Contributor: Gregg Wright
Despite the fact that Uther just died in the previous episode, Arthur is now king, and Merlin just hatched a baby Dragon, it’s surprising to see how little change there is in how individual episodes are written. Much like the last installment, this episode could easily be confused for any number of primarily stand-alone episodes from a previous season, right up to the final scene of the episode.
The problem, I think, is that each episode seems content to rely on all the story tropes of previous seasons in order to reach these changes in the status quo. The MacGuffin and the villain-of-the-week, for instance, are two particularly overused tropes in “Merlin”. How many times have we seen an episode open like this, with the villain doing something dastardly just before he makes his way to Camelot? It’s annoying, because we can sense almost immediately that this guy is just a villain-of-the-week.
Still, it’s always nice to see James Callis on my screen. Funny to see Gaius Baltar meeting up with “Merlin’s” Gaius. Callis’s attempts to add “gruffness” to his voice (which I don’t think were terribly necessary) sometimes sound a bit forced to me. But Callis still brings enough of his usual acting prowess to the role. It’s always a bit of a shame to have such great guest actors showing up on “Merlin” all the time, only to have them wasted on single-episode roles.
There’s also some typical, oddly inappropriate comedy scattered throughout the episode. They’re laying on the buffoonery a little thicker this season than I’d hoped. What’s worse is that it seems even more out of place when it’s peppered into otherwise serious episodes, in a season which has been darker overall than past seasons. The recurring joke about Merlin never getting any food might be funny on its own, and I suppose it helps that it actually tied into an important plot element later in the episode, but it was just too silly for this episode.
The inclusion of the Druids and the hatching of the Dragon’s egg help redeem this otherwise somewhat unmemorable episode. I know Merlin is a Dragonlord, but somehow it still seems like a bad idea to unleash another Dragon on the world, considering how much damage the Great Dragon has already done. I was almost sure that Merlin was going to give the egg back to the Druids at the end of the episode, since that would have been the smartest thing to do. It’s irresponsible for Merlin to bring another Dragon into a world that’s currently so hostile to such creatures. It would have been far better to keep the egg hidden until an age more accepting of Dragons arrives.
At best, this is an effective, somewhat underwhelming episode whose effects on the status quo will likely end up being more interesting than the episode itself. I did enjoy the episode overall, but the previous episode did so much damage to the series, just as it appeared to finally be moving forward, that it’s now harder to appreciate such an episode. What should have been a major moment of the series (Uther’s death and Arthur becoming King of Camelot) was made into little more than a footnote. A better show would have dedicated this episode to dealing with the fallout from these major events, but for “Merlin” it’s just business as usual.
Rating: 7/10