Two Episodes' worth of RH thoughts for the price of one! (1x04, 1x05)

[corrielle]

Though I haven't gotten around to posting my comments in the rewatch threads for the last two episodes, I do have thoughts.  Loud, occasionally-squee-filled, occasionally-angry thoughts.

So, here are my musings on "Parent Hood" and  "Turk Flu."


1x04

Four episodes into the series, and we lose our first member of Robin's gang.  I can't decide whether that was a good idea on the part of the writers because this was a good point in the series to show that the characters aren't immortal and immune to danger, or if it was just writing him off because they knew Djaq was going to show up in the next episode and managing too many characters and relationship dynamics is hard. Still, I found myself getting very sad as I watched this episode again.  I feel sad for John's sake - he has lost so much in the way of family, and for him to lose Roy, who he thought of as a son... must have been tough.  (Also, John's reaction to Roy's betrayal is exactly like his reaction to Allan both times John thinks Allan has betrayed them.  Nice bit of consistency, there.)  I'm fully on board with the idea that Robin had instructed his team to do the "name, rank, serial number" bit, and I'm impressed that Roy managed to keep it up for as long as he did. One of the things that I think makes Roy's death so poignant is that Roy is the one of them who has been changed the most obviously by Robin's "message" (at this point, at least...) He went from being a bit of a brawny thug in the second episode to really believing in Robin's cause. Enough to die for it.  And I like that... I like that the writers show that what Robin and the gang are fighting for is important. And that it changes people.

There are a ton of brilliant Allan moments here... (every time he's on screen...) From the grin on his face as the horses thunder on their way to the trap Robin has set to the exhausted look on his face when he says, "Sleep!" at the end, he's just... awesome. There are some adorable Allan and Will friendship moments here, too. The scene where Will hands Allan the baby is so sweet... right until Allan demonstrates that no one should be handing him babies ever. Allan does seem really horrified by what might have happened to the kid, though... so it's not that he doesn't care about kids... he just has no idea what to do with them. Also, Allan and Will discussing the prison door was amazing.  I love how it started out as a conversation with everyone and turns into a conversation between just the two of them.  I have a thing for people named Will to know their hinges. (Will Turner, Will Scarlett... practical knowledge is sexy.) Also, the really muted satisfaction and humor in Will's voice when he says, "Robert of York can't make a hinge to save his life" is love. 

I don't remember if I was in the fandom early enough to be around for the Allan/Annie shipping, but now that I've seen this episode again, I can see why people did it. The scene where Allan brings her the blanket is heartbreaking.  It seems that he is really angry on her behalf, and he gets to beat Guy up pretty well there at the end!  Though I'll probably ship Allan/Djaq from here to eternity, Allan/Annie has some interesting possibilities. I have no canon basis for this, but I think that a lot of Allan's sympathy for her comes from the fact that he knows what it's like to have nothing... to wait around at the edges hoping for some scrap from the upper classes and come away empty handed. (I have theories about Allan and his brother pulling cons where Allan plays the nobleman...) Anyway... I like that we get to see a side of Allan that can get angry on someone else's behalf instead of thinking about his own skin for once.

I really like Robin and Marian's scenes in this episode.  I remember why I enjoyed their dynamic so much in this first season before they admitted that they still cared for each other.  They were quick and pointed and acerbic, but there was this underlying romantic tension between them, too... The scene where Marian sews up his arm is quite good.  The clipped way that Marian says, "This needle is thick and blunt... are you prepared?" is... fantastic.  I love Lucy's delivery there.  Also, I love that Marian points out that no one has had their tongues cut out because of her.  Way to call Robin on his own bullshit, Marian!  (And also, I think it's interesting that when Marian asks Robin if the baby is his, there is no condemnation or jealousy in her voice.  She just... accepts that little Seth might be Robin's.)

Marian and the Sheriff's interactions here are really fun to watch... I can't think of another time when the Sheriff so obviously makes an issue of Marian's womanhood.  Cutting her hair, intimating that there is something wrong with her because she isn't married and that is why she is so outspoken... it's fascinating, and very smart on the Sheriff's part.  He manages to discredit her in front of a whole bunch of important people in that first council scene.  When he has her hair cut at the end, though... I think that has two purposes.  Obviously, it's meant to humiliate her, to make an example of her, but also, I think the Sheriff is already trying to keep her away from Guy.  He doesn't want her morality rubbing off on his new right-hand-man (and I would argue that Guy is pretty new to the position... more on that later.)

And speaking of Guy... we never get to see much of his reaction to the child or Annie's accusations.  All we know is that he looks uncomfortable in the scene where Annie asks him if Seth cried and that he doesn't take well to having a knife held to his throat.  I am so curious about what actually went on between him and Annie... how much of her "softer side" speech is her making Guy into the man she wishes he was and how much of it was truth... and I'm sad we'll never know.  I am completely happy to believe what seems to be a prevailing fannish theory: Guy told her Seth was going to the Abbey, but then paid someone to take Seth somewhere much less expensive.  That person pocketed the money and left the baby in the forest.  Guy is still a jerk for lying, but it's much less reprehensible than exposing the kid to the elements.  I'm really kind of annoyed by the writers for doing this to him... it's out of character even for Guy, and as many people have pointed out, noblemen had bastard children all the time. It was no big deal, and sometimes they even came in handy when there was no legitimate son. *sigh* I write it off as the writers wanting to show how very eeeeeevil Guy was and failing a bit... especially in the light of the way RA plays some of the scenes in the next few episodes.

One last note... the commentary on this episode is amazing.  I love Gordon Kennedy more and more with each cast commentary I listen to.  And RA is amazing and droll and Lucy complaining about how the baby cried every time she picked him up and really quieted down for Jonas was quite funny. I don't think I have EVER loved a cast like I love the actors on this show. They are... funny and fantastic and pick on many of the things that fans have picked on.  I have never heard any other cast do this, and I love them for it.  They have a good laugh over the fake!baby in the fight scenes and the question of where the heck the flowers on Roy's grave came from.  (My answer? Same place they got Robin's lily in the last episode... Somewhere near the "orphanage in Sherwood," there's a florist in the forest. *cue Court Jester routine*)



1x05

As I've rewatched this series with my house mates, I've become more and more convinced that the theory my beloved gaelic_bohemian had is right.  When Guy kills DeFortnoy in "Who Shot the Sheriff?" he suddenly becomes much closer to Vasey (and to power) than he ever has been before. He's still learning just how soulless the Sheriff is, and there are some very interesting moments of hesitation and surprise in this episode.  First of all, when he kills the man at the mine in the first scene, he only does it after trying to convince him to go back to work AND after the following (paraphrased) exchange:

Guy: They say they would rather die than go back in the mine.
Vasey: You're giving them a choice?

With that prompt, Guy kills the mine worker. I know... "Guy's first impulse wasn't to kill the man..." isn't much of a defense, but I still think it's worth noting that I don't think Guy would have done what he did had the Sheriff not been so obviously expecting him to do it.  Also, at the archery competition, Guy is surprised that Vasey isn't going to give the arrow to the winner.  He thought that the man he had chosen to win the competition would actually get to keep the arrow as a reward for his skill, and he seems uncomfortable with the idea of Vasey just taking it back from him.  Guy has an... odd sense of fair play, here.   

This episode is also home to one of the first really amazing Guy/Marian interactions of the season. I had... forgotten how very awkward he used to be around her. When he invites her to accompany him to the archery contest, he is SO uncomfortable, like a high school boy asking a girl to a dance for the first time. He can barely get the words out, and the way he rambles without every saying what it is he wants her to do... SO well done. However, this pseudo-high-school-boy also remembers that he has a lot of power and position that he thinks he can throw around and try to impress her, which he does at the worst possible times. Classic Guy.  And... we have the first instance of Guy giving her gifts.  I don't know what it was exactly that was in that box, but I think it was... more considerate that I would have expected of Guy that he would have thought to give her something to cover her hair.  I know Marian's not ashamed of it, but many other woman would have been, and that Guy actually thought about that and wanted to do something specifically for her and not just give her something that could have been for any woman... yeah.  I hadn't realized before how really in love with her he already was by this point.  It wasn't just that he wanted a noble wife.  I was convinced that by the time we see this episode, it was her he wanted.  Guy knows that Marian and her father are not in favor with the Sheriff.  In fact, this is the episode with the Sheriff's "leper" speech regarding women.  Guy knows that his courting her does nothing for him in terms of power or position.  But he does it anyway.  Again, "He'll be seen with Marian in public when he knows she's not on the Sheriff's good side!" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, but I'm using the special Gisborne sliding scale of morality here.  And on that, it ranks pretty high. I have... way too much baggage from later seasons right now to even talk rationally about any of the scenes where Guy hurts her when she's in disguise, so I'll just say that Guy and the NWM's first encounter is an interesting counterpart to the Guy/Marian interaction here.  

And now... for the thing that I was waiting for as we approached this episode in the schedule... Djaq. I love her.  She's quick and witty and resourceful and smart and gorgeous...  And she's just about my favorite thing in any scene that she's in.

Throughout this entire episode, there is such fire in her eyes.  I think that intensity is one of the things that makes her so compelling.  You can see her watching, observing, calculating, trying to find ways to escape... and she almost does! I love that she absolutely does not trust the outlaws at first.  And why should she?  Still... I also like that she's willing to listen to Robin's plan, that she will extend tentative trust to this Englishman she's just met because he seems different than the ones who enslaved her. Also, she's quick to help them save John after they helped to free her.  She didn't have to help them.  She was free... she could have led her countrymen off into the woods and left Robin and his gang to save John themselves.  But she doesn't.

One of the things I've always loved about Djaq is the sense of humor that Anjali infuses into so many of her lines.  The conversation that she and Much have about renouncing God is priceless beyond words, and the fact that she continues the joke with the magnifying glass at the end... AMAZING.  I always wondered why she stayed in England when all of the other men went home.  I think there were several reasons for this.  First, even though she still has friends in her homeland, her family is dead.  Being somewhere far from home might make that easier.  Second, I think she's genuinely curious about this brash, crazy group of guys who treat her with respect even if she is a Saracen. And... by the end, most of them know she's a girl, and she doesn't have to hide that fact from them. 

Speaking of that Djaq's girl-ness... in the scene where Will finds out, is that a tattoo on Anjali's left shoulder?  I've tried to pause it a million times, and it's always fuzzy.  It looks like... some sort of dragonfly to me.  She's got another one on her arm in 1x06, though it looks henna-ish.  Still... some hasty online research confirmed my suspicions that Muslims have prohibitions against any sort of body modification.  Or is that a more modern interpretation of scripture that wouldn't have been in force back in the Middle Ages?  Or an interpretation supported by one sect and not another? I swear, if they did it to make her look more "exotic," I'm going to smack my forehead at the Otherness!fail and continue to think Djaq is made of win and awesome. Because she is.

I have to hand it to Allan.  He is... really good at selling the "Turk Flu" con.  He was ready with an explanation for why he was European and not Saracen, he really played up the sickness, and he didn't complain at all about being the one to get in the cage and pretend to be a prisoner. And what did he get for his trouble?  A really strange, trippy day after he swallowed whatever it was Djaq gave him.  And he missed out on finding out she was a girl!! I had forgotten that!  As of the end of 1x06, he still doesn't know!  Poor Allan... all left out of the amazing secret that Djaq isn't just a very pretty boy.  (Not that I think Allan would have felt weird about being attracted to "him..." I've always thought he was pretty flexible in that regard.)