After having watched four seasons and four epsiodes of season five, after having read countless complaints about season four and five and after having read spoilers in comments of those who write down their opinions about the show and the latest epsiodes, "Merlin" meanwhile reminds me of the Grinch of TV shows. I'm aware of the fact that there are some fans who don't like criticism but I've tried to figure out what disappointed so many fans so much when they - we - all loved so very different things that made "Merlin" their favourite show. So there must have been something about Merlin which united the fans and which disappointed them now. Just trying to figure this out.
There used to be a show that was supposed to be about the younger years and the time of Merlin and Arthur before they got famous, which means, before the best known and most famous legends begin. It was supposed to be similar to Smallville, telling the stories of the young boys working towards their famous selves, still being unaware of what they were destined to achieve. It used to be about a young sorcerer who had to hide his magical powers and keep his secret at all costs because the king of Camelot banned magic and sentenced every sorcerer and magic-user to death. With the young protagonists alone, it could have easily been reduced to atcually some kind of a medieval highschool drama, most of all done for a younger audience as could be seen in the way they behaved and treated each other with their banter and slapstick situations, but in order to gain the attention of a more mature audience as well, to make it a show suitable for the whole family and to attract all ages, more mature characters and plotlines were created at the same time. With the introduction of Uther, Gaius and later Lancelot, the audience knew from the beginning that life in Camelot and Merlin's future was not all suggar and cake but actually a very serious journey, yet often lighthearted and full of hope. So we were provided with older, serious and mature characters as well as with the younger characters that were still on their journey to learn and still joking around. For all the, very often, silly banter and the still much too young main protagonists, the mature and conflicted characters created a brilliant contrast. With all of them together, there was something about the show for everyone, something that all ages could deal with and identify with because due to interaction with the older characters and the serious and mature stories, the young protagonists received their own mature plots and started to grow (up) with them. Naturally, the audience came to love the characters, the good and "bad" ones alike, realising that things weren't only black & white but shades of grey. They loved Merlin and Arthur slowly getting used to each other and developing a friendship, they loved witnessing the drama of and between Morgana and Uther, Gaius' questionable past but also his parental love for Merlin, they loved Gwen unintenionally working towards becoming the great queen she is destined to be, loved Lancelot and his very noble character, loved Gwaine as a new friend for Merlin. They loved the tension of Merlin having to hide his powers from everyone, hoping that someday these very powers would open some people's eyes. They loved the Great Dragon and his unpredictable character, the hints for redemption for Uther and Morgana, the hints about the great Albion that was supposed to be built after the show's ending and an overall happy ending for everyone, in whatever way, depite all the drama and thrill that all characters already had and would face in the future. There was humour, action, drama, sensible stories, logical character development, intelligent insight in happenings and characters, a lot of magic, Merlin developing his powers, Arthur showing the sides of the great king he is supposed to become, friendship, loyalty, ethical and moral standards. It was all so promising.
A lot of fans had hoped for a reveal and Arthur finally accepting Merlin as an equal, seeing who he is and what he's done for him, his loved ones and for Camelot. They had hoped for Arthur (or even Uther) allowing magic in Camelot, if not in the middle of the show, then at least towards the end. They had hoped for Arthur to develop, either with or without Uther still being alive. A lot of fans had also hoped for a change in Morgana after she turned evil, for a redemption and a believable change that turns her back into the once so great character she used to be. There was also hope that a believable explanation for her sudden evilness would be delivered. A lot of fans had hoped for redemption for Uther and that he will survive until Arthur becomes king towards the end of the show, as was planned in the beginning according to several statements. They had hoped for a better conclusion of his character, a warm reunion with his son and maybe even for making peace with his daughter. A lot of fans had wished for Morgause to stay and for unraveling the mystery of the entire plot concerning Morgause, Igraine, Vivienne, Morgana and Uther, finally knowing about the relation to Morgana and her connection to Igraine. They had hoped for knowing more about the Great Purge and about Igraine. They had hoped for Lancelot to stay on the show, especially after he became a knight of the Round Table, believing that his story now begins. When his return was announced, they had hoped for at least a great and glorius conclusion to his character. They had hoped for the knights of the Round Table playing a big part after they were announced as steady characters. They had hoped for Gwen showing what a great queen she is, helping Arthur ruling the kingdom. They had hoped for the dragons being the heart of the fifth season as was announced before the season started and they also had hoped for seeing Mordred more often since he was supposed to be "on camera" a lot. And those who didn't care about the protagonists working towards their fate and about Uther and the rest, had hoped for witnessing the Golden Age of Camelot instead of just hearing about it and then probably seeing Camelot's downfall.
When considering all this, it becomes very clear that, so far, the fans have gotten the exact opposite of the things they had wished for. Morgause, Uther and Lancelot were killed off, Lancelot returned as an evil shade and a lot of fans feel like this was a disgrace to his character, then he was killed off again. Morgause played no role whatsoever after her death and the questions about her character and her connection to Igraine as well as her parentage were being left unsanswered. The Great Purge still isn't explored and Igraine disappeared as fast as she appeared. Uther did not get any redemption and no peace but died as a broken and humiliated man, as a shell of his former self, and instead of letting him return to the satisfaction of the fans who missed him, he returned as an evil madman, like his own x-ray, so to speak, or, as others said, being possessed by an evil smurf, subsequently and suddenly being turned into a one-dimensional villain which he never was before, much to the disappointment of his fans and even many of those who never liked him so much, when Arthur and Uther parted in a fight and when their strong bond suddenly was destroyed. All deliberately done and intentionally changed by the producers and only to make the audience believe that he was always a flat and evil villain. Arthur still hasn't lifted the ban of magic, still hasn't progressed, still hasn't delevoped in the great king he is supposed to be and he still persecutes sorcerers and still nobody knows about Merlin's true nature. No reveal, except towards Agravaine and Uther who both died. Morgana still hasn't changed again and there is still no valid explanation for her ridiculous evilness and her pathological hatred for everyone. The knights have almost nothing to do, except for showing their bodies and faces every now and then and hardly having a speaking role. The dragons barely have appeared in season five so far, despite the big announcement of them being the heart of the new season. Mordred, so far, is only an extra that pops up now and then, Gwaine is the same, being reduced to an extra without contributing anything important, just like the other knights. And the Golden Age of Camelot seems to be over and seems to have happened off-screen, even though nothing has changed in Camelot, aside from the Round Table, and the audience is probably now witnessing their beloved characters heading towards their own doom, depending on who will survive the finale of the show, without the great unification of Albion, maybe without the reveal and probably without any redemption for Morgana, but certainly without redemption for Uther, supposingly all ending in a big battle that leaves destruction and misery. Hope and goodness has been replaced by destruction and darkness, all over the entire story. What was good has turned bad, what was bright has turned dark, what was warm has turned cold, what was right has turned wrong and what was compassion has turned into indifference. No promise was kept and no wish was fulfilled.
That's Grinch, isn't it?
Maybe some of the fan's wishes will be granted and maybe Arthur and Morgana will survive. Time will tell. Maybe there will even be a reveal, even though the producers emphasized that a reveal was never something they wanted to do. However, in case it does, it remains to be seen if it will happen to the satisfaction of at least some fans, but everything else that they had hoped for was turned into the complete opposite, garnished with lies and false promises.
Sometimes it seems to me as if the producers don't really like the fans and deliberately crush their wishes.
The only fanbase that has been served is the one that is interested in Arthur and Merlin's banter, simply because the show focuses on that particular aspect only while other characters and stories are being treated as side effects in order to give Merlin and Arthur the opportunity to banter and to reassure each other of their friendship which didn't even play out very well.
Fans of other characters are often disappointed by the show treating them either badly or as side-effects, changing them or having them acting weird in order to serve plotlines.
Fans of Gwen are thankful for every tiny scene she is in, and the moment she gets a bigger part, she is turned into evil.
Fans of Morgana are happy for every tiny scene she is in, and the moment she is, she's doing her usual evil plans that always fail, that always repeat themselves and that never show her as a multi-dimensional character again. Fans of Gwaine certainly feel like Christmas whenever his face is showing up for a few seconds, fans of Elyan had to say good-bye because he died. Fans of Kilgharrah probably miss the good old times when Merlin used to ask him for advice and fans of Uther, Lancelot and Morgause now have to believe that everything they have ever known about those characters was either supposedly (and ridiculously) a lie (Uther) or an unimportant intermezzo (Morgause, Lancelot) since they are either playing the part of the scapegoats in order to justify the mess with other characters or incomprehensible plotholes, or no part anymore at all.
And finally, fans of the Golden Age are left to picture those golden years in their mind since they have never ever seen them anyway.
Of course, there are still those who love the show, and they are lucky! And even those who think it's still great surely can see what others find so very annoying and underwhelming. However, I think it's not a miracle that so many are disappointed and wondering why the show runners keep surprising them in a negative way so vehemently by giving them the opposite of what was promised before and what the fans had wished for. Are the producers enjoying to disappoint the audience, especially the fans who have been supporting this show from the beginning? I wouldn't wonder about this if they hadn't promised so many things especially before season four and five, promises that they simply didn't keep but instead delivered the opposite. If they hadn't been in contact with the fanbases at conventions, in Pierrfonds and through the internet, if they hadn't pretended to give the audience what they had waited for. I would think that they are simply telling their own story, not knowing what the fans want and would accept. But this is not the case. They know the viewer's wishes, they knew that Uther-fans would be disappointed by the sudden character change, that Lancelot-fans would disapprove of the way he returned (let alone that both characters died), they know that most fans want a reveal and explanations for Morgana's turn to evil, more of the knights, more of Gaius, more of Gwen as a queen, more background stories, more of the dragons and Modred and finally a happy ending with the great Albion either under construction or being built already.
But the way it is, it's not progression and not what Merlin used to be about - it's a different show. The plot has not developed but simply changed into something undefinable that hardly reminds the audience of the show it used to be.
If a reveal happens, which I doubt, will it play out as something that provides more depth than just Arthur freaking out for a moment and later patting Merlin's head? Will it deal with the very fact that Merlin lied, betrayed and manipulated Arthur for years, killed Arthur's uncle, refused to heal Uther when he could before he saw an opportunity for himself to bring back magic, fooled Arthur into believing that he dealt with Dragoon instead of Merlin, an old socrerer who played silly games with him when his father lied on his deathbed? That Merlin released the dragon, didn't tell Arthur about Morgana powers, didn't tell Arthur about the fact that Morgana killed Uther but let him believe that magic had no hand in it, thus leaving Arthur blaming himself when believing that Dragoon killed Uther and not Morgana, didn't tell him about Mordred's powers (even though Arthur actually knows about them already but for some incomprehensible reason now doesn't anymore...), didn't tell him about Lancelot being a shade and therefore didn't restore Lancelot's honour ... and so much more? All these lies and manipulations, deceiving Arthur and whole Camelot, making a fool of them, only to re-establish magic, the very thing that Arthur fights like his father did instead of trying to show Arthur the good sides of magic?
I doubt that. I think that none of this will ever happen. Probably, in case that Arthur dies, he will die as unaware as he lived, thinking the wrong things and not knowing who his best friend is and what really happened.
And who has thought at all that the concept of hiding his powers from Arthur has worked and that it added any kind of thrill and tension to the plot anyway?
I have never seen a show that worked so hard disappointing its fans to such an extent. Why?