Merlin: Review: Series 4 Ep 7: The Secret Sharer

Desperate to discover Emrys’ true identity, Morgana arranges for Gaius to be kidnapped and interrogated.

It’s not often that the title of the episode is as ambiguous as this week’s, and it plays very much to the episode’s advantage. Is it someone who shares secrets – or someone who is sharing secretly? It’s another instalment that moves the series’ overall arc onwards: as an audience we learn something of Merlin’s destiny, as seen by the poets and druids of previous times, and even Arthur is surprised by some of the information that comes his way.

There’s a lot of focus on Richard Wilson, with an interrogation scene (briefly glimpsed in the throw forward last week) and its aftermath that allow him to do more than react to Colin Morgan’s antics. His scenes with Arthur at either end of the episode demonstrate the affection in which Gaius holds Arthur, and his  determination to protect the young King.

Gary Lewis enjoys his role as the “enigmatic” wizard Alator (not exactly sure what’s that enigmatic about him, but that’s the official description), occasionally giving into the temptation to chew the scenery, but reined in at the appropriate moments. The scenes between him and Morgana genuinely make you wonder how much the episode is going to alter the status quo of the series…

Verdict: An interesting episode that features more about Merlin, the character, than of him! 7/10

Paul Simpson

Check out our other Merlin reviews here