Merlin (BBC) A.K.A how NOT to write a screenplay for British television!

BBC Drama Merlin is Unbelievably bad and i'm about to use all my writing and storytelling knowledge to explain why.

You see The shows writers seem to have forgotten every basic rule of storytelling. in fact the only bit they got right was the fact that there has to be a beginning a middle and an end.

Lets start with Rule #102- Protagonist Vs Antagonist

see with a story that revolves around conflicting characters with opposing motives it's essential to establish 3 things:

1. a positive emotional connection with the protagonist (hero) and His goal
2. a Negative emotional connection with the antagonist (villain) and His goal
3. a sense of tension between the two goals and a feeling of uncertainty about how it's all going to end.

Drama comes from wanting our hero to succeed and WORRYING about weather or not he will. I highlight the word worrying because thats what drama is.
If we don't care about our hero then we don't worry and you have no drama. If we don't see the villain as a real threat then we don't worry and you have no drama.
If it really doesn't matter WHICH side wins then we don't worry and guess what...YOU HAVE NO DRAMA.

Merlin Fails right off the bat because the hero's are either absolute Dicks or ineffectual cry babies.

Let's start with merlin. He's a guy who mas magical powers (yay!) but isn't allowed to use them otherwise he'd be executed by his king and treated like a monster....(booo!)
Now although it's obvious that this is just a way to limit the amount of time merlin uses his magical abilities (in order to keep the shows budget down and explain why he doesn't just do everything by magic) it creates some major contradictions in logic and common sense.
so lets break this stupidity down for just a second.

One of the major plot points of Merlin is his internal struggle with being what he is (a mage, and a talented one at that) and having to live the humble life of a mere servant. this is one of the forms of TENSION thats trying to be established.
But here's the thing.

WHY BE THEIR SERVANT!

(now you have to stop and think about this....) the entire series revolves around him BUSTING HIS ASS in order to save Camelot and it's douchbag prince (i'll get to him later) but WHY. why does this young and talented man serve a kingdom that HATES HIM AND HIS KIND?

I mean Imagine if you were a young jewish boy around the age of 21-24 Just before the Nazi occupation of France I'm pretty sure that with the gates still WIDE OPEN for you to leave at anytime...you'd MOVE YOUR ASS!! even if you had friends, family, a good job etc it simply wouldn't be worth the risk! you certainly wouldn't spend your entire life trying to actively HELP the Nazis or protect Hitler from assassination attempts.

what's more, merlin shows UNWAVERING loyalty to this nation as though he somehow owes them his life. He's witnessed his king hunt and slaughter countless innocent mages time and time again and yet still spends every episode trying to save both the king and his son...but WHY!?
See the problem is his motivation makes no sense! as an audience we need to want to root for a hero to succeed, but although he's ultimately saving lives, the lives he's saving aren't exactly worth it!

the writers failed part 3. they haven't made the hero's goal worth worrying about. we might worry about HIM but not what he's trying to protect. Everyone else in that kingdom can go to hell for all I care! It's not as though the world would be a terrible place with out this king. In fact after the initial discomfort, it might actually be BETTER for young merlin. he could live freely and not under the fear of persecution.

Next is the surrounding cast of characters and how they all fail to serve their place in the plot.

Let's start with Prince Arthur. Now you would think with such a tyrannical king the writers would make prince Arthur a more likable character. perhaps someone who, despite his youth, possessed patience, tolerance, intelligence and wisdom beyond his years. someone who you feel will one day grow into a great king who will learn from the mistakes of his farther and not repeat them....WRONG!



What we are given instead is an arrogant and spoiled brat who not only was born with a silver spoon in his mouth but also with a silver stick wedged firmly up his Rump!
He and Merlin have a master-servant relationship. and although merlin has saved Arthur's life on multiple occasions (More times than Arthur has realized) he still treats Merlin like common trash.
The writers occasionally try to fix this by making arther do what writters call 'petting the dog' which is a moment were a charecter does something supposedly sweet or heartwarming to show the audience he's not a complete asshole.

However!

Arther does this so rarely that he might as well not do it at all. for every heart felt compliment and heartwarming moment their are 5 derogatory remarks about Merlin's status as servant, teasing about Merlin's lack of physique or just general emotional scapegoating.
The only redeeming qualities that have been given to Arther are the fact that he's a brilliant swords man and that he's less of a prick than his farther.

HOWEVER

despite his brilliance with a blade, Merlin is forced to save his life AT LEAST twice an episode making Arthur come across as somewhat incompetent in his own right!
all in all this gives Merlin even LESS reason to care about this kingdom and it's rulers!
Despite the lack of affection we SEE between these two character Merlin still speaks and behaves as though they are close friends. (much to my annoyance)


Next you have the villians....who are ironically both more intresting and likeable than our supposed good guys.

See for villians we have these witches....two HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE YOUNG WOMEN
I point out the fact that they are both highly attractive young women because it highlights yet another stupid factor in the making of this show but we'll get to that later.




These HOT WITCHES wish to bring camlot to it's knees....and im guessing that we the audience are supposed to NOT want that to happen.

HOWEVER!

Considering the fact that these two women are magic users and have been declared enemies of camalot by it's king. You cant really blame them for wanting to take down the sucker!
In fact THEIR motives are the only ones that are both believable and make logical sense. add to that the fact that they are ATTRACTIVE YOUNG WOMEN and all of a sudden I'm rooting for them to win!
not only has the show failed to make the audience truly care about it's heroes but they've also made the villain more justified in their actions than the main protagonist!

Id probably LOVE this show if it was written from the witches point of view. secretly I want Merlin to have a moment of realization and turn to the dark side. however this entire story is written as though we're supporting camalot....it assumes we like Arthur and Merlin although it has given us no actual reason to.
and when Merlin eventually defeats this seasons villains I'm sure I'm gonna feel disappointed because his life isn't going to get any better....he's running in a hamster wheel and it quickly stops being interesting to watch.

My final problem with merlin is the Sex-lessness of the world they live in. now when you're making a show for young adults and younger. you kind of need to introduce elements and themes that young people can relate to. and were as themes such as racism, sexuality, religion and so on can create great emotional tension, they're hard to sustain over an entire series. one of the simplest ways to increase emotional involvement with characters is a sexual tension subplot. a 'will they wont they' proposition.

Merlin attempt to do this (and fails) with prince Arthur and Guinevere (a mere chamber maid)
the imidiate implications of such a romance creates instant drama...you would think.
after all A prince couldnt possibly love a mere chamber maid let alone MARRY her, the farther would never accept it, the kingdom would never allow it.
the romance instantly has an obstacle and as such creates drama right??

WRONG!

See this doesn't work for 2 reasons

1 the prince is a DICK! so we don't really want to see him get the girl unless he REALLY earns it

2. Guenivere is somewhat unremarkable as a character. she's not all that funny, or intelligent, she doesn't possess any remarkable traits other than the fact she's physically attractive.

these two factors combined mean that this relationship packs very little real tension. these aren't two "star crossed lovers tied by fate" this a Dick and a chambermaid.

Annoyingly in season 1, the writers actually teased at a genuinely interesting romance between Guinevere and Merlin....He was shy and new to the area, she was somewhat bashful too but clearly attracted to him. their romance had no real obstacle other than their own nerves (a position we can all relate to) but we liked merlin enough to want him to succeed regardless.

Then enters Prince arrogant who began HIS love subplot with Guinevere which i initially thought was BRILLIANT!!!
here we'd have shy merlin have to COMPETE with a powerful prince for the affection of Guinevere. now THAT would have been tension!

watching a young man try to win her heart while fighting his own insecurities about his technically superior rival.
it could have been perfect! would have created more 'worrying' for young merlin and used Arthur's dickishness to the plots advantage.

Instead they just made merlin kind of move out of the way while Arthur simply got the girl...>.<

The story of merlin has a lot of potential...but with poorly planned characters, contradictory motivations and a general mis calculating of peoples emotions it's no wonder the show has wavering ratings!