Robin Hood 2x01 "Sisterhood"

Welcome to season 2 of Robin Hood! The rewatch of the first season was fantastic and now it's time to get started on the next one. I really love this season and it has so many fun episodes in it that I'm really looking forward to watching again. We begin with "Sisterhood" or "The one with the sheriff's creepy dominatrix sister who has a snake fetish and seems a little too close to her brother." This is an extremely important episode though because it also marks the beginning of Allan's traitor storyline which will continue throughout the rest of the season and in some ways will continue to affect his character all the way through the rest of the show. It's a great episode, so let's get started!

Thoughts While Watching:

• I've never been to England before and I kind of didn't realize just how huge this forest really is and I wonder how much of it they actually regularly go through.
• Let's talk for a minute about the timeline. It's not really relevant to this specific episode all that much, but it's relevant to the show as a whole. They don't tell us exactly how much time has passed between seasons 1 and 2, but my personal theory is that a winter passed. We never see any wintery scenes in the show, but we know an entire year must have passed between 1x08 and 2x06 (I think it's that episode anyway, I'm not 100% sure) because they both take place on King Richard's birthday (which actually brings up a whole mess of it's own problems when it comes to being historically accurate, because King Richard leaves the Holy Land in December 1192 while the show started in April 1192, but we'll get to those issues later). The gang has obviously had enough time to build this magnificent camp we're going to see here in a minute, they've bought new clothes, and some of them have grown out their hair. So it's my personal theory that a few months have gone by since we last saw them. The only thing that sort of challenges this theory is why would Guy wait so long to burn down Marian's house? But maybe he took some time apart from her to "cool off" and ended up just stewing in his own anger instead and this is the result? Or maybe the sheriff didn't care about what they were doing until the Black Knights were going to come? I don't know. Alright, now that we've got that kind of pre-season stuff covered, let's move along.
• The gang seems to absolutely love setting up these elaborate scenes with crazy traps and ridiculous disguises this season. It's so over the top but still so fun. We didn't really get much of this nonsense in season one and, if I recall correctly, we won't get much of it in season three either. I love it though.
• So how bored were they since the S1 finale? Who came up with this little speech? It's cocky as all hell, so I'm guessing it was Robin's idea. How long did they have to practice it before they all got their lines and cues right? These are the things I think about...
• Allan, Will, and Djaq all had a major glow up. Allan's hair gel has gone missing since the last time we saw him, Will just got sexier in a way that I can't really explain, and Djaq is openly presenting as a woman now! And damn, she's hot. But we gotta talk about this outer-bra thing she's wearing, because...what?!
• MUCH IS WEARING ROBIN'S VEST FROM SEASON ONE. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT.
• This woman is a straight up dominatrix.
• OMG Allan's face when that guy is doing his weird kung fu shit or whatever the hell that was.
• "Time to disappear! My gang, this way!" I love it. It gives me the warm and fuzzies.
• LOVE Djaq here. The guy grabs her from behind and yells, "I've got the girl!" Once Robin gives the signal to run, she headbutts him and knocks him back, and corrects him by saying "A woman, you'll find." before she runs off with her boys. I absolutely love everything about her. I'm coming back to this point later, because I think it's necessary to discuss these changes with Djaq more in depth, but I'll probably do it in the final thoughts section of either this episode or the next one.
• This is the first time we see the new permanent camp, an incredible Will Scarlett original. Much and Robin both make comments that imply this is the first time they've ever had to run to the camp and use the fact that it's disguised to make their getaway, so it has to be a fairly recent addition to their life in the forest. 
• Whose idea was it to bring Edward and Marian to the castle? The sheriff's or Guy's?
• Have we literally ever seen this insignia before in season one? I don't think so. When did Robin see it and why did Allan not know about it?
• The sheriff and his sister are both so fucking weird together. This is so strangely incestuous and yet they're also acting like children.
• Aww, Robin and Marian are so cute together. Robin's adorable when he's all flirty.
• Guy is so disgusting and awful, but Lucy Griffiths does an amazing job in this scene.
• Poor Allan is clearly bored with being cooped up at camp, practicing ridiculous speeches all day, and just wants to have a little fun. Being quarantined right now myself, I get it. I can relate. Robin and Much are both getting a little testy with him already.
• "Ah, the sanctimonious old fart...and her father." The sheriff really does get the best lines in the show, doesn't he?
• The sound effect for that tooth is just too much.
• I agree with Allan here. He's right. They should get something. I'm not saying get rich off of what they steal, but they should get something. They are risking their lives and prior to Will's little house in the forest they were living in really bad conditions all for the sake of helping others. If they want to go buy or do something for themselves once in awhile they should be able to. I also think a lot of Allan's issues here come from the lack of feeling any sense of security. Robin and Much don't get it because they have lands and titles waiting for them when this is all over (in theory, we know that's never gonna happen, but they believe it at this point) but the rest of the gang doesn't. Why shouldn't they have a little nest egg saved up for when that day comes? I don't think he was planning to run away with the goods in the season one finale just out of greed, it was at least partially out of fear of the uncertainty of the future. If Robin was half the leader he thinks he is, he would be more in tune to his gang's fears, insecurities, weaknesses, and needs and he would know this and be able to address this issue. Again, I must stress, I am not saying that they should be getting rich off of this, just that they should be allowed to live a little and have an emergency fund. If I were Allan, or any of them really, I would find it demoralizing too to not have anything at all.
• Oh, Allan...I was just saying how much I can relate to you and understand your point and then you gotta go be mean to poor Much. 
• And there Robin is, being friend of the year, laughing at Allan making fun of Much instead of ever standing up for him.
• What does jigger mean, Allan? It means fuck off. Much is right, you know what it means. This is a family show though so we can't drop F bombs here.
• Was that woman hanging seductively out the window on the second floor a prostitute?
• Allan's adorable as a tavern trickster.
• Why does Guy arrest him? For gambling without a license? Does he recognize him immediately? He's much better at recognizing gang members than the sheriff is...at least in this episode. In the next episode when he doesn't recognize Djaq, of all people, it's absolutely pathetic.
• I've discussed this before in the review for "Brothers in Arms" but I think it's really significant that Allan chooses to go by the fake name Tom here. He said he was afraid of his brother living on inside him and he was right. He chooses to use Tom's identity here and in a way he sort of does "become" him, just like Djaq did with her brother, because he starts spiraling on the same downward path immediately afterward.
• I'm serious, how is Allan a more recognizable member of the gang than Djaq? This is a serious question and I want answers. Also, where's Allan's tag? Wouldn't that settle the issue?
• Were these kids acting the whole time or were they actually afraid? I know they're knowingly working for the sheriff, but I think he would've actually cut their hands off if he had to in order to sell this little ruse.
• This disguise is way more impressive than yours are, Robin. Take notes.
• I love this sparkly outfit of the sheriff's. He wore it in one episode last season too. He's so fabulous.
• I love the introduction speech he gives Robin. "From high lord to low criminal, from noble to nothing, from rank to skank, from hero to zero." *snaps fingers, curtain drops*
• Omg then he kisses his ring and raises his fist. The sheriff is amazing. Keith Allen is amazing. I love this.
• Are we in a James Bond movie now?
• Aww, poor Allan is getting tortured. He's hot as hell with his shirt off though.
• Poor Robin is getting tortured too now by Guy but he's unfortunately still fully dressed.
• The sheriff's sister played a high class escort in Secret Diary of a Call Girl. It's not relevant at all here, but I just remembered.
• Marian's breasts are so obvious.
• Oh, we are definitely in a James Bond movie. This is so over the top, I love it. Jonas Armstrong looks hot when he's all sweaty like that. I don't care if that's gross.
• Why would Marian just believe the sheriff when he says that? Just give up on rescuing him because the sheriff claims he's dead when she hasn't seen any proof?
• Omg, this woman and her whip!
• "Not single-handed. There's five or six of us." I love that.
• The snakes aren't so cool now, are they? You absolute freak...
• The big reveal: Prince John has made the sheriff a promise. He now has the best plot armor ever! If he dies an unnatural death, Nottingham and all its people are toast. I have questions. One, obviously they are telling the truth about this and we see evidence of it later on, but why does Robin just accept it as the truth now? That would be a really clever thing to lie about to keep Robin from killing him. I would've assumed it was a lie. I would've shot him and caused everyone in the whole shire to die because I wouldn't have bought it. It reeks of being a lie despite being the truth. I just don't know why Robin accepted it so quickly without evidence. And two, how long has this arrangement been in place? Was it already in effect in season one and he just never told Robin? Or is this something more recent?
• Davina is the only person that the sheriff is ever shown to actually care about. I believe him when he says he loves her and I think she may be the only person on earth that he does love. I wish they would've brought her up again. It's interesting too that, despite all his misogynistic comments about women being lepers, the only person on earth he loves is a woman.
• What is Robin's plan for Edward? He keeps nagging Marian to join the gang, but what would he do about Edward? Is this one of those famous half-plans he's so fond of?
• "See you on the dark side." This show is so extra.
• Where did Djaq get pepper?
• Omg this whole thing is so cheesy.
• Allan is still being tortured in the dungeon. Poor baby.
• Here comes the terms of the arrangement:
• Guy: Hood was here. Did you know? Didn't try and rescue you. (Remember when I said in the review for "Tattoo? What Tattoo?" that if I were Allan and I was in the dungeon waiting around all day without a rescue and then heard this, even if I realized later on that it wasn't true, it would stir up some latent resentment toward Robin? I think it does. At some point during these likely hours of torture, I would've been thinking about how Robin refused to even try to rescue Djaq and wondering if something he deemed more important had come up that he worried about instead.)
• Guy: So I was thinking...one chance to live.
• Allan: I'm not helping you kill Robin. I'm not helping you kill anyone. (I think that here Allan is thinking back to what happened with Roy in 1x04 which probably also brings up some major fears of his since we all know how that turned out.)
• Guy: Yeah, I respect you for that. (For some reason, I actually believe Guy when he says this.)
• Guy then says he wants, "an exchange...a little information, a little money, a conversation." Allan asks what kind of conversation and Guy says, "If I need extra guards on a building, you'll let me know. If I need to reroute a convoy, that sort of conversation." Money in exchange for tips and hints about the gang's plans.
• Guy: I am not robbed, Robin is not killed, you'd be doing us both a service. (This is some serious manipulation here. There's nothing in the terms above that says he wouldn't kill Robin, just that he wouldn't ask Allan to kill Robin, so in what way is this a service to Robin?)
• Guy: You and I, we're the ones who make our supposed betters look good and they take us for granted. (Damn...these are seriously some impressive manipulation tactics here on Guy's part. He knows just what to say to reach Allan and it's about to get even better.)
• Guy: But what happens when they move on? Then it's our turn. You wanna help the poor? Help yourself first. Make provision for the future. (Was he eavesdropping on them earlier or something? How does he know all the right buttons to push? It's incredible.)
• Guy: You will never be named, you will never be implicated. This is just between you and me. You be my eyes and my ears and then when all this is over you will have money and position and you can help the poor until your heart's content. 
• And that's the final straw. He presents it as a risk-free venture, no harming the gang, no getting anyone killed, no losing your friends, just a little bit of information here and there and financial security is yours. Allan's a betting man even when he shouldn't be. He's just been left in a dungeon to be tortured for hours without anyone coming to rescue him. His leader has a wealthy and powerful future ahead of him (or so they think) while he has nothing and nobody seems to care about that but him. Allan's sold. It's done. Guy knew all the right buttons to press. It's amazing really. I don't think I've ever been more impressed with Guy. I really want to know if he was eavesdropping.
• There's two things I want to point out about this arrangement:
• One, how does Guy know that Allan won't just escape and never come back to him for information? Roy obviously told Robin about how they had his mother. How can he be so sure that Allan won't just agree to escape and then go back on the deal? How does he manage to know Allan so well that he knew exactly what to say and knew that what he said worked?
• Two, why did Allan keep up the arrangement? Why didn't he just agree to it so he could escape and then tell the gang what happened? Is he afraid of what would happen if he gets caught again by Guy? Does he think being an ally of Guy will offer him some protection if the gang ever does find themselves in a sticky situation that they can't get out of? Is it literally just about financial security? Because Allan could have easily agreed to Guy's terms, got back to the camp, told Robin what happened, and then never returned to Guy with any information. It could have been so easy for him to stay alive and stay loyal at the same time. So what were all his reasons for not doing so?
• I actually really like Robin's "We are Robin Hood" speech but it gets too cheesy when they decide to turn it into a toast.
• Oh, here's my ship! Nobody else seems to care about why Allan is all beat up nor do they notice anything suspicious about his story, but Djaq cares and realizes that something is up and that he's lying immediately. She can see right through him. But seriously, why does no one else seem to give a shit about the fact that he's visibly injured? Djaq's the only one shown to care. I feel bad for Allan here.  
• If Allan already has money, has he already told Guy something? I wouldn't count this one against him regardless because if he had to give Guy information to get out of the dungeon and prove he was willing to go along with the deal, then it's what he needed to do, but I do wonder what information he's already spilled.

Final Thoughts:

This was the cheesiest possible start to the season, but it was super fun! This episode is a pretty good example of what we can expect from the rest of season 2 and why this season has such a different feel to it than the ones before and after it. All the main season 2 staples are here: Allan being shady and regretting his life choices, the Black Knights and this whole obsession with loyalty to or betraying King Richard, ridiculous disguises, Bond style death traps, overdramatic speeches, crazy contraptions, and the cast being at their most attractive that they will ever be. This is what we have to look forward to for the rest of the season and it is absolutely amazing!

Now for my thoughts on Djaq that I mentioned I would be addressing above. Fair warning, this is gonna be long so if you don't really care about Djaq that much, just move along now. For what it's worth, I realize that I am absolutely hyper-aware of all things Djaq and probably focus on her way too much in proportion to the rest of the cast, but I literally do not care at all. She's my favorite and this is my blog so I will over-analyze and obsess over every minor detail and there's nothing anyone can do about it except choose not to read it. I've actually already said a lot of the things that I'm about to say here years ago in a Tumblr post so I just went back and looked at my own little Djaq essay/fandom rant to refresh my memory on my main talking points that I'm going to paraphrase and add onto here.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and can come up with their own interpretations or headcanons for the characters because they're fictional and that's part of the fun with being involved in fandoms so I'm not here to tell anyone else what to think, just to share my own thoughts. But I've seen a few opinions (most of these are opinions that were floating around years ago, not really recent stuff) about Djaq and her gender non-conformity that I completely disagree with. One is that becoming more feminine in season two "ruined her character" (yeah, people actually said that) and that she's somehow weaker or less badass in season two and that this somehow has something to do with the way she presents herself? They were mostly disappointed that the show turned Djaq into yet another "girly girl," which I disagree with because I don't think Djaq's a "girly girl" in season two at all, nor do I think it "ruins" her even if she was. And the second opinion is that she's agender/genderqueer/non-binary/a trans man. I completely 100% intensely disagree with both of these opinions and I want to give my interpretation of Djaq instead (which, by the way, Anjali Jay seems to agree with based on one of her season two interviews, which I'll be quoting here).

Basically, the way I view Djaq is that she is a tomboy that's not as concerned with being ultra-feminine and probably grew up liking a mixture of stereotypical "boy's" stuff and "girl's" stuff and was probably not content with the roles and limitations forced on women in her culture/time period, but (and this is important) I believe that the main reason why she actually adopted the identity and gender presentation of a male was out of necessity, not because she actually wants to be a man or thinks she is a man. Furthermore, I think it's extremely important to note that it's not only her appearance which has sort of softened over time, but also her voice and her personality, so I'm going to be discussing the evolution of her entire character here, not just her clothing or physical appearance because I think they're all inter-connected. 

We don't get nearly enough information about her life before she joins the gang, but let's look at what we do know. We know that she lived right in the middle of where the war is taking place and that her father and brother both died in the Crusades. We also know that after her brother died she took on his name. I think prior to this point it is very likely that she was still openly presenting as female. So then the question becomes, why did she do this? She says she "became" her brother, but she never says exactly why she did it. Was it to get vengeance on the Crusaders for killing her family? Was it to carry on her brother's legacy? Was it because she had no one left (or close to no one, there's still Bassam after all) to protect her so she felt that she had to do whatever was necessary to protect herself? I think it's a combination of all of the above.

At that point, her family's dead and she's now a woman living alone in the middle of a war zone. What are her options, really? What path is left for her? To have a marriage arranged so that she has somewhere to go and someone to live with to protect her? Given her personality, would she really want that? She probably just lost everything and everyone who mattered to her and her life is going to continue to be in danger everyday no matter what she chooses to do (even if she did choose to get married and live as a woman she would still be in danger). She's probably thirsting for some vengeance for what happened, as I know I would be in her situation. Would she want to just let life continue to happen to her or become an active participant in her own life? Given that she lives in the war zone, she's not really safe even if she stayed out of the actual fighting because the war is already at her doorstep. I've done enough research into the Crusades that I can guarantee you, civilians were not safe. And as long as she's single, with no family, and still presenting as female, she's a target for everyone, not just Crusaders. She would likely be seen as an easy target to rob, rape, capture, or kill. 

If she wants to join in the fighting, she can't do so openly as a woman. If she wants to be able to use the medical skills she learned from her father, she can't do so openly as a woman. She has to pretend to be a man to do either of those things. And I think she probably would want to do join in the fighting and utilize her medical skills rather than getting married or being alone and trying to just hide out somewhere. So basically, I don't think she wanted to be a man, I think she just wanted to do things that only men were allowed to do. If the society she lived in would have let her openly do those things as a woman and if she honestly believed she would be safe as a woman in those circumstances, I don't think she would have even bothered with the act. I think choosing to present as male was strictly about safety and being allowed to do the things that only men were allowed to do.

I believe that when she first joined the gang she felt like she had to both look and act masculine to be taken seriously. When we first see her she is a completely throwing herself into this act of pretending she's a man. She's not only dressed like a man, but she's going out of her way to act super tough all the time too. Think of how she spits at the sheriff, makes fun of Allan for being scared, and adopts sort of a gruff voice and way of speaking in her first couple episodes. She's trying so hard that she's almost acting like a caricature of a man. I think she realizes that she lives in a world where women aren't taken seriously and so she's rejecting any hint of femininity in an attempt to be viewed as an equal. She seems a little paranoid in season one that the gang won't treat her or ever truly view her as an equal because she's a woman. Think of how she immediately makes it clear that she won't be the one to stay back and cook for them (I'm still not convinced that she's actually a "rubbish cooker" and I think it's more likely that was about not wanting to be relegated to a typical woman's role), the way she automatically assumes that Robin didn't want to rescue her because she was a woman, and the way she accuses Robin of not listening to her in "Peace? Off!" because she was a woman. She recognized immediately that they weren't taking the assassins seriously because they were women and while I think she's come to love these guys as family, she absolutely sees all of their sexism for what it is. I think she is acutely aware of it and picks up on it every time, whether its directed at her or other women.

By the time season 2 starts, all the major players already know that she's a woman. The gang all found out on day one, the sheriff and Marian both found out in "Tattoo? What Tattoo?" and Guy likely found out that same day because the sheriff would've told him, and most of the random characters they meet along the way find out because the gang refers to her with she/her pronouns and call her a girl or woman. This means that she no longer has any real reason to hide the fact that she's a woman for safety reasons anymore because the people that are the biggest risk to her safety already discovered the truth. 

She's also been a part of this gang now for about a year or close to it which means she's had the opportunity to grow much closer to the other gang members and really cement her place in the gang. She knows now that they really do take her seriously and view her as an equal, not just as "the woman of the gang" (although I think if she would've acted and looked like a woman from the beginning this would not have been the case, so keeping up the act for awhile really was necessary for them to get to this point, in my opinion). She knows now that she's closer friends with them that when they look at her they're really seeing her, as an individual with all of her skills and abilities, rather than simply viewing her as a woman. Therefore, it makes sense that now that she knows they take her seriously that she would also feel more comfortable around them and more willing to be herself around them rather than pretending to be something that she's not.

I want to take this opportunity to provide some quotes from Anjali Jay herself about Djaq's character changes in season two: (interview can be found here and the only changes I made were where I cleaned up her stumbling over words a bit)

• "She is far more at ease with the gang, she's now their mate. And she's also therefore unequivocally and unapologetically female. She's bonded with them."
• "I think one of Djaq's fears actually, yes, is that she's afraid of being vulnerable. She tends to put up walls between herself and other people without intending to quite often because her mind is quite sharp and its quite abstract, she doesn't get caught in with feelings. But the flipside of it is that she tries not to get too emotional about things and keeps her distance."

I think everything she says fits with how I view the character. I think Djaq felt she had to pretend to be someone that she wasn't and put up an act in order to protect herself, to do the things she wanted to do and live her life the way she wanted to, and in order to be taken seriously by men. I think this was the case from the time she lost her family up until and partially through season one. I think she did "put up walls" around herself out of a fear of being vulnerable and that throughout season one we saw her slowly start to tear them down (though I don't think she ever does completely) as she grew more comfortable with the gang. As I've mentioned in the posts for various episodes in season one, we slowly start to see her softening her voice and sounding more feminine, dropping the tough guy act, and opening up emotionally a little bit (at least when Allan's brother died) as the season goes on. By season two though, in Anjali Jay's own words, she is far more at ease with the gang and therefore that allows her to feel comfortable enough to be herself and to own the fact that she's a woman with pride.

As for the people who think this "ruins her character," I really cannot understand why anyone would think that. Why should she only be viewed as a strong female character when she looks and acts like a man, when she's uncomfortable in her own skin, and when she's pretending to be something she's not? As soon as she realizes that it's okay to be herself and that she can still kick ass, save the day, and have a group of friends that love her for her all while being a woman, these people view it as "ruining her character" somehow? That's ridiculous. Why can't a woman openly be a woman and proud of it? Why is she only a good character if she acts like a man? It's ridiculous. And as for the claim that she turned into "just another girly girl," that's absolutely ridiculous too. The woman is still wearing pants, living in the forest, spends her time fighting with either a sword or a bow and arrow, and has only grown her hair out a couple of inches (Much and John both have longer hair than her). How is she a girly girl? I'm not saying it would be a bad thing if she was, but it's not even an accurate thing to say. It's not like they had her take up embroidery, wear dresses, and volunteer as the cook for the gang or something, geez. They literally just let her wear clothing that doesn't hide the fact that she's a woman while still not actually being "women's clothing" for that time period and let her hair grow out like two inches. What's the big deal?

In conclusion, that's why I think it's a great thing that she's openly presenting as a woman now and corrected that man to proudly announce that she's a woman. It's evidence that she finally feels comfortable enough to be herself and I think that's amazing. She's obviously been through hell and she deserves to able to know that she can still be herself while maintaining the same level of respect from her friends. I was so proud of her in that opening scene. And that's why I think the people who have those other two opinions are wrong. Djaq is absolutely a woman, she's proud of it, and none of that ruins her character.

Alright, folks. The essay's over. See you next episode!