I've been watching Merlin lately, and I have to say it's my favorite show of the summer right now. It's cheesy (as you can probably tell by the picture above), but it is so much fun! Basically the show is all about Merlin as a teen. He comes to Camelot to study medicine and immediately starts butting heads with Prince Arthur, who is a total wanker--although not without redeeming qualities. Merlin has a natural gift for magic, which he doesn't dare reveal due to King Uther's (played by Anthony Head--squeeeeeee, Anthony Head!) hatred of all things magical. Fortunately, the doctor guy he lives with (I don't remember his name, but it's probably Gaius or something) happens to have a bunch of books on magic that he lets Merlin borrow.
In the first episode, Merlin saves Arthur's life. As a reward, Uther makes him Arthur's personal servant. Hooray! What a great reward. Especially since the two boys hate each other. Merlin also meets Guenevere, who is Princess Morgana's maid, and a dragon under the castle who makes cryptic remarks. Now, every week Merlin has to save either Arthur or Camelot or both, while surreptitiously using his magic. Ooooooh.
The costumes on the show are pretty low-budget. But I love them anyway. For example, look at Arthur's outfit in the picture above--what are those gloves?? I think I saw a pair of those in Kohl's the other day! Actually, I think I own a pair of gloves just like that.
Another thing I love about this series are the female characters. They all look like they just came out of a cheap knock-off of a Pre-Raphaelite painting--which is pretty freaking awesome. Also, it might just be me, but it seems like the more "bad" a female character is, the more awesome she is. For example, my favorite character in the series is Nimue. She gets to wear the best clothes on the show, and she is a kick-ass evil sorceress. Morgana is pretty tough, too, although not as
Part of the fun of the show is that you already know the story, but you don't know how it's doing to work out here. For example, snooty Arthur is going to wind up marrying lowly lady's maid, Guenevere? Wow. Aaaaand, on Sunday (7/5), Lancelot is going to show up. Hooray, Lancelot!!! <3333 Rawr. ;) So stay tuned for that.
If you want to catch up on Merlin, you can watch all the episodes online.
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