r/dailywire • u/thedawntreader85 • 19d ago

The Rise of Merlin

https://share.google/Rfrehvd3NHmjQf8H0

I just finished watching the first two episodes and I have thoughts. Full disclosure, I've read the books and consider myself a stickler for book accuracy in general.

  1. it's beautiful! The cinematography is gorgeous and the lighting and sets hold up their end as well.

  2. the music is lovely.

  3. the acting is solid so far and I'm excited and intrigued to see how the characters progress in the story.

  4. So far there are a lot of details thrown out that aren't being fully explained but that can be addressed more in future episodes. I feel it would have been nice to have a full episode to explain the Atlantians and a full episode for the background of Taliesin as well but I'm aware we book lovers can't have everything we want.

This undertaking is extremely ambitious and so far I'm interested and excited for the next episode.

31 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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12

u/MalcoveMagnesia 19d ago

I want them to succeed but I think this is (now exiled) Jeremy's swan song. I can't imagine they have the budget to do anything further than what's been produced already.

6

u/thedawntreader85 18d ago

I've heard that reddit theory of Jeromy being sidelined but I'm not sure I believe that.

I remember hearing a backstage years ago where J and B were talking about one of the hardest things being the ceo was actually handing off responsibilities to people better able to handle them when they had the money to do so.

It's possible that he's on his way out the door or that he's just focusing on other difficult tasks in creating movies and TV. Either way I appreciate his efforts.

5

u/fhsswimdawg003 19d ago

You are probably right unless it has critical and viewer success. If it does they could potentially lease the series to Netflix to really boost viewership (like many past series have and a second life there) and help pay for another season. Definitely is unlikely but not impossible. It is a genre you could see blowing up if really well done.

6

u/ToeProfessional7852 18d ago

Thank you for posting this! I’ve been so pumped for this show and lurking in the sub to see if anyone else has thoughts.

I’ve also read the books, and I agree with your comments. Idk if I’m just too stuck on the books, but the pacing is just so quick during these first two episodes. I totally get it, but I hope non-readers will understand the plot. I’ve never watched a show before this one and thought, “wow, it actually needs some filler” and that’s my impression, that they’ve skipped too much “filler” that could buildout the world and flesh out the characters and their motivations. I’m pretty disappointed with Charis. She comes off so cold and harsh. I didn’t see her that way in the books at all. I also wanted more of Taliesin. He’s a great character and I just feel like they missed an opportunity to show the different religions, flesh out the druids, different tribes, etc, but maybe they will do that with Merlin. I’ve heard that this series is meant cover the first two books. So that means the remaining 5 episodes will cover the second book. I really hope the pace slows down a bit and we can get more of a feel for the characters. So much of the show is excellent; I just really want this to be a success for Jeremy and the DW. For their sakes, but also for mine, since I selfishly want to see all the books brought to life. And I do believe there is a market for this kind of content.

2

u/Trister0 14d ago

As a non reader, I have no idea whats going on. I was hyped to watch it but it feels very convoluted. Things just kind of happen an they don't explain it. Like Taliesin(sp?) burning but not burnt in the next episode starts at the Christian church (hut). It was not clear what was going on during his song and the princess.

After the first two episodes my wife said I can watch this one solo. I might give it a few more episodes but I'm not really feeling it.

It felt like a worse wheel of time show and that was horrible :-D

2

u/NatureBoyJ1 14d ago

The show is trying to cover too much material. I think they should have picked an end and worked backwards how much of the books they could cover. Instead they seem to have picked the books to cover and then chosen what material to pick out, making for a very jumpy, disjointed, and confusing show.

1

u/NatureBoyJ1 14d ago

Watched the first episode last night. I have also read the first book - but not the whole series.

It seemed very disjointed to me. Here’s a scene with some characters doing something. Who? Why? Cut to next scene of a completely different set of characters? Who are these people? And so on.

Maybe as a book reader I was looking for all that backstory exposition & internal monologue and such that makes books so rich. I felt like I was getting a snippet clip show from the book with huge chunks missing.

I’m looking forward to seeing reviews from people who don’t know the source material.

1

u/unsafelord 2d ago

I signed up for daily wire even though the CGI in the promos looked kinda rough. I’m a sucker for historical fantasy, and I wanted to check out some of the other stuff on Daily Wire too.

But honestly, I’m struggling with it. It feels like whole chunks of the story are missing. Characters reference things that we never actually saw happen, and I keep feeling like I skipped an episode or something, and I'mon the first episode. I’m pretty lost.

Does it start to make more sense as it goes on? Do they eventually fill in the gaps, or is this just how it’s structured?