Merlin

Anyone following this yet? I think its very creation was based on the fact that the other new fantasy action show, 'Legend of the Seeker', needed some sort of competition. Not that they would have to try very hard to beat the Seeker, but that's an entirely different rant that I don't really want to get into now.

This incarnation of the Merlin saga has a few significant changes that should be pointed out. The most obvious is the fact that we are dealing with young merlin (late teenish, maybe?), but that one was obvious. I guess age is the main change, as he is about the same age as Arthur, and as of right now, Uther Pendragon is still king. Instead of advising young Arthur, he has become his little man servant and does errants, all whilst trying to hide the fact that he can do magic. Since, you know, King Uther hates all things magic and if anyone found out he'd be killed. Other characters like Morgana and Gwynevere are also there, if anyone really cares.

It's not too bad of a watch. Merlin is kind of an emo, since he gets pretty whiny about the fact that he isn't allowed to show off his magic. Arthur is jackass half the time and a badass the other half, while his father is this close to simply being evil. Seriously, that dude is just mean. It's a funny combination. The special effects, while scarce so far, are actually pretty decent, and clearly had a higher budget than anything 'The Seeker' could ever hope for (God I hate that show), so I think we're in for a pretty good ride.

So far there are four episodes out, and a new one coming up today, and I gotta say I'm a fan. I love fantasy action (Well, not that much action yet, per se), and ever since they took the likes of Xena and Hercules off the air, we haven't really had anything like this. Yeah, there are some flaws, like I think most episodes so far had something to do with poison...they need a new plot, but otherwise it has alot of potential.

So, anyone else watching? Do you prefer this to the Seeker, or vice versa?

Been watching this on hulu, it's ok. I'm not all that impressed yet, but I've only seen a few episodes. I was mainly watching this because I heard that "Giles" from Buffy was in this.

Yup, Anthony Steward Head is Uther, and he's doing a pretty decent job. Still, I never quite pictured him to be as cruel as he is pictured at times. Makes you wonder when they plan to kill him off and make Arthur king, although that may be what happens more towards the end of the series. I do like how the opening shot of the credits shows Excalibur, all waiting in that lake. How long before we see this magical sword? And will he get Caliburn first? Or are we going to change the story around a bit some more here? I, for one, look forward to finding out. ...I have very little going on right now.

I've been watching it. Don't really have anything to say atm but I'll see where it goes. It's certainly already managed to break away from the norms of Arthurian legends. If that turns out to be a good thing we shall see.