TV REVIEW: Merlin - The Diamond of the Day Parts One & Two

War is declared as Morgana's forces march on Camlann and Arthur and his knights ride out to meet them in order to defend Camelot. Meanwhile, the sorceress has found a way of ridding Merlin of his magic, thus leaving Arthur more vulnerable to attack. And here's your customary spoiler warning.

With Morgana (Katie McGrath) and Mordred (Alexander Vlahos) now allied and the identity of Emrys known as Merlin (Colin Morgan), things are looking dark for Camelot as the Saxons march towards Camelot. Arthur (Bradley James) decides to march for Camlann with his faithful knights at his side, but without Merlin, who has had his magic taken away and must head for the Crystal Cave, the birthplace of magic, in order to get it back. Meanwhile, Gwaine (Eoin Macken) may have given away some of Camelot's secrets and placed Merlin in jeopardy. A face-off with Morgana leaves Merlin trapped as he fights to save Arthur and meet his destiny.

This series of Merlin has been a slightly uneven affair, stalling in a few places but soaring to some really terrific heights in others. If ever there was a finale to reflect the preceding series, then The Diamond of the Day was it. The two episodes promised much; the conclusion of this particular version of the Arthurian legend, the big battle between the forces of good and evil and the moment in which we finally witnessed Arthur finding out the truth about Merlin. All of these things happened, thankfully, but were not necessarily as good as they could have been.

The Battle of Camlann was impressively realised for such a small show, offering up action and violence aplenty for family viewing on a Saturday night. The darker atmosphere of the show has really aided its development and allowed such a grimy battle to take place for the final two episodes. We also got a chance to see what could have been if the knights had been included a little more in the storylines. Eoin Macken's Gwaine has always been the roguish charmer so it came as little surprise that he was won over by Morgana's spy. Macken gave a subtle performance throughout, culminating in his death scene with Tom Hopper's Percival, with whom he had a great, double-act chemistry. It was a shame that we hadn't seen more of the pair since the opening two-parter episodes as they would have rounded out the excellent class well.

Elsewhere, Katie McGrath's Morgana went full evil and proved why she made a much better all-out evil person than a person secretly being evil whilst pretending to be good. If you didn't follow that, basically, I'm really glad that she didn't 'evil smirk' her way through this series. It was also good to see Gwen developing into a queen, though as a small scene reminds us, she has not forgotten how to muck in and get on with work if it needs to be done. Richard Wilson's Gaius also played an integral role in the proceedings, more so than he has been allowed to for the majority of series five. His scene with James' Arthur as he tries to convince the king of Merlin's intentions was quietly played, yet very effective.

Then, there's the conclusion of the legend. One of the most interesting aspects of the series was the way in which it incorporated the existing myths into new and interesting stories. Whilst it took the writers awhile to settle into this, it cannot be denied that we've been presented with some very interesting interpretations. The death of Arthur then, offered even more of this; any Arthurian fan worth their salt knows that the Battle of Camlann is where Arthur bites it at the hand of Mordred. This aspect of the narrative was handled extremely well, particularly Arthur's show of defiance in slaying Mordred almost immediately after being dealt a mortal blow himself. Arthur's attempt to remain standing after being wounded was a great moment for the character, summing up his strength and vulnerability simultaneously.

I was pleased to see that the writers stuck to their guns and actually featured the death of Arthur and his final journey to Avalon as the ending to their series as it had started to look like he might survive. However, this was also one of the worst parts of the show because it left a rather large part of the show's internal logic. Since the first series, both Merlin and the audience have been told that it is Merlin's destiny to save Arthur who will then bring magic back to Camelot. Neither of which happened. Whilst the death of Arthur offered a greater narrative closure in terms of the immediate storyline, in the wider plot, it felt that we, the audience, had been cheated. Although it was hinted that Gwen (Angel Coulby) as Arthur's successor, now knew Merlin's secret and might therefore be more sympathetic to magic in the kingdom, but this was by no means the 'magic returning to Camelot' that we had been promised.

Thankfully, there were two scenes that flew high above the rest of the episodes and highlighted just why I got so involved with this show in the first place. The first, when Merlin revealed that he was a sorcerer to Arthur as the king lay dying, felt like a huge moment of closure for both the main characters and the audience. It was, after all, the moment we had been waiting for since the series began. Morgan and James have consistently been the best actors in the show and once again stole it with two highly emotional performances, with Merlin's relief and Arthur's disappointment both palpable. The second scene was the moment in which Arthur thanked his friend for his continued, and unacknowledged, support, adding even more weight to the parting of the two friends. The relationship between Merlin and Arthur has always been the aspect that the show has got right throughout and it was good to see it get the ending it deserved.

I really, desperately wanted to love this finale, but it felt a little like the writers rushed it all a bit at the end, and forgot a lot of the promises that we had been given as an audience along the way. Despite the fantastic performances from Morgan and James (again), the story did not meet a satisfying and logical conclusion. And they killed Gwaine. They had a lot to do to get me back after that, but sadly, it wasn't quite all I had hoped.

- Becky

Read Becky's review of Merlin - The Drawing of the Dark here.

Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea

Or follow her blog beckygracelea.wordpress.com

TV REVIEW: Merlin - The Dark Tower & A Lesson In Vengeance

First of all, I must apologise for my lack of review last week, but unfortunately iPlayer ceased to work at all on my computer (and I missed it when it was on as I was watching Skyfall). However, I am now fully caught up and ready to comment, discuss and generally marvel at some of the worst and best we've seen of Merlin so far.

Yes, The Dark Tower held so much promise and looked like it was going to be an excellent episode that harked by to the really quite wonderful Death Song of Uther Pendragon. After an encounter with snakes conjured up by returning Morgana (Katie McGrath), Sir Leon (Rupert Young) and Sir Percival (Tom Hopper) are left poisoned by some weird magical affliction. But never fear! After a few minutes and some conveniently allotted exposition time, both knights are up, about and on yet another quest for this time, it is Gwen (Angel Coulby) who has been captured. Despite Merlin (Colin Morgan) warning him that this is an obvious trap, Arthur (Bradley James) is hellbent on rescuing his lady love, joining forces with her brother, Sir Elyan (Adetomiwa Edun - who quite honestly, I had forgotten both that he existed and that he was Gwen's brother). 

There are many things wrong with this episode which is quite possibly the most infuriating so far of the current run. First and foremost, the sudden focus on Sir Elyan means that his demise at the end of the episode might as well have been flashed up in a gigantic neon sign. I've commented before that the knights are given little to do but ride gallantly and occasionally fight in slow motion and I was wondering whether it would be long before one of them found themselves stuck with the pointy end of a weapon. Sir Elyan has probably suffered most for this as a character, thus giving his death scene absolutely no emotional impact. Bye Elyan, we barely knew ye.

That's just one of many silly things in this episode though that I won't go into individually because I'd be here all day, but the main one had to be the twist ending with Gwen seemingly allying herself with Morgana. Really? REALLY? Had we had a brief scene in which it became apparent that Morgana had enchanted Gwen, then fine, that would make sense. A scene in which Morgana somehow manages to persuade Gwen completely that Arthur is a bad guy? A bit implausible given the characters' history but still would have made the twist work. Having it come out of the blue was just stupid, like the writers just ran out of ideas and decided to throw an M. Night Shyamalan. The optimist in me wants to assume that this is how they'll eventually cover Gwen's betrayal of Arthur, leading to his downfall. In the myths, that's caused by an affair with Lancelot whilst Arthur's away questing, but since they sort of killed off the character, this could be a way for the writers to re-appropriate that particular plot. We shall see.

As ever, the episode was redeemed by the performances, particularly Coulby as the terrified and helpless Gwen and her scenes with Katie McGrath were highlights. Likewise, Colin Morgan and Bradley James continue to excel in their respective roles, adding weight to an otherwise messy and slightly silly episode.

Thankfully, A Lesson in Vengeance was somewhat of an improvement, thankfully not involving a quest but a plot to kill the king. After a nasty tumble of his horse, Arthur discovers that his saddle has been tampered with ad suspicion falls on poor stable hand Tyr (John Bradley of Games of Thrones fame). Arthur is forced to sentence the boy to death as the evidence appears conclusive but Merlin has his own thoughts on the matter and suspects Gwen, Morgana's brand new puppet, to be involved. 

While the performances of all concerned are usually excellent, this week's were absolutely outstanding. Colin Morgan doesn't often get singled out for praise as he is often so good as the strong centre of the episode that you tend to forget just how good he is. This week, he completely stole the show with a welcome return from Old Merlin, who gets some of the best lines as he takes on the cook, and a heartfelt attempt to save Arthur's life. We have been shown often of the bond between Merlin and Arthur but rarely do we see what would happen should one of them cease to be. When he believed Arthur to be dead, Merlin's grief was completely overwhelming, both for the character and the audience. It was the first time he seemed at all powerless and Morgan played the moment well.

Elsewhere, we get another good performance from Angel Coulby, channeling Evil Gwen to produce something quite sinister and thankfully lacking in Morgana-style evil smirks. Because Gwen has always been so benevolent, the scene in which she murders Tyr to cover her own back was shocking and disturbing, showing how far Gwen had fallen. The plot did let her down somewhat though as it was something we have seen many times before. Someone we're supposed to trust tries to kill the King, Merlin figures it all out but gets the blame and then saves the day anyway. Granted, having Gwen as the perpetrator definitely skewed things a little but the formula has been used many times before.

I am glad that they didn't solve the Gwen mystery just yet though as it gives us something to look out for and watch progress over the next episode at least. If they do tie it into the original myth, I'll be very interesting to see how it is done as Guinevere's betrayal is a fundamental aspect to the Arthur legend and it would be disappointing if they didn't cover it in some way.

Overrall, A Lesson in Vengeance was a decent episode, not as good as The Death Song of Uther Pendragon (which remains my favourite episode of Merlin this series, possibly ever) but it moved the narrative along nicely and showcased the talents of this ever-improving cast. 

But seriously, where is Mordred?

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of The Disir here.

Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea
Or follow her blog beckygracelea.wordpress.com

TV REVIEW: Merlin - The Death Song of Uther Pendragon

There's something rotten in the state of Camelot as an old cast member returns looking a little worse for wear, Arthur and Merlin are forced to face a mutual foe and it's Percival who gets his shirt off this time. 

After stepping in to save a woman accused of magic, Arthur (Bradley James) is given a gift, the Horn of Cathbad and despite both Merlin (Colin Morgan) and Gaius (Richard Wilson) warning against it, uses it to contact his dead father, Uther (Anthony Stewart Head). The meeting doesn't exactly go as planned and after breaking the key rule of not looking back (nice bit of Greek mythology mashing up there), Arthur accidentally invites the unrestful spirit back to Camelot. Uther isn't exactly best pleased at how Arthur is running things and goes on a bit of rampage, sending furniture and Gwen (Angel Coulby) flying around the castle.

With the excellent two-parter that kicked off the series, Merlin could have gone rapidly downhill, just through sheer comparison to Arthur's Bane and in previous years, it probably would have done. We would have had a guest star doing an uncanny troll impression who everyone apart from Merlin believes to be a good guy. There'd be lots of sneaking about, exasperated explanations and probably an ill-conceived fart joke to top it all off. Not with this episode though thankfully as the writers decided to pitch Merlin into a good old-fashioned ghost story. Rather than the expansive storyline of the opening two-parter,

It was handled well and the budget clearly went on a lot of the special effects for the episode which benefitted greatly. Technically, the episode has been one of the strongest I've seen for the entire series and really helped to sell the ghost story aspect. There's always the risk that a floating axe can look a bit comical but the construction of those scenes was such that the tension was so great, you didn't really notice the axe flying but were trying to guess on whom it was going to land. It was also genuinely quite creepy, something that the new later time on a Saturday has allowed to happen with jump scares used for both comic and horror effects. The use of sound was particularly noteworthy in Gwen's chase scene; there was a complete absence of music allowing the visuals to create that tense atmosphere. And Uther looks damn scary in blue.

The return of Anthony Head is most welcome; his Uther was always an intriguing study of suppressed rage and paranoia, here brought to the fore in the scene with Bradley James. The theme of the episode was very much about escaping your parents' shadow and carving your own way, encapsulated in the first meeting between father and son. The balance of the scene was perfectly pitched with the seething anger of Uther matched with the reserved calm of Arthur, standing up to his father with his own beliefs. With Uther's almost-revelation just before he disappeared, does this mean we're getting closer to Arthur finding out? After all, the episode repeatedly referred to Arthur's tolerance and his compassion with the old woman at the beginning of the episode demonstrated that he might be ready to hear the truth about his closest friend.

The big confrontation though, was between Uther and Merlin in the big showdown and what a satisfying battle it was. Uther's complete and utter rejection of magic and any persecution of anyone who practised it was the reason behind Merlin's dual life so when it came to the two facing off, you just knew that magic was going to appear. Colin Morgan's performances don't tend to be of the showy variety, often acting as the foil to the other actors, but here he completely stole the scene away from Anthony Head in just a one line rebuttal to Uther's 'You are nothing but a serving boy' - 'I am much more than that'. I'm not going to lie, I cheered a bit.

It was an important development for the character, having his revenge on his would-be oppressor and Morgan did a fantastic job of conveying both the relief and vindictive joy of sharing his secret. With Uther's almost-revelation just before he disappeared, does this mean we're getting closer to Arthur finding out? After all, the episode repeatedly referred to Arthur's tolerance and his compassion with the old woman at the beginning of the episode demonstrated that he might be ready to hear the truth about his closest friend.

Both Morgan and James gave truly commendable performances this week, both excelling in the comic scenes (did I spy a Prince of Thieves reference with the spoon threat?) and the more emotional moments towards the end. Their two confrontation scenes with Uther were sublime, allowing their respective character arcs to become more apparent than before. Merlin finally gets his revenge on the King who forced him to transform his identity while Arthur realises just how cruel and vindictive Uther could be and how different from his father he actually was. 

All in all, it was a pretty stonking episode of Merlin, focusing on the central pair and their respective abilities to move out of the shadows of those that oppressed them. We only got a brief look at new knight of the Round Table, Mordred this time and Percival (Tom Hopper) was the only Sir to get any major screen time after a particularly odd encounter with an axe. Next week sees the return of Morgana, who's probably still very angry.

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of Merlin - Arthur's Bane Part Two here.

Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea

Or follow her blog beckygracelea.wordpress.com