Kristin, when I read your Merlin review, I was surprised and hurt by a particular paragraph. I've been thinking about it all day, and while I know (assume) that your comments were not intentionally hurtful, I want to explain* why your review upset me.
Here goes.
I didn’t really think of it in my initial viewing, but online, most of the talk about Merlin is on homosexual subtext between Merlin and Arthur. Although gay aspects in Arthurian tales aren’t unheard of- see or read Mists of Avalon- I think it’s a little strange that people are looking for this in a program touted as wholesome and family oriented. In a few years, if Merlin strengthens and survives into a mature drama like Buffy The Vampire Slayer; then sure, let’s have one of the characters be gay. As for right now, however, the creators don’t seem to be playing into any subtext ala Xena. Yes, there is some dialogue about how much one boy loves the other or has secrets and latent lifestyles, but it seems more like Shaggy and Scooby having the munchies or He-Man’s subtext. Adults will see what they want to see, there’s nothing heavy that might offend youth and family audiences.
In short, you're saying that LGBT romance is unsuitable for "wholesome" programs targeted at "family audiences".
On the surface, this seems a little strange to me, because Merlin is absolutely loaded with romance. There are canonical romances among the lead characters, such as Arthur and Gwen. Every other episode seems to be about a character falling for the attractive guest star of the week: Arthur for Sophia, Merlin for Freya, Gwen for Lancelot, Uther for Catrina, etc. There have been on-screen kisses, among other portrayals of physical, sexual and romantic love. You don't seem to object to any of the above. The implication is that on-screen romance itself is not offensive to family audiences - only the prospect of LGBT people being involved. Somehow, a kiss that would be entirely wholesome if it was opposite-sex becomes unwholesome if it's same-sex. A child is safe watching Arthur's feelings for Gwen, but not Arthur's feelings for Merlin. The message I'm hearing is that LGBT people should stay where they belong - offscreen or in the closet. Not on-screen, shoving their unwholesome romances in the faces of family viewers. And that makes me sad and hurt.
* The reason I'm posting here rather than as a comment on the blog post is that I know AbsoluteWrite is a safe space to discuss LGBT issues.
I like this show a lot. You have to swallow a lot of the Smallville esque changes to the legend, but its a nice little wholesome show with nice writing and fine performances. Frankly, I don't know why they waste time doing gimmicky episodes and reseting character development early in the season and they get seriously good in the latter half. People tune out early and don't go back!
I'm going to try this new Camelot show on Starz, but I hope it isn't like Spartacus. We are seriously in need of an Arthurian film. I don't know why everyone is trying to do their own different spin when we haven't had a darn good straight tell in some time, if ever.
Here's a few reviews I've done of the Merlins. I'm waiting for Season 2 to finish airing in the US before I post that one!
http://ithinkthereforeireview.blogspot.com/2010/06/merlin-1998.html
http://ithinkthereforeireview.blogspot.com/2009/09/merlin-season-1.html