Atlantis - the Earth Bull
Oct. 12th, 2013 01:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcYeah, I finally got round to watching the first episode of Not Merlin. Actually it's more like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys with the Trapped In Another World/Secret Legacy tropes.
It's interesting that they go to such trouble for the "present day" setting of the first scene. I mean, location shooting with a minisub can't be cheap. Makes me wonder if we're going to see Jason's dad's friend again?
I like geeky Pythagoras and past-his-prime Hercules. I sighed a bit at the Annoying Arrows, which apparently don't even hinder him enough to make it hard to climb through a window. And the fact soldiers are hunting Jason apparently gets forgotten as soon as it's served its purpose and he needs to meet the Oracle. And then remembered again when Hercules complains about putting him up.
An interesting point that the Oracle specifically refers to Jason as coming from another world. So we're in a Land of Myth, not a Time of Myth. Possible Once Upon A Time crossover? Also "(significant pause) walks among the dead" is not the same as "dead", so I wouldn't be surprised if Jason's dad shows up at some point. Especially since she's lying.
And then we get the Minotaur story, relocated from Crete, with Jason in the role of Theseus. This worked quite well. I laughed out loud at "Who the hell has hunting lions?", since that was exactly what I was thinking.
And the family dynamic in the royal household is interesting, with Ariadne as the Rebellious Princess and the Queen apparently speaking for Minos, while he keeps quiet. (By the way, I completely failed to recognise Alexander Siddig with a beard until quite late on.) Although it's interesting that we seem to be pairing Jason with Ariadne, since I understand Medea is going to appear in future episodes.
And then more vague portents about Jason's destiny, and the threat of King Minos.
So pretty good fun. Will try and get caught up in the next few days, but I don't know if I'll write them all up.
Shall I do a Mythwatch? Why not?
Jason's name suggests King Jason of Iolcos, which may or may not be connected to the truth the Oracle didn't tell him. Hercules is the most famous of the Greek Heroes and Pythagoras is a real historic figure. The two headed lizard Jason kills is probably a baby hydra.
In mythology (and by "mythology", I mean a story that Plato said he heard from a bloke who heard it from an Egyptian) the Atlantians did indeed worship Poseidon. Many temples had Oracles, the most famous being the Pythia at the temple of Apollo in Delphi.
The legend of the Minotaur, as mentioned above, was originally set in Crete, which was where Minos was king. (In Plato, the High King of Atlantis is named Atlas.) The origin of the Minotaur given here is very different from the classic version (son of King Minos's wife and a white bull), but this sort of punishment by the gods is a common theme in Greek myth. Apart from that, the episode does it pretty much straight.
It's interesting that they go to such trouble for the "present day" setting of the first scene. I mean, location shooting with a minisub can't be cheap. Makes me wonder if we're going to see Jason's dad's friend again?
I like geeky Pythagoras and past-his-prime Hercules. I sighed a bit at the Annoying Arrows, which apparently don't even hinder him enough to make it hard to climb through a window. And the fact soldiers are hunting Jason apparently gets forgotten as soon as it's served its purpose and he needs to meet the Oracle. And then remembered again when Hercules complains about putting him up.
An interesting point that the Oracle specifically refers to Jason as coming from another world. So we're in a Land of Myth, not a Time of Myth. Possible Once Upon A Time crossover? Also "(significant pause) walks among the dead" is not the same as "dead", so I wouldn't be surprised if Jason's dad shows up at some point. Especially since she's lying.
And then we get the Minotaur story, relocated from Crete, with Jason in the role of Theseus. This worked quite well. I laughed out loud at "Who the hell has hunting lions?", since that was exactly what I was thinking.
And the family dynamic in the royal household is interesting, with Ariadne as the Rebellious Princess and the Queen apparently speaking for Minos, while he keeps quiet. (By the way, I completely failed to recognise Alexander Siddig with a beard until quite late on.) Although it's interesting that we seem to be pairing Jason with Ariadne, since I understand Medea is going to appear in future episodes.
And then more vague portents about Jason's destiny, and the threat of King Minos.
So pretty good fun. Will try and get caught up in the next few days, but I don't know if I'll write them all up.
Shall I do a Mythwatch? Why not?
Jason's name suggests King Jason of Iolcos, which may or may not be connected to the truth the Oracle didn't tell him. Hercules is the most famous of the Greek Heroes and Pythagoras is a real historic figure. The two headed lizard Jason kills is probably a baby hydra.
In mythology (and by "mythology", I mean a story that Plato said he heard from a bloke who heard it from an Egyptian) the Atlantians did indeed worship Poseidon. Many temples had Oracles, the most famous being the Pythia at the temple of Apollo in Delphi.
The legend of the Minotaur, as mentioned above, was originally set in Crete, which was where Minos was king. (In Plato, the High King of Atlantis is named Atlas.) The origin of the Minotaur given here is very different from the classic version (son of King Minos's wife and a white bull), but this sort of punishment by the gods is a common theme in Greek myth. Apart from that, the episode does it pretty much straight.
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Date: 2013-10-12 01:05 pm (UTC)The hunting lions were fun, but would have worked a lot better if they hadn't drawn attention to the implausibility of them by having the guys stand on a (flimsy!) box of chickens to escape them. Those chickens are not going to be there in the morning, nor any other livestock left roaming around, nor any people with flimsy doors... It was just that one inconsequential goof that broke my suspension of disbelief. And Princess Cardboard with her MacGuffin was underused, something that does not pick up in Ep2 (although that episode is otherwise a real corker).