Pendragon Cycle is amaaaaaazing so far!!! The music, the scenery, the actors - everything is exactly how I imagined while reading the books. Especially that Elphin in the Weir scene - WOW. And the bull dancing?? YES. Taliesin's singing? Perfection. My only complaint is it's skipping so much and moving so fast! I get it - you want to stuff all of Taliesin into two episodes so you can spend FIVE on Merlin. Grr.
The way they're doing Morgian is...interesting. Not exactly like the book, but effective for the short amount of time they had to introduce her. (Does she really need introducing, though...?) What she did at the end of the episode caught me completely offguard. Gonna be traumatised by that one for a while. o.O
Post-Ep. 2 thoughts...
-AGAIN with the ridiculously fast pacing! What we really needed was 7 episodes PER BOOK. All I can think of is Rand jumping from vision to vision in The Great Hunt, specifically the audiobook read by Rosamund Pike: "Flicker! FLICKER FLICKER!"
-Childbirth scenes just need to be banned from TV and movies for good. Anyone with children knows it's not remotely like...that, and anyone without children gets scared out of their minds and never wants to have children! Just stop filming that fake nonsense, guys. Please and thank you.
-She just...showed up and shot him? Just like that??? You couldn't even allow them their few days of happiness???
-75 years!
-Bring on Merlin, I guess. Still wanted moooore Taliesin.
Additional Ep. 2 Thoughts:
...Are all of Ep. 1 and 2 meant to be Merlin's flashbacks? Maybe that's a "duh," and everyone knows it already. I had initially thought that the whole show would be Merlin and we'd ONLY see Taliesin via flashback, but when Taliesin got two eps all to itself I more or less dismissed that idea. But the way those first two episodes were SO fast and chaotic, Merlin's Narration, and the way it jumps forward at the end...maybe we were in Merlin's Memories that whole time. ... Or maybe I'm just looking for any reason to excuse how rushed the Taliesin storyline was. Hopefully Episode 3 will clarify things a bit... (heh, or not... Merlin's Madness isn't exactly clarifying...)
Ep. 3 Thoughts:
...They Did Not, In Fact, Clarify Anything... (for casual watchers, that is - if you've read the books, you know exactly what's going on)
I must sit and savor this a moment... Here is a TV adaptation that was actually made by a book fan, for the book fans. True, it's not perfect, and there have been a fair number of adaptations that more or less stick true to their source material, but this one... it's so clearly catering (can't think of a better word at the moment) to the readers... On Purpose. Here's this scene, we're not showing everything that happened, but if you know you know. Haven't read? Sorry, got nothing for you. Too bad so sad. Is this...what book-to-TV adaptations should be like? Hmm. I feel bad for those who are confused, buuut... also a bit Smug at the same time? Sorrrrryyy... gotta read the books!! ... On the other hand, there's no way this is as confusing as Certain Other Shows that tell the story mainly through flashback. Lost, anyone? Once Upon a Time? If you can follow those Chaos Parties, surely this is nothing in comparison. Maybe. Who knows. I just love it, that's all.
-On the other hand, sometimes even reading the book doesn't help you! Is that how Vortigern died in the book?? Anyone? I do NOT remember that... *eyes Merlin suspiciously on the shelf*
Pelleas is the most PERFECT casting.
"Hello, Mother." <3
...I just discovered how to do bullet points by accident.
Episode 4:
-This Merlin is just fantastic. Better and better each episode. "I am soooo olllllld," says the young-looking man. (Let's not forget that Pelleas is getting up there too even though he looks about fifteen.)
-I could live without the long drawn-out battle scenes.
-Don't remember Charis doing That in the book. Anyone?
-Ahhh the Ganieda teasers. "Remember what they did to me." Yes, but please don't show us in detail. Please.
-Morgian and her Family Issues
Episode 5:
-The actors for Aurelius and Uther are just perfect. All their scenes together demonstrate the contrasts between the two brothers SO well.
-Great flashbacks to Merlin's childhood. I didn't think they'd actually show the Hillfolk! Nice!!
-That drowning scene...so extra. I get why it was added. You want more showiness from Merlin than we get in the books. But good grief.
-Love the blaring differences between Aurelius' Very Roman getup and Gorlois' Very Ancient British getup.
-Great intro to Ygerne.
-Still salty that they sped through Taliesin and are now leisurely milking Merlin for all its worth, to the point of ADDING SCENES THAT NEVER EVEN HAPPENED, but hey. Great episode.
Episode 6 (halfway through):
We had to pause and save the rest for later, BUT I have one thing to say...
DID YOU ACTUALLY LEAVE OUT GANIEDA'S BROTHER???? HOW DAAAAAAARE YOUUUUU!!!
...As I said, it's only the halfway point. He could still show up. BUT it's not looking likely. They already left out the most HILARIOUS moment between him and Myrddin. RUDE! Rude, rude, rude!
Mind you, I can't even remember the fellow's name at the moment. But he's SUCH a great character! HOW do you leave him out!! Grr!!
*checks book* GWENDOLAU!!
Update: They did! They just completely left him out! What's the deal? With all the ensemble characters in this show, couldn't you have just handed one of them a few additional lines and called him Gwendolau?? Come on!
Such a well-done episode, though. Heartbreaking. Thankfully not nearly as gruesome as the book.
Episode 7 (finally!! They made us wait an extra week for some reason!):
They pulled in so many scenes and lines from books four and five! Love it! Such as:
-We get to hear Myrddin sing! Fiiiinally!
-The Taliesin vision!
-"Go back the way you came."
-Basically all of Morgian's speech
I reaaaally hope they can afford another season. We need the rest of Merlin (waaay to skip right to the end, guys. More flashbacks needed.) and, of course, Arthur.
