Robin Hood 1x11 "Dead Man Walking"

It's the Little John episode! I'll be honest, this isn't one I tend to rewatch all that often and it's not one of my favorites. There's nothing about it that I dislike or anything and I love that it goes into Little John's story more deeply, but it's not one of the fun episodes, you know? It's depressing. The sheriff literally throws a festival to torture peasants for entertainment, including children, John has to face the horrible consequences of all the poor decisions he's made, he has to say goodbye to the son he's barely known and will probably never get the chance to know, and he has to watch the wife he's still in love with leave with another man, all of which leave him with suicidal tendencies that don't get addressed until next season. It even has a call-back to another depressing episode with Roy's tag being brought up again, who was also like a son to John and whom he also lost. This is just a dark and depressing episode all around which is probably why I don't tend to rewatch it that often, but I do still think it's a great and important episode, so let's get into it.

Thoughts While Watching:

• Oh, God. The depressing stuff starts early. Guy's terrorizing the villagers for yet more money for some bullshit tax like the evil piece of shit he is and I just noticed for the first time that you can hear a baby crying in the background!!! 
• Apparently the tax is to raise money for the king's crusade. Is that true? I don't remember if we ever find out.
• So Luke the cooper who makes weapons for Robin's gang is hooking up with Alice and has Little Little John as an apprentice. He wants Alice to marry him. The guards find a Saracen bow and baby John was throwing a massive fit about it trying to stop them so he implicated himself too. Now they're both getting arrested. This is what happens when kids don't listen to their parents. Alice told him.
• Okay...okay, seriously...I'm sorry but HOW and WHY does Guy have so many fans? I get it in season three because he gets all hero-fied and whatnot and goes through his character development arc or whatever (I kinda still don't get it then, but it's whatever), but even in season one he had fans out the ass. I get Richard Armitage having fans, he's good looking (not my type personally, I much prefer Robin, Allan, and Will, but I get what others see in him) and a great actor, but why Guy, the character, specifically? What's the appeal? He wants to take this child to "make an example" of him. He left his own son in the woods to die. He is blatantly forcing a woman into a marriage. Just...why? I don't understand. I even understand people liking him as a villain because it's totally cool to like villains just for being great villains! I LOVE the sheriff. He's hilarious and I love him with no shame but I also fully recognize that he is one completely evil son of a bitch. But there are so many people that like Guy as a person, not as a villain and not just the actor, and come up with all kinds of excuses for his behavior even in season one and I just do NOT understand. Don't get me wrong, I like Guy too quite a lot as a fictional character with an interesting backstory who makes an interesting villain and who goes through some decent character development, but as a person? I just don't see how he's a good man. Even in season three like sure, he kind of reaches a point where he becomes a real hero and achieves redemption, but even then it's a bumpy road and if he wouldn't have died for the cause, I still wouldn't say that his redemption arc was over. He still had progress to be made there, he just died before he could finish it, but points to him for getting as far as he did because it was clear he was finally on the right path. But even then, I still cannot and will not forgive a lot of his earlier acts of evil (mainly Seth). Sorry, rant over, I just couldn't listen to that line about making an example out of this poor child and not rage over it.
• As a mother, my heart really goes out to both John and Alice in this scene. I probably wouldn't do the smart thing either. I'd get myself killed trying to get my son back.
• How many times has John knocked out Robin? Man, I really should've kept a count of this as I did this rewatch. I can think of four times so far off the top of my head but I don't know if I missed any. I kind of love John. This man has no leader. He follows Robin when he wants to and just knocks him out when he doesn't.
• An ale tax? A gambling license? The tax for the Crusades? Damn, so many taxes.
• Allan describes this woman as "my mate's wife" whose husband just died. Who was his friend? How much time do the gang members spend out on the town, with their old friends/family, making new friends? We very rarely see them in their downtime and when we do, they're always just kind of chillin together at camp.
• I love Allan in this scene! He's so cute and proud of himself, eating up that applause.
• I love the absolute shock and confusion when Will realizes John's been captured. John's acting like the gang's official father figure here, fighting off the guards to allow Will and Allan the chance to escape.
• When the sheriff says the troops can benefit from the Saracen bow, who does he mean? King Richard's troops, Prince John's, his own?
• This is interesting to me. Djaq says that she didn't know John had a family. So even though they all spend the vast majority of their time together and live together, that to me implies that at the very least, John doesn't talk much about his personal life before/outside of the gang. Do the rest of them? Or do they all kind of have their little secrets? How much do they really know about each other outside of their role in the gang?
• This is another line I find interesting that I pointed out in a previous post: 
• Robin: (referring to the tags) Without these, he's just another outlaw.
• Will: He's never been just another outlaw. Do you think the sheriff cares if he wears one of these or not?
• Allan: He's right, they'll hang him anyway.
• My thoughts: Obviously, especially after attacking all the guards, the sheriff would likely hang him no matter what (and probably would regardless because he's sadistic and he just likes hanging people). But there's one line here that I find rather telling. "He's never been just another outlaw." As I've said before, that line implies that he was already notorious long before he joined Robin Hood's gang, but the fact that Alice had no idea he was still alive implies that he's managed to lay low since being outlawed, so not necessarily notorious as an outlaw. To me, this all suggests that whatever makes him so notorious likely happened before he was outlawed and may be the reason why he was outlawed in the first place. Remember again, he's been outlawed since before Vaisey and Guy took over. Whatever he did was bad enough to be outlawed under Edward's time as sheriff. Actually, going by the math and the amount of time Robin was away, he was outlawed under both Edward's time as sheriff and Robin's time as Lord of Locksley. His son appears to be older than the amount of years Robin's been away. Whatever he did to become outlawed wasn't the result of one of these bullshit laws that leads people to desperate acts or becoming outlawed for no good reason. John actually did something. Alice will be quick to accuse him of being a murderer later in the episode and he doesn't even actually deny it, just claims he's killed to defend himself. I know they never tell us exactly what he did to become outlawed in the first place, but I'm sticking to my theory that he killed someone, maybe even more than one person. 
• Luke and Lambert were both brave guys, but I'm telling you right now, if I were in their shoes I would 100% give up the information. Luke knows Robin personally and he would have to realize that if he agreed to start making bows, Robin would step in to help him. It would stop the torture that's currently happening and it's not something that can't be undone later. Risking anything happening to baby John for the sake of proving a point to the sheriff isn't brave, it's foolish and cruel.
• How does he NOT recognize him? He JUST saw him during the fight with Prince Malik and the assassins. He even thinks he recognizes him but lets it go.
• I love Much's distractions.
• "I can hear her heart bleed from here." Some of these political statements this show makes are very obvious but I like them.
• Oh, how convenient. All these prisoners, the dungeon's so full that people are tied up outside, but John and his son end up in cells right next to each other.
• LMAO SO HARD!!! I absolutely love and adore this scene where Allan and Robin are dressed up as guards and they're "arresting" Will. Allan's supposed to be pretending to whip Will to encourage him to walk faster but he's not pretending at all. He's just actually whipping him and loving every second of this act. Will tells him it hurt, Robin tells him not to overdo it, he does it again and Will spins around ready to drop the act and knock in some teeth but Allan shoves him forward again, and hell, even one of the sadistic guards jumps in to say, "Hey, calm down!" How hard was he whipping him? I think someone might have a little BDSM fetish...Like honestly, it was totally unnecessary to use the whip at all. He just wanted to.
• Aw, the nose scratching scene is cute!
• So...um...what's happening in this Guy/Marian scene with Robin hiding outside the door? He whispers "Marian...be with me." and grabs her and pulls her close while alone in her room. Was he expecting sex? Was he really expecting something sexual to happen before the wedding?
• Aww, that cute smile on her face!
• AWW, father and son have the same catchphrase!!!
• Omg...this is so sad. Little baby John obviously idolizes the idea of his father so much.
• "I never give up on anyone" isn't actually a plan, Robin.
• Normally I hate whenever anyone's mean to Much in anyway, but Djaq was visibly distraught herself and I think Much was just adding to both her anxiety and his own which made her kinda snap.
• This scene is so awkwardly hilarious! John emerges from the shadows, Alice gasps in shock, and John just quietly retreats back into the shadows.
• Hahaha, Will! Omg...
• Will: So are you gonna leave me locked up here all night?
• Robin: Yes. (in the funniest tone possible)
• Will: You're meant to say 'no, we're here to free you,' stuff like that.
• It's kinda sweet how Luke is sticking up for John.
• John will never not remind me of Darth Vader in this scene. But hey, at least Little Little John knows the truth now. Poor kid. I feel really bad for him and just honestly everyone involved in this mess. It hits home for me for my own personal reasons too.
• I love Robin messing with Much and Djaq! They're adorable! I love the fun moments between the gang.
• This is heartbreaking. This story about what happened to his leg, oh my God...
• Here John says, "I have never killed except to defend myself." which doesn't disprove my theory at all. I still think it's very likely he killed someone in self-defense or to defend someone else but couldn't justify it well enough to avoid punishment. And honestly...I don't even know that I absolutely trust that he's telling the truth. I can't exactly see him killing someone in cold blood for no good reason, but with a reason? Even if his life or someone else's life wasn't in immediate danger? Yeah, I can. I mean, if I recall correctly, I'm pretty sure the whole gang takes out some guards in season two that weren't a direct or immediate threat on their lives. I forget the episode though. I think it's the same one where Robin tries to kill Allan, but don't quote me on this. Don't they show up in Nottingham in the outfits they stripped from the guards and doesn't someone make a comment later about how they were all dead? I'll have to wait until I get to that episode to confirm that though. Regardless, we've already seen John leave people tied up to trees robbed down to their undergarments and left to die. Did all of those people manage to escape and survive those circumstances?
• Poor John. That was so harsh...
• This is a free country? The sheriff's definition of freedom varies greatly from mine. 
• These people, these nobles and "leaders of the community" as the sheriff described them earlier, all seem extremely disgusted by the barbarity of this and there's certainly enough of them to rise up and do something about it in unison, so why does no one try anything? That is a child!
• "So you see, what I'm actually trying to do is lower taxes!" I don't know much about political parties in the U.K. where this was produced, but in the U.S., I know exactly which characters are meant to represent which modern political ideologies. Just saying...
• DAMN! John really just burst out of that. 
• Geez, Alice...just let him kill him. If I were her, I'd be killing him myself.
• Look at that fabulous, sparkly outfit the sheriff is wearing!
• I don't know why, but I've always found that scene where Guy kicks the door open amusing.
• Some of these sound effects are way too much.
• The BDSM fic writes itself...
• This last scene is ridiculously depressing and heartbreaking. I don't even know what to say. John is hugging his son for the first and last time. He only just found out he has a son a few months ago, missed out on every major milestone of him growing up, and is now likely saying goodbye for good. There's really a very small chance that he'll ever see him again, at least not for a long time, and by then he'll likely be an adult. As for Little Little John, he obviously viewed the idea of his father so highly his whole life, loved the stories about him, and placed him on a pedestal. Now he finally finds out that his father is still alive and loses him for good immediately afterward. I wonder if Luke wouldn't have made it or if he wasn't in the picture in the first place, would Alice have ever considered giving John another chance? On the one hand, objectively, he doesn't really deserve one. I love him, but he abandoned her. Granted, he didn't know she was pregnant when he left her without a word, but still. She's the one who had to take care of his son this whole time while completely alone. I know she says she forgives him and I think she means it, but that's a hard thing to forget and move past. But for everyone's sake, I do kinda wish they would've had a chance. She obviously still has feelings for him, he's still in love with her, and they both love their son. That being said, Luke does seem like a great guy. I can't blame her for her choice. I just feel bad for everyone. I feel like crying now. 
• I like the follow up with Roy's tag. The tag that once belonged to the man who was "like a son" to John that he kept to remember him by is now going to his biological son so he can remember him. It's sad, sweet, and a good way to kind of close out Roy and John's story. It's so sad that John lost both of them though.

Final Thoughts:

I don't know that I feel emotionally prepared to say something here. This episode hits home. Anything I say will be way too personal and real lifey for a review blog. It's a powerful episode and packs a strong emotional punch. I just feel really, really bad for Little Little John and I'm glad he has a father figure in the picture now who will be there for him because that's what really matters. A family is made by love, not blood. I know John truly loves his son now that he knows about him, but he really should have been there all along. I know John's circumstances were unusual and it would be very hard to find a similar situation in the real world today, but I'm predisposed to being very unforgiving toward absent fathers so even if his situation is unusual and genuinely heartbreaking in it's own right, I'm relating more to Alice here and I can't help that. Alright, I'm done with this now. I've said my peace. I'm just going to focus on the fun scene of Allan whipping Will and put myself in a good mood again.