Lower Decks

Based on the episodes “The Mark of Nimueh” (1×3) and “The Poisoned Chalice” (1×4), originally broadcast on NBC 6/28/09.

It’s a good thing that remakes are something of a topic this year, because it helps put the new series ‘Merlin,’ and the topic of remakes itself, in better context. The concept of telling and reimagining old stories is just about as old as the art of storytelling itself, and that’s probably the first thing to understand about ‘Merlin,’ that it’s neither a good nor bad thing inherently for such a show to have debuted in 2009 to be working with a character that’s been around for hundreds of years. It’s not for a lack of creativity. In fact, I would argue that, as would be the case with any other such work, it’s quite the opposite. And in this case, ‘Merlin’ would be a case of finding something fruitful to say regardless of the familiarity of the material.

There’s a million reasons why this show would have come into existence today, and almost none of them have to do with the material immediately at hand. For instance, NBC is broadcasting the show this summer because it probably sees an audience already primed by the imminent release of ‘Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince.’ The creators have admitted to being inspired by the long-running ‘Smallville,’ which has been taking a fresh approach to the Superman mythos with the very youth-oriented approach ‘Merlin’ has taken. ‘Legend of the Seeker,’ in syndication, has also proven it somewhat safe for fantasy programming on television again. ‘Merlin,’ though, far outclasses it.

I first volunteered to consider reviewing the show because I’ve followed the Arthur legend for much of my life, whether in the classic ‘Sword in the Stone’ animated film or the more recent alternative movie experiences ‘King Arthur’ and ‘The Last Legion.’ I’ve never been a huge fan of ‘Excalibur,’ though that particular film has quite the cult following, but when Hallmark was going through its rather extended epic adaptations phase last decade, I made sure to catch that ‘Merlin,’ too. But this one is unrelated. As I said, this one’s youth-focused, and Colin Morgan is no Sam Neill. This is no insult to Colin; he’s just not, you know, middle-aged.

Morgan plays, of course, Merlin, shown as an apprentice of Gaius (Richard Wilson), and coached to hide his magic from the kingdom of Uther Pendragon (Anthony Head, the only thing I liked about ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’). Now, I missed the first few episodes, so I don’t know if Pendragon’s beef with magic stems from events in the series or a backstory, but because of him, Gaius seems to instruct Merlin more in the concealment of his gift than in magic itself. This particular element is probably one of the more interesting ones of the series, possibly one of its defining characteristics, even, a message not about power but what can be done despite it (if you think about it, that’s sort of what Merlin’s story has always been anyway, right?).

Arthur is a prince in this version of the story, played by Bradley James, same basic age as Merlin, as are Morgana (Katie McGrath, who is a near-deadringer for Keira Knightley), Arthur’s sister, and Guinevere/Gwen (Angel Coulby, who could pass for Thandie Newton), who seems to be a love interest for Merlin, not Arthur. Hey, it’s a new version, right? And like ‘Star Trek’ (2009) yet further, Arthur is presented as a kind of Kirk, who needs to be shown his potential for heroism.

Sometimes he can also come off as Lex Luthor to Merlin’s Clark Kent (continuing similarities with ‘Smallville’ now), so it is a bit strange that the two are basically hanging out together with no idea what their future holds. Gaius seems to know, and Merlin ends up the frustrated future great figure (but no Voldemort here) at times. But he’s got more than the old wizard to count on, with Gaius even knowing about it. Like Jeff Smith’s ‘Bone,’ there’s a dragon who is around to provide cryptic assistance from time to time, voiced by noted character actor John Hurt. But when he isn’t depending on either of them, he’s got a “Book of Shadows” (a reference to a far more tongue in cheek series, ‘Charmed,’ which was still good fun watching) to reference. There’s also a regular villain, Nimueh (Michelle Ryan), pushing the cast to eight. She’s got a history Pendragon and Gaius know (and Arthur enthusiasts apparently know, given the stuff I read on wikipedia), and seems to be the most formulaic element of the series, but is probably necessary to help establish the kind of world the characters inhabit. She never really features all that prominently, like this kind of character would have, say, in the ‘Conan’ series that was in syndication for a few seasons, only fleetingly, so we know what’s going on, like the criminals on ‘Law & Order.’

As for how the series works, it seems to be fairly episodic, and while the dramatics can be a bit dramatic at times to get a complete story done in an hour, it does work pretty well, which makes ‘Merlin’ not just another remake, but one worth following, both as a remake and as a fantasy TV show on its own regard. It’s not just because everyone’s British and so they come off easily to take seriously, but that they’re good at doing that themselves, too. Anthony Head might actually not be the best actor around this set.

Because he’s not supposed to use his magic, Merlin is often forced to resort to more conventional methods (if he can’t help it), and Gaius is handy at that as well. Richard Wilson is no John Noble (from ‘Fringe’) but he’s well worth watching, a certain wisdom inherent in his performance. To see everyone spinning around, relationships and the future looming along every development is a treat to follow. I’d suggest that ‘Merlin’ has got its own magic, and will be well worth watching as well.