First four seasons were a solid 10/10. Not only the leads, but all the supporting cast and extras show a clear love of the material and theater in general. I'll be selecting one of my next series to follow based on other projects these actors are involved in. The characters are rich and the dragon was particularly well tied in. Quite often the dragon said what I was muttering off screen, which was quite refreshing.
Fifth season was about a 7/10. Went through the episodes trying to pin where it went wrong, but the writers are the same and the directors shifted as they always did. So many mistakes I could've understood if it was still season one, but they've done this right four seasons in a row now. Uther was a rich and complex character in the first four seasons, yet our final memory is of him as a one note character, arguably at his worst. The Dragon was barely used when it was appropriate, and the white dragon wasn't developed at all. Morgana played her part well, but she didn't get the supporting cast she deserved, nor was her final confrontation with Merlin anywhere near as interesting as the rest of the series. If we know the series is going to end, this season could've been spent on so many great reveals: either that Merlin is a warlock or that he is a dragonlord. This could've been many episodes of banter between Arthur and Merlin. Instead, we get about half of one.
And why, oh why, does Arthur have to die? We've departed enough from Arthurian legend here, playing this as destiny is just garbage. "The once and future king" means you're going to use this story as canon for a modern day Merlin? Is that what the bus scene meant at the end? You killed a character for an almost insignificant amount of character development for Merlin...
Still a great way to spend evenings on Netflix, but I'd consider not watching Season 5 at all.
Fifth season was about a 7/10. Went through the episodes trying to pin where it went wrong, but the writers are the same and the directors shifted as they always did. So many mistakes I could've understood if it was still season one, but they've done this right four seasons in a row now. Uther was a rich and complex character in the first four seasons, yet our final memory is of him as a one note character, arguably at his worst. The Dragon was barely used when it was appropriate, and the white dragon wasn't developed at all. Morgana played her part well, but she didn't get the supporting cast she deserved, nor was her final confrontation with Merlin anywhere near as interesting as the rest of the series. If we know the series is going to end, this season could've been spent on so many great reveals: either that Merlin is a warlock or that he is a dragonlord. This could've been many episodes of banter between Arthur and Merlin. Instead, we get about half of one.
And why, oh why, does Arthur have to die? We've departed enough from Arthurian legend here, playing this as destiny is just garbage. "The once and future king" means you're going to use this story as canon for a modern day Merlin? Is that what the bus scene meant at the end? You killed a character for an almost insignificant amount of character development for Merlin...
Still a great way to spend evenings on Netflix, but I'd consider not watching Season 5 at all.