User blog:LokiIsAwesome/THE NEW MULTI-STRANDED APPROACH TO STORYTELLING- BE EXCITED

When I first read in a scan of a Merlin magazine, of an interview with a producer who said Merlin Series 5 is using a multi-stranded approach to storytelling, I sort of took it for granted "mah, it's just the producers talking again", but I realised...

Multi-stranded storytelling! This IS a big deal if it goes through and if they do it right!

This is how they've put it: (you can find original scan in Series 5 images)



I have to agree completely with the last two sentences, multi-stranded storytelling is the solution to make Merlin Series 5 more grown up and fresh! It could maintain consistency and prevent A LOT of inconsistencies and holes, that Series 4 unfortunately suffered, such as the characters in Aithusa seeming to have moved on too fast from Uther's death in The Wicked Day.

I couldn't help but notice it.. I mean, we don't want to watch them mope around sobbing about Uther the whole episode, but I sort of did get the impression, that we were just getting over a massive event (Uther who had been a big character in EVERY episode before this one, and was the reason Merlin was in Camelot.. to save Arthur from what evil Uther had caused), but a whole new page had been ripped out and shoved in front of us. "GUYS, THIS IS AITHUSA!! MEET BORDEN! FORGET UTHER!"

While many may disagree, I think you can generally agree that Series 4 did suffer a few inconsistencies. In the longer term, it did seem too noticeable of a leap from the previous series and this stuck out a little bit. While I personally loved the dark theme, they did get a bit lazy by chucking Agravaine in with a vague introduction, allowing Gwen and Arthur to make out in front of Uther without him doing anything about it, and Uther not having a problem with the knights of the round table, you know the rest.. I believe the User:Fimber makes some good points (see Fimber's blogs).

So anyway, the way Series 4 episodes went was (apart from the two-parters), the episode begun, a new mysterious character is seen getting up to no good or being chased, or the knights are in some situation, or Morgana has moved onto a new plot after failing very sorely after her previous one and seeming to not realise it's just going to be another formula for failure, or still not satisfy her enough... then the episode ended, and when the next one begun it felt like a few months had passed. For instance Queen Annis not returning again in the same season, and her so called peacemaking with Arthur not being spoken of for the rest of the season...

I did personally get the impression, that the writers did have very limited space, and I feel they would have definitely wanted to fit in a lot more story, but the point these limitations were obvious, and how they could have better arranged the series and omitted unnecessary things (like the disaster episode Lamia.. completely pointless), should not have happened.

The other series used this erratic (but it wasn't erratic at the same time, get what I mean?) formula as well. Merlin saves Arthur's life, beginning of the next episode Arthur is treating him like he's an idiot again. Camelot just gets over a massive Gargoyle attack, next episode Camelot is in top-notch condition, and Arthur and Gwen are focused on their relationships instead of repairing the city. I understand why they must do this, to move on, maintain a wide family audience, so whenever someone switches on the TV they can tune in and enjoy the episode without understanding what happened before and after.

But they've kept this method up for four seasons. (Series 3 and 4 in the long term nature arguably did move ahead in maturity more than before, though, for instance, viewers would have to undersand Agravaine's reasons for being so sly, or they may get confused, but there is a lot of potential yet to be achieved) As they've expressed several times, the viewers grow up with the series... so I really think it's time, and this may even be risky for them, and we know it's sort of moving away from being a family show to being really grown-up and serious, that viewing the series require more extensive recollection of what's been going on to get a proper emotional response for the events that happen, but it'll still welcome families. (They just may have a little catching up to do.. although if it does stay a lot closer to Arthurian legend, people could draw from their knowledge of Arthurian legend and judge the series based on that.. it'll be interesting)

So, the whole multi-stranded thing, while we got hints of it here and there in Series 4, it wasn't geniune multi-stranded story. You could say a real multi-stranded would be the whole Series being one 13-parter. So basically each episode doesn't wrap up with a feeling of happiness that the characters are safe from their enemies. So each episode doesn't begin with an all-new threat coming out of nowhere because every other threat isn't worth being shown. For example what we could have is:


 * Recurring scenes of Morgana meeting with the Saxons and forming an alliance, throughout multiple episodes. Each episode she comes with more plans or convincing speeches to gain a reputation with them (based on events that have been happening in Camelot) That is assuming she won't just *snap* be with them already. That would be doing what they did with Agravaine again... not bothering to tell the story of how they so easily got into such a high position.


 * I've read spoilers that Mordred will not be a proper knight, but in training to be one. If the series were really to take a multi-stranded approach, Mordred's training would not be announced all in one episode and him knighted at the end.

See what I mean? It may seem like less stories will be told this way, that's true to an extent, but the point is, the stories will be better, more realisitic, more interesting to follow along with, and more rich, detailed and fun!

Plus, while the "multi-stranded" idea sounds initially more intricate, the main theme and direction the whole series will be going in should be present in every episode, so it should actually be easier to follow along with what everything is leading to!

Last of all, this may mean NO unimportant filler episodes like Lamia again! WOOO!

So before you leave any comments below, or leave your computer, thinking very hard about this all and building up more excitement, the actual definition of multi-stranded is.. multi-stranded :) haha, a multi-stranded narrative can mean it's told from multiple points of views, or when two stories intervene. 

(Or both)

I definitely know we have proof already of multi-stranded stories, with Mithian's supposed involvement with Morgana in one episode! How exciting!

Write your thoughts below.