TV: Robin Hood - Season 2, Episodes 12 & 13

A Good Day to Die & We Are Robin Hood

Major spoilers follow.

I've always had a bit of a mixed reaction to the BBC's Dominic Minghella-headed version of Robin Hood: it's frequently too chatty, too light on action, with too many modern touches (there's nothing wrong with modernising the style of drama, but medieval casinos and other such blatant references? No no no.) The second season has, all told, been an improvement on the first, with the apparent realisation that they're making light entertainment, action-adventure drama -- the best bit of this being the dropping of the painfully blunt allegories to the modern War On Terror.

The season finale is something of a mixed bag, however. The first half sees Robin Hood and co trapped in a barn throughout. It's a neat little siege conceit that allows for some character interaction and development, but at times it feels like they've been shoved out of the way so that the Sheriff's lot can get on with setting up the plot for the season finale. The attempts at trying to hide the fact they're all off to the Holy Land are rather ruined by it being all over last week's trailer. The fight when the gang finally escape the barn is welcome, but after the particularly good one in episode 11 it's slightly disappointing.

Things almost pick up in the second half -- the Holy Land may be well realised visually, but nothing seems to happen there particularly quickly. Once again the show slowly putting things into place and then only gradually pays them off, and not always thoroughly. The Sheriff and Guy stand around vaguelly putting into play a simple plot that takes too long to occur. Our gang trek to see King Richard with very little incident, and once there are quickly strung up... to stand around for a bit... before being predictably rescued (what took him so long?!) The final battle is neatly set up but too quickly over and lacking in impact. The Sheriff and Guy are barely in it, simply disappearing with an "I'll get you next time!", and Marian's death, while surprising, is too drawn out and implausible (would she be so lucid? For so long? And able to pull the sword out herself?) The levels of emotion caused in the other characters are far too low also.

At the end of the day, the highlight for me was the Heroes-spoofing, "Save the King, save England." Nice.

What this episode really leaves me with are myriad questions about the already-confirmed third season. With Marian dead, and Will and Djaq staying in the Holy Land, the very dynamic of the show will be greatly altered. Presumably there'll be three new gang members to replace them (one obvious one being Friar Tuck), but is Robin Hood really Robin Hood without Will Scarlett or, especially, Marian?

And, more importantly, if the King knows all about the Black Knights, the plot, that the Sheriff of Nottingham is in charge of it, and so forth... why is he sending back just four men and not a whole brigade to sort things out? Or even actually heading back himself?! With these questions unanswered, the season rather limps to its credit scroll, over a shot of a depleted and down-trodden gang walking off into the sunset. I'm rather worried that this series is headed for a slow, painful, lacklustre end, dragged out over 13 more episodes. Or 15 if you choose to count these.