Cursed Review, Episode 4, “The Red Lake”: Leper Kings and High Hopes

On her way to Gramaire, Nimue learns of a thriving Fay resistance. Merlin butters up Lord Rugen. Iris grows suspicious of Morgana.

With “The Red Lake,” the show finds itself running into a big problem: the “re-imagined” source material feels dangerously insufficient in places. Cursed leans too much on stagey (but beautiful) set pieces and employs too many plot conveniences (Arthur uses the worn-out lock-picking trick to escape captivity, Nimue and Arthur just happen to meet up at Gramaire, etc) to hold itself together.

Yet, there is still plenty to like, and hope for.

“The Red Lake” is more coherent than the previous episode. Nimue escapes into the forest and meets Dizier (Selva Rasalingum), a member of the Fay underground who is moving survivors to their new sanctuary called Nemos. Arthur flees the clutches of the Red Paladins and eventually reunites with Nimue in Gramaire.

CURSED (L TO R) KATHERINE LANGFORD as NIMUE and DEVON TERRELL as ARTHUR in episode 104 of CURSED Cr. Netflix © 2020

Once again, Merlin is given the splashiest storyline, as he meets up with his old acquaintance, King Rugen of the Lepers. Amidst the decay and splendor of Rugen’s subterranean lair, Merlin offers the Shadow Lord a dark alliance and gifts him the golden torque of Boudicca as a show of his good intentions, though he’ll later steal Rugen’s Fay fire. Meanwhile, Nimue locates her sword and, with the help of Arthur, rises from a pond to slaughter the Red Paladins guarding it. This sequence is the best sword fight of the series so far.

Sister Iris (Emily Coates) emerges as a fascinating character, a fanatic so obsessed with her faith that Igraine/Morgana barely escapes her wrath. After watching Iris burn down the Abbey (apparently with all the nuns inside), I wonder what kind of damage she’ll be able to do working for the bad guys.

By the final scene of “The Red Lake,” we have a story charging forward again: Nimue and Arthur are together and hold the sword, Merlin is re-entrenched in his high fantasy storyline, Pym joins the Viking raiders and the unlikely Sister Iris looms as a new nemesis.

And what about Cursed‘s depth problem? It’s obvious that after relinquishing the deep and complex elements of traditional Arthurian lore, the TV series is struggling to construct a meaningful mythos of its own. There is still great potential, however, in this episode’s final scenes.

EPISODE GRADE: B+

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