Robin Hood—A Clue: No

For the second half of the season finale, we pick up where we left off, with the sheriff approaching Robin's hideout and Robin mourning over Marian's body. Unfortunately, Robin has yet to perfect the Dean Winchester Single Perfect Emo Tear of Man Pain®, and has settled for his own patented Grim Scowl of Determination. Much and Little John hold off the Sheriff and his men. John says it's a good day to die--when did he turn into a Klingon? Robin joins the fray, and I have to say he's hotter when he's shooting things, especially with that nifty multiple arrow technique. With Marian dead, Robin has pretty much turned into Screaming Berserker Man. In spite of the bad odds, Robin and his men--with Alan and Will returning--wipe the forest floor with the sheriff's men, while Guy stands around gaping in astonishment.

With that little confrontation taken care of, Robin tries to deal with the practicalities of Marian's death. The Merry Men deliver lovely eulogies, like, "She was all right," "Her, we liked," and finally, "She's breathing." Apparently Djaq overdosed her with sedatives. Ah, well. Sedatives can be tricky.

The sheriff informs Guy that the king really isn't coming at all. He's bringing a fake king to town to ferret out all the plots against him.

Robin and his buds bring not-dead Marian to her father. Dad has a plan to defend the king, but it involves leaving Marian to marry Guy, which Robin, having his priorities in order as usual, isn't crazy about. He proceeds to drive off everyone around him with his single-minded focus on Marian, including Much, to whom he's unnecessarily nasty.

Marian has her own plans, and somehow is back on her feet merely hours after primitive abdominal surgery with no antibiotics. She goes to speak to Guy and asks him point blank if he tried to kill the King in the Holy Land. He equivocates. Marian buys it even though he never really quite answers her question. I think she's distracted by the leather and the eyeliner.

Robin's men join with Marian's father, since Robin is just sitting around in the field moping while Marian meets up with Guy for the wedding.

As the Merry Men and Edward put their plan into place, Much bugs out and goes to find Robin. On the way, he runs into the faux king and realizes he is, indeed, faux. One would think the sheriff would have known this ruse wouldn't work--he knows Much and Robin fought in the Holy Land, so why would he assume they wouldn't notice a faux king? But I digress.

Faux King orders the sheriff arrested. The trial proceeds as the king takes "French evidence" from the townsfolk. They go into other rooms to give their private evidence, but if they choose the "testify against" room, the sheriff kills them.

Much barges in on the wedding, announcing that the king is faux. Guy is totally busted. He coerces Marian into continuing with the wedding by threatening her father. But she slugs him in the face with his own wedding ring and escapes. She's surprisingly hearty after that whole abdominal surgery thing. Yes, I continue to harp on that.

Marian runs off to be with Robin even though he's been a brat for most of the season. Robin barges in on the sheriff's setup. Much exposes the faux king and the merry men create general havoc, as usual. They're about to make their escape when the sheriff grabs Much. Robin rescues Much with some fancy schmancy shootin'. Robin and the Merry Men finish the episode--and the season--with a power shot. There is much rejoicing.

Robin Hood—Return of the King

As part one of the two-part season finale commences, Robin and his men react to the news that the king is returning to Nottingham. Robin mopes--when the king returns, Marian will marry Guy. Guy comes to collect Marian. She doesn't seem terribly thrilled by the news. Robin enlists help in his quest to discredit Guy based on his evidence that Guy tried to assassinate the King in the Holy Land.

Robin confronts Marian about the wedding, but Marian sticks by her decision. Marian's father intervenes. He thinks the sheriff is planning to kill the king in Nottingham, and is heading out to do something about it. Marian says she has a plan of her own, involving a last outing of the Night Watchman.

Robin and the others waylay the physician who supposedly cared for Guy during his supposed illness. He admits that Guy wasn't there during that time period, and that he covered for him.

Marian breaks into Guy's place to steal his chest o' money. Guy corners her. Robin and the others intervene and aid Marian's escape, but not before Guy stabs her. Robin tells her he has the proof he needs to discredit Guy. She's all happy, then collapses. Djaq treats Marian's wound. Robin lashes out at Marian and says she should stay home and do embroidery. Gee, Robin, and you can't figure out why she doesn't want to marry you?

Later, as Djaq and Much prepare breakfast, Djaq becomes concerned that Marian hasn't awakened. She thinks there's been more internal damage than they initially thought. Djaq does what she can, including abdominal surgery and CPR. Robin goes to fetch the physician, who rats on him to the guards. He doesn't seem to be very useful. Also he leaves a trail of bandages so the guards can find him. Robin realizes what he's done and backtracks to retrieve the bandages, but it's too late. They prepare to face the sheriff and Guy at the cave. While they prepare, the physician gloats, and informs Robin that Marian is dead.

The sheriff arrives. Robin looks balefully at the camera. And we're to be continued.

Well, I have to say I'm not too happy about this development, since Marian was the only character I felt any real attachment to. So unless they're playing some kind of big double-cross, or Robin's planning to make a deal with a Crossroad Demon, all I really have to say is weh.

Best line--Guy to Robin: "I'll think of you when I take her to the marriage bed." Yeah. I can't make this stuff up. Well, actually I can, but this time I didn't have to.

Robin Hood—Peace? Off!

In a rather strangely choreographed opening scene, an apparently crazy guy sets fire to the church. Robin intervenes as the villagers are trying to drown the mysterious stranger. The man has strange tattoos on his body. Djaq claims not to know what they mean, but kind of acts like she does. Robin says he has "Crusader's Sickness," presumably some kind of PTSD. The Merry Men aren't happy about having to look after him.

Robin, et al, find a tipped-over wagon in the woods. (I couldn't decide if the anachronistic language used here when they raved about the wagon was amusing or just painful.) There's a strange mask in it that freaks out Little John and the others, though Robin doesn't seemed bothered. They think it's some sort of black magic, and that there's a sorcerer at the castle.

In the castle, the sheriff entertains a Saracen guest with chilled monkey brains. I mean goat brain. He's the owner of the wagon. I'm not sure why a Middle Eastern type would have to have such weird stuff on the menu. I went to a Middle Eastern restaurant last weekend, and it was all hummus and baba ganouj. Not a goat brain in sight. Falafel must just be too boring for this show.

In any case, Robin eventually abducts him. Turns out he's a prince, coming to offer peace to King John. The "black magic" mask is an acupuncture tool he's brought as a peace offering. And the sheriff of course has no intention of entertaining peace negotiations. Rather, he intends to collect a ransom for the prince. But when another Saracen arrives to retrieve the prince, he has no intention of paying the ransom, and instead he has his own double cross in store. And Robin's traumatized guest proves to have a darker secret than even the other veterans of the Crusades could have imagined.

A few things: Was it just me, or was Guy's attempt to distract the Saracen "rescuer" awfully flirty? Also, the ending of this episode annoyed me. Harold was tortured and made to commit atrocities during the Crusades, apparently while receiving training to become the same kind of assassin as those sent to kill the prince. If he had the same training, then he was able to take out the four of them almost single-handedly why? Because he was a man and they were women? Or was his training supposed to be even darker and more sinister and thorough? Whatever the case, it didn't work for me.

On the other hand, I did like the fact that they've addressed the darker side of the Crusades, which in most Robin Hood stories is still represented as the great and righteous Holy War, or mostly treated as an off-screen plot device. I also like that they've presented the Saracens not only as human, but have also brought into the story some aspects of the greater scientific knowledge prevalent in the Middle East at that time. Although I'm not entirely sure they would have known much about acupuncture... I could be wrong there, though.

Robin Hood—A Thing or Two About Loyalty

Guy and the sheriff attend a demonstration of black powder explosives. Lambert, its inventor, insists on certain conditions, including that the powder should never be used as a weapon. The sheriff makes a move to kill him, but Lambert escapes into the forest. It must be a dinky forest, because he runs full-tilt into Robin and his gang. The castle guard apprehends him and take him back to the castle while Robin and the others watch. The Merry Men plan to get arrested so they can get into the castle. Maybe they should rob an anthropology museum. Hey, it worked for the Winchesters on Thursday. Much volunteers and kicks a guard to get thrown into the pokey, but isn't very effective as far as doing any rescuing. The sheriff decides to make an example of him. He feeds him and makes him Earl of Bonchurch, as was promised for him when he returned from the Holy Land.

The rest of the episode plays out as a complex game, with Lambert's ledger, and the formula for Greek fire (or Saracen fire, as Djaq points out) as the prizes. Lambert is adamant that his powder never be used as a weapon, and he pays for his convictions with his life. Marian convinces Guy to take a different approach than the sheriff's, but this proves unsuccessful and leads to a rift between them just as Marian was coming to trust Guy--much to Robin's chagrin. Much seems content in his new role as Earl, but that, too, is a setup by the sheriff, as Eve, Much's serving woman, is a mole. But she finds herself drawn to Much, and also defies the sheriff. In the end, Robin and friends triumph by exploding the sheriff's supply of Greek fire, but Guy and the sheriff find themselves somewhat at odds, as do Guy and Marian. And Djaq, holding a different opinion of the black powder, defies Robin, snatching the ledger out of the fire instead of letting it burn as Robin commanded. That had better come back to bite somebody in the ass, or the last shot of this episode will prove pointless.

I found this episode somewhat less than compelling, though I suspect that's more a fault of my mood than of the show. Robin's constant breaking into and back out of the castle without effort or repercussion has strained my suspension of disbelief heartily, as well as adding an unwelcome bit of predictability to the show. In any case, the main plot was fairly interesting, developing as a layered sort of chess game amongst the main characters, and the different thematic plays on the concept of loyalty well-executed for the most part. So I won't trash this one too much, and just assume I'm cranky.

Robin Hood—The Assassin

AKA "Tattoo? What Tattoo?"

Flashback--the Crusades. The king is under attack. Robin tangles with a Saracen, whom he wounds, slicing across a tattoo on the man's arm.

In Sherwood Forest, the Present (not our present--1192), Gisborne is having a celebration at Locksley for the king's birthday. Robin decides to crash the party.

Guy announces his engagement to Marian. He's particularly hot with his leather-clad self. Robin and his pals burst in and take everybody's jewelry, including the ring Guy just gave Marian. Guy and Robin tussle, and Robin slices open Guy's sleeve, revealing the tattoo from the flashback, along with a scar matching the flashback wound. Pissed about the ring, Guy goes after Robin. Their ensuing confrontation explains our flashback--Guy was a hired assassin sent to kill King Richard. In a patriotic dudgeon, or maybe just jealous about Marian, Robin nearly slits Guy's throat, but the merry men intervene.

Djaq is apprehended. She escapes the castle jail using some chemicals she has with her. She doesn't make it far, though. The sheriff is intrigued by her "magic" and wants Djaq her be his alchemist. The old alchemist is still there--he's a skull. No Bob inside, though. Just an inkwell. Djaq stalls. The sheriff gives her two hours to mix the stuff up.

Robin ties Guy up and hangs him bound and gagged from a tree. Hm. Didn't know Robin was into that kind of thing. Robin's pretty focused on Guy's status as a traitor and killing him for his slight against the king of England. The others, however, are more focused on rescuing Djaq, which Robin refuses to do. Finally the others tie Robin up so they can head for Nottingham. Robin doesn't think any of his crew would understand the politics behind what Guy has done, because they're all too "simple." I'm having very little sympathy for Robin here. Yes, Guy is technically a traitor to the crown, but Djaq is arguably the most vulnerable of the Merry Men because of her secret girl-ness. Robin's stubborn refusal to rescue her because of his beef with Guy ingratiates him to me about as much as his comment about the Merry Men being "simple" ingratiated him to Much. Which is to say not at all.

Robin plans torture to get Guy to talk, in spite of Much's protests. In the end, though, Robin lets Guy go. Guy has a point about his beef with the king--Richard basically abandoned his country to run off to the Crusades, and the results weren't that great. Otherwise we wouldn't have a Robin Hood story in the first place. Anyway, Robin and Guy go at it hand to hand and knock the crap out of each other. Guy continues to mock Robin about his loss of Locksley Hall and Marian. Much returns with Marian just as Robin knocks Guy cold. Marian confronts Robin. I'm not convinced that Robin's high dudgeon isn't so much political as it is personal. Nobody else seems to be, either.

With Robin all wrapped up in his own agenda, Allan, Will and Little John sneak into the castle. When the sheriff returns for Djaq, she demonstrates, creating a smokescreen that allows her to escape from the lab. Will, Allan and Little John run into trouble with the guards. Djaq joins the fray and they escape through a privy. So... guys come in to rescue girl, don't hae a plan, end up in the sewage system. Sound familiar? Anyway, the boys escape but Djaq stays behind and the sheriff grabs her again. The boys conclude that they're not so good at infiltrating the castle, and they need Robin.

The boys come back to get Robin. When Robin still refuses, Will blurts out that he thinks he loves Djaq. This takes everyone by surprise. Maybe even Will. Marian suggests trading Guy for Djaq, but Robin says no. Little John clubs him unconscious.

Back at the castle, Djaq's torture is about to get underway when Marian barges in, telling the sheriff about the proposed trade. The sheriff doesn't seem all that keen on the idea of getting Guy back, but finally agrees on the trade. They're all to meet in the mine. On the way, he finally notices Djaq is a girl. Robin confronts the sheriff about Guy. The sheriff burns off Guy's tattoo with the acid, eliminating Robin's "proof." Robin, et al, do some derring-do and escape from the trap the sheriff has set in the mine.

This episode was an interesting turnaround, at least for me. My feelings toward Robin went from finding him annoying to really disliking him, while my feelings for Guy went from finding him despicable to sympathizing with him. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out through the last few episodes of the season.

Robin Hood—The Brothers a Dale

AKA "Brothers in Arms." It appears my DVR/satellite listings are showing the original BBC titles, while the show itself has the changed BBC-America titles. Which means "Turk 'Flu" was originally called "The Arrow and the Optic." And thus explains my confusion that week about the mismatched titles.

Our villain of the week is Lucky George, who buys people's things to "help" them pay their taxes. Robin ambushes him--repeatedly--to recover the items he's taken from the villagers and return them to their rightful owners. These ambushes lead the sheriff to believe there is a traitor in the castle, tipping Robin off to when and where Lucky George will be. Of course, he's right--Marian's passing information to Robin. But Gisborne's attempts to suss out the traitor lead him to believe it's his sergeant.

Back at Sherwood, Allan-a-Dale's brother Tom shows up. He's been stealing things from people claiming to be part of Robin's band. One problem with his cover--he doesn't recognize Robin. Allan asks Robin to let Tom join their group, since he does have some mad pickpocketing skillz. Robin agrees, but Tom is unable to conform to Robin's rules, and ends up annoying Robin so much that when he's abducted by the sheriff, Robin initially decides not to bother rescuing him.

In Guy of Gisborne Subplot Land, Guy takes a necklace from a village woman to pay for her marriage ceremony. And in a supremely crappy act of regifting, gives it to Marian. The following sequence of events leads Gisborne to suspect Marian as the castle informant, and in the end Marian finds herself backed into a corner where she must agree to marry Gisborne to keep herself and her family out of danger.

This was an initially light episode that took a darker turn about two-thirds through. Not that this is a bad thing--it fit with the tone the show has been building. Although earlier episodes were more light-hearted adventure, the last several have offered darker plots and more layered storytelling. This episode had some nice twists, and all the disparate storylines dovetailed nicely at the end. I was surprised by the sheriff's decision to move the hanging forward an hour, thus rendering Robin's rescue attempt moot and breaking the usual pattern where Robin is able to storm the castle and rescue everyone. The subsequent bonding between Allan and Djaq was nice, too--I wonder if that's being set up to lead somewhere romancey. And Marian's quandary is, of course, not a good one. She stated she would marry Guy when Richard returned from England--but what is she going to do when the inevitable return actually occurs?

Odd moment of the week:
The sheriff smacks Guy on the ass with an arrow. Guy's lack of response was particularly interesting. What is going on between those two? Does this explain the preponderance of leather wardrobe? Hmmm. Must ponder.

Preorder:

News: Dresden Files/Robin Hood

The Dresden Files moves to a new timeslot tonight, an hour later than previously. That's 10 pm Eastern Time, and you can do the math from there. Also, the April 15th episode, Second City, is the season finale.




Also on April 15th, BBC America will be showing a Robin Hood marathon, starting at 8 am Eastern and running through 7 pm, showing every episode they've aired straight through in order.

Robin Hood—The Tax Man Cometh

An abbess collapses outside Nottingham and asks for protection from the sheriff. Their pilgrimage has been waylaid by outlaws. Guy promises her protection, obviously thinking Robin and his cohorts are the culprits. The sheriff comes on to her. He's a skeez, seriously.

In the meantime, Robin and gang waylay a tax collector--oops, my bad--tax inspector--in the forest. Robin questions him about the code in his ledgers. The tax man states it's 1192. Cool. I think I asked about that last week, so I'm glad somebody was listening. Robin asks the tax inspector about the state secrets encoded in his books. All the taxes from the north are held in Nottingham Castle. Robin thinks maybe they should break into the vault to redistribute the money, and he thinks maybe the tax inspector can help out. As often as Robin breaks into that castle, you'd think they'd put in a Robin Hood detector or something.

At Knighton Hall, Maid Marian does Tai Chi. My suspension of disbelief crashes into the ground, catches on fire, and explodes in a giant fireball. Oh, and she wears pants the entire episode, and nobody around her seems to find this odd. It's 1192, people! The tax inspector said so!

Anyway.

Guy comes to see Marian, trying to make amends. He brings her a present, which she refuses. He tells her she needs a husband because it's not safe for her to be alone. I think Marian could take Guy, especially with him stuck in that constricting leather. Marian's dad says she could do worse than to marry Guy, and that she's forbidden to do the Night Watchman gig. There's a confrontation and he tells her she has to leave the house. Marian calls dad's bluff by saying she's going to become a nun. Guy suggests there are other ways to learn obedience. Hm. Probably involving leather and um... Okay, never mind.

Robin and co. run into a snag--the tax inspector has tricked them and locks them in the dungeon. Of course they escape, with much flashy swordfighting. In the end, it turns out the "tax inspector" and the "abbess" were in cahoots in a scheme to steal all the tax money, which the sheriff had hidden in the chapel for safekeeping. Woops.

Shallow Observation:
Either the sheriff is really short, or Guy is really tall. It looks like Guy's really tall. Hmmm. That's hot.

Preorder:

Robin Hood—Turk 'Flu

An accident in the mines kills a number of villagers. One of the villagers declares they're on strike. Hm. I don't think they had strikes in medieval England. Anachronistic terminology alert! Gisborne doesn't like that idea and, prompted by the sheriff, kills the man who suggested it. Help! We're being repressed!

In Sherwood, Robin practices for an archery competition, though he claims he's not. Guy confronts the Night Watchman on the road. She totally pwns him. I love her. Can we just make this the Maid Marian show? The Sherwood gang runs across a wagon full of slaves being brought in to take over the mine. Robin comes up with a plan to shut the mines down for good. He's going to undermine the sheriff. UnderMINE. Get it?

Guy shows up at Marian's house to ask her to the sheriff's fair. He's all mumbly and unclear like he's twelve. Aw. So cute. Well, until he gets all worked up when she says no. He's stammery, then he's affronted. He really is twelve. With stubble and leather pants.

Marian's injury from Guy's confrontation clues her dad in that she's the Night Watchman. He's not too happy about that. Guy, fortunately, is a bit too dense--or hormone-addled--to quite figure it out. Or so it seems at this juncture.

"Jack," one of the slaves, who's really a girl, joins the Sherwood gang after saving Little John's life. And dude, they must be blind cause I saw her boobs a mile away. And what is it with girls-pretending-to-be-boys calling themselves Jack? Wasn't that the name of the GPTBaB in Pitch Black?

The son of the man Gisborne killed decides to take revenge on him by killing Marian. She suggests winning the silver arrow might be a better idea, and tells Robin to be sure it happens. And of course he does. Cause this is totally the Maid Marian show.

It seems like we saw less of Robin this week, but I didn't really mind. I'm really getting into the Maid Marian/Night Watchman subplot. I was afraid they might have it be a one-shot, but they didn't, and I'm happy about that. I also like the bits they've worked in about the Saracens, and Robin's accepting them as people. Political commentary? Maybe, but not heavy-handed, and very much a logical extension of the story.

Robin Hood—Parent Hood

While being pursued by Guy of Gisborne, Robin and his cohorts find a baby in the woods. Guy attacks and one of Robin's men, Roy, is captured and taken to the castle when he takes a hit for Robin. There he's tortured for information, and finds out the truth about the baby. Guy is the baby daddy, while Annie, its mother, is a kitchen girl in the castle, who was told the baby was taken to an abbey and that Guy would marry her. Guy, of course, is a big sleazy smirky eyelinered liar of a baby daddy. And still wearing leather.

The sheriff coerces Roy--Roy must kill Robin or the sheriff will kill Guy's mother. Robin, et al, prepare to storm the castle, with Robin wearing the baby in a sort of medieval Snugli on his chest. This doesn't seem like the best idea, but the baby comes through just fine, remarkably enough.

In the meantime, Marian has tried to be the voice of reason with the sheriff, who's trying to use a recent disease outbreak in the village to keep it under quarantine and effectively starve the villagers out. Marian tries to bring food to the village and is intercepted by guards. Robin rescues her--still with baby in Snugli--and shoots a bunch of bread into the village on arrows. Dude, he's just showing off now. Fortunately he doesn't accidentally shoot any of the villagers. The sheriff's men show up and break up the party. Because of her defiance of the sheriff, Marian is punished by having her hair shorn in front of the usual crowd that shows up for such things.

Back with the Merry Men (I don't think they've actually called them Merry Men in this show) Roy attacks Robin in his sleep, but is stopped by Much and the others. He tells Robin about the sheriff's proposal, and about the baby. Robin of course determines to rescue both Roy's mother and Annie. They're intercepted by the sheriff. A surprise assist from Annie, who attacks her baby daddy with a knife, provides enough distraction for them to save the day, but not without losing Roy, who chooses to sacrifice himself for his mother.

Overall, this episode seemed a little deeper, more layered, and darker than previous episodes, which is a good thing. The storytelling felt a bit more confident--as if the writers are finding their feet and moving beyond the cliches of the Robin Hood story into something a little different. While I still don't find Robin all that likable, I was impressed that he took the time to read the Qur'an, and obviously found something of merit there, since he quoted from it. Remarkably open-minded for a Crusader. His pursuit of Marian is a bit annoying, and I'm glad she's not responding to it, because he's being kind of a jerk. When it comes to her, he seems to be rooted in their past relationship, and not able to see her as she is now. They're at odds, definitely, with Robin working outside the system and Marian trying to change things from within the system. I like this set-up better than the usual Robin/Marian interaction. Unfortunately it's not going too well for Marian, what with the whole hacking her hair off thing. Although she looks awfully good with that new 'do. If they'd really wanted to humiliate her, they should have shaved her head, but she'd probably look good bald, too. I'm disappointed in Guy so far, though. He really hasn't had much to do other than stand around and wear leather and smirk. Not that he's not really good at that, but I'd like to see more of him.

Robin Hood—Who Shot the Sheriff?

When a bailiff is shot down in cold blood, Robin is blamed for the man's death. As the killings continue, often felling innocents, the villagers turn against Robin. The Sherwood folk are certain the man was killed by a mysterious figure known as the Night Watchman. As Robin's position with the villagers becomes more and more tenuous, Robin proposes a deal with the sheriff, which proves ironic since it turns out the sheriff himself is behind the killings. But when the true identity of the Night Watchman is revealed, Robin's in for a bit of a surprise. In the meantime, Guy tries to hunt Robin down while smirking and sulking hotly.

This episode felt too on-the-nose to me, with everyone telling Robin he does what he does just because he wants to be loved, not because of any altruistic motive. Marian's attempt to draw him into a chick flick moment felt particularly forced. On the other hand, Robin seems to have a generally condescending attitude toward just about everybody, which I don't find endearing, so maybe they have a point. Guy, while shifty, broody, sulky and smirky, at least seems to have straightforward motives. He's not a nice guy, but you know exactly where he's coming from. And in the middle of it all, Much felt the need to declare his love for Robin again. Seriously, you two, just get a room.

The final reveal of the killer wasn't much of a surprise (although the identity of the Night Watchman was a tiny bit less telegraphed). Robin seemed more than a little dense to take so long to figure out the sheriff was behind the killings. And the sheriff/deputy thing? What a bad, bad, gratuitous joke. I do like that Marian is a strong figure--in fact she's coming off as much smarter and stronger than Robin. Maybe she should depose him and take over running the Sherwood Forest gang. She'd probably do a better job.

Robin Hood—Sheriff Got Your Tongue?

Things aren't going well back at Locksley, as Guy and his cronies start cutting out the tongues of the peasants in an attempt to extort information about Robin's whereabouts (which leads to a very bad joke later regarding this episode's title and also? Ew.). Guy mostly just stands around looking hot while the sheriff does the dirty work. In the meantime, Robin and Much deal with the inhabitants of Sherwood Forest, who aren't exactly friendly. After being stripped and humiliated, they escape and turn the tables on their attackers. After a brief attempt at hot badassery, Robin formulates his patented, "Rob from the rich, give to the poor," concept. The forest dwellers decide to turn him in for the reward. After an over-the-top rescue of one of the peasants (Little John's wife), Robin turns himself in and is taken off to be hanged. In prison he gets his nickname of Robin Hood, which somehow evolves from Robin Wood in one dialogue exchange. Guy makes a leather-clad move on Marian. How does he manage to wear all that leather? Did they have talcum powder back then?

Much has to try to rescue Robin on his own, but of course the Sherwood Forest crew comes through at the last minute. Marian tries to rescue Robin, too, but Much wins out and there's a big heroic rescue, during which Robin declares his love for Much. (For real. This was not my imagination. Honest.)

Overall, the show continues to be fun but not overly deep. Guy continues to skulk and wear leather, and Robin continues to prove his prowess by shooting arrows right next to people instead of, say, drilling them through the forehead, which would seem to me to be more effective under the circumstances. The Sherwood Forest crew is beginning to come together, with a bit of poignant backstory for Little John featured tonight.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough Guy action tonight, and Robin still hasn't managed to dethrone the animated Disney Robin Hood as Hottest Robin Hood ever.

Robin Hood—Will You Tolerate This

This BBC production of the ever-popular Robin Hood saga premiered on BBC America tonight. I've been a fan of the Robin Hood story for a long time, so I had to check it out.

Tonight, Robin of Locksley (Jonas Armstrong) returns home from the Crusades with his quip-filled sidekick Much (Sam Troughton, Hex). Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) has taken over Robin's estate, and things have gone awry... well, you know the story. Robin fights the good fight against the bad guys, romances Marian, robbing from the rich, giving to the poor, all that.

Unfortunately, in spite of his stylish twelfth century stubble, this Robin is a bit dull, upstaged by his quippy sidekick while Guy (that's SIR Guy to you), oozes his evil hotness all over the screen. Sorry, Robin, but the big blue puppy dog eyes really can't hold up to the evil smirk and the black leather costuming--not to mention the eyeliner. I'll be tuning in next week--but I'll probably be rooting for the wrong team.