Merlin (SPOILERS)

(This is a post about the final episode only, for those not wanting to be spoiled.  Although in hindsight, I think I may have been grateful to have been spoiled so I didn't expect a wonderful ending.  Your choice.)


I enjoyed the British tv show Merlin.  It is fantastical and funny and the acting is quite good.  I mean, it has Anthony Head who will always get love from me just for the fact he played Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  In fact, the show deserves its own post where I say nice things about it.  And when I get past the series finale, I will write about the good things... BUT having just watched the final episode, I feel utterly misled.  I don't know if I am missing something about British tv, but I'm trying to figure out exactly what the point of the series was and/or what the writers of this show were thinking.

A little background: Throughout the series,  at the beginning of each episode is a voice-over that says: "In a land of myth, and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy. His name... Merlin."  There are also numerous references to the destinies of Arthur and Merlin and how they are destined to unite all of the U.K. (I think) as the Land of Albion.  This is not just something someone mentioned once, those two things are mentioned in almost every episode.  Everything in the series builds towards Merlin becoming a great wizard and Arthur and Merlin restoring the land of Albion (which I think means something in Arthurian legend but I'm not entirely sure what) together.  Ok, so those viewers who watched the entire series felt like they were witnessing the birth of a legend... BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WAS TOLD TO THEM ALMOST EVERY EPISODE!!!!

So now I watched the final episode.  I assumed there would be an epic battle, Arthur would learn of Merlin's magic, he would accept his friend and they would bring about a wonderful kingdom together.  Yea... that's not what happened.  Instead, Arthur takes an entire episode to accept that his friend uses magic... and then he dies.  Oh, and then we see a lonely Merlin walking along a modern road, apparently waiting for Arthur to rise again?  I'm sorry, but what just happened here??  For five seasons I have been waiting to see Arthur and Merlin creating greatness together and for Arthur to allow magic back in to Camelot...  So that doesn't happen.  I've been waiting to see a few episodes where Arthur learns Merlin's secret and how that plays out to become a great destiny... and we got about twenty minutes.

I don't know if the writers were trying for a hopeful end, thinking that the best is yet to come and Arthur will apparently rise from the dead?  But they just failed miserably.  Instead it is a depressing end where an apparently friendless Merlin wanders around with no purpose.  And I don't care if the best is supposed to come in a future time... then show us that time in the future!  As viewers, we've watched the whole series with the promise of these two men sharing a great destiny and that promise does not come to fruition.  It is not shown on-screen.  I feel like it would be like watching Smallville or Superman if they ended right before Clark Kent actually BECOMES Superman, in which case those would be a show or movie about a boy growing up with cool powers and they should be advertised as such.  Don't let viewers spend the whole time waiting to see the guy fly around in a red cape if your intention is never for him to do so.  It's ridiculous.  It's way more ridiculous than Lost.  It may be akin to the Red John reveal in the Mentalist (which, in my opinion, was horrific and ruined the show up until that point).  Either way, it was depressing and I feel cheated because they promised one thing and then never gave it.  If the show was supposed to be a set-up to the glory days of Camelot, I apparently missed those short days.  I also can't imagine any viewer who watched the show who was not expecting for Arthur to accept Merlin and finally accept magic as part of the world in which the show is set.  It's just ridiculous.

Obviously this is all only my opinion.  Others may feel differently.  I feel like I was the subject of a long con by the producers of this show.  Not cool.

Haven (Season 1)

Ok, so oddly enough... even though I can't grasp what exactly I like about Haven, I find it pretty addicting.  I finished Season 1, although it was only 13 episodes, so not crazy long.  The lead actress to me still isn't quite standing out but in the moment, while I'm watching, I like her.  She reminds me too much of other actresses though, like a combination of Maggie Grace, Stana Katic, Anna Paquin, Robin Tunney and Mariska Hargitay.  But not really as good of an actress as any of them.  (Well, Robin Tunney is questionable, in my opinion).

I recognized only two people from the first season.  I'm used to seeing supporting actors and trying to figure out what else I've seen them in but so far I'm not recognizing anyone except for a guy who was killed off in the first episode of Buffy and the female lead from The Dead Zone (and she was only in the first episode).

I like that there are elements of a procedural show here but it is spun in a way I haven't seen before, except perhaps in Fringe.  There are obvious similarities between the two shows and Fringe comes out on top of all the categories except that I would say Haven looks a little prettier.  But seriously:
- Science Fiction?  Check
- Blonde lead female FBI Agent?  Check
- Stoic African-American Superior FBI Agent?  Check
- Characters who are somewhat helpful and yet obviously not telling you everything they know?  Check
- Blonde lead, with two male co-leads?  Check
- Mysterious cases to investigate that somehow she is right in the middle of?  Check
- Weird occurrences, believed only by our small investigating team?  Check
- Sinister undercurrent?  Check
I could keep going...

What I find intriguing as well as what makes me apprehensive is that there is an over-reaching science fiction arc throughout the whole season.  (And being that it wasn't resolved, I'm assuming throughout at least the next season as well).  We are left with questions about the town of Haven, Maine, its quirky townsfolk, the FBI Chief, and the origins of our main character, Audrey.  The questions are interesting enough to keep me watching but close enough to Lost to make me wonder if they will ever be answered properly or if we're supposed to think that loose ends are good?   I want to hope they will provide answers, but with Lost and The Mentalist, I am beginning to wonder whether hoping for answers is just an exercise in futility.  What is the saying...?  The definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over again while expecting a different result?  Are these television shows driving me slowly insane?  Hopefully not.  Until then, I am on to Season 2.