To be honest, I watched the pilot of this series expecting not to care for it at all. I thought it would be a cheesy family show, better suited to kids than someone like me. So when I ended up getting completely hooked from Merlin and Arthur's first meeting, it was a truly welcome surprise. The chemistry between Colin and Bradley is, quite simply, epic. From the moment Merlin took his first bitchy swing at the smug pretty boy prince, I knew it was going to be one of the best bromances ever.

Obviously, drastic changes have been made from the original legends. Merlin and Arthur are young contemporaries rather than pompous old farts, and Merlin, living in a Camelot where magic warrants a death sentence under Arthur's tyrannical and irrational father, is a snarky peasant boy who doesn't know his place. So when he is awarded the coveted position of Arthur's personal slave manservant after saving the prince's life, neither of them are especially happy about it.

Arthur's ability to simultaneously be so punch-in-the-face-worthy as an arrogant, entitled jackass and so utterly endearing as a future leader with the weight of the world on his shoulders and an innate desire to do the right thing makes him quite an interesting character. The fact that he can be berating Merlin one minute and then risking jail and even death to save his servant's life the next makes the development of his character (and his character's relationship with Merlin) extremely engaging. To see them go from a mutual dislike and lack of respect for each other to grudging tolerance to cautious trust to "you're my best friend, of course I'd die for you" is an ongoing source of joy over the course of the first two seasons. It's the heart of the series and what made the show so damn addictive to so many people.

Unfortunately, the writers made the worst mistake of their collective careers by clinging to the "keep the magic secret" catchphrase that they started out with, and it really hurt an otherwise great show. A well written Merlin would have had Arthur find out about his best friend's magical powers at the end of Season 2.

Truth be told, he should have had his suspicions even sooner, but at the very least revealing Merlin's secret to the prince at the end of "The Last Dragonlord" would have been PERFECTION. It was exactly the right time. Their private road trip, their desperate search for Balinor and Arthur's willingness to respect anyone who could save the kingdom, magic or no. At the eleventh hour, Merlin steps up and saves the day by talking the dragon down and sending him off like a petulant child. He's a powerful warlock. He's now the last dragonlord. He's Arthur's BFF who's proven himself unflinchingly loyal to Camelot on countless occasions and now he's just singlehandedly saved the kingdom from total annihilation. They couldn't have set it up better for the big reveal! And then...nothing. Arthur gets knocked out (again), Merlin, yet again, gets no credit for his heroism, and we're back to the status quo.

If they had handled things better, Season 2 would have ended with Arthur and Merlin returning to the castle as heroes, satisfied with their triumph but facing uncertainty. How will Arthur deal with Merlin's magic long-term? How will it affect him to keep this massive secret from his father? How will Merlin deal with the fear of Uther's son, friend or not, knowing what he is and will he begin to use his magic more openly around Arthur or try harder than ever to act "normal," lest he push Arthur over the edge? This sort of predicament would have made for a brilliant Season 3 storyline and, ideally, would have led to some ups and downs, conflicts, fights, threats and eventually an incredible strengthening of their bond. Instead, the writers wrote themselves into a box and didn't seem to know what to do when Season 3 began, which is why we start the next chapter with a shockingly immature Arthur who's become more of a bully than ever, and a meek, whiny Merlin who, for some inexplicable reason, puts up with it instead of throwing around his usual sass.

And then came Smirkana.

As if the regression of the two main characters wasn't disappointing enough, the showrunners added insult to injury by turning Morgana - one of the most likeable roles in the first two seasons - into an absurdly cartoonish villain who was directed to give an over-the-top smirk at how well her evil self was fooling everyone. In just about every single scene. I've never seen so much ridiculous smirking in my life. As you might surmise from her fan-bestowed nickname, no one was particularly impressed.

Luckily, someone on the writing staff seems to have stepped in halfway through Season 3 and said "hey, what the bloody hell are we doing?" because the writing suddenly gets much better. While certainly not on par with the first two seasons, things do start to go in the right direction and quickly become interesting again. Sadly, we suffer through Smirkana to the bitter end and even more sadly, the "secret magic" issue is ongoing (really, how many times can Arthur conveniently be distracted or unconscious when Merlin uses epic levels of magic right in front of him? Suspension of disbelief only goes so far...) but the overall stories hugely improve and the Merlin/Arthur dynamic at least returns to what it was the year before.

Season 4 stepped it up about ten notches, with "A Servant of Two Masters," "The Darkest Hour" and "The Sword in the Stone" being some of my favorite episodes from the entire series. There were so many great stories that year and, with the knights of the round table having come together at last, there's a lot of great bromancing and character interaction going on. My love for the show was restored and I was super enthused about being a fan again.

Then it all went to hell with Season 5. First of all, the entire tone of the series shifted. Literally overnight, it went from being light and fun - even when there was drama - to being dark and somber with a very, very different feel. The entire atmosphere changed and it didn't feel like the same show at all. The behavior of the characters was totally out of place. The first few episodes were okay, with the Halloween special being exceptionally good, but after that, the show dropped off a cliff and never recovered. The storylines were horrendous - just cheap, contrived nonsense that might as well have been written by a brand new team who'd never seen the earlier seasons. And the finale was the most unsatisfying, depressing and painful finale since Supernatural's "Swan Song."

All that said, I do very much adore the show as a whole. Knowing how it ends, I think the best way to enjoy it is to remember from the start that the way the story should go with regards to Merlin's drawn out "secret" is not the way that it will go, and that a "live for the moment" approach is the best way to watch it.

Enjoy the hell out of Seasons 1, 2 and 4, skip the first half of Season 3 and, as with Sliders, just pretend that the fifth season doesn't exist (except for perhaps "The Death Song of Uther Pendragon"), so that you can imagine your own more satisfying conclusion to this epic and entertaining story.

As for the DVDs themselves...the Season 1 and 2 box sets are must-haves if you want to be as entertained by the cast members as the characters they play. The many commentaries, behind-the-scenes features and especially the cast diaries are not to be missed. They'll make you so envious that you weren't there to join in the fun. Just search Youtube for colin morgan you're the voice and you'll understand. The ending may have been a loss but 3.5 seasons of this show will still bring you pure sunshine and happiness, so I say go ahead and give it a shot.