Robin Hood 2x03 "Childhood"

This is a really cute episode! I loved seeing how the gang has already become legendary enough that they've reached a kind of superhero status for the local children who play as their favorite outlaw. The kids were adorable and the whole episode was sweet and fun. I definitely rewatch this one a lot and I'm excited to see it again, so let's begin!

Alright, Guy fans...this pic is for you!

Thoughts While Watching:

• The episode starts out with four little boys playing Robin Hood. We know which one is supposed to be Robin himself (Daniel), but I'm wondering who each of the rest of them are supposed to be. There's six outlaws total at this point so not all of them are going to be represented. I'm not sure if their outfits are just what they normally wear or if they're supposed to be dressed up as their chosen outlaw, because one of them seems to be wearing an outfit similar to Will's and another looks like he's wearing a vest that sort of reminds me of Djaq's vest from season one.
• I love how the sheriff has achieved supervillain status for the local children.
• "You can trust me, I'm Lord of Locksley." Yeah, sure, Guy. Okay.
• This is especially interesting. These kids play as Robin Hood, Daniel even seems to be wearing a hoodie similar to Robin's, but he doesn't recognize Robin. I guess he's never seen his heroic acts in person.
• I actually believe that Guy saved these kids because he actually didn't want to kill them. I don't think it was about needing workers for the mines at all, I think he was uncomfortable with the idea of just slaughtering a group of children. Which is interesting, since he didn't care about leaving his own child to die.
• Poor Much. I don't see anyone else offering to cook or hunt for something better. Bunch of lazy freeloaders.
• I can relate to Djaq though. My husband is pretty much a strictly meat and carbs guy and trying to incorporate more vegetables into our diet is a bitch. I've teamed up with my mother-in-law to do things like disguise mashed cauliflower as mashed potatoes and he actually ate two servings but then once we told him what it was, he claimed he didn't actually like it and that he was just really hungry. Liar.
• Poor Djaq suggests salad, John says "Men eating leaves?" Little John = Ron Swanson, confirmed. Every one of them makes fun of her but it's really cute. It's a cute friendship moment between the gang. I love it. I love the way she sort of mocks Allan too after he makes his leaves are toilet paper joke.
• I don't like this. This episode is very heavy on making fun of Much. Daniel knows all the other outlaws immediately but forgets about Much? Really? The fact that he thinks of him as "the servant" doesn't actually bother me though because he likely learned from his parents that Much used to be Robin's servant because they would've remembered him from those days. But it does bother me that the rest of the gang laugh at the statement, especially since they're literally treating him like their servant.
• LOVE this moment:
• Daniel: *staring at Little John*
• John: What?
• Daniel: Nothing, it's just...I thought you'd be...taller.
• John: *offended* I'm quite tall.
• Daniel: But you know, like a giant.
• Djaq: Men tend to lie about their size.
• John and Much: *turn to look at Djaq in absolute shock that she just made a dick joke*
• They should've left Daniel back at camp where he'd be safe. No reason to bring him along. Although, I suppose if they'd done that the episode would've been rather short.
• I love the sheriff hitting his hand and then coughing dramatically. He makes everything comical. Guy seems so tired of his shit when he asks for water for him.
• Couldn't he make this armor for both the sheriff and the king of France both? They're not using it to fight each other. In fact, Philip was working with John against Richard at this time. They were allies.
• Guy is obviously bothered by the idea of killing these children. I wonder if he would've actually gone through with it if they hadn't been rescued. He doesn't kill them right away after the sheriff chastises him for not doing it already. Maybe he was trying to come up with an alternative plan? Guy certainly shows more humanity in season two than he did in season one but for me, it's too little too late for me to completely buy it. I think it's great that he didn't want to kill these kids, but I can't forget that he was willing to abandon his own. And if he really wanted to ensure that these kids would be safe, he could've just threatened them into silence and let them go in the forest. I'm not willing to give people brownie points just for not wanting to be an evil child murderer.
• I'm torn on this scene. I feel bad that even a child is making fun of Much now, but it genuinely is pretty funny and I adore the way Djaq and Allan look at each other and smile.
• Robin's "ha" when he takes the box from Guy is really cute.
• Guy says here, "You know sometimes at night I get one of your servants to rub my feet. I don't care if she has a heart or a mind." Um...is that statement really just about a foot massage? Because I kind of don't think it is. I think that was getting an admission of sexual assault under the radar for a family show.
• I love John just barging in the barn! And that kid riding Little John and beating the sheriff over the head! It's fantastic.
• Did that guy really just yell "son of a camel" when he got kicked?
• I love Will: "This is for the poor." *punches sheriff*
• They have some of the worst hiding spots when they're in the villages.
• LMAO at the sheriff whipping Guy in the face.
• I love that Djaq stops to grab the armor as she's running so she can check it out and of course she knows what it is. 
• It's kind of interesting how Djaq seems to be primarily concerned with convincing Robin not to give the rocks back but Marian's main concern seems to be protecting the boy. Obviously both are important, but the sheriff can always get more rocks and if they were given back to him, they could always steal them back again. If something happens to Daniel it can never be undone. I like that they don't fall into the trap of making all the women more "maternal" and all the men more "practical" or  "logical" (worrying about number of lives at risk rather than the fact that a child's life is in immediate danger, in quotes like that because I obviously disagree) but in my opinion, Daniel's life is the most important thing here, hands down.
• I have a feeling one of these douchebags told Mark to say that to Much as a joke. So rude.
• "Right, I don't suppose anyone around here has actually noticed, but I have to do everything you all have to do and keep this larder stocked. So if anyone else would care to run themselves ragged in the forest trying to catch some massive animal then you can be the servant!" Okay, so...this is really not funny anymore. Not at all. Much is clearly upset, he's making an excellent point, and everyone is still laughing at him. This is just straight up bullying at this point. They're a bunch of bullies.
• Marian actually came up with a really good idea but she's lucky that Guy didn't put two and two together once Allan shows him the fake one right after she shows up with a pass. But he's kind of a dumbass so...
• "If it were me, I would slap your fickle face. Both of them." The sheriff always has the best lines.
• Richard Armitage has a nice body. Marian seems to think so too.
• Marian's hair is really pretty in this scene.
• "Shouldn't you be making sure Allan is safe?" Yeah, Robin, you probably should. If you did, you would know he's a traitor. 
• So Allan knew Robin was right outside and still risked this nonsense anyway? He's damn lucky Robin wasn't creeping in the window for him too. 
• Why does Marian do this thing with wanting the child released to her instead of Robin?
• IT'S CYBERMAN GUY!
• Djaq, we realize that it's the armor, but thanks for stating the obvious anyway.
• Allan looks a little panicked like he realizes his fuckery could cost his friend his life, but it's not enough to get him to change his ways. 
• I love how Guy is so stupid that even after Robin throws the pitch on him, he still doesn't get it. The sheriff knows what's up immediately, but not Guy.
• I'm curious about Marian's motivations here. Obviously, her main concern is helping Robin and making sure the sheriff gives up the rocks. But how much of this really is about saving Guy? She said in 1x12 that she didn't want to see Guy hang for his crimes so I think that watching him get killed right in front of her is something she actually would want to prevent if she could. I think it's genuinely about both. I don't think she should care about Guy's life and I don't think he deserves her help, but nevertheless I get the sense that she actually did care about saving him, even if it wasn't her primary motivation.
• I get why the sheriff is pissed at Marian, but Guy really has no right to be mad at her. The sheriff really was about to let him die. She absolutely saved his life, regardless of her reason for doing it. He says he's grateful, but he doesn't sound very grateful. Unless he's warning Marian because he's genuinely worried about her, but it doesn't sound that way. Interesting how he refers to Robin as "Robin" instead of "Locksley" or "Hood" as he usually does. I'm not sure what to make of that.
• Why does the sheriff let that guy just leave? He put Lambert through hell, but this guy's allowed to just walk away with his life?
• Aww, those kids are so cute! Little honorary members of the gang!

Final Thoughts:

That was a cute episode, full of fun and fluffy goodness. Very little angst or overarching plot stuff, other than the Allan betrayal of course. He seemed rather comfortable around Guy this time and there was no "trigger" that led him to betray them this time either, which is an interesting development. I wonder if he was planning on telling Guy the whole thing from the beginning or if he was originally going to leave out the pitch part of the plan until he was questioned. Regardless, he's definitely spiraling downward and out of control.

I think this episode missed a huge opportunity that would've made it easily a thousand times better and I can't help but think about what could've been and feel disappointment at just how badly the show dropped the ball here. I would have loved, loved, LOVED to see a little girl in the group of kids playing outlaws who was inspired by Djaq. Think about how amazing that could have been. A little girl who maybe never realized before that girls can fight and be heroes just like boys can until she sees Djaq as part of Robin Hood's gang and gets her first strong female role model. This episode is shortly after Djaq first starts openly presenting as a woman so the timing would fit. And now she plays outlaws with her brother and his friends and dreams of growing up to fight injustice and feed the poor just like Djaq does because she sees that a woman can do that too. That would have been so much more meaningful than just a little boy who looks like a mini-Robin learning bad leadership skills from the real Robin. And we could have easily skipped like half of those making fun of Much scenes to make room for it. It wouldn't have even taken much time. Just replace one of the boys with a little girl and give her a short scene mentioning something about idolizing Djaq and mentioning how before her brother never used to let her play these kinds of games with him or how she used to only play with dolls or something and we can figure out the rest ourselves. We could've had greatness here and instead we're left with mediocrity. Big mistake not including a little girl. Massive missed opportunity. Such a waste.

Anyways, that's it for this episode. See you in the next one.