I’m a fan of Merlin on BBC so I was a little hesitant to deal with yet another King Arthur story. Where Merlin is more like Hercules/Xena/Legend of the Seeker, STARZ’s Camelot is similar to Rome or The Tudors. I’ve heard a few people lose interest in Camelot because of some of the artistic license taken with some of the legend. For instance, instead of Arthur pulling a sword out of a rock in a middle of a mossy field with a light shining on it from above, this Arthur had to climb up a rocky waterfall that was at least fifty feet high. He had to push then pull the sword out of the rock atop the mountain waterfall all while not trying to fall and kill himself. He did fall but recovered. One of the main groans online is the origin of Excalibur. Instead of Excalibur coming from a mystical lady in the lake, it came from a daughter of a guy that Merlin killed. Her name was Excalibur. She went out into the middle of a lake to escape Merlin after learning that she murdered her father. Merlin froze the lake to walk on the ice to get to the sword from the girl. Merlin got the sword but the girl drowned under the ice. In her honor, the sword is called Excalibur. No one knows that story because Merlin, told them the romantic mythical lady in the lake story. I actually enjoyed the way this story was told. It gives you that sick feeling in your stomach that you get when you find out someone has been bullshitting you. Also, instead of Guinevere being some happy go lucky girl that falls in love with Arthur, this Guinevere is a borderline skank. If I hadn’t become so attached to Guinevere and Arthur as a couple, I could have easily hated Guinevere. But because the way it was written, you can sympathize with her. Because we all know that Guinevere and Arthur are meant to be, I spent most of the season wondering just when Leontes, the red shirt, would die.
The only clear cut thing about Camelot is that Morgan is evil and CRAZY. She’s drinking blood, walking the forest naked asking wolves to do God knows what with her, she has/had a ridiculous evil nun sidekick, she’s practicing breath control by submerging herself in a tube of water for… I don’t know what, she’s shanking folks left and right, she took on the form of Arthur’s birth mother, Igraine, while keeping the real Igraine in chains back at her castle then slept with Merlin looking like Igraine, she sent men to attack villages so that those same men could surprise attack Arthur to kill him and the final straw is that she took on the form of Guinevere then slept with Arthur so that she could bear a son. Kill her or give her the crown because she is the embodiment of madness!
I think the twists and alterations all makes for a interesting story. We’ve heard the King Arthur story told a million times, I applaud the writers for giving us something different and compelling. TV by the Numbers states “Camelot’s first season came to a close with no news about its renewal. I didn’t see last week’s numbers but its 0.4 adults 18-49 rating was on the high end for the season, but just half the 0.8 the finale of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena scored on February 25.”
As I mentioned earlier, some people don’t like the liberties taken with the King Arthur story. Some people also think that Jamie Campbell Bower is a weak Arthur. If you made it to the finale, I beg to differ. He got hardcore and it was a lot like watching Die Hard: Middle Earth. No, Camelot is no Spartacus. It’s no Game of Thrones either but I think it hold its own. Here’s hoping for a second season.
Are you still watching Camelot?
Camelot airs Fridays at 10/9 C on STARZ.