I have watched every single episode of this show, but was driven to distraction and ready to give up on it sometimes. It's really not well made, badly written, but the characters are engaging and the actors seem to have such fun with it that I had to keep watching.
To say the storyline is repetitive and that there is little to no character development is an understatement. The first couple of seasons the main characters blunder from one episode to the next, making stupid decisions, learn a painful lesson and then forget all about it and make the same mistakes over and over again. And yet they're such nice people that you begin to really like them and care about them. But it's infuriating to watch because you keep thinking "he's done that three times now, why does he expect a different result this time around? Is he mentally challenged?" The only character who undergoes a change is Morgana, and that isn't gradual, it's just one episode she's good, then she disappears for one episode, comes back the one after that and is totally evil and becomes the only problem that Arthur and Merlin ever have from then on. I know the show is for kids, but even a four year old would ask: "Mummy, why does Morgana keep attacking Camelot again and again even though she always fails and no one wants her there? Doesn't she get bored?" Anyways, I'm ranting and I didn't mean to.
The acting isn't exactly top drawer either. Katie McGrath is the worst. Her evil grin is so overdone it's almost comical. The only one who develops any skills over time is Colin Morgan. In the first two seasons he's kinda nondescript like the rest of them but in season five he finally comes good. That kid could go far. Having said that I still like all of them. I don't know why, I just do.
Also the inaccuracies are kinda jarring. To make Guenevere a black servant girl may be very PC but it's just SO wrong, and if you think that kids watch this and perhaps think that this is in any way possible... ugh, makes you shudder. The sets are too clean, the clothing too colourful but I don't mind that. I don't even mind the modern lingo or the bromance, it's supposed to be unchallenging entertainment after all. But portraying Gwen the way they did was a bad call I believe.
Reading my review now, I don't really have anything positive to say about the whole thing but I still liked it and watched all of it. Cheesy as it was, the writers at least managed to create engaging characters and make you care about them. That's the only thing that kept me watching but it was enough.
To say the storyline is repetitive and that there is little to no character development is an understatement. The first couple of seasons the main characters blunder from one episode to the next, making stupid decisions, learn a painful lesson and then forget all about it and make the same mistakes over and over again. And yet they're such nice people that you begin to really like them and care about them. But it's infuriating to watch because you keep thinking "he's done that three times now, why does he expect a different result this time around? Is he mentally challenged?" The only character who undergoes a change is Morgana, and that isn't gradual, it's just one episode she's good, then she disappears for one episode, comes back the one after that and is totally evil and becomes the only problem that Arthur and Merlin ever have from then on. I know the show is for kids, but even a four year old would ask: "Mummy, why does Morgana keep attacking Camelot again and again even though she always fails and no one wants her there? Doesn't she get bored?" Anyways, I'm ranting and I didn't mean to.
The acting isn't exactly top drawer either. Katie McGrath is the worst. Her evil grin is so overdone it's almost comical. The only one who develops any skills over time is Colin Morgan. In the first two seasons he's kinda nondescript like the rest of them but in season five he finally comes good. That kid could go far. Having said that I still like all of them. I don't know why, I just do.
Also the inaccuracies are kinda jarring. To make Guenevere a black servant girl may be very PC but it's just SO wrong, and if you think that kids watch this and perhaps think that this is in any way possible... ugh, makes you shudder. The sets are too clean, the clothing too colourful but I don't mind that. I don't even mind the modern lingo or the bromance, it's supposed to be unchallenging entertainment after all. But portraying Gwen the way they did was a bad call I believe.
Reading my review now, I don't really have anything positive to say about the whole thing but I still liked it and watched all of it. Cheesy as it was, the writers at least managed to create engaging characters and make you care about them. That's the only thing that kept me watching but it was enough.