stop bashing season 4 so much!(long read)
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People tend to base credit for S4 most of the time on, "Well it was better than S5". This is hardly a stirring endorsement is it? Yes, I prefer it to s5 too, but that's like pointing out that I prefer Tony Blair to Margaret Thatcher.
In any case, s4 needs to be a good season in its own right, not just setting things up for season 6, to be judged a success. Judged on its own merits, s4 was repetitive (not just the same locations over and over, but the running order hardly ever changed), had visually monotonous colour schemes, and neverendingly recycled dialogue - how many times did we have to hear Pickle pretending to be astonished and delighted to discover that the Eye-Shield could see?
And s4 had very few dark and moody moments. Most of levels 1 & 2 were outdoors in the bright, wide open spaces of rural England. What's so dark about that?
But if you want to use its contribution to later seasons as a defence, consider this... s6 wasn't a particularly good season either, dominated as it was by repetitive causeway puzzles and unexciting, uninteresting locations. So why give s4 a round of applause for setting it up?
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Personally season 4 has some of my favourite rooms and moments. Yes it was a bit slow at times, and yes it was sad to see how Merlin's character had developed into a shadow of his former self. But overall some of the ideas were fantastic.
How many children's programmes of that time or even now, would allow the use of pills called "Uppers" and "Downers" and get away will the drug association? Its that kind of cheeky humour that I like and not only that, Knightmare wasn't patronising kids like most programmes did and still do.
Aside from that, the scenes with the smaller dungeoneer were very cool to watch.
You also have to take into account that season 4 gave us the fantastic Corridor of Blades. I will never forget how I felt the first time I watched someone attempt to tackle it and I still get that rush now.
In terms of its slowness and repetitiveness, I do wonder if perhaps these are things that we identify more as we get older. I was 7/8 at the time of broadcast and I can't remember ever being bored, or noticing the repeating of certain lines. You have to remember that some people might have just tuned in, having never seen the programme before, so the repeating of certain key bits of info would have been necessary at times.
And okay, I suppose I am slightly biased about Season 4 because it had Pickle in!!!
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I quite enjoyed the radical change from S3 to 4. I also enjoy the season an awful lot, possibly based on how much the format did change, yet still worked.
I found S4 to have the best outdoor locations, too. The dark, gloomy forests actually look pretty good, which is where S5 did not quite make it ~ They tended to be too bright, I found, although they improved the gameplay for that season.
Anyway, S4 rules! As do the others!
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I like all of the series accept for 1. The assasins and howling of wolves were my fawouwrite part of Knightmare (along with other things)
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there is no way we can compare each season the the other.
There is no way that one season is any worse than the other.
Look at seasons 4 poor moments,
Look at it's best,, every season is the same.. trouble with both s4/s5 was each quest was smear.. but I'm really looking forward to seeing it again, it's been a while since i saw it last on challenge,
it not really that different from seasons 6 and 7.
a few puzzles, easy level 1, but a good level 3.
But the Blades and B n T were something,
But they did over use the eye shield, bit boring compared to the others but we can't really compare them. But i would never rate S or 6 the best. Or s4 and 5 the worse., it's possible to have personal favs but this topic isn't about being bias.
But s4 did have a very poor winning quest, the last moments were not good, i guess Malice isn't much of a boss. But the last episode was good.. that team has 3 of s4 best puzzle rooms all on level 3 (Blades, Blocks, Transporter pad) S4 was just alittle slow as a season.
And credit to season 5 for having a far better Great causway then season 6, s5 causeways were far better anyway.. but again s6 had the timer.
Pluss seasons 8 new Reach wand.. didn't like this when i 1st saw it but now i think it was great idea.
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S4 was my second favourite after Series 6 (Barry was number 1, but wasn't really a series, that would be silly. Although....) 4 just had this "feel" to it - the outdoors was a welcome change, and is the first one i truly remember. It was kind of a spring clean as well, out with the old etc. It seemed less challenging but harder?? Can't Explain!!
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Series 4 just has that really outdoor creepy feel about it IMO the were wolves , assasins and stuff all helped add to the atmosphere though the B and T really shoulda seen another season or so.
Anyway keep posting guys im having a good read :-).
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I prefer series 4 from series 5 in that series 4 has more of a 'nightime' quality to it. It also has that sort of creepy, deserted feel that series 1-3 had. This feel wasn't in series 5-8.
HMM, I thought there were a few parts of series 8 that had that feel (a select few that is)... But yes, they did have a creepy feel, and series 4 also kept that feel, where as they lost that in series 5. I feel they brought back the 'scaryness' in some ways for season 6. When the dungoneer was in a dwarf tunnel for example, and you had the sound effects, my heard started racing sometimes!
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It was a bit slow, but then again a bit different too with all that new stuff and chararcters.
I didn't like how Tregurad NEVER said oh nasty, and went back to his very gay saying
What a pity , in a very saarcastic way!!!
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My main problem with series 4 is that it's incredibly repetitive. Treguard and Pickle say exactly the same things in each and every quest, so much so that by the end of the series, you can speak along with them. This was particularly evident on Challenge, when it was on every day, rather than every week, and therefore it was done with more frequency! And thus, I think that Hugo and David are somewhat wasted, insofar as they are very talented actors and didn't really get to shine as they do in other series, such as series 6, where they are allowed much more scope.
With longer quests, like Dickon's, you do get a sense of more variety than you did with the teams that only reached level 2, plus we have the addition of more floor puzzles, such as the perennial CoB, and the Block & Tackle, which is good. Plus we have the introduction of outdoor scenes, which I found quite tiresome, but I did enjoy new settings like the Crazed Heifer and the introduction of pookas (although Treguard always called them "hauntings" back then). And some of my favourite M characters, like Motley, Melly and Mace were used well (although Merlin wasn't - the most powerful wizard ever stuck in the stocks? Oh, please!).
So, yeah, there were some good elements of series 4, and the show was brave for attempting such a dramatic change in direction. But for a period of transition, series 4 just seemed to me to be taking far too long to find its feet, and I think it's only by series 5 that they really got a more thorough grounding in exactly how the show was going to be put together.
In short - no, I don't like it. But give it time, and they'll get it right eventually. And guess what? They did!
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I have to agree with your assessment with season 4. It's incredibly repetitive.
In fact, in most cases, I think the rooms themselves follow the same sequence. I reckon you could watch most of the show in fast forward
Ironically, though, I think series 4 is fairly close to what TC was trying to make. It does have a very continuous dungeon/questing theme to it. As you say, I think it's just a bit too repetitive though.
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My personal view on Series 4 is mixed, but it does have some downfalls:
Weeping Doors: I HATE those bloody weeping doors. They annoy me one hell of a lot with their none stop crying, Dooris in particular.
Level 2: Gundrada usually ends up doing about two thirds of it which can be irritating, as it kind of ruins the idea of having the advisors.
I also really don't like Fatilla the Hun. Sure, Olaf was slightly thick but Fatilla the Hun is so stupid it's utterly ridiculous.
The last one is that I think it's too slow paced, and can drag on somewhat.
That being said, it does have some epic moments:
Mogdred brutally killing the first team.
"Simon, sidestep to your left!"
Merlin talking in opposites and confusing the hell out of the team (and at points me).
At first I really didn't like Pickle, but he grew on me and I now quite like him.
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