Check out our review of the new BBC drama Atlantis and let us know if you agree! Warning: This review contains spoilers.

When Atlantis‘s season 1, episode 1 “The Earth Bull” aired last weekend on BBC One, we found ourselves curiously more intrigued in the first two minutes than we thought we’d be for the entire episode. That’s not because we didn’t love the idea of Atlantis and weren’t enthralled with the concept, but because we’re just still bitter over Merlin.

With the BBC hoping to catch some of Merlin‘s audience with this new drama, many of us were skeptical, because nothing can fill the void that Arthur and Merlin left in our hearts. However, after watching the first episode, we’re so excited to see this series continue.

Atlantis opens with an interesting setting: Modern day. While we knew that Jason would be “traveling worlds,” we were still excited and curious to see how he ended up going through the portal while searching for his father’s sunken submarine. As he lands on the shores of Atlantis, we get our first gratuitous view at Jason’s body, mysteriously stripped naked, and we knew that this would be one show that the ladies (and some men) would not mind watching every week.

Gratuitous nudity aside, we were curious about what Jason would think when he reached the city. As the promos were released for the show, we were curious how BBC would go about these two worlds that they’ve created. Would Jason be aware of the myth of Atlantis, or is his world just as fictional as the one he traveled to?

Our questions are answered when he gets into trouble in a market and accidentally provokes a two-headed dragon (which we absolutely scolded him for; who’d be so stupid as to poke a dragon?!) and ends up in Pythagoras’s home. When informed about whose home he was in, Jason was clearly in the know about him. So now Atlantis has set up a world where a modern day Jason is aware of the historic figures and places he’s visiting, and that got us even more interested.

So naturally with Jason’s knowledge of Greek mythology and Atlantis, the episode brought us a numerous amount of laughs. One of the best spurts of laughter was when Jason met Hercules for the first time, played by Mark Addy. We knew months ago what form Hercules would take, but that didn’t keep us from laughing when Jason eyed Hercules with a “Wait. What?” look as he introduced himself.

Speaking of Hercules, we love Addy’s portrayal of the hero. He is not the brave, muscular man that we know, but rather a drunk coward who wanted to run away from the sacrificial ritual he was expected to attend. He will absolutely keep us guessing throughout the series as we go with him on his journey of self discovery and strength.

Thanks to the presence of a convenient Oracle, Jason seeks her out to ask why and how he got to Atlantis and if his father is there. We find out that his father is dead, but his mother might be alive. Jason is destined for greatness it seems, just like Merlin, and it looks like BBC’s Atlantis has an old Oracle in the place of a wise dragon. But hey, we won’t mind as long as she can keep getting these mysteries handed to us.

Every year the people of Atlantis are forced to draw from a lottery of black and white stones, and the seven who pick black will be offered up to the Minotaur as a sacrifice to appease Poseidon, unless the Minotaur is defeated. Pythagoras picked a black stone, but to save his new friend, Jason goes in his place and defeats the Minotaur with the help of the king’s daughter, Ariadne. We’re sensing a new ship arising out of the waters of Atlantis, and it has Jariadne written all over it.

There are an abundance of amazing references to Greek mythology and just enough changes in it to keep us guessing and entertained, and we absolutely loved this premiere. It gave us new mysteries and familiar stories and laughs all while making sure that it keeps us guessing.

If you liked Merlin like we did, we guarantee that you’ll love this new BBC drama, and we hope you join us for the ride!

What did you think of BBC’s ‘Atlantis’?

The second episode of the series, Atlantis season 1, episode 2 “A Girl by Any Other Name” airs tomorrow on BBC One at 8:25PM GST.