep5 is the one that got me all the way on board with the show. i found the "new twist" to be interesting but was not excited about it until ep5. Having read "the mists of avalon" by marion zimmer bradley, I was disappointed at the lack of depth to the female characters; I'm also VERY confused that morgana isn't a magic user. granted I'm not well-versed in arthurian lore, but I've never heard of her not being associated with magic.
the reason I like this show is the exploration of interpersonal relationships, esp. those between merlin and arthur, and gwen and everybody. that's prolly why ep5 sealed my interest - that aspect finally started to get complex. one thing that makes this show engaging is we know abstractly how things turn out, so one of the show's drawing points for me is seeing how it'll get there. how does the whole banishment-of-magic thing affect merlin's future? how does the show get from gwen+merlin (kinda sorta maybe) to arthur+gwen+lancelot, esp since she's a handmaiden, not a noble? when's uther gonna die, and how? and what *is* morgana's backstory? how much of the arthurian legend will the show try to cover - will they get to galahad? how are they gonna fit so much story into just 8 more episodes, as I'm under the impression there will only be 13 eps total (am I wrong)?