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Merlin

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews

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57

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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7.1

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7.1	Your Score
7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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Merlin

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Merlin

Series Details & Credits

BBC-1 | SyFy | BBC | Release Date: September 20, 2008

Starring: Richard Wilson, Angel Coulby, Colin Morgan, Katie McGrath, Bradley James (II)

Summary: Putting a new spin on the story of the infamous sorcerer Merlin, this BBC series shows the dramatic outcomes of living in a time of myth and magic. Set in the Kingdom of Camelot, the story follows young Merlin's dangerous journey as he, a young prince Arthur and other characters come face to face with legendary and fantastical charactersPutting a new spin on the story of the infamous sorcerer Merlin, this BBC series shows the dramatic outcomes of living in a time of myth and magic. Set in the Kingdom of Camelot, the story follows young Merlin's dangerous journey as he, a young prince Arthur and other characters come face to face with legendary and fantastical characters and forces.… Expand

Creator: Julian Jones and Julian Jones and Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy and Jake Michie and Jake Michie

Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure, Fantasy

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Recent Episodes

tbd
S5:E13. The Diamond of the Day, Part 2
Air Date: December 24, 2012
tbd
S5:E12. The Diamond of the Day, Part 1
Air Date: December 22, 2012
tbd
S5:E12. The Diamond of the Day (Part One)
Air Date: May 24, 2013

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

57

Positive:

5

Mixed:

3

Negative:

1

Critic Reviews

83

Entertainment Weekly

Adam Markovitz

Season 1 Review: Cheesy? Sure. But there's enough sword-clanging Action--not to mention homoerotic tension--to keep viewers happily entertained for a spell. Read full review

80

The Hollywood Reporter

Randee Dawn

Season 1 Review: For those new to the legend, this is a fresh, and delightfully color-blind, approach to the tale. Read full review

70

The New York Times

Alessandra Stanley

Season 1 Review: A lighthearted, quite charming medieval adventure series made by the BBC, is tailored to the age of Obama. Read full review

63

Slant Magazine

Kris King

Season 1 Review: Even with its quirky charm, though, the show's formula begins to wear thin. Read full review

40

Boston Globe

Matthew Gilbert

Season 1 Review: The middling show plays too much like “The O.C.’’ with swords, crowns, and a cheesy CGI dragon (voiced by John Hurt). Read full review

40

Washington Post

Tom Shales

Season 1 Review: It takes the stuff of legend and imagination and makes it dry and commonplace. You look forward not to the next exciting chapter, but for the whole enterprise to go "poof" and disappear. Read full review

30

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Rob Owen

Season 1 Review: Merlin looks, well, typically British with shoddy production values. Worse, it tells dull stories. Read full review

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7.1

User Reviews

10

Egekarabulut

May 4, 2021

I never seen lıke thıs movie ı love you merlın (the king is dead lıve long quen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

7

CasandraComplex

Aug 14, 2022

Apparently, this show was supposed to be in DTS but Nut flicks decided to only provide stereo. (Canada) The first two seasons accomplished some excellant story telling with a modest budget. However, the last 3 seasons suffered greatly from writing shortcomings. The endless MORGANA MORGANAApparently, this show was supposed to be in DTS but Nut flicks decided to only provide stereo. (Canada) The first two seasons accomplished some excellant story telling with a modest budget. However, the last 3 seasons suffered greatly from writing shortcomings. The endless MORGANA MORGANA MORGANA storylines became soooo boring, repetitive and just plain insulting to the audiences intelligence. The number of times that they had the opportunity to be done with this two dimensional character and inexplicably failed to do so was a continuous source of anger for those of us hungry for the storyline to get out of the endless Morgana story arc. She was not even a convincing villain, the extent of her acting range was to give exaggerated stink eyes to the camera not to mention the banal evil grins and glares .. oh! Pah leese! Did the actress win some kind of lawsuit that obliged the series to keep her as the villain? There were so many bad guys that would have made a much more entertaining and worthy villain than a spoiled brat who had to hide her magic and now thinks that she is owed everything. YAAAAWN! Three seasons of a brat taking hissy fits was not worth the ending. It is a true pity because the writing in the first two seasons held so much promise.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

6

TwiTu

Jan 3, 2022

Good show all in all, except for the end.
If you want to keep it in good memory I advise not to watch the last season.
Acting: Amazingly good. You also see a lot of actors who later played in Game of Thrones. But there are some blatant exceptions, who really cant act. They are rare, butGood show all in all, except for the end.
If you want to keep it in good memory I advise not to watch the last season.

Acting: Amazingly good. You also see a lot of actors who later played in Game of Thrones.
But there are some blatant exceptions, who really cant act. They are rare, but funnily they all have something in common: They have been cast because of their skin color, not because of their talent.

Story: Amazing again. It looks childish at the beginning, but gets really good and interesting. You just want to see the end. Yet the end was completely messed up. Tragic, really.

Characters: All well written and loveable, except the already mentioned exceptions. The relationship between Merlin and Arthur is just hilarious and even drives you some tears into your eyes from time to time.

Authenticity: Bad. Really bad. You can forgive that Camelot looks like an Utopia, since its portrayed like that in the original story too, but theres a lot of issues with weapons, armor, everyday life, and of course people with dark skin color, who of course didnt exist in that time and age in Britain. Even normal people on the streets are portrayed as PoC. It always breaks immersion, even more so than seeing antennas on the roof of the Camelot citadel or plastic foam behind shields...

If you like Arthurs legend, then you have to watch this. But you have to bring some tolerance due to authenticity issues and the bad ending. Again, I would advise not to watch the last season. Season 5 also shows some logic problems and throws away things that were established in the other seasons.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

5

ty92

Apr 5, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I had a hard time watching at first. But once I understood the story and characters it really grew on me. It's Game of Thrones before Game of Thrones in a way. It is a great fantasy show and has some really good actors in it. All the main actors are believable. Also some well known actors show up in individual episodes. Holliday Grainger is in one. And Joe Dempsie is in one. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes these kinds of shows. It does feel low budget and on the cheap side at times. The special effects aren't great. But it's passable for a tv show from 2008. The first two seasons were great. The third season has some good episodes but suffers from the dragged out Morgana storyline. It's starting to get annoying. It's eye rolling at this point. Update.. The Morgana storyline was painful and I ended up skipping through a lot of season 4 and 5. I watched some scenes but it was dragged out till the last episode...... It really made a good show unwatchable and the ending sucked. The first two seasons are really good but after that not so much...… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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Seasons & Episodes

57

Series Overview
Season 5

tbd
- Season 5 Overview
  Air Date: October 6, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E13. The Diamond of the Day, Part 2
  Air Date: December 24, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E12. The Diamond of the Day, Part 1
  Air Date: December 22, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E12. The Diamond of the Day (Part One)
  Air Date: May 24, 2013
- tbd
  S5:E11. The Drawing Of The Dark
  Air Date: December 15, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E10. The Kindness Of Strangers
  Air Date: December 8, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E9. With All My Heart
  Air Date: December 1, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E8. The Hollow Queen
  Air Date: November 24, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E7. A Lesson In Vengeance
  Air Date: November 17, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E6. The Dark Tower
  Air Date: November 10, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E5. The Disir
  Air Date: November 3, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E4. Another's Sorrow
  Air Date: October 27, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E3. The Death Song Of Uther Pendragon
  Air Date: October 20, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E2. Arthur's Bane Part 2
  Air Date: October 13, 2012
- tbd
  S5:E1. Arthur's Bane Part 1
  Air Date: October 6, 2012
Season 4

tbd
- Season 4 Overview
  Air Date: October 1, 2011
Season 3

tbd
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: April 9, 2012
Season 2

tbd
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: April 2, 2010
Season 1

56
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: June 21, 2009