A pleasant fairy tale:

Merlin is a feel-good NetFlix series that entertains without unnecessary bother to the brain cells. The story rolls out like a children’s bedtime story and is comforting like hot chocolate in winter. It is filled with wizards, dragons, palaces, grand parties for royals to attend in all their splendor, a prince charming, a cinderella-feel-alike heroine, and a relentless and pretty antagonist to boot.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Plot:

               Merlin is a teenage wizard and Arthur’s personal servant, whose ‘destiny’ is to protect Prince Arthur from all the unnaturally constant subterfuge surrounding him. Mission ‘Save prince Arthur’, the central theme of the series, is accomplished by Merlin, like clockwork, in every episode. 

Poor Merlin, not only had to battle all the ignominious villains and disgusting creatures taking turns to get Arthur in every episode but also had to do it in secret, as Arthur’s father, King Uther’s favorite hobby was executing magical people. And apparently, saving his son’s life in every episode wasn’t reason enough to spare Merlin’s life. It’s possible that Hypocrism wasn’t a word Uther learned as a child as he doesn’t see any fault in resorting to magic to produce his heir or save his ward’s life now and then.

Characters:

The central crew of actors was what saved the show from becoming dreary.

Merlin (Colin Morgan):  The series would have become a major failure if not for Merlin’s acting prowess. The entire series rode on – his youthful exuberance, the twinkle in his eyes, and his sunny smile. His attempts at humor were the lifeline of the show. He was the best fit for the role.

Gaius (Richard Wilson): As Merlin’s mentor and father figure, his versatility as an actor added to the story’s credibility. The hilarious episode with the goblin was an epitome of his talent.

Uther (Anthony Head), the volatile king, was successfully annoying.

Arthur (Bradley James) was a bit disappointing. He was the stereotypical, perfect golden boy in appearance but fell short in the acting department.

Gwen (Angel Coulby) did her servant girl-to-become-queen part exceptionally well. Cinderellas never stop trending. Her character lost scope soon after her role’s life purpose of marrying the prince was fulfilled.

The actual team of knights fleshed out only much later. For a very long time, Arthur’s famous knights were a meaningless group of unfamiliar and constantly changing faces, not impactful enough to commit to memory.

Morgana (Morgan Le Fay) – the entire series could be divided into before and after Morgana turned evil, so incandescent was her power-packed performance. Her full potential went untapped since her acting skills had to take a back seat to let the ‘heroes’ shine.

Except for the central crew of characters, no other character was particularly striking. Certain characters were introduced with great ambition, and the actors also showed immense potential, only for all of them to disappear suddenly without explanations. Merlin’s mother, his childhood friend from the village, and Gwen’s father are a few instances. 

Unconvincing events:

• Merlin keeps saving Uther too, in addition to Arthur, going above and beyond his job description even though Uther was the bane of his existence and even Uther’s ghost version wanted him dead. And if not for Uther, Arthur’s supposed nondiscriminatory kingdom, sympathetic to magical people, would have come into existence sooner, and Morgana, the main antagonist, wouldn’t have been so antagonized and wreaked havoc in answer to Uther’s heartless condemnation of magic . But, if not for Merlin’s misplaced sense of self-righteousness, there wouldn’t have been a tale to tell.

• From time immemorial, an ideal heroine’s prerequisite has been to not only brandish plunging necklines but to also be the embodiment of love, kindness, and selflessness, and Gwen fits the bill. After Uther’s breakdown, Gwen forgives and forgets her father’s murder at Uther’s hand and becomes Uther’s nanny for Arthur’s sake.

• Gwen’s character was gleefully and mercilessly assassinated. If memory serves, the show started off with Gwen having a massive crush on Merlin, which shifted effortlessly onto Arthur. Her brief romantic tryst with Lancelot in the short period of misunderstanding with Arthur showed her unnerving ability to jump ships. Further along in the show, an enchanted Lancelot seducing an engaged-to-be-married-to-Arthur Gwen, by casting a spell on her, didn’t feel convincingly innocent as this could have and nearly did happen earlier. The consistency of Gwen’s ‘noble’ character was slaughtered.

• Merlin was obsessed with Arthur, so much so that his love life was non-existent. A poor girl played his love interest for a single episode out of sixty-five and had to die in the same episode so that she didn’t distract Merlin from his devotion to the prince. What did that episode try to prove? That Merlin was straight in case one wonders? A pity, as Merlin and Arthur would have made the best pair.

• Camelot’s ‘fair prince’ could have been a little bit more brains than just brawn. Merlin doing all the heavy-lifting is unintentionally insulting to Arthur’s intelligence. How efficient can a ruler be if he is blind to the magic happening around him on a daily basis? Always looking nonplussed and oblivious only made him look foolish.

Insufficient prior plan:

• Initial episodes hinted at a possible romance between Morgana and Arthur. Suddenly they were siblings. Only those with short term memory loss could have accepted it unflinchingly.

• Gwen’s younger brother suddenly appeared out of thin air and stayed devoted to her for the rest of the show. Apparently, even his father’s death earlier wasn’t crucial enough an occasion to pop in.

• Morgana’s hot and cold relationship with Uther was tiresome. It was fascinating how she could so quickly keep forgiving someone she plots to murder frequently. The show would have taken off sooner if she had been decisive.

 Anticlimax leaves you with questions:

               In the end, Arthur, the hope of the future that the viewers waited patiently for five seasons to witness, ends up uncharacteristically dead! He was worse than a cat. He had nearly 64 lives, one for each episode only to kick the bucket in the last one? Oh, come on! It felt like you hiked up a mountain for the view from the top only to take a nosedive off the cliff. Without a parachute. For those who say ‘it’s not the destination but the journey that matters,’ let me tell you, skydiving isn’t that much fun when you are not alive at the end.

What does it mean that Merlin is waiting for Arthur to come back? He’s dead and has been for centuries. Time to move on, man! And Merlin is still alive, after centuries. Was he always immortal, or the viewers weren’t informed of this secret power of his? Or was it a later development without prior planning (again)?

And to expect a dead guy to come back so that he could become his personal bodyguard again? Wasn’t he allowed to live his life for himself? It’s messed up and stifling rather than moving. Serves Merlin right for believing a bored dragon’s tall tales narrated for the sole purpose of killing time during imprisonment.