I don't know whose idea the Evil Smirk (tm) was, but it was incredibly annoying and someone should have realised that. *sigh* Why is Uther the only one who is allowed to be evil and complex?

I totally cringed during all the Merlin & Arthur scenes, but at least there's some satisfaction in seeing that Merlin is not going to just sit there and take it anymore without dishing something back.
That made it at least a little better. I assume these scenes are supposed to be funny, but Merlin so obviously hates it when Arthur does that, so it's hard to even try to see it that way...

I really would like to see the show live up to its potential a bit more this season...