Merlin - The Darkest Hour, Part Two - An Episode Review

The second in the thirteen-part series, this is the continuation of 'The Darkest Hour'. After the events of the first part, this episode sees the knights of Camelot, Arthur and Merlin continuing their quest to save the kingdom from the Dorocha (pronounced Doo-Rock-Ah), restless spirits of the dead with a chilling touch. To do so, they must repair the breach opened in the veil that separates the real world from the Otherworld by making a blood sacrifice to the gatekeeper.

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The episode has basically the same storyline as the last, just continued. I didn't enjoy this episode as much as the last, probably due to the following factors.

At the beginning of the episode, Merlin is packed off back to Camelot due to events that took place earlier on. Lancelot travels with him to keep him safe. While watching this, I thought that this whole section of the alotted time was a complete waste, as they eventually just tur around and head back after an encounter with some spirits - good ones this time. I shall not say more about the story at this point.

Turns out though that this bit wasn't a mistake - or at least not totally. It deepens the character of Lancelot (which is pointless, as you shall see is you watch the thing) and hints at what will happen in the end. Still, I think this part really doesn't quite work with the rest of the show.

Another let-down for me was the ending. It wasn't hollow, but didn't seem to work.To be honest, it was rather a dire way to begin the fourth series of this fantasy TV show.

To the bright side now. There are many good points of this particular show, the biggest this time around being the return of the Wilddeoren, giant naked mole-rat-like creatures. We've also got the dragonish Wyvern and of course the Dorocha. I have to say, I love the Wilddeoren. They're just plain cool. (To a certain person: Yes, that's a reference to bats.)

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I think I'm going to give this episode a six out of ten. It's a fairly good continuation of a storyline and would be a fine episode if it was a stand-alone, but I don't feel that it did the previous episode justice. That's the only problem with two-part beginners with brilliant starts - it's disappointing if the second bit doesn't work as well.

I also dislike how they ended this episode. It seems a bit non-Merlin-esque, as Merlin is usually a cheerful show with some smiling characters and halfway-evil monsters with black spots on the ends of their oversized noses. Obviously Merlin has changed a lot in the year since we last saw him.

You can watch this episode at the following address:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0160z3w/Merlin_Series_4_The_Darkest_Hour_Part_2/

That's the end of this review. Next week we'll be seeing good old Merlin as it's meant to be - Dragoon the Great is coming back!