Robin Hood 2x04 "The Angel of Death"

It's the quarantine episode, the one we can all kind of relate to right now. Although we definitely have an easier time of it since we're not being quarantined in close quarters with a bunch of other people who are actually sick, we still have access to food (in theory anyway...I've been waiting about a week for an Instacart order to be delivered and the last time I went to the store near me over half of the shelves were completely empty), and we have the opportunity to sit around and rewatch our favorite shows. It's definitely better to be quarantined in 21st century than the 12th! This episode is also the return of Dan and Luke Scarlett and a very heavy Will episode. Harry Lloyd does an amazing, fantastic, absolutely excellent job here and I wouldn't be surprised if it was his work in this episode that helped him land the role of Viserys later on. Fun fact: I only started watching Game of Thrones for him. It ended up being one of my favorite shows ever, but the only reason I even gave it a chance was because of Harry Lloyd. This episode is fantastic because it really gives him a chance to shine and show off his acting talents. Alright, let's dive in!

Thoughts While Watching:

• I think this is the most ridiculous that their disguises ever get. They are literally only doing this to have fun because there is just no reason to be this level of extra. Allan seems so excited about it. I wonder if it was his plan. I love the Djaq/John monster too!
• I wonder how many poor people they've wrongly attacked. 
• Will is so cute and excited!
• I wonder how old Will is actually supposed to be. If I had to guess, I would put him at somewhere in the 17-22 age range and I think he's the youngest member of the gang. The rest of them, except John, appear to be somewhere in the 24-30 age range and John seems to be in his 40's. But back then Will would've definitely been seen as a fully mature adult so I'm not sure why Dan's being so controlling.
• Why is the name Roger so funny?
• No, Dan, you really don't stand up for what you believe in. You were ready to let your kids die! I still hate you.
• They try to portray Will as a snotty, whiny teenager here but for the most part, I don't think he is. I think he's 100% right that it's his life and his decision and Dan's just being a controlling parent. The only thing Will does that screams immaturity is asking Robin to tell his dad that he's a grown man who can make his own decisions. If you're a grown man, you don't ask your friend to say that for you. You say it yourself.
• This has to be so awkward for everyone else watching this fight.
• Robin was out of line to make that comment about how Will should listen to advice, but in his defense, Will was out of line to drag him into it. I don't think he would've inserted his opinion if he hadn't been pulled in.
• I don't know why, but Robin saying his "bit of happiness" line is so cute.
• This woman doesn't realize her daughter isn't actually contagious with a fatal disease but yet she still runs up to Robin and is like "here, Robin help, hold my daughter and catch the pestilence for me." What if it was real? You would've just spread it to all of Robin's gang! Social distancing, people!
• The sheriff is taking the "business will continue as normal" approach to avoid crashing his economy. Hmm...can't say I'm surprised. (I am completely opposed to reopening everything too quickly by the way and it's one of my biggest fears right now that Trump and our governors will do something stupid like that.)
• This is the second time on the show (although the first time out of the main characters) that a kid has told their father that they need to grow a pair and stand up for themselves and it quickly gets them killed and then the kid feels guilty and starts doing stupid things as a result. It's an ongoing theme.
• "I've shut up for you once before, sheriff. It cost me my wife, my hand, and the respect of my son, so I'm not shutting up anymore." Damn, that's a powerful line and he includes 'the respect of my son' in it so it's no wonder that Will feels responsible.
• Aww...oh my God. I love how John immediately grabs Will into a bear hug to hold him back. His father figure helping him through losing his actual father. The whole gang is ready to jump into helping Will. Robin helps hold him back too once he gets there, Much tries talking him down, Allan tries pulling him back, but it's ultimately Djaq who manages to temporarily calm him down.
• Allan didn't get this level of support. Then again, Allan was a bit more sane about the whole thing so he didn't need this level of support and what he got from Djaq was enough. Interesting that Djaq is the one to help both Will and Allan stay calm whenever they lose a family member.
• This is a scene that Will/Djaq shippers always point to when providing evidence for how good these two are together. I feel the opposite and this is why. Yes, Djaq was the only one able to calm him down right here, right now. But it ultimately doesn't work. He only calms down temporarily and then later on goes batshit crazy on a vengeance mission. She didn't spend the time on him that she did with Allan, she couldn't manage to reach him like she could with Allan, she didn't know how to strike the right chord with him to actually make a difference. There's no scene here where she relates her pain over losing her father and the injustice of it to what he's going through to help him. It's all missing. She knew exactly how to reach Allan to make an impact, she opened up with him, she was willing to spend the time needed on him to help him through it. That's all missing here with Will. I believe that Will responded better to her than to the rest of them in this scene because he loves her, but when you look at how she's treating him versus how she treated Allan, there's no comparison. And like I said, her efforts here ultimately don't work, which leads us to the closet scene later on, but we'll get to that in a bit.
• I wonder how much of Allan offering to deliver the letter was because he actually wanted to betray them for the money and how much of it was to come up with an excuse to not go into Pitt street. He seemed genuinely uncomfortable about the idea and unsure of Dan's claim that it wasn't the pestilence. I think he's trying to save his own ass here just in case Dan was wrong.
• Is Allan's traitor symbol meant to be a sideways A for his name or meant to represent a bow and arrow since he's a member of Robin's gang? Or is it something else? Maybe just a random symbol? Who knows. It's really shitty here that he's immediately going to betray them right after Will's dad was murdered in front of him by the same men Allan is secretly working for. Like yeah, he's technically working for Guy and not the sheriff, but the information he gives him helps the sheriff too and he knows that. 
• I'm annoyed with Robin here when he pulls off Much's face mask. Robin does not know for sure that Dan was right. He could've been wrong or even if he was right, it could be some other kind of contagious illness causing this. I'm a little extra sensitive to this right now because of the Coronavirus and I recognize that, but there is literally nothing wrong with Much wearing a face mask to take extra precautions. He's already shown he's brave enough to join them. Robin gave them a choice and he chose to go and help, at least let him wear a mask to try to protect himself in case it is airborne. If Robin were half the leader he thinks he is he would be insisting that his gang wear masks to protect themselves just in case. But he's not. Robin's not actually that great of a leader and the fact that not only does he not insist on precautions, but that he actually prevents his gang from doing what they feel they need to do in order to stay safe is absolutely shitty.
• Robin, let the boy cry. His dad just died like ten minutes ago.
• What the hell is up with this plan? What are Much and John doing? Why is John not feeding himself? Is he actually making himself puke or just chewing it up and spewing it out? I don't understand.
• Guy is being such an ass. If you knock on a woman's bedroom door and she says not to come in, the automatic thing most people would assume is that she's changing her clothes or not properly dressed, which is actually the case here. Yeah, the main reason she didn't want him to come in was because she was changing her clothes into a maid's disguise, but she was in the middle of changing. Why does Guy think that he has the right to barge in on a naked woman? Why does he persist in trying to open the door after she tells him not to come in? It's rude.
• Joseph a.k.a medieval Hitler is acting super suspiciously right away.
• I LOVE this Much/Djaq scene:
• Much: This is a medicine chest! Every medicine known to man and some unknown.
• Djaq: *laughs with glee and kisses Much on the cheek*
• Much: Don't do that. *laughs awkwardly*
• Djaq: Why not?
• Much: I'm a man, you're a woman. I fall in love very easily.
• Djaq: Don't worry, I don't.
• Much: *gives an awkward half-laugh and doesn't seem to know what to say*
• Much and Djaq are so often paired together on missions and giving each other looks like they can read each other's minds that I actually kind of ship this. But I mainly ship it on the same level that I ship Will/Djaq which is that it's fun to sometimes read about in fanfiction but I wouldn't want them to actually be together on the show. I think that Much may have actually had a small crush on her at some point. That little awkwardness at the end there almost seems like disappointment that it didn't actually mean anything to her. I don't think he'd be willing to go for it even if he did like her that way because of Will and Allan, unless maybe if she made it absolutely clear that she liked him instead of either of them, but he just doesn't seem like the sort to do something like that to his friends, which is why I think he immediately said not to do that. Or maybe it's because he does like her and doesn't want her making him think he has a chance when he knows she doesn't really view him that way. Most of the time these two act almost like siblings, but every once in awhile I do get the sense that he might've had a small crush.
• Will knew exactly what he was doing here. He knew if he just told Luke to go down first it may have been suspicious or he might've argued back, but if he told him that he would go down first himself to make sure it's safe then the younger sibling syndrome would kick in and Luke would insist upon going first to prove he's not a baby and he can handle it. This is a cute brotherly moment that just proves how well Will knows Luke and how protective he is of him. Will doesn't care about anyone else getting out alive, only Luke. He doesn't care about Djaq either here and I think that's important to note.
• I love that cape flipping.
• The acting here isn't great, but I still get chills from watching that old man die in front of his wife.
• OMG THE HEAD TILT WHEN WILL DODGES THE ARROW! I love that scene.
• I love that Will doesn't even bother answering Marian. His intense face is so attractive.
• Will is making some serious crazy eyes. Harry Lloyd is such an amazing actor. 
• "Maybe I'll eat half an hour after you do." I love the sheriff.
• This Guy/Allan scene is really interesting because I think Guy was spot on with his comment taunting Allan for having a conscience. Allan seemed deeply bothered by what he was doing. But why? Did he suspect his plan would get Roger killed? Was it guilt over betraying them right after Dan was murdered? Maybe guilt over not being there for Will and finding an excuse to run off like a coward? Does he realize he's getting in too deep? Maybe it's guilt over working for Guy when the sheriff has just condemned an entire street of people to death? I'm not sure exactly what the reason is or if it's a combination of reasons, but no doubt about it that he's feeling guilty. But yet again, it's not enough to make him stop.
• I love that scene with Marian kicking the guard. Aw, and the way she goes down into Robin's arms! So adorable.
• Much seems to have picked up on the Nazi vibes that Joseph is giving off but he doesn't really do anything about it.
• So no one finds this Last Supper speech a little suspect? Wow...
• Marian openly confronted Joseph, which would be highly dangerous if he got back to the castle (which he does, but he doesn't tell the sheriff he saw her there), so does that mean they were planning to kill him? He definitely deserves it.
• It's John's time to shine! He knows the cure this time, not Djaq. It's realistic though, unlike the next time that John steps in where Djaq's medical skills fail her.
• "I know some things." Aw, John is so cute.
• Damn, Guy wasted no time in getting to Roger. 
• Hahahaha oh, Much! That face when he's playing dead is fantastic!
• Does the sheriff have one shoe on and one off?
• "Well, here's to your dearly departed, dead dad Dan." He always has the greatest lines. Always. Poor Will though. I feel so bad for him. His face says everything.
• Sometimes Robin really disappoints me...look at this bullshit:
• Much: What do we do if he doesn't come quietly?
• Robin: Then you make him.
• Much: But what if he won't?
• Robin: Whatever it takes, Much.
• Much: Whatever it takes?
• Robin: Whatever it takes.
• Much: We kill one of our own?!
• Everyone: *looks extremely uncomfortable and unwilling to go along with this plan*
• Robin: *nods yes* Well, let's hope we have a choice.
• A few things I want to note about the above scene:
• When Robin says that he's willing to kill Will if he has to and is encouraging everyone else to do the same, Djaq says nothing. She's obviously uncomfortable with this, but she doesn't even try to ask Robin to reconsider the plan. She will at least try to make a plea for Allan's life in a few episodes (although she half-asses that too). Just one more thing that supports Allan/Djaq over Will/Djaq.
• Allan's facial expressions here make me wonder what's going on in his head. It almost seems to me like he might be wondering if Robin's side really is the right side after all. Obviously the sheriff and Guy are the bad guys, but is Robin really a good guy? He's willing to kill Will here, he didn't even realize that Allan had been captured and tortured a few episodes ago, and he refused to help rescue Djaq last season. Sure, Allan is being disloyal, but is Robin showing any more loyalty toward them than he is? Robin's sins are starting to pile up for him and I don't think Allan is forgetting about them. I wouldn't be.
• There is no reason for Robin to give them orders to kill Will. None. If it really comes down to it and they were to find Will just about to kill the sheriff, they could always do something like shoot him in the arm to incapacitate him (if he were, for instance, holding a bow and arrow, a sword, a dagger, etc.). With the poison plan that Will actually went with, killing him wouldn't save the sheriff so even if he refused to give them the antidote, killing him would only be punishing him for his vengeful act, not saving Nottingham. Will deserves better friends and a better leader. This is bullshit. Although, I do wonder how many of them were actually willing to do "whatever it takes" if it came down to it. Obviously Robin was and none of them try to talk him out of it (except sort of Much), but they are separating here. Would the rest of them be willing to do that without Robin? Somehow I don't think so. I think Robin is probably the only one who has gone full crazy. Maybe Marian too if she felt there was no other choice. I don't think the rest of them had any intention of killing Will.
• Ah, here we are at the infamous Will shoving Djaq into a closet scene. A few things to note here. One, Djaq doesn't know Will well enough to understand what he's feeling here. She can't tell that he literally does not give a shit about the people of Pitt street anymore, she doesn't pick up on his admission (he says he hasn't touched the sheriff, which is true only because he poisoned him instead), and she's acting all happy and excited about her cure when he is absolutely raw with grief. Two, Will literally shoves her into a closet. What if some guards had found her first before he could get back? Does he even stop to think about what could've happened? What if he would've gotten killed before he had a chance to go back for her or had a chance to tell the others where she was? He clearly wasn't intending to immediately go back for her. There are so many ways that this could have gone terribly wrong and Will either doesn't stop to consider any of them or he does, but he just doesn't care. Getting vengeance was more important to him than Djaq's safety. Now, I'm not even saying that I entirely blame him for feeling that way, I'm just saying that Will/Djaq has major flaws as a ship. He deliberately put her into a massive amount of danger because he didn't care enough to value her life above his thirst for vengeance. I get that he isn't thinking clearly in this episode and I completely understand why, but it's still true. How much worse would his guilt be if something actually had happened to her?
• Robin's plan here was excellent. I wonder if some of them were actually afraid that Will had killed Djaq or something. Much's "what have you done with her?" sounded very panicked. 
• Allan is very clearly regretting his choices here when he sees Roger's body. Did he really think that Guy would just let Roger live? Did he become comfortable enough around Guy that he forgot what he's capable of? Is he thinking of Guy's promise that he wouldn't ask him to help him kill anyone and feeling stupid and naive for believing it and probably a little betrayed? Because that's exactly what just happened. Allan gave him a little bit of information (which was keeping up his end of the bargain) and Guy used that information to kill someone. Therefore, Allan just helped Guy commit murder. This arrangement isn't so innocent now is it, Allan?
• The sheriff's speech is ridiculous but I love it.
• Robin says that it's Will's call, but is it really? What would he have done if Will was like "nah" and smashed it?
• LMAO at Guy reaching to save the sheriff from diving out the window!!!
• I love how they get treated like celebrities. It's cute. But how did the rest of the gang get down there so fast?
• This Dan Scarlett light trick thing is just kind of weird and ugly, to be honest. Djaq seems really in awe of it though.

Final Thoughts:

Harry Lloyd should have a much bigger career than he does. He's absolutely fantastic. I'm glad that they finally gave him an episode centered on Will to give him a chance to really shine. Season one gave pretty much all the gang members episodes focused on them (Much had "A Thing or Two About Loyalty," John had "Dead Man Walking," Allan had "Brothers in Arms," Djaq had "Turk Flu" and  "Tattoo? What Tattoo?" although she did have to share that one with Robin/Guy) but Will didn't really get his own episode in the first season and he should have. It's a total waste to have a talent like Harry Lloyd on your show and not get the best use out of him. Better late than never I guess. He'll have two more great episodes this season but he won't really be the focus of either of them necessarily, in "Lardner's Ring" and "Walkabout," both of which give Will some great scenes and will add some fuel to the Will/Allan fire.

I wonder why they never brought Luke back again. I know he's a little young to join the gang at this point and Will would be too worried about him all the time to truly do his job, but they don't really mention him at all anymore. Will is just going to abandon him for good at the end of this season without a second thought or even a chance to say goodbye, which is just one more reason that I believe Will and Djaq were extremely out of character in that absolutely horrid two part finale. I am really not a fan of how they decided to end this season. I could give you a whole list of reasons why and I probably will make a list when we get to that point. It's atrocious. There's a reason why so many fans bailed on the show before the third season and why so many of us that stuck around still didn't care for it. It's a testament to how amazing the first two seasons (minus the S2 finale) are that this show can still be considered one of my top 3 all time favorite shows after that. It was an absolutely perfect show up until that point. What I think they should have done was keep Will and Djaq on the show and add Luke to the gang in the third or fourth season (because if they had done everything I think they should've done in the season two finale, there would have been a fourth season). But of course, what they actually did was jump the shark big time by writing Marian, Will, and Djaq all off the show at the same time and so all we get after that point is a completely subpar third season and that's it. What a waste of what was once a brilliant show. Luke would have eventually made a great gang member. Oh well. At least we'll always have fix-it fanfiction...