By Lisa Fary
I’m wondering if the Merlin team is intentionally trying to foster Merlin/Arthur slash.
In “The Poisoned Chalice”, there is a scene in which Merlin, in the grips of a poison fever, furrows his brow, throws his head back, and groans “Faster! Go faster!” while Arthur is fetching a flower for him.
Then there was this shared, long look at the end, which seems like it was intended to be slashy, but really came off as two guys who had a really close call, saved Camelot, and can’t tell anyone about it. It was less, “I can’t quit you” and more “I’m glad you have my back.”
Don’t get me wrong: I have no problem with slash or homoeroticism, but I felt that the show was forcing it, which cheapens it overall. I think the subtext is there if you want it, but other than that dopey fever scene with Merlin, I’m starting to see more of a Winchester brothers vibe growing between Merlin and Arthur.
So, what happened in Merlin 1.3 and 1.4? Nimueh entered the picture; she’s an ancient sorceress bent on destroying Camelot and these eps chronicle two of her attempts.
Her first attempt, in “The Mark of Nimueh”, was to contaminate the water supply with a clay monster that looked like poop with teeth. Subplot: Gwen is accused of witchcraft and sentenced to burn at the stake. She’s too cute not to make it, so Merlin, Arthur and Morgana team up to take care of the Poop Monster and free Gwen.
Nimueh’s second attempt, shown in “The Poisoned Chalice”, was far more convoluted and involved her sneaking into the castle to which of the following?
A) plant the poisoned chalice meant for Arthur in a visiting king’s footlocker
B) get Merlin’s attention with her heaving bosom
C) pull Merlin’s strings to get him to drink from the chalice in front of the entire court, poisoning himself and setting the gears of war into motion
D) all of the above
The answer is D) all of the above, and it was rather annoying. It seems like, if she wanted to kill Merlin for interfering with her Poop Monster, it would be more efficient and far less risky to just curse him or something. I have to give props to the show because Merlin asked that very thing that was on my mind for the whole ep.
The answer we got was that Nimueh doesn’t just want Merlin dead; she also wants fear and strife in Camelot. It seems that this isn’t going to be very hard for her to do considering no one in Camelot has the wits to detain and question a pretty woman, whom no one has seen before, wandering about the castle.
What did we learn, kids?
Don’t trust pretty women. They will lead you to your doom.
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Lisa Fary’s early exposure to classic Battlestar Galactica in 1979 is largely responsible for her lifelong interest in science fiction and her childhood ambition of being an intergalactic space cowgirl. She thinks diagramming sentences is a fun alternative to Sudoku.
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
Well said.
I'm really liking the friendships forming among the four main kids. The Merlin-likes-Gwen thing is a fun little red herring, and something that the nobility could easily believe about the servants. It also makes a convenient cover story for Merlin sneaking around the castle, which I have a feeling he's going to need.
It's also nice to see Uther finally acknowledging that Arthur is becoming a man capable of making his own decisions and shouldering more responsibility. And to see Arthur own up to his duties. If the show continues to improve, I'm going to be a very happy girl.