fresne and I keep joking that Smallville is like the bad boyfriend that you know you should just dump but somehow you just keep hanging in there. The good times are very, very good. But most of the time things are just awful. And just when you think things are getting better, *wham*, things turn painful again and you think you should leave, but somehow you just don't because maybe, just maybe, it will get better and the good times will be back again.

But this post is not about Smallville. It's about the BBC series Merlin, now airing on NBC. But after watching eight episodes, I'm becoming convinced that Merlin is not a bad boyfriend.

If you're not watching Merlin, why aren't you?

It's Arthurian legend, Jim, but not as we know it. It's close, but it's different and puts an intriguing twist on a lot of the old, traditional relationships. Merlin comes to Camelot a naive young boy with a lot of magic talent and not a lot of good sense. Too bad for him that magic's forbidden and anyone who's caught practicing it is put to death. Arthur's a prat and Morgana's quite reasonable and likable, and Guinevere is a maid servant with a crush on Merlin and Uther is the most delicious, cold, horrible, wonderful character I've seen in a long, long time. There are so many intriguing ways the plot could twist as it wends its way into the tales we all know. And one day Merlin will figure out that dragons are not human, and their ways are not ours, no matter how much one wizard may think they are. But that can wait for another day.

Seriously. If you're not watching, get thee to Hulu or bittorrent.


Oh, and what any of this has to do with Smallville you may be wondering? Beyond the obvious similarity of the young hero before he grows into his destiny, the series creators say they were heavily influenced by Smallville. Watch it, and you'll see. Only this boyfriend? He ain't bad.