I totally paused!

Upon seeing that Anthony Stewart Head was in a new TV show, I jumped on the chance to watch it.  I loved him as Giles so I figured it couldn’t hurt to watch the show.

However, I think my hopes were higher than they should have been.  First, much to my dismay, because of my recent move, I am having to stream the first four episodes instead of watch them on regular TV.  Internets, I hate streaming video that lasts more than about 5 minutes.  I am of the opinion that TV should be watched on an actual TV, without the buffering problems and commercials I can’t skip.

So far, I am not liking the portrayal of Merlin as kind of a snotty teen.  Maybe it’s because in all other accounts, he’s already old and we never get to see him as a young man.  But speaking of that, isn’t he supposed to be old by the time he meets Arthur?  Like, living in a cave and helps Arthur as a boy, but is not a boy himself?  I can’t remember, so I’ll let it slide for now, but I think I have issues with this.

I’ve also never really been fond of Uther Pendragon as a character, probably because he’s not nice.  And that makes me sad that Anthony Stewart Head is playing him, cuz that means he has to be not nice.

Maybe I am misremembering other things, but I swear that Gwenevere is supposed to be fair, not dark.  I don’t mind them mixing things up a bit, but she’s not beautiful like she should be…and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t ever serve as maid to Morgana, or anyone else in the royal household.

When the powers that be make the decisions to change a known story so much, I often wonder why they didn’t just decide to start a whole different story.  I’m not even a huge Arthurian buff, but I already think there are some mistakes.

That being said, I have a five episode trial period for shows, so we’ll see if it grows on me.  Sadly, the first four of those are going to be streamed, and I really hate to let that get in the way of the viewing experience of the show in general.

Six Degrees of Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
As mentioned, I loved ASH as Giles, who is a character on Buffy.