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Merlin 4.08 Lamia
In which the fact it's a filler episode is set against the fact it's also a lots of Gwen and Gwen & Merlin team up episode, not to mention an Arthur has Merlin's and Gwen's back episode.
I suspect this was a late addition to the season, plus evidently they didn't know whom they'd cast as Lamia or there would have been some way for Merlin to be affected by the Freya similarity. Plus Lamia was weakest part of the story anyway, a direct throwback to season 1 and Sophia, only Sophia (and her father) had more layers. There was no attempt here to give Lamia any kind of motivation beyond being a monster of the week, not even a line or so that she needs the lives she takes to survive or something like that.
This being said: I really liked the continued world building in this episode. Not only did we meet old friends of Gwen's (who make it through the episode alive and btw are a middle-aged couple who despite their short screentime feel very real), but we saw a neat demonstration of how the new Camelot works. People in distress go to Gwen. Gwen brings their suit to Arthur's attention. Arthur dispatches medical and armed help (which includes Gwen). Gaius attempts to enlarge Merlin's (non-magical) position at court by sharing physician's duties with him. (Sidenote: I still think the show missed out something when not making Gwen Gaius' apprentice after season 2, but he's right that after years with him Merlin has to know something about the job.) When there is no report back from team knights & Gwen and Merlin in time, Arthur and Gaius (and more knights) follow as back up. Given all the investment of hope in Arthur over the years, it's pretty important to show, not just tell, he really is good at being a king (not just in terms of leading the knights and having nifty sword fighting skills) in order to validate Merlin's and Gwen's continued support, so for all the fillerness, this was good to see. It also built on previous scenes, such as the one in the season opener, where Arthur hears and comforts a refuge, and if you like goes all the way back to s1 where he might have followed Merlin & friends to Ealdor for mixed motives, but one of said motives was already his understanding of responsibility towards those in distress.
Gwen and Merlin as a team always make me happy, as does detective!Gwen, whom I admit a part of me now expects to figure out about Merlin's magic before the season is over, because she came pretty close here, logically discarding Merlin's weak alternate explanation as to why the Lamia didn't affect him by pointing out the villagers also weren't knights. Given how the last episode ended, I was also happy to see Arthur and Gaius sharing more screentime and making a good team as well. The knights, once the Lamia effect had started, were of course not shown to their advantage, but before that got individual moments, like Gwaine's joke with Merlin or their fight with the bandits which was a neat combination of individual fighting styles and team effort. Now whether or not their sudden bespelled hostility towards Gwen and Merlin coming with a classist disdain was only due to the spell or also the result of the spell bringing out actual attitudes is up to debate. But Leon at the very least has shown the regard for hierarchy before in times of stress. Though Elyan's outburst against Gwen makes a case that it was the spell.
Gwen taking up a sword to defend herself and Merlin: was a great moment, all the more so as no one pretends Gwen is an ace sword fighter; she can take some swings if she has to, see Ealdor, but she hasn't learned it the way Morgana has, and I thought Angel Coulby was terrific in conveying both the determination and fear of that moment.
I suspect this was a late addition to the season, plus evidently they didn't know whom they'd cast as Lamia or there would have been some way for Merlin to be affected by the Freya similarity. Plus Lamia was weakest part of the story anyway, a direct throwback to season 1 and Sophia, only Sophia (and her father) had more layers. There was no attempt here to give Lamia any kind of motivation beyond being a monster of the week, not even a line or so that she needs the lives she takes to survive or something like that.
This being said: I really liked the continued world building in this episode. Not only did we meet old friends of Gwen's (who make it through the episode alive and btw are a middle-aged couple who despite their short screentime feel very real), but we saw a neat demonstration of how the new Camelot works. People in distress go to Gwen. Gwen brings their suit to Arthur's attention. Arthur dispatches medical and armed help (which includes Gwen). Gaius attempts to enlarge Merlin's (non-magical) position at court by sharing physician's duties with him. (Sidenote: I still think the show missed out something when not making Gwen Gaius' apprentice after season 2, but he's right that after years with him Merlin has to know something about the job.) When there is no report back from team knights & Gwen and Merlin in time, Arthur and Gaius (and more knights) follow as back up. Given all the investment of hope in Arthur over the years, it's pretty important to show, not just tell, he really is good at being a king (not just in terms of leading the knights and having nifty sword fighting skills) in order to validate Merlin's and Gwen's continued support, so for all the fillerness, this was good to see. It also built on previous scenes, such as the one in the season opener, where Arthur hears and comforts a refuge, and if you like goes all the way back to s1 where he might have followed Merlin & friends to Ealdor for mixed motives, but one of said motives was already his understanding of responsibility towards those in distress.
Gwen and Merlin as a team always make me happy, as does detective!Gwen, whom I admit a part of me now expects to figure out about Merlin's magic before the season is over, because she came pretty close here, logically discarding Merlin's weak alternate explanation as to why the Lamia didn't affect him by pointing out the villagers also weren't knights. Given how the last episode ended, I was also happy to see Arthur and Gaius sharing more screentime and making a good team as well. The knights, once the Lamia effect had started, were of course not shown to their advantage, but before that got individual moments, like Gwaine's joke with Merlin or their fight with the bandits which was a neat combination of individual fighting styles and team effort. Now whether or not their sudden bespelled hostility towards Gwen and Merlin coming with a classist disdain was only due to the spell or also the result of the spell bringing out actual attitudes is up to debate. But Leon at the very least has shown the regard for hierarchy before in times of stress. Though Elyan's outburst against Gwen makes a case that it was the spell.
Gwen taking up a sword to defend herself and Merlin: was a great moment, all the more so as no one pretends Gwen is an ace sword fighter; she can take some swings if she has to, see Ealdor, but she hasn't learned it the way Morgana has, and I thought Angel Coulby was terrific in conveying both the determination and fear of that moment.
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I was actually just thinking about that concept the other day -- I thought it would have been so much more interesting if they used this angle. They would have been able to keep their plot about the knights being twisted by Lamia while also giving the audience more flesh/development for the characters, which has been sorely lacking all series. It would have turned a 'filler' episode into something more significant and substantial, a proper look at the knights of Camelot and who they really are. (Elyan and Percival particularly need this sort of attention.) Instead we were given something boring and generic. To be fair, I feel like this is actually the best series of Merlin so far, but this episode was a bit of a waste of time and potential, to be honest. The next episode looks like it could be interesting, though.
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