The Syfy channel recently announced its plans to air the second season of Merlin, the British fantasy series that NBC aired last summer (where the ratings were dismal).

In short, American viewers will finally get to see what happens next in this brand spankin’ new version of Camelot.

Just to bring everyone up to speed, in this Smallville-tinged re-imagining, the action is set before Arthur ascends to the throne, and he and Merlin, a closet-case sorceror acting as Arthur’s servant, are the same age. The kingdom is ruled with an iron fist by the magic-hating Uther (Buffy’s Anthony Stewart Head), but Uther is secretly undermined by his trusted friend Gaius, who is training Merlin in the arts of magic.

Uther’s ward is the beautiful Morgana, who is starting to recognize magical powers of her own, and her best friend and lady-in-waiting is the kind-hearted Guinevere.

Much of the fun of any retelling of Arthurian legend is the different spin put on specific characters, events, places, etc. None of the leads are similar to most versions we’re accustomed to, and the first season brought us Nimue as a wicked sorceress, Lancelot as a commoner aspiring to be a knight, and Avalon as a haven for evil things.

So what does the future hold for this series set in the past? (Minor spoiler alert.)

For one, we finally begin to see an attraction grow between Arthur and Guinevere, and Morgana becomes more aware of her powers, thus setting her on the road to become Morgan le Fey. Morgause, Arthur’s villainous aunt (or half-sister depending on who’s telling the tale), will appear, and that darned dragon that’s chained up beneath the castle finally gets free.

One of the strengths of the first season was the way the writers used standard Arthurian legend as a jumping point for their own imaginations, and thus we were treated to a lot of stories set in this world that never felt tired or overused.

The four young leads are incredibly charming, and Colin Morgan is a fun and quirky young wizard. And in my humble opinion, one of the best aspects of the show was the very Buffy-like set-up of teenagers fighting the forces of evil, while under the tutelage of a rather crusty old mentor. And that Anthony Stewart Head is in it only makes it sweeter.

Merlin begins airing on the Syfy channel Friday, April 2nd.

The trailer for Merlin, Season Two

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Four Torches (Out of Five)

Warning: The following review contains spoilers for the first season of the TV series Merlin.

And so it ends.

The first season of Merlin came to an end last night with the airing of two episodes:  “To Kill the King,” in which Morgana goes postal on Uther, and “Le Morte de Arthur,” in which Arthur is critically injured by a mystical beast and Merlin learns that he can only be saved by making a deal with a practitioner of “old” magic, which requires the exchange of a life for a life.

There was a great twist in the latter episode when Merlin travels to the Island of the Blessed to seek out one of these ancient magicians, only to learn that the person he is dealing with is none other than … the witch Nimueh, his season-long nemesis.

Merlin gladly trades his life for Arthur’s — but as is usually the case when dealing with the devil, the deal doesn’t work out quite the way Merlin planned. It’s not his life the magic wants to take, but his mother’s.

The things I liked about the finale were all the things I liked about the 13-episode season:

• The magical and emotional bond between Merlin and Arthur was fresh and interesting. They are “two sides of the same coin,” the dragon said, and they often influenced each other in interesting and unexpected ways.

• The series and its other characters had what seemed to be well-planned-out plot arcs. For example, unlike in many TV shows, the characters responded to events that had come before. In addition to the deepening relationship between Merlin and Arthur, Morgana eventually became fed up with Uther (and vice-versa), and we learned interesting things about the pasts of Uther, Gaius, and Nimueh.

• I loved the moral ambiguity of the dragon. He clearly knew the future, but was he an ally or an enemy? For him, the end always seemed to justify the means — which is, of course, perfectly in keeping with a being who does know the future and always sees the big picture. After all, what’s one life when the whole world is at stake? And the series left the dragon the perfect note, with Merlin finally coming to understand that he is not to be trusted — but by spurning the dragon, Merlin also created a powerful enemy for season 2.

• Gaius was a terrific character played by a fantastic actor, Richard Wilson.

What didn’t I like about the season?

• The female characters were almost embarrassingly thin.

• The character of Uther was one-note and often over-the-top. His hatred of magic was eventually “explained,” but it was almost always boring.

• Merlin’s magical ability was infuriatingly ill-defined, expanding or contracting based on the needs of the particular episode (and sometimes the particular scene!). In the finale, Nimueh was at first able to brush aside Merlin’s magic with a shrug … and then, after getting a little angry, he proceeded to destroy her with the same magic. WTF?

• Several of the episode scripts were ridiculously bad, especially “Valiant” and “A Remedy to Cure all Ills,” and some of the plot resolutions, such as Merlin’s sudden ability to kill Nimueh with his “magic”, were contrived and disappointing.

Given the show’s low ratings on NBC, it seems very unlikely that the show will return for a second season on that network (despite the fact that they’re co-producing the show with the BBC). But a second season is currently being filmed in the U.K., so I hope that the episodes end up on the SyFy Channel (which is owned by NBC Universal).

It may not be a show for the ages, but even so, I’m looking forward to seeing more.

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Warning: This review contains plot-spoilers for “The Moment of Truth” and  “The Labyrinth of  Gedref” episodes of Merlin.

Two episodes of Merlin last night, both decent, neither extraordinary. Let’s look at each in turn, shall we?

The Moment of Truth

Four Torches (Out of Five)

Merlin’s home village is threatened by a warlord, but when his mother comes to Camelot asking Uther for help, he turns her down. So Merlin decides he must go back to the village.

What about all of Merlin’s vows in earlier episodes to protect Arthur — his answering of the dragon’s call, and that their destinies are completely intertwined, etc. etc.? Apparently, that’s completely forgotten, at least for this episode.

The most notable thing about the episode is the rather shocking amount of “hoyay” (or would-be gay subtext) in it. People have been telling me for weeks that this show can be read on two levels, and after last night’s episode, I’m never going to deny it again.

• Why did Merlin leave this village in the first place? “I just didn’t fit in anymore. I wanted to find somewhere where I do.”
• When Merlin talks to the former village bully, the bully says, “Why did you leave? I wouldn’t have told anyone.”
• Later, Merlin says, “If Arthur doesn’t accept me for who I really am, he’s not the friend I hoped he was.”

Yes, yes, Merlin is talking about his ability to do magic. But you’d have to be an idiot not to see it on another level too.

“The moment of truth” from the title is the moment when Merlin decides to use his magic to save his village — despite the fact that Arthur will then know the truth.

Basically, Merlin decides to “come out” to Arthur.

The problem is, when Merlin finally does use his magic, he conjures a wind that sort of blows the warriors away. Seriously? Wind?

Then, before Merlin can admit the truth to Arthur, the dying warlord tries to shoot him with an arrow, and the former village bully throws himself in front of it, not only saving Arthur’s life, but also declaring, in his final breath, that he, not Merlin, is the sorcerer.

Um, why doesn’t Merlin use his magic — the magic that he just used — to save him?

A series of seriously clunky plot contrivances in an otherwise enjoyable episode.

The Labyrinth of Gedref

Four Torches (Out of Five)

In the night’s second episode, Arthur and Merlin are out hunting, and Arthur, over Merlin’s objections, kills a unicorn.

Bad idea.

Gaius says that there’s a legend that anyone who kills a unicorn is cursed and will be beset by misfortune — which I actually wish was a component of the Endangered Species Act.

Anyway, sure enough, the kingdom undergoes a series of plagues. But this brings up an interesting issue: the Keeper of the Unicorn spends a lot of the episode talking about how unicorns are “pure of heart” and Arthur must prove that he is “pure” if he wants to stop the curse.

But if this all about being “pure,” how come it involves all the innocent people of the kingdom? They didn’t kill the unicorn!

(I confess it’s a pet-peeve of mine how often in fantasy the lives of the non-central characters don’t matter at all.)

Anyway, Merlin is mystified by the curse. “If it’s magic, it must be more powerful magic than I possess,” he says, which is saying something, given that he’s done some pretty amazing things so far in this series (not counting the lame “wind” spell in the previous episode).

Eventually, Arthur ends up in a labyrinth quite similar to the one in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where he must pass one final test — or the kingdom will be destroyed (again with the poor subjects of Camelot!).

The “riddle” that Arthur and Merlin must solve is a little underwhelming, but as anyone who reads this site knows, I absolutely love all manner of labyrinths and riddles, so I’m willing to go with the flow.

In addition to four torches, I give the episode an “up” unicorn arrow.

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Four and a Half Torches (Out of Five)

Warning: This review contains plot-spoilers for the “Excalibur” episode of Merlin.

Now we’re finally getting somewhere!

A mysterious and defiant Black Knight comes to Camelot wearing the coat of arms of someone Uther killed 20 years before and who, on his deathbed, vowed revenge on the king.

When one of the knights of Camelot challenges the Black Knight and the visitor easily defeats the young man, it confirms Gaius’ worst fears: the Black Knight doesn’t just wear the old knight’s coat of arms; he actually is that knight, somehow resurrected from the dead.

Problem: you can’t kill someone who’s already dead.

Sure enough, as if to prove that he’s an otherworldly being, the knight doesn’t go to sleep at night, but rather stands, motionless, in the courtyard, until the next match the following day. Very creepy.

But Arthur, who’s not big on thinking before he acts, challenges the knight. And this is what kicks the episode into high gear.

Gaius confronts Uther, telling him not to let Arthur fight the knight, even if it means telling him “who the knight really is.” But Uther can’t have that, because it would mean telling Arthur the truth about his birth.

And what is that truth? Year earlier, Uther made a wish of the witch Nimueh that he’d have a son, but it came with a price he didn’t understand (and that she claims she didn’t know) — the life of his wife.

Okay, I’m not sure why Uther can’t tell Arthur what he needs to know about the Black Knight without also telling him this, but whatever. Finally, we have an explanation for Uther’s irrational hatred of magic. The show was starting to annoy me in this respect, so this is very good.

Rather than reveal to Arthur the secret of his birth, Uther plans to fight the Black Knight himself; he knows it will mean his death, but at least the knight, and Nimueh, who resurrected the knight to begin with, will have their revenge, and Arthur will be saved.

(I have one small quibble: Uther makes Gaius promise that, when he dies, he not tell Arthur what he knows, saying that Gaius is the only other person who knows the truth. But by my count, there’s a crowd of about 50 that Uther knows also know the truth, including Nimueh, the dragon, and any number of dead people who can apparently be brought back to life by magic.)

Anyway, while Uther is plotting to take on the Black Knight, Merlin goes to see the dragon, who helps him forge a sword for Arthur so powerful that it can even kill the dead.

At one point, the dragon says to Merlin, “It may surprise you, but my knowledge of your life is not universal.”

This surprises me too! The dragons seems to know absolutely everything else about Merlin, including his and Arthur’s complete destiny, most of Merlin’s plans and machinations, and, probably, the waist size of his tight-whities.

But the dragon also gives Merlin a warning: “The sword was forged for Arthur, and him alone.”

Well, we all basically know what’s going to happen next: Uther drugs Arthur, meaning he can’t use the sword. And when Uther sees how nice it is, he insists on using it against the Black Knight, despite Merlin’s objections.

Speaking of which, when you’re warned by a magical and (despite what he says) all-seeing dragon that disaster will strike if anyone other than the intended user wields a particular sword, wouldn’t you fight a little harder to keep that sword out of someone else’s hands? It’s not like Uther is merely asking Merlin for, say, a tablet of Xanax from someone else’s prescription bottle.

Still, I guess there’d be no story if Uther didn’t eventually get his way.

And mostly, I liked the synchronicity of this episode, with some nice plot complications placed against the backdrop of the greater Arthinian legend — in this case, the creation of Excalibur, which, of course, Merlin must now hide until it comes into play later in their lives, to be given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake.

Overall, this was an excellent episode, and not to put too fine a point on it, I’ve had to sit through a fair number of crappy Merlin episodes lately, so it was extremely welcome.

Merlin is back on track! Let’s hope it lasts.

The Wisdom of the Dragon:

(1) “The dead do not return without reason.”

(2) “You do not know, you can only guess.”

(3) “What is made cannot be unmade.”

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Last week, we ran an article on the alleged “HoYoy” — or gay subtext — in the NBC show Merlin.

Not convinced? Consider this:

(Warning: There are minor spoilers if you haven’t seen the first 10 episodes.)

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Three and a Half Torches (Out of Five)

Warning: This review contains plot-spoilers for the “The Beginning of the End” episode of Merlin.

From the first episode of this show, one of the things that confused me was its central conflict — that Uther had banned magic from the kingdom.

Didn’t that put him and his kingdom at a huge disadvantage when fighting all the witches and druids that came to the kingdom who hadn’t forsworn magic? Wouldn’t a better solution be banning magic except in service to the king? Not that I approve, but Uther could then execute all the witches and druids he wanted, but he could also allow Merlin and Morgana to do their magical things.

This week, the magical visitor to the kingdom is a telepathic druid boy who Merlin and Morgana decide to hide, rather than let Uther execute. Morgana, her magic awakening at last, feels a bond so strong that she’s even willing to betray her guardian, the king.

Merlin feels a bond too, but is told, in increasingly explicit terms, that if he doesn’t let the boy die, the boy will end up killing Arthur, and Merlin’s own quest to help Arthur fulfill his destiny, fill fail.

Whether or not the episode worked for you probably depends entirely on whether or not you guessed the identity of the boy, finally revealed in the last scene.

Yup, it’s Mordred, who will, if you remember anything at all about your Arthinian legend, grow up to be Arthur’s sworn enemy.

This is the beauty of these Smallville-like retellings of famous stories: you can introduce famous characters in unusual ways, playing with your audience’s expectations along the way. Who knew Mordred would be so young?

As for me, I did see it coming, but not until after the dragon’s second warning. Which means it had an impact, but not as much as if it had been a genuine surprise at the end.

Part of me wonders if the episode didn’t do itself a disservice by portraying the boy as so creepy and Son-of-Satan-y. Did you get a load of that psychic temper tantrum he threw in order to get Merlin to come and help him and Arthur? It was like something right out of Damien. (And Merlin acquiesced to it?! Lord, let’s hope he never has kids — and if he does, let’s hope I never have to stand behind him in the grocery store!)

True, if they’d had the kid be too angelic, it might have been too obvious that he was evil. So why didn’t they have him just be a nice “normal” boy? We don’t think of Mordred of a kid, much less a normal, likable one.

What did I like about the episode? Well, one of the female characters finally got a substantial storyline.

And I liked the several scenes of humor — with Merlin first hiding Morded’s boots from Arthur, and then his hiding the keys he’s in the process of stealing. Both scenes made me smile, and Colin Morgan is a gifted comedian with a wonderfully expressive face.

The Wisdom of the Dragon: (1) “There is much written about you that you have yet to read.” Nice!

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Two and a Half Torches (Out of Five)

Warning: This review contains plot-spoilers for the “A Remedy to Cure All Ills” episode of Merlin.

Did the interns write this week’s disappointing episode of Merlin or what?

This is an example of how the caption isn't working.

Another evil magician, Edwin, comes to Camelot, this time disguised as a healer. He uses magic to make Morgana sick, then uses more magic to “heal” her — getting the king to question Gaius’ ability in the process.

Eventually Gaius discovers the truth: Edwin is the son of black sorcerers killed by Uther and, many years later, he’s come to kill the king in revenge. But Edwin has also since discovered that Merlin is a magician and threatens to expose him if Gaius tells the truth to Uther.

In short, Gaius must choose: Merlin or the king.

Mostly, the episode was one plot contrivance after another. It never occurs to anyone that Edwin might have nefarious, possibly magical designs — not after all the witches and wizards that have already attacked the kingdom, and not even when he insists that he treat Morgan completely alone? And Edwin just happens to discover Merlin is a magician, giving him the ultimate trump card to play against Gaius?

For a moment, I thought the episode was going to do something interesting with the character of Gaius, when the dragon hinted that the old healer had a history of “turning a blind eye” to things. Was this going to be an episode about how, despite the fact that Gaius is a great mentor to Merlin, he is, fundamentally, a coward? And if Gaius is a moral coward, perhaps the episode would find some interesting way to “redeem” him in the end!

Alas, the theme was mostly squandered. Gaius first chooses to exit, stage right, but he eventually does return to Camelot to help Uther — but then ends up being totally useless. Once again, Merlin saves the day. How? Well, he just happens to be walking by with some towels.

Seriously.

I was also annoyed that it’s the sixth episode, and the women in the cast still have almost nothing to do. Worse, from the preview, I see that next week brings yet another evil witch. So basically all the powerful women in this show are evil?

Come on. The show is set in the 9th century — that doesn’t mean it has to reflect that era’s attitudes toward women.

(Likewise, it’s a tad annoying with so few burn survivors on television, one of the very few has to be evil, hell-bent on revenge.)

I’m also growing disturbed that Merlin’s magic seems to have no real limits — or, rather, Merlin is exactly as powerful as the episode calls for him to be.

On the plus side, it was nice to have the dragon back. And I noticed for the first time what a great nose Colin Morgan has, especially in profile.

I’m hoping we get a better episode next week. But enough about my opinion — what did others think?

The Wisdom of the Dragon: “How can man become so old and change so little?”

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Four Torches (Out of Five)

Warning: The review contains plot-spoilers for the “Lancelot” episode of Merlin.

So Lancelot finally showed up in last night’s episode of Merlin, the series’ fifth, and I was immediately wary.

I had read a plot synopsis that talked about how Lancelot wants to be a knight of Camelot, but can’t because he isn’t of “noble” blood, and I thought to myself, “If Lancelot proves himself ‘worthy’ by the incredibly obvious act of killing the griffin that is terrorizing the kingdom, I just might never watch an episode of this show again.”

But I should have trusted that this show, which I’m really starting to love, wouldn’t go the obvious route.

Lancelot of the Hairy Chest (played by Heroes‘ very hunky Santiago Cabrera) wants to be a knight, but the rules clearly forbid it. So Merlin suggests impersonating a noble, in order to “bend” the rules. Lancelot balks, arguing that knighthood isn’t just about being good with a sword; it’s also about not lying and cheating — about holding yourself to a higher standard. But in the end, he acquiesces to Merlin’s plan.

Their lie is soon exposed, of course, but that’s when things get interesting.

Yes, Lancelot ends up “killing” the griffin. Sort of. In truth, it’s Merlin’s magic that kills it, for it is a magical creature that cannot be killed by sword alone.

But Arthur and King Uthur don’t know that. Arthur is on the verge of convincing the king that Lancelot has proven himself worthy of knighthood, that the “rule” that a knight must be a noble should be changed.

Then Lancelot of the Hairy Chest himself steps in to speak: “No,” he says. “I’m not worthy.” He can’t say how the griffin was really killed — he’s promised Merlin he wouldn’t reveal his secret. But he can’t take the credit for it either.

In other words, the only way Lancelot of the Hairy Chest can prove he truly is knight-material is … by declining to be a knight, at least for the time being. Which is exactly what he does.

Noble blood? Please. Lancelot’s clearly got that in spades — real nobility, that is, not the phony lineage kind that Uther is so hung up about. And in a nice moment, Uther seems to realize that too.

Nice job, Merlin writers and producers! They say the perfect ending to a story is both unexpected and inevitable — and that’s exactly what this ending was.

What else worked in this episode? Well, Gwen measuring Lancelot of the Hairy Chest’s inseam was interesting. And you gotta love when Merlin asks her, “If you had to choose, just for the sake of argument, would you pick Arthur or Lancelot?”

“But I don’t have to choose,” Gwen says, “and I never will.”

Ah, clearly she’s never read any of the 50,000 adaptations of the Camelot story. Eventually she will have to choose, and the fate of the kingdom just might turn on her choice.

What didn’t work so well in the episode? That opening sequence when Lancelot saves Merlin from the griffin scored pretty high on the contrive-o-meter. Why is it that Merlin uses magic effortlessly at all times — except those times when the plot requires that he doesn’t.

Also, regarding the CGI griffin, well, perhaps the less said about that, the better.

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Two more episodes of Merlin this week, and together they prove that the “Valiant” episode (the second one, which I hated) was an aberration. This is definitely a show worth watching!

Let’s take a look at the two episodes in turn, shall we?

Warning: These reviews contains plot-spoilers.

Episode 3: “The Mark of Nimueh”

Four Torches (Out of Five)

The Bottom Line: A terrific, thoughtful episode solidifying what seems to be two of the series’ grand themes: the danger and unpredictability of magic  — and (in a major change from traditional Camelot lore) Merlin’s love for Gwen (or Gwenevere).

The sorceress Nimueh has created a magical plague in the kingdom of Camelot, creating a nice bit of plot symmetry between magic-suppressing tyrant King Uther and his benevolent alter-ego Gaius: Uther, fearful that people will turn to magic if the plague is not quickly eradicated, is determined to expose and kill the magician who created it; meanwhile, Gaius, just as determined to spurn magic, is convinced that the only way he and Merlin can combat the plague is with science.

Merlin, naturally, has a completely different idea than either of them: he embraces magic, using his own power to save those infected — a choice which leads to major consequences for Gwen when she is accused of being a sorceress.

There’s a particularly nice scene when, in order to save Gwen, Merlin admits outright that he is a sorcerer … and no one believes him. This is a little like when Clark Kent declares he is Superman, and everyone just laughs at how completely preposterous the idea is.

(Later, there’s also a nice “Lois Lane” moment when Morgana says she knows Merlin’s “secret,” and Merlin, flustered, assumes she is talking about his ability to do magic — when, in fact, she’s simply referring to his love for Gwen.)

Incidentally, isn’t Gaius contradicting himself when he says, “Magic corrupts — people use it for their own ends” — immediately followed by: “Magic is neither good nor bad, it’s how you use it.” Which is it, Gaius: is magic like money, in that it corrupts, or is it truly benign, a complete neutral?

The Dragon’s Wisdom: (1) “Trust the elements that are at your command.” (2) “You cannot do this alone. You are but one side of a coin; Arthur is the other.”

Episode 4: “The Poisoned Chalice”

Four and a Half Torches (Out of Five)

The Bottom Line: Another rich, thoughtful episode (this time with some terrific plot-twists!) that highlights the series’ other grand theme: the inter-connected destinies of Merlin and Arthur.

In the second episode of the evening, Nimueh is back to create a chalice full of poison, which she cleverly tricks Merlin into drinking (conjuring up a desired war between Camelot and a neighboring kingdom in the process). Merlin starts to die, and only Arthur can save him, by going on a quest to find the poison’s very rare antidote.

After four episodes of this show, I’m very impressed by at least four things, all of them subtle and interesting:

(1) They’re making Nimueh a cunning, interesting nemesis, not a cardboard cut-out. Unlike Darken Rahl, the villain on the recent syndicated fantasy series Legend of the Seeker, Nimueh’s plans leave me genuinely guessing. As a result, on some level, I respect her.

(2) They’re doing a great job of having Arthur and Merlin slowly realize how their destinies are intertwined, even if they — Arthur especially, because he doesn’t have a dragon to fill him in — don’t really understand why. Arthur starts the episode going off to save Merlin’s life; in the end, Merlin saves his life too. As the dragon might say, one can’t have an itch without the other scratching it. Intriguing — and very, very satisfying.

(3) At the same time that Arthur and Merlin are slowly realizing the bond they share, Uther is realizing it too and, even if he doesn’t quite understand it either, he is very threatened by it. This, along with Nimueh, is making for another very effective antagonist.

(4) All the actors are decent, but two stand out in particular: Colin Morgan, who is a delight as the impish, adorkable Merlin, and Richard Wilson, who is a real find as Gaius.

Only four episodes of Merlin have aired in the U.S., but I’m starting to think this is the television show that fantasy enthusists have been waiting for ever since Xena: Warrior Princess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer went off the air. If the already-lackluster ratings have declined further this week, I’m going to be really disappointed.

The Dragon’s Wisdom: None this episode, alas.

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The first two episodes of Merlin, NBC’s new “before-they-were-famous” retelling of the Camelot story, are interesting in that they are very different. The pilot is great: fast-paced, with a cool opening sequence, good character introductions, and a satisfying conclusion.

The second episode? Well, it’s not so great. But more on that later.

Let’s look at the first two episodes, both airing this Sunday night on NBC starting at 8 PM, one at a time:

The Dragon’s Call (Debut Episode)

Five Torches (Out of Five)

Merlin’s debut episode begins with a bang: we learn that Uther Pendragon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Anthony Stewart Head) has reigned in Camelot for 20 years, and credits the peaceful era with his very strict ban on magic.

He calls for the execution of a sorcerer, and then gets treated to a little “I shall have my revenge!!” speech by the sorcerer’s mom, who is a powerful witch.

Witnessing this is the newly-arrived Merlin, who looks a lot more like Harry Potter than Dumbledore, being a lad in his late teens. He soon meets up with the court physician, Gaius, who senses that Merlin has magical powers, which are of course forbidden.

Other familiar characters soon appear, having been given makeovers: we meet Morgana, played by a Keira Knightly look-alike, who we all know will one day be a powerful sorceress more commonly known as Morgan Le Fey (she may already be, but if she is, she hasn’t revealed it).

Arthur, meanwhile, is young, inexperienced, blond, and douchey.

And lastly we meet Morgana’s lady-in-waiting, Guinevere.

(A word about Guinevere, or Gwen as she’s called here. The powers that be went against tradition and cast a black woman in a role formerly played exclusively by white women. I applauded this choice in an earlier article, but cringed when I discovered that in this version, Gwen is not a queen or a princess, but a servant to Morgana. One must ask if that’s progress.)

Merlin has a few altercations with Arthur and, when summoned to an underground cave by an imprisoned dragon, discovers his destiny is to use his magical powers to protect Arthur (the dragon is the only special effect in the show that doesn’t work so well).

The witch who vowed revenge comes back by impersonating a famed singer. Can Merlin save the day?

Final analysis: A great set-up for what looks to be a great series. I’ve written before that it’s time for a new, fresh version of Camelot, and quite frankly, it looks like we got one. Sure, it’s the Smallville treatment, and all the young actors happen to be, well, pretty.

But the writing is fun, the effects are (more or less) great, the musical score is miles above what you find on American TV – seriously, at times it reaches feature-film-level musical quality – and there’s an extremely appealing lead in Colin Morgan as Merlin.

The real treat of the series is that it’s equally inviting to both crusty old Arthurian scholars and the completely uninitiated alike. All signs point to awesome.

Valiant (Episode 2)

Two and a Half Torches (Out of Five)

Okay, so here’s where Merlin goes a little off-track.

In all fairness, the second episode of any series is never an easy task. In a pilot, you get to set up the characters and all their relationships to each other, not to mention establish the dramatic thrust of the whole series. The hard work is coming up with a compelling idea for a series, but once you do that, the pilot can, more or less, write itself.

But the second episode? Well, that’s all about taking the central idea of the series and executing it into an actual week-by-week series, which is surely a lot harder than it looks.

In this episode, a knight named Valiant (seriously) comes to Camelot to participate in a sword-fighting tournament (I suspect jousting would have cost the producers too much).

Valiant cons a wizard into enchanting his shield to make the painted snakes on it come alive and kill his opponents. Arthur is usually the winner of the tournament, so naturally we’re worried about him.

Or we’re supposed to be. Problem is, he’s still pretty much the douche he was in the pilot, so we have little sympathy for him, especially when he treats our boy Merlin poorly.

However, over the course of the episode, Arthur warms up to Merlin, even believing him when Merlin claims, without hard evidence, that Valiant might be planning to use magic to kill him.

Will Arthur’s father believe him? And if he doesn’t, what can Merlin — who’s still forbidden to use magic, mind you — do to save the day?

The most interesting thing about the episode might be the growing relationship between Gwen and Merlin, and Morgana and Arthur, which — assuming they’re not just becoming opposite-sex confidantes — is interesting in that the partners have switched from traditional Arthurian tales.

Final Analysis: Overall, the episode is not particularly engaging. Again, the second episode of a series is a tricky feat to pull off, and while the show may have stumbled a bit on its second time up at bat, there’s no reason to believe it won’t hit a home run again.

One of the fun things of these “origin” series is waiting for other familiar faces to show up — and we have yet to see the Lady of the Lake, Lancelot, Gawain, Morgause, Galahad, Percival, the Black Knight, the Fisher King….

There’s a lot of story to be mined and reinterpreted.  I eagerly await more episodes, and am excited about a great new fantasy series.

It’s about time.

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What’s this? A full-fledged swords-and-sorcery fantasy series on broadcast network television? Have we seen that since The Charmings in 1988? (And I’m not sure that campy, short-lived ABC sitcom even counts.)

It might be an indication of just how desperate NBC is for a hit that the network is willing to take a chance on swords and sorcery, with Merlin, a British import that tells the story of Merlin and Arthur and Camelot “before they were legends,” premiering Sunday, June 21st at 8/7c.

Before-they-were-legends stories — basically, the Smallville treatment — can, of course, be hit or miss, especially when the story in question is as well-known and endlessly-rehashed as that of Camelot. And Merlin has departed dramatically from the traditional telling of the story: Merlin is younger, the same age as Arthur; Camelot pre-dates the would-be king; Morgana is a “good guy”; and Lancelot shows up about ten years early.

Then again, maybe all this isn’t such a bad thing. Despite the never-ending parade of faithful, earnest Arthurian retellings, how long has it been since we’ve had a truly interesting one — one that was worth retelling? Since The Mists of Avalon?

Let’s face it: Camelot has gone stale. If any story deserves to be shaken up, it might be this one.

In Britain, where the first thirteen episodes of Merlin aired last fall, the show has been a critical and popular hit. NBC too liked what it saw, committing to a partnership with the BBC early in the production (no doubt increasing the budget and improving the production values for finicky U.S. sensibilities).

Meanwhile, the online buzz from the U.K. has been positive — though NBC seems to have done a pretty good job of geoblocking online postings of the show’s episodes, to preserve some sense of mysery, and to protect their investment.

Two aspects of this retelling seem unambiguously positive. One is the color-blind casting of Guinevere, or Gwen, played by Angel Coulby. How nice to get a break from the all-white, all-the-time Arthur stories.

In addition, the role of Uther is played by none other than Buffy: The Vampire Slayer’s beloved Giles, Anthony Stewart Head.

Will Merlin work? We’ll know soon enough if this will be the summer that made Camelot cool again.

A preview of NBC’s Merlin (Sunday, June 21st at 8/7c)

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