Merlin

Kinda late on this post, as this show's been on for a month now, but I just wanted to express my actual satisfaction with a summer show. Summer shows tend to be utter filler, only used by myself to break the monotony of a Tivo full of Simpsons episodes, but Merlin I'm rather enjoying.

It started out slow, and looked a bit too much like that gawdy piece of film abortion, "A Knight's Tale". Okay, great teenage Merlin characters living in a PC Camelot where all races intermingle just fine, and the only intolerance (at least on Uther's part) is magic.

The show quickly picked up however, and by the second episode, with the evil Prince Valiant (interesting choice), the "name dropping" began, and that's what makes this show interesting to someone like myself who knows vaguely of the legends but am inspired to learn more about from the show.

Nimueh for example, becomes the major villanness in this show, even though she oddly is supposed to be the Lady in the Lake who gives Arthur the legendary Excalibur sword. Well, thanks to a recent episode, Excalibur has been forged and is currently located at the bottom of a lake, so maybe that will still come to pass.

Although he quickly left the show (probable to return), there was a whole episode devoted to the coming of Lancelot. There is an episode where Merlin and Arthur rescue a young Druid boy who will ominously grow up to be the traitor Mordred. And of course the aforementioned Excalibur episode.

Yes, Merlin's "magic" seems to be little more than simple telepathy (well, at least his innate ability), and the show can be kinda corny, but it's a fun watch. I watch it pretty much immediately after it's recording and it's easily the show I look forward too the most every week in this summer. Hell, this Sunday there's not a showing of it, and I don't know what to do with myself!

It's not going to win any Emmys, and if your not a fan of shows like Hercules or Xena, you will hate it, but if your looking for some enjoyable TV, with a convenient "last show before the work week begins" time of Sunday night, this show is definitely worth checking out.