Merlin 2x04

[adelagia]

I'm no good at writing reviews or episode thoughts in any coherent manner, and I'm always late to watching the show anyway, but I just want to say this:

ZOMG I FREAKING LOVE LANCELOT.

Comments

[nicolasechs.livejournal.com]

YES YES YES

HE IS DIRTY HOT SEX ON A STICK. A JAMES BONDESQUE STICK.

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

Weirdly, he didn't do a thing for me last season. BUT NOW I WANT HIM ON THE SHOW FOREVER. I THINK IT'S THE HAIR.

*needs 50 Lancelot icons now*

[nicolasechs.livejournal.com]

OMG THE HAIR. AND THE SCAR ON HIS CHEEK. AND THE BOROMIR-NESS OF HIS FIGHT SCENE. *swoons*

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

HOW COULD I FORGET THE SCAR? OMG THE SCAR.

Hee, Boromir-ness. Love it. Oh, Lancelot, come back, baby.

[humbuggirl.livejournal.com]

ME TOOOOO!!!!!!!!

*needs Lancelot icon*

I forgot how much I loved him. The lines, the costume, the backstory... everything was perfect! I will cry if he--or rather the actor playing him--doesn't come back again at some point. I can't imagine anyone else playing him now.

Also, Lancelot/Gwen blows Arthur/Gwen out of the water even with all the yummy angst. *nods*

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

I need a Lancelot icon too! There should be a bunch of good ones popping up after this episode, I hope!

To be honest, 1x05 ranked fairly low on my S1 repeated viewings list and Lancelot didn't do a whole lot for me then. But now! I want him on the show every week! Being noble and awesome and fighty! Oh, swoon.

This episode definitely did Arthur/Gwen a major disservice; Lancelot/Gwen is SPECTACULAR.

[humbuggirl.livejournal.com]

I hope so as well. I've never been able to figure out why there aren't more Lancelot icons floating around considering how pretty he is :)

I honestly don't think they could have handled his character better. He's so swoon-worthy!

[gwy.livejournal.com]

\o/ YAAAAY ♥♥

ME TOO! I thought half of my flist would say he is boring but i am glad lots more people love him. I thought he was great :D Somehow i had an easier time believing the Gwen and Lance lovestory than the Arthur and Gwen story and i don't know why XD

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

Woot! \0/

I did think Lancelot was kinda boring in S1, but this episode turned me into an absolute fangirl. He was written and acted wonderfully.

Lancelot/Gwen definitely trumps Arthur/Gwen. For me it's because there was actual, honest-to-goodness set-up for the L/G romance in 1x05, while A/G got nothing in S1, and then suddenly Arthur cares for Gwen above everything else in the world now, which I find very difficult to buy, even though Bradley does very good pouty faces. Also, I love that Gwen is all in with Lancelot, whereas with Arthur, she holds back quite a bit. I get an Epic Romance feeling from L/G but more of a one-sided affair with A/G.

[gwy.livejournal.com]

SAME! Gwen was def. more 'active' with Lancelot, telling him what she feels, the way she looks at him, kissing him where with Arthur she was just wondering and like 'oh what is happening?'. I kind of like how they did that but i don't like how Arthur is SO in love with her, she is the most important thing in the world to him, REALLY WTF-ish moment.

[cosmo-jenny.livejournal.com]

I liked Lancelot before.
Plus Arthur/Gwen is as boring as bland porridge right now.

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

Lancelot didn't leave much of an impression for me in S1, but I thought he was really excellent in this episode.

I think Arthur/Gwen actually has some good potential, but my issue with A/G is that there was no solid build-up in S1, and then all of a sudden in S2 they've gone from zero to sixty, and Arthur's skipped about six steps ahead of where they ought to be in the romance arc.

[cosmo-jenny.livejournal.com]

Well, I knew some of the Arthurian Saga/Legend before, so I knew about the meaning of Lancelot.

Yeah, it is kind of sudden. And I don't like Arthur much. I try to see his good heart or whatever but most of the times he is brave but an idiot.

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I know what role Lancelot will eventually play in the Arthur/Guinevere future, I just meant that in S1 I found him a bit bland.

LOL, Arthur is a bit thick sometimes, isn't he? I quite love him, though, despite his occasional misbehaviour.

[cosmo-jenny.livejournal.com]

Well, it was fun to see him so early into the story.

A bit thick? *laughs*
I am definitely rooting for Merlin more than I root for Arthur. I just go more for playful than for manly and protective.

[accordingtomel.livejournal.com]

I KNOW! HE IS SO FREAKING GORGEOUS!!! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? ;D *also needs to upload a Lancelot icon* ;)

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

HEE! I want him in every episode now. :D But minus romantic angst, I just want a happy OT5!

[accordingtomel.livejournal.com]

I want no more canon romance between anyone period, to be quite honest. I feel like the romance has been so strong this season thus far that it's overshadowing everything else.

All the things that made me love this show in the first place aren't really able to be showcased right now because of that. Obviously I really enjoyed this episode...(and the last one), but I'm really feeling like some key elements of the show have been lost thus far this season due to the sudden crazy focus on the romance.

But maybe that's just me. (To be honest, I've been horribly disappointed by several shows I REALLY loved over the past couple years, and so I'm just terrified that it's going to happen with Merlin. Which would be so much worse, because I love this show SO, SO MUCH!!!)

Anyway, shutting up now ;)

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree with you; in spite of Lancelot completely stealing my heart in this episode, the romance this season has really pushed everything else into the background and it's a bit much. I just want them to have happy, fun adventures, with them all being bffs and occasionally taking turns to save each other's lives. 1x10 and 1x11 were fantastic for that, and I want that vibe back.

I'm also worried where it's all going to go in the end; it seems like the writers are going to follow through with the legends, so the show might just all end in complete chaos and hell. :( I honestly don't see why they would have to go that route, though; the legends aren't historical fact, and the basic premise of the show already flies in the face of most of the legends anyway!

We obviously could both go on about this forever. :)

(I see you've also been raiding gwy's latest icon batch! :D)

[moonlitpines.livejournal.com]

I looooove Lancelot, and think that this episode was pretty much so BRILLIANT at showing us the making of the iconic Lancelot. I thought before that he and Gwen obviously had a very first love kind of vibe going on, but to bring him back as a man who's turned sort of mercenary, and his love of Gwen being what brings him back from that? It's probably the best bit of characterization they've done for one of the main players, thus far.

At the time the episode aired I wrote:

He had given up hope--given up the idea of ever being something better than a nomad. He gave up on his dream of being a knight of Camelot when he was judged unworthy by Uther, and struck out to make it in the mean and ugly world that exists outside of its borders. Until Gwen reminded him of things that are worth fighting for: to right injustice, to protect the innocent, to rescue those in distress. Gwen doesn't just show up and rekindle a crush Lancelot clearly had on her from their first meeting, she shows up and rekindles his passion for life and his ideals. For Lancelot, these two things will always be intertwined in Gwen. Love, passion, devotion. He is the queen's champion, the king's first knight. I think those two titles are married for a reason, and we saw the beginnings of that idealized and desperate love.


Anyway, I have no shortage of love for this episode and for this triangle. I wish they could have Santiago around for more than one episode--perhaps near the ending of the show, when Arthur (presumably) takes the crown and starts the Round Table in earnest?

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

LOL, yes, that's articulated a lot better what I wanted to get at with my flailing capslock. 2x04 is one of the better episodes of S2 for sure; Lancelot was written beautifully and the Gwen/Lancelot ship given a really solid foundation. I just want Santiago around all the time.

[moonlitpines.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see you got yourself that yummy Lancelot icon, afterall!

I find it very aggravating to read message boards and the like where people insist that this version of the story won't end with the L/G affair, heartbreak, the downfall of Camelot, etc.

As if there is any other ending. Pfft. That's the point of it. Enemies from without could never take Camelot, but break the center, strike at its heart, and it cannot hold.

But, erm, yes. More Santiago, please.

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

Yeees, after 2x04 how could I not have at least one Lancelot icon in my arsenal? :)

people insist that this version of the story won't end with the L/G affair, heartbreak, the downfall of Camelot, etc.

I'd love it if it didn't end that way, because poor everybody, and I just want them all to be happy and shiny forever. But aside from its basic premise, the show certainly hasn't shown any signs of significantly deviating from the more popular and commonly known bits of the legend (which I think is sometimes to its credit and sometimes to its detriment), so chalk it up to wishful thinking, I guess!