Merlin 1:13
This show is so obviously not made for an American audience! They ended the season without a cliffhanger of any kind!
Arthur spends most of this episode in bed almost dying, because he is bitten by the Questing Beast, which is supposedly so deadly there is no cure. Cept Merlin goes to some magic island and gets water from Nimueh, which saves Arthurs life. It comes at the price of another life, and Merlin has offered his own, but of course it doesn’t go that way.
I’m actually pretty surprised that Nimueh didn’t use this as a chance to kill Uther, because the life that is taken is Merlins mother. Of course, Merlin will have none of that and plans to go offer himself in exchange for his mother, but Gaius says “no way dude” and beats Merlin to the magic island. He’s dead when Merlin arrives, but Nimueh is still there and they have a good old fashioned magic fight. Merlin wins, and because Nimueh’s death restores the balance of life and death, Gaius comes back to life and everything ends well.
There’s also a little bit of chemistry between Gwen and Arthur, no doubt foreshadowing for their future. And poor Morgana is a tortured soul this entire episode, nothing but bad dreams about what’s going to happen to whom. I think people think she’s a little crazy, actually.
I do really wonder what will come in the second season, and am curious enough to see it should it either air here or come out on DVD. It likely won’t be for awhile if it does, probably not until next summer at the earliest, but the show has gotten good enough that I consider it okay summer TV.
