Merlin and Nimue are great in Cursed Episode 6, everyone else is a bore

In the ruins of a castle, Nimue and Merlin finally meet face to face, and more secrets from the past come racing to the surface.

“Festa and Moreii” is all about the secrets of the past, specifically the mysteries surrounding Merlin, Nimue’s mother Lenore (Catherine Walker), and the nature of the “sword of the kings.” This main storyline is also good enough to make the weaker narratives around it look like window dressing.

Annoyed by Arthur and Gawain’s bickering, Nimue asks Morgana to accompany her to a rendezvous with Merlin. They meet in a ruined castle “between the armies of Pendragon and the Paladins of Rome.” The spirits of Festa and Moreii haunt the castle, star-crossed lovers who can show Nimue the truths of Merlin’s past relationship with Lenore, which drained him of his magical abilities when she cut the sword from his body.

Elsewhere, Arthur travels with Gawain on a hunting party. Squirrel teaches Iris how to use a bow and arrow. Tracked by Lady Lunete, Pendragon soldiers raid the castle grounds. Arthur is attacked by The Weeping Monk. Game of Thrones fans will recognize Clive Russell (The Blackfish) as Wroth the Tusk Commander.

But this episode is really all about Merlin and Nimue. Nimue believes Merlin has betrayed her, which seems to be the case. The sweet and dangerous meeting between them is the most powerful sequence on Cursed so far. It works well, buried as it is in the show’s reimagined history, where fate and love and passions soar, and the struggle between good and evil marches on.

CURSED (L TO R) CATHERINE WALKER as LENORE in episode 101 of CURSED Cr. SIMON RIDGWAY/Netflix © 2020

However, excellent sequences like this one also shed light on how almost every other storyline is coming up short. While the original Arthurian heroes engaged in petty arguments, that’s all we’re getting from Arthur and Gawain. Uther and Lady Lunete remain comically one-dimensional, and the potentially complex Fay alliance serves only as background.

Cursed is a popular show on Netflix, but it needs to fire on more cylinders if it wants to last.

EPISODE RANK: B

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