We Are Robin Hood!

A new favorite T.V. show? Indubitably.

And yes, thats right, I said T.V. show. THREE FULL SEASONS of this awesomeness.



Watch a trailer here.

I loved this show. It was such a fresh new take on the old story, but it had all of the same stuff. At least until the end of the second season when the writers decided to CHANGE the original story! It made me real angry at first. I even protested and didn't watch it for a week. (Thats how long I lasted, I loved the show too much.) However, it turned out okay. If you want to know what I mean, watch the show! (It's on Netflix Instant Streaming)

Anyway, so, for the sake of those who haven't seen it and may still want to see it, I can write a little promo for it. But then after that I will have to give a spoiler warning cause I want to talk about what I thought of it, and that means giving the plot secrets away!

But first, to summarize:

"Deep in the heart of England, lives a legend, Robin Hood"

It is the same old typical tale. Robin of Locksley, played by Jonas Armstrong, returns from the Holy Land (in this version with his faithful soon- to- be freed manservant, Much, played by Sam Troughton) where he finds Nottingham to be under the rule of evil old Vasey, Sheriff of Nottingham (Keith Allen). He finds Marian, played by the lovely Lucy Griffiths, to be still unmarried, but less than thrilled at his homecoming.

And he finds his people to be overworked, poor, and miserable.

Whats new (as far as I know) is that his lands and Locksley Manor are now being run by the Sheriff's right hand man, Guy of Gisborne. Guy, played by Richard Armitage, who I had formerly seen in the movie North & South (and who I love!), is an evil, greedy, power hungry man who desires Marian to be his wife.

"Le-dee-da-dee-da", the same old stuff, throw in a couple more principle characters and a bit more epic bow and arrow stunts from Robin, and he has ended up as an outlaw, with a small gang of fellow outlaws to help him fight the sheriff, trying to put things right, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, until such time as the beloved Richard, King of England, returns and saves them all.





Its a great ride, watching from episode 1 to the series finale. Lots of surprises along the way. I found myself gasping in complete surprise several times, and even once I turned off my computer and walked away, I was so mad.

Now for the Spoiler Warning. There will be some major spoilage from here on out, so if you have not seen this show and still intend to watch it (please do!), stop reading now! If it were me reading this, I would have been so mad if I had kept going. (I am talking mainly to you Sis. I don't want you blaming me, and I really want you to keep watching the show!)

I am not going to give an entire summary (horror!) that would be too long. I am just dying to share my thoughts on a few things.

First off: My favorite characters (minus Robin Hood).



Sir Guy of Gisborne, jilted lover whose inner battle of Love vs. Power ends in guilt ridden tragedy.


Guy's story is, in my opinion, the best. Looking back, knowing his full life story, I am amazed at how far he has come. He was hit with deep tragedy so young in life, and it is clear that for many years to come, he would still be sunk in his own little lake of despair, keeping him from finding true happiness.

For some strange reason( or at least it was strange at the time), throughout the whole series, he was my favorite character. Even though he was an evil, pig-headed idiot that was trying to take Robin's girl, I still liked him. This was a first for me. I usually cant stand the bad guys.
Guy of Gisborne was constantly trying to earn the love of the Lady Marian. This above all else, showed that he was truly good at heart. The man he was on the surface was angry, bitter, power- hungry, do-all-that-he-can-to-get-what-wants-even-hurting-and-killing-innocent-peasants. But a man like that cannot love like he did. He grew to truly love Marian, and would do anything for her. He even had a moment of truth, somewhere in the second season, where he had to choose between being the Sheriff and Prince John's ally, which meant a life of riches and power over the poor, or fighting and almost surely dying with Marian. I squealed with strange delight when he chose Marian. He turned his horse right around and chose love.

However, Marian would never be his. She loved Robin, and Guy was destined to have his heart broken. And when that became a reality, the battle between his love for Marian and his desire for success and power was rekindled and the wrong, shallow side won. In a desperate act for power, he killed Marian (for good this time) and ended the battle but started a life of intense guilt and sorrow. He turned into a man whose only solace was his fight for ultimate power that had no desire behind it anymore. He became a man who lived each day in his own private Hell. (He became a man who no longer washed or cut his hair.)

He is the only reason I continued watching after Marian's death. I knew, now that she was gone, and at his own hands, that he was going to undergo an intense emotional journey. And those are my favorite! I wanted to see how he would take this new situation, how he would either move on, wallow and let the guilt and despair run his life, or rise above it. I am happy to say that it was that last course that he took. Eventually, through a series of events and revelations that I wont get into now, he allied himself with Robin and helped to save Nottingham. The best part about that was that he (to use the schoolyard metaphor) stood up to his bully, the Sheriff, and proved that he was not just some kid who could be pushed around. It annoyed me to no end whenever he let the Sheriff control him. I could tell that Guy didn't like it either, so I knew eventually he would do something and I couldn't wait for that.

Okay. I think I should be done ranting about Sir Guy now. I could say plenty more but it would just make this post way too long (not that it already isn't).

My other favorite character is Allan A Dale. I am so glad he stayed for the whole series. He wasn't originally a favorite of mine. In fact, he made me really mad several times. But his journey is almost as fascinating as Gisborne's. Although not as emotionally fascinating. He doesn't kill the love of his life after all.

But he does let greed fight with his conscience. His inner battle is Greed vs. Loyalty and Good. All he wants is money and food, and he is good at lying his way out of trouble, until he joins Robin's campaign. There are two memorable times he lets his greed make him forget his loyalty to Robin and the people of Nottingham. He finds himself in possession of quite a bit of gold and determines to leave Nottingham to start a better life with it, leaving Robin and the gang behind. He even persuades Will Scarlet to come along. Thankfully, he changes his mind, or probably Will changed it for him, and he rides back and saves Robin and the others.

Later, after being captured, Allan is bribed by Gisborne to turn spy against Robin. Did he stay loyal to his fearless leader? "A Clue: No." To my complete horror, Allan accepted, and he spent a good part of season 2 aiding Gisborne and the Sheriff in their campaign against Robin Hood. However, he regretted this and ultimately won his spot back in Robin's gang of outlaws, and staunchly became a fierce do-gooder and a very good looking one at that. :)

In the end, when his loyalty was once again questioned, and this time he was truly loyal, he died for the cause. He lived the last of his days firmly on the side of good, and proved that with his blood. I was openly furious. He was not originally my favorite, but he did end up being one of them. I didn't want to see him die.

Like Guy of Gisborne, he was also jilted at love. A few times, actually. When Djaq (pronounced jack), joins the gang after being freed from a line of Sarasin slaves destined to work in the mines, it soon becomes clear that having a girl in the gang causes a few of the outlaws to fall in love. Both Allan and Will start to fall in love, but it is Will's boyish charm that wins out, and Allan is forgotten.

Then, later, when once again a girl, Kate, joins up, he starts to feel something for her too. But this time Much, Robin's humble and faithful best friend who has no luck in love (or tact, for that matter), also falls madly in love. But Kate will have none of that, and falls for the legend himself, Robin. Allan has once again lost.

Its sad really. You'd think he could have somebody to love him. But I think that both Djaq and Kate did love him a little. Djaq believed, more than anybody else, that Allan could prove himself to be loyal, and when he didn't, I think that was when she lost interest. And Kate showed deep sorrow when Allan died. But really, who could compete with Robin Hood?

Okay. One more favorite character. I wont rant as much about him because I dont really know why he is a favorite of mine, and he was only in a couple of episodes. He is Carter, the assassin bent on killing Robin. But Robin turned Carter's emotions upside down and created another fiercely loyal friend. He had a small little emotional journey of his own. I desperately wanted him to stay on as one of Robin's gang, but he went to fight alongside King Richard instead.





Will Scarlet claimed the title of my favorite first though. I really like him. Mostly because of his eyes. :)

Sorry, girl moment.






And finally, the last character to be introduced, and who was only in the last few episodes, which is too bad, because he had potential, is...

Archer. Half brother of both Guy and Robin. 'Nuff said.






















                            Brothers in arms.




And in the end, Robin ends up with Marian. And they all live happily ever after! Well, "live" isn't the best word for that. They all pretty much die. But i'm okay with that. For once.