This is a 3 season series, the first two are good and the
last sucks. It starts off with Robin, Earl of Huntingdon and Lord of Locksley,
returning from the crusade in the Hold Land (where he was in King Richard’s
private guard) with his servant Much. Once he has returned to Locksley, he
finds out that Guy of Guisbourne has taken over his lands, and a new sheriff is
bullying the people. So he becomes an outlaw, and along with his men Much,
Allan a Dale, Will Scarlett, John Little, and Djaq he robs the rich and helps
the poor. John was actually in the forest already, he ambushed their camp and
that’s how they met. Djaq is a Saracen girl who joins them a little later.
Marian is the daughter of the old sheriff, and also doubles as the
Nightwatchman, who has been helping the poor since Robin left.
Season 2 introduces the Black Knights, a group of nobles who
want to kill the king. Of course, Robin and co do everything they can to stop
them. Allan also becomes a spy for Guisbourne, which brings dissent into the
outlaw’s ranks.
Season 3 is where everything falls to shit, basically. A few
characters leave, so Tuck, Kate, and Isabella are introduced. Tuck is a warrior
monk who believes in the legend of Robin Hood a little too much, Kate is a whiny
little bitch, and Isabella is the vengeful ex. Yeah don’t expect too much.
As far as the legends go, I’m really glad that they kept
most of the bare facts like the place names (there’s even a Kirklee’s Abbey,
where Robin supposedly died) and Robin’s original title, Earl of Huntingdon. And
a few of the old legends are adapted, for example, the archery contest (as
usual). And Little John remains a sort of rival to Robin at the beginning. Much
is given a very large role, as Robin’s servant he is usually the right-hand
man. Allan is usually a minstrel, here he is just a sneaky guy. Will Scarlett
doesn’t actually wear scarlet, it’s just his last name. And the addition of
Djaq is a great touch. The later appearing Tuck is a historically accurate
monk, they didn’t have friars back then. There are a bunch of modernizations,
especially in the lingo, but I never go in expecting this to be historically
accurate. Because these people are going to screw up.
What I really like about this series is that Robin’s gang is
a small, manageable group. You don’t have swarms of men, just around six. This
allows you to get to know them all really well, and there aren’t any ridiculous
ambushes where the guards are outnumbered 10 to 1. And the characters are all
really well done (excluding S3). There is a love triangle between Djaq, Will,
and Allan and what’s great about this one is the subtly of it. The way the
three of them interact doesn’t make it obvious, but that’s the way that I
prefer it. The writing is actually pretty decent, once again, up until S3. Then
you want to shoot everyone involved.
The way I got into this series is by stumbling across the
third season on TV. (I know, I know, why am I insulting it so much then?) I had
no idea what was going on or why, but I knew it was Robin Hood and therefore
was hooked. It ended after the third season, and then a few years ago I watched
the first two. I have been rewatching the series every summer since then. And I
have also realized just how shit the last season is.
So this is a good series, for what it’s worth. I’ve been in
love with it for years. It was way too short for me.
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