4.08: Lamia

[Adasunshine]

A mysterious illness draws Merlin to a distant village. But it soon becomes clear that there is more at stake than just his patients' well-being as something sinister turns the air sour. Far from home and with no-one to trust, Merlin becomes embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse. No longer sure who is the hunter and who is the hunted, can the young warlock survive long enough to uncover the truth?

 

[Mouse]

I really liked this one. Though I can't quite work out how Lamia died. Was it Arthur? Did he stab her/it? Hadn't Merlin and Gwen already stabbed her a couple of times?!

Gawain I find a bit irritating. Same with Elian. Percival though, is foxy.

Was hoping Gwen or someone was going to get to see Merlin's powers but it didn't happen.

Is a lamia an actual mythical monster? Or just the witch in Stardust? Speaking of Stardust, I didn't really get why Agravaine was being such a pain. I suppose that's just what evil people do.

Not sure what to think about next week's ep. The proposal seems to have suddenly come from nowhere. Also, Lancelot's back? Hmm. (Although, yay for Santiago!)

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Don't quote me Mouse but when I played Age of empires, mythology, it had Lamia's in it and they seemed to be from Ancient Greece, so quite how they turned up in Camelot is interesting... I thought this was okay, but how the great magician didn't pick up the enchantment a lot earlier was weak.

And I think it was a LOTR moment; the only person to kill the Lamia was the woman, so I think Gwen killed it.

Yeh, ok, watched a lot worse, but I am, overall, disappointed with this series; the language is stilted, the characterisation not great; Gawain is the big eg. of this, he was all right last series, now he's just there for cheap entertainment.

Do you know what? It's like blake's 7 last series, where they didn't expect to have to make it and it all seemed a little rushed.. I wonder how much notice they had it was definitely going ahead, from some of the info dumps I think it wasn't that long.

 

[HareBrain]

Is a lamia an actual mythical monster? Or just the witch in Stardust?

Er, wouldn't it have been easier to type "lamia" into Google than type out those two sentences?

Interesting article on Wikipedia by the way.

 

[Mouse]

But HB, I know how clever you lot are!

 

[HareBrain]

The rest of the internet is even clevererer

 

[Jo Zebedee]

The rest of the internet is even clevererer

Heresy, surely HB. Cleverer than the Chon's?

 

[Ursa major]

The problem with the Internet is that you sometimes get a page like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamia
​

Check out the wording of the 6th possible meaning from the top (which might explain the little one at the back's reticence).

 

[Mouse]

Broad-headed tree mouse!

 

[Dave]

Yes, I think Gwen killed the Lamia; didn't Arthur say as much?

I'm not sure I agree that the characters have become wooden, but they are certainly inconsistent. We were meant to believe that they were acting completely out of character this week; under the influence of Lamia. Actually, the bullying of Merlin happens every other week.

I hope we aren't back to monster of the week stories. I liked the story arc that had begun to build.

I didn't really get why Agravaine was being such a pain. I suppose that's just what evil people do.

I think you are right - he had to boost up his evilness quotient this week and the only way to do that was to cover tracks and to suggest they all go home - I cannot see the advantage to him of having Arthur return to Camelot and in letting the others die. He wants Arthur dead, right? He has no grudge against Gwen and Merlin, apart from the fact that they are merely servants and plebs. He has no idea that Merlin is Emrys. Surely the best way to have had Arthur neatly killed off was for him to have followed the others and have been killed by the Lamia?

 

[Adasunshine]

He has no grudge against Gwen...

Actually, he does, well, Morgana does, she has foreseen that Gwen will sit upon her throne and therefore wants her dead. Agravaine is constantly trying to be a irritable wedge between Arthur and Gwen.

xx

 

[ctg]

It's strange that this week I find this piece of writing as hard as the one with TWD, and to be honest, I really didn't like this week one. It almost same as the latter half of the Doctor Who, even as Gwen was playing a big part. But that is, she didn't. She was more and less like a window dressing when she should had taken much central role next to Merlin. And to be really honest, I cannot understand why Lamia had to take Merlin and Gwen in to her lair, when she could had done with them in the forest by ushering the knights.

But she didn't, no, because what she did instead was the she made the knights to fight each other possibly to test her spell. And that is the that I don't understand in Merlin as they keep claiming him to be the greatest wizard, just that he doesn't even behave like an interested apprentice.

No, because Merlin is just a mere servant and a medical student when in other series men like him has slotted in their roles and got on with their lives. The fact is that he cannot stay hiding behind the curtains for ever and ever because at some point the facts are going to hit both his and Arthur's face harder than ever before.

So, I really hope that Gwen is going to be there to slap them awake and tell them to smell the coffee cos the road they are heading down isn't going to be nice.


PS. Lamia is a demon. Why they didn't show her darkness better?

 

[Connavar]

Lamia as a demon and ep was silly, hard to watch.

The funniest part was that Merlin couldnt deal with simple demon compared to what he has fought before. Morgana,Morguse and co are much harder than Lamia.

A single sword cut by Arthur took it down ? When Merlin power, hurling sword didnt do anything. The greatest wizard worshipped by the guy that tortured Gauis couldnt handle a Lamia? He had to be saved by Gwen and simple brute force by Arthur?

A bad, joke ep to forget!! The stort of ep that made me stop watch the series in season 2,early season 3. I came back because i liked the darker stories of story eps in late S3 and early S4.

 

[TL Rese]

yup, there were some def plot holes in this one, as has been pointed out. agravaine is just the worst villain - the annoying kind, rather than the fearful kind.

this seemed more like a filler episode to me - doesn't really move the main plot arc along, doesn't deal with the main themes or the tension btwn the main characters - just random lamia. i think nxt wk's episode is going to be more interesting - we'll get to see how they deal with one of the main elements of the arthurian legend, ie. the arthur-gwen-lancelot triangle. dun dun duuuunnn...

 

[Connavar]

Agravaine was the least of my problem in this ep.

This show reminds me of Smallville at times, they dont dare let anyone know Merlin has huge magical powers. No one can truly know him. They are too afraid to get anywhere with the story. Arthur is becoming the legendary Arthur so why is Merlin stuck as the unknown,stupid servant ?

 

[Overread]

I think its matured a lot from the last season, certainly the earlier episodes have carried a lot more plot and weight than before. However its still suffering from that wisened old book that says
"Make a TV series and make sure at the end of each episode things are as they were at the beginning"

I've also not checked, but the slightly bitty feeling to the scripts suggests strongly to me that they've hired multiple writers for various episodes, which could explain why the fillers feel so disjointed compared to the main story arc; since its not being scripted by a single overall author (which might explain why each time Merlin knocks out Morganna that he never quite finishes the job )

 

[Jo Zebedee]

One thing I think. We watch this like real old fashioned Sat. night viewing with me and the hubby curled up on the sofa and our 6 and 11 year snuggled in with us - it's a bit late for the 6 year old, but it's her fav. show, so what do you do? in our case, live with it and hope she has a lie in on Sun

And with all our concerns over plotholes, and I wince, and the kids hit me when I say the word plot, it's thoroughly fun family entertainment, which goes across ages, enough for the parents to endure watching, not so uber not cool the 11 year old won't sit through and easy enough to follow for the 6 year old.

So, on that score I saw well done to the oul' Beeb; but could Merlin be recognised soon; even the kids are shouting plothole from time to time now! (May be my influence, though. )

 

[Connavar]

I think its matured a lot from the last season, certainly the earlier episodes have carried a lot more plot and weight than before. However its still suffering from that wisened old book that says
"Make a TV series and make sure at the end of each episode things are as they were at the beginning"

I've also not checked, but the slightly bitty feeling to the scripts suggests strongly to me that they've hired multiple writers for various episodes, which could explain why the fillers feel so disjointed compared to the main story arc; since its not being scripted by a single overall author (which might explain why each time Merlin knocks out Morganna that he never quite finishes the job )

Thats the problem for me. I like as you say it has matured from last season, more plot,weight. Everyone has grown to become closer to the legendary end product. Everyone but Merlin who still is exactly the same as in season 1.

Morguse who knew his secret is dead. He cant trust no one of his friends and no one takes him seriously or knows he is the famous Emrys.

In this ep they tried to make us think maybe Gwen will see who he really is but that was really bad in how clear,predictable it was.

I like the storyline eps but its more like Arthur show. He has grown and Merlin is the sidekick who hides in the shadow forever.

 

[Overread]

I think the writers are keen to make sure that Arthur is a very key character rather than someone who fumbles around and makes it through because or Merlin. In that respect I think the writers have done very well and have taken a risk in making Merlin the lead but also the side character to Arthur.

The other interesting thing is that they are making more use of the old man guise and part of me is wondering if they are sending out feelers this series to see if they can get away making Merlin take the old man form more and more often since it does fit most closely to the original tales; however I think that is a pipe dream as the young Merlin is the one the series is founded and based upon and it would be to big a shift in the overall dynamic of the show to remove him as he looks.

However I would like him to get a little more cutthroat and next time he knocks Morganna out to actually head over and do something; finishing her off or capturing her rather than running away each time (done it twice so far and I was surprised that the last time the priest didn't finish her off or have a more serious battle with her.