5.10 The Kindness of Strangers Whilst Alator suffers, everything else is all sweetness and loveliness for Arthur and Gwen as he takes her for a ride into the forest, plans a breakfast for her, and promptly dispatches Merlin to do all the work. Things were much more interesting when Gwen was under Morgan’s enchantment! Whilst they’re being all loved-up, refugees flood into Camelot from one of the few places where magic is still used, the victims of Morgana and her wicked ways. It’s an interesting plot thread; we could have seen what happens when Arthur and the Knights of Camelot roll up to a magic-wielding populace, but the thread is pretty much thrown away! Gaius is naturally suspicious of such a powerful seer, believing her to be in league with Morgana. Of course, Merlin isn’t going to listen to his closest confidant so chooses to visit the powerful follower of the Old Religion, leaving Gaius with no choice but to inform Arthur of Finna’s nature. Admittedly, sending the knights to deal with the Finna situation probably isn’t Arthur’s wisest move, and things get worse when they arrive on the scene. With little choice but to use magic on the knights, Merlin and Finna evade capture. Emrys’ identity is, for now, safe. Morgana has been thwarted once more, and Merlin is saved, just in the nick of time, by the dragon… It doesn’t end on a happy note, however, when it is revealed the dragon is close to death and a knight is found dead, the victim of old magic. Morgana, it seems, has declared war. The Kindess of Strangers works despite a script that is overly ambitious in its runtime. There are a few strands – Gaius admitting he is responsible for Finna’s predicament, the dragon rescue, the refugees and far too much time spent with loved-up Gwen and Arthur – that really do get in the way of the underlying story. Gaius didn’t need forgiving straight away and there could certainly have been more to the main story with less Gwen and Arthur! All that said, the cast lift an, at times, pedestrian script to heady heights, particularly when Gary Lewis, as Alator, and Sorcha Cusack, as Finna, are on the screen. Katie McGrath sizzles as Morgana and doesn’t go over-the-top with her frustration. Conversely, Bradley James plays Arthur in full-on buffoon mode this week, as his various romantic endeavours show his masculine ineptitude. He gets a few opportunities to be the figure of authority, but much of the episode is spent playing the fool whilst Angel Coulby returns to her earlier, and much less interesting, dutiful wife role. More should have been made of Merlin losing faith in Gaius, instead of reducing it to a throw away reconciliation that feels tacked on to prevent another loose thread needed resolving in the remaining three episodes. Whilst that felt badly handled, Merlin’s distrust of Mordred and the unclear allegiance of that character are played out effectively despite very little interaction. They have a terse relationship and Alexander Vlahos makes the most of his sparse dialogue. With one more standalone episode to go and yet more hints being dropped as to what the future holds, the build-up to the final two part story is becoming unbearable! Read Dave’s review of the previous episode, With All My Heart, here.
