Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (December 5, 2008)

HOW GAY IS MERLIN?
Good news gay subtext sci fi/fantasy fans!  The BBC's Merlin is coming to America. Eventually. NBC purchased the series earlier in the year and announced it would air in January, but for some reason the show has been temporarily shelved. Possibly to make room for "Howie Did It" the new reality show starring Deal or no Deal's irascible Howie Mandel? (Blerg!) Either that or the suits over at NBC were a little squeamish about all those romantic Merlin/Arthur fan tribute videos floating around on the web. They must have bought this series thinking it would be a blandly unobjectionable 8:00pm family show (and truthfully, it plays perfectly well for the kiddies). But for adults, the gay subtext is hard to miss — which just might make the series of interest to AfterElton.com readers.

The show re-imagines Arthurian legend, focusing on Arthur and Merlin as teens. Arthur is hunky, headstrong and valiant. Merlin is an awkward misfit who harbors a terrible secret: He is "magical," and if he's found out he could be put put to death.

Substitute "gay" for "magical" and you pretty much have your high school years. 

Check out the trailer....

I've had the chance to see several episodes of this series, and I've gotta say I enjoy it. Sure, the special effects are cheesy — about on par with any Xena episode, but the cast is great. You might remember Colin Morgan, the guy who plays Merlin, from an episode of Doctor Who and also a funny guest appearance playing a gay teen on last year's Catherine Tate Christmas Special.  There are a number of other familiar faces as well. Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) plays Uther Pendragon, Arthur's stern, magic-hating father.  Torchwood's Eve Myles even shows up in the first episode as an evil sorceress. (And for all you Gwen-bashers out there — you'll be happy to know she meets a bad end.)

A black actress, Angel Coulby, plays Guinevere, and the color-blind casting seems odd at first, but Coulby is so engaging and likeable in the role that you quickly grow acclimated to it. The weakest link in the cast is probably Katie McGrath who plays Morgana. She's almost a perfect clone of Keira Knightley, and like her big screen doppelganger she pouts and poses rather than actually acts.

But about that gay subtext - the tagline for the series is "Keep the magic a secret!" Through a brief expository conversation in the pilot episode with a CGI dragon (voiced by John Hurt) we learn that Merlin and Arthur's fates are "intertwined." Merlin gets himself appointed Arthur's "manservant" and spends his working hours polishing Arthur's boots and suiting him up for jousting matches. Which could be hot if you're into that sort of thing. And these two characters certainly seem to be. Every time they share a scene it looks as though they're on the verge of falling into each other's arms. But there's one sticking point in their relationship - Merlin is afraid to tell Arthur (or anyone else) about his magical abilities for fear he'll be put to death. 

So yeah. I'd say Merlin is pretty gay. And definitely worth watching if/when NBC finally decides to air it. Any UK residents out there familiar with the show? What do you think of Merlin? 

Next page! A gay man's guide to badass witches.