Magic poison, magic plague

KT’s alternate title this week is “Nimueh poisons everybody.”

MERLIN:  1.03 “The Mark of Nimueh”
MERLIN:  1.04 “The Poisoned Chalice”

Oh, good grief.  If I had a nickel for every time the word “science” was spoken in episode 3, I’d… well, probably I could get a vending machine soda.  Which is actually still a lot of nickels, especially for a medieval drama — which is my point.

But I said last time that I was going to go easy on the anachronisms, so let’s just ignore that (and Gaius’ amazing number of pre-Gutenberg books) and move on.  And anyway, what science is really doing here is standing as a counterpoint to magic.  One is acceptable, the other totally verboten – although I have to repeat something else I said last week.  There’s an awful lot of magic going on in this kingdom where magic has been outlawed.

One other historical note, though.  Anyone notice how we had a plague, complete with a supposed witch, and not one mention of anything like religion?  The fact is that our medieval characters think in very twenty-first century ways.

Merlin and Arthur got a couple of nice comic scenes this week.  Both of Arthur’s fake-outs (“It’s called a cupboard,” and the mental illness called love) were well-timed and, I thought, convincingly played.  I also appreciate that Merlin’s crush on Gwen is as obvious to Arthur and Morgana as it is to us.  Although I was ready to believe that Morgana could have wanted to talk to Merlin about magic, given the character’s role in other versions.

On the other hand, we also got an obligatory scene with the Great Dragon in which he delivered his cryptic message as expected.  (Happily, he was absent from the fourth episode.)

Together, these episodes introduce the sorceress Nimueh.  She’s usually Merlin’s nemesis or lover, but I don’t know what they’re doing with her here yet (although Merlin is instantly smitten), except that apparently she’s eeeeevil, and Uther clearly has tangled with her before.

The fourth episode is largely Arthur’s story, and in some ways, its the most Arthurian plot so far:  Knight goes on dangerous quest to recover a rare flower that grows in only one cave and meets sorceress disguised as a damsel in distress.

This being a teen drama, though, it also has fatherly disapproval (and reconciliation), and a girl who knows how to push all his buttons.  I’m finding it a little weird that Morgana is sometimes acting as Arthur’s conscience in these two episodes.

Other complaints:

Do we have to say “You’re a servant, Merlin” in every episode?  Does the audience need that much reminding?  Does Merlin need that much reminding?  Stop it, show.

Did it have to be giant spiders?  Why are there always giant spiders?

And why would you even pretend to kill off the title character in episode four?  Although it did get Gwen to kiss him, which I suppose is something.

What you never want to hear them say

ELI STONE: 2.11 “Mortal Combat”

I don’t even like Maggie, and I felt bad for Eli in this episode. I mean, when she told him that her sleeping with him gave her closure on her feelings…ouch. And you know, I feel like that was still a little untrue. I mean, after her reaction in Sonoma–assuming that he was letting her down or blaming his aneurysm–you’d think there was something there. But maybe that anger is what shut the door.

Personally, I don’t want him with Maggie. But we’ve only got two episodes left, and I want Eli to sign off happy, so we should let him get together with someone. Taylor and Matt are so freakin’ adorable it hurts, so we can’t go back with the ex. It’s clearly Maggie to the rescue.

And it’s funny. I really hated the naive, stupid, annoying girl that was all over the first season of the show. You know, the Ally McBeal wannabe. But you know, the new, bitchy, empowered Maggie is just tough to handle. It hasn’t made her any more likable, even if she has learned how to dress more like a lawyer (though still no suits).

But Eli. Poor Eli. I’m so glad that he and Taylor are finally getting along because for a while there, it looked like he had no one. He’s angry at Dr. Chen. Angry at his brother. Maggie’s a bitch. Well, who else is there? Patty is busy trying to keep things organized with the disappearing business (I wish we had had more to her than the super-brief view of her digging through files). Keith has disappeared (think we’ll see any more of him before the finale?). Jordan’s always there, but he’s clearly preoccupied.

But anyway, perhaps it was my disappointment for Eli already welling up the emotion, but when I heard Taylor and Matt are going to have a baby girl, I think my eyes might’ve watered. This show’s so sweet with little details–why does it have to go away?

Ok, back to the episode. So what about the business? They have a new lawyer, which is clearly going to help them in the long run, but they can’t afford to pay him and they only have six months left before they run out of money. Some big win must be in their future. And my hope? Well, my expectation (if this show really does get a series finale) is that it will be against Maggie and her new beau, and it will allow Maggie to realize what a big jerk he is, just in time to fall into Eli’s open arms.

Then the show will end happily, with everyone back at Jordan’s firm, successful and in love. A good, happy family. Then we can have a spinoff–Deliberation and Dances: Eli Stone Entertainment Hour. It will be a half-hour comedy, of course.

Ok, so the last part won’t happen, but it sure would be nice. I think that overall, the episode was a good one. I didn’t see Eli and Taylor winning (sadly), but considering that the firm was on the line, I was still hoping for that win and surprised when it didn’t happen.

Anyway, they’ve got a lot of stuff to do in the next two episodes. I certainly hope that we really do get an ending to this story. Almost as much as I wished it’d never end at all.

A must-see Raising the Bar

image courtesy of TNT

If you weren’t planning on watching Raising the Bar tonight, I’d highly recommend it. Not only are we finally seeing Nick Balco finally in court, in the ruthless flesh.

And ruthless really is the right word. This is a man who only gets what he wants and doesn’t budge in negotiation.

So why is this episode so controversial? Well, you tell me. If someone posts a picture on their website and someone else uses it for illegal purposes, who’s to blame?

The defendant in this case is being brought up on child porn charges. He posted a picture of his son in the bath on his personal web page for friends and family (it was not determined whether this was a blog or a Facebook-like page in the episode). A third party then took the picture and posted it on their own site as child pornography, offering a $14.99 price to see the child’s nakedness.

So who’s to blame? Did the father do anything wrong? He was doing it innocently, but it was used incorrectly. At the same time, where is the line? Should a picture like that appear on a website in any case? Usually, a photographer is blamed in pornography cases, but if he didn’t mean any harm…

Honestly, both sides make a very compelling case, and it’s a little difficult to figure out who really was in the wrong. Should the father be held accountable–should he have realized the danger of what he was doing?

It’s something that we all deal with, now that we’re all in this technological age. All of our photos are digital and easily shared through Facebook, Flickr, blogs, Twitpic, etc. But it makes them more public than we may think, so should our actions have consequences? Well, I don’t know.

But I think this show makes a good attempt at opening your eyes to the dangers beyond the advantages of the new world of social media. And you know, the results of the case may just surprise you.