Merlin: Bosom Buddies

So perhaps the initial excitement of a Merlin/Camelot series has worn off me after only two episodes, or maybe it’s because NBC is airing the episodes two at a time, or maybe there’s only so much one can do (and I can take) of stories about the oppression of sorcery yet Merlin’s, dare I say, magical ability to use them secretly to his benefit.

Take our first story of the week (cue the Top Chef knife).  Nimueh creates a monster from clay in the water supply of Camelot.  Once born, this monster poisons the water, causing a mysterious plague.  Through Gaius’s scientific method, he and Merlin deduce the water is tainted, but before they can find a cure, Gwen’s father falls ill.  Though he knows better, Merlin places some magical potpourri and makes a wish on Yankee Candle.  Voila!  Her father is cured but Gwen is accused of witchcraft.  She is freed when, after some more sage counsel from the dragon, Merlin and his new BFF Arthur team up to defeat the monster–again by Merlin using magic and Arthur either turning a blind eye or just being stupid.  With the plague over, Gwen is freed and Merlin’s secret lives another day.

I was quite bored during this episode because everything was predictable and too drawn out.  There was no suspense because I knew Gwen couldn’t die this early in the series, just like I knew Merlin’s secret wouldn’t be discovered even when he admitted to practicing sorcery.  This whole Merlin has a secret that no one can know business is painfully reminiscent of various independent films from the late 1990s about some gay guy struggling with his sexuality (often written in a very Mary Sue kind of way).  But maybe I’m just projecting here.

So what was next?  In our second hour, Nimueh is back and is going after Merlin–recall she saw how he thwarted her efforts last episode.  She arrives as a servant girl to Bayard, the king of Mercia, who’s forming a union with King Urther’s Camelot (it’s strictly platonic!).  At the ceremonial feast that night, Bayard presents two goblets to Urther and his son Arthur, but Nimueh tells Merlin that the goblet for Arthur is poisoned.  Merlin reveals the plan (and falls into her trap) and he is forced to drink from the goblet since he offended Bayard.  Of course, the goblet was poisoned and Merlin falls ill.  Clearly, Merlin chose poorly here.

Gaius, again with the science, figures out the poison and the cure.  Arthur, who’s gotten closer to Merlin as the dragon foretold, goes on the dangerous quest to recover the antidote.  But Gaius realizes that Nimueh is behind it all and worries that Arthur is headed into a trap.  And of course he is: Arthur finds a beaten maiden and agrees to help her (after he kills a big lizard).  But she also agrees to help him find what he needs in the caves . . . in the form of creepy spiders!  You see, as she explains to Arthur, it’s not her destiny to kill him.

Thanks to some telepathic connection, Merlin senses Arthur’s danger and conjures up an orb of light to help guide him out of the cave.  He returns to Camelot with enough time to have Urther crush the flower and imprison Arthur for disobeying him.  Gwen brings Arthur food and secretes some of the flower that Arthur saved.  Of course, she almost gets caught when the real food wench arrives (and the guard forgets how to run).

Back with Gaius, we are faced with the Jean Valjean dilemma: Gaius may need to use magic to save Merlin but magic is forbidden.  Gaius goes all civil disobedience and uses magic (while Gwen’s out of the room) to make the antidote.  Naturally, it works just in time for Merlin to make a sexually inappropriate comment about Gaius consoling Gwen, who clearly fancies Merlin.

So this episode was a little better because it had adventure (and that’s what makes these period pieces interesting).  But one thing (one thing?!?) is bothering me: Wouldn’t it be less confusing (and believable) if Nimueh appeared in different forms when she took on different roles (or at least an Alias-like wig)?  Oh and fun facts: Urther and Arthur are hard to spell correctly one after the other.

Listen to The J Factor with J.B. and Jaimie here or on iTunes.

Season 1, Episodes 3 and 4: The Mark of Nimueh and The Poisoned Chalice (aired June 28, 2009)

For more on Merlin, click here.

Sundays at 8/7c on NBC

Photographs courtesy of NBC, The BBC, and Mike Hogan