Merlin season two came out of nowhere for me. I completely forgot about the series and then bam! There's a season two. As much as I complained about the first season, in hindsight I must admit it was a fun bit of fluff, an entirely revisionist program meant only to lightly entertain and not offend anyone. So it's with a measure of goodwill that I welcome back Merlin in its sophomore season.

The first installment has a thief trying to steal a key from Arthur in order to gain access to a recently discovered tomb loaded with jewels. To do so, the thief - named Cedric - sweet-talks his way to becoming Arthur's servant, all the while discrediting Merlin. Eventually he gains the key to the tomb and steals a shiny blue heart from the carved figure on top of a sarcophagus. What he didn't know was that this would release the spirit of the vengeful ancient sorcerer whose tomb it is. The spirit invades Cedric's body and then bad times are ahead. He unleashes all manner of creatures and gargoyles in order to take over the city. Merlin has no choice but to appeal to the infuriating dragon for advice. Unfortunately for Merlin, he kind of told off the dragon last season and the dragon doesn't let him forget it. The dragon says he'll help, but only if Merlin vows to release him one day. Merlin has no choice and agrees, so the dragon bestows a spell upon Merlin to save the day, which he does. However, Uther is really upset now and vows to redouble his efforts to stamp out all sorcery.

Merlin Cast

While this was a fun episode, I find the series often has a hard time deciding what tone it wants for a particular episode. For instance here it started off very lighthearted, with a thief wanting to get some riches. The feuding with Merlin was amusing, but then suddenly, everything shifts gears when Cedric becomes possessed. It became relatively dark and totally incongruous with the first half. Mackenzie Crook did a really good job as the guest star, though. He brought life to a character that could have been a simple buffoon. Most people would know him as either Gareth from the original UK "The Office" (upon whom Dwight is based in the US version) or Ragetti from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. In both those roles, he has a very odd and distinctive look to him, but in this episode, he hardly looked like himself. I don't know if it was the costume or makeup, but he seemed much less bizarre looking. Instead of playing an awkward weirdo, he played a character with some personality and confidence for a change and he acquitted himself very well, thank you very much.

The other major points here were that Uther's resolve to stamp out sorcery is stronger than ever and that the dragon has a deal with Merlin for his release. The former point isn't a big surprise. Uther's hatred of magic is well known and I wouldn't imagine he'd change his position on this anyway. The point about the dragon, however, is interesting. What does this dragon want? He must be chained up for some reason. If Merlin releases him, will the dragon do malicious things? I can't wait to find out.

There is a mounting frustration in me about this series, though. I would love to know how long they plan to make episodes. The impatient kid in me wants to be able to anticipate when in the series Arthur will become king and the dragon will be released, but if this show will pump out episodes in perpetuity until it becomes unpopular, these plot points may only pop up years from now. But for now, I'll settle for a fun outing with only a few advancements of the overall story.

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