Robin Hood 3x02 "Cause and Effect"

So we left off last time with the gang picking up a new member, Tuck, who helped Robin rediscover his mission to help the poor and fight for England. Now we have five members in the gang: Robin, Much, John, Allan, and Tuck, all of whom are fighting against Guy and the sheriff, whose relationship, both with each other and with Prince John, seems to be on shaky ground. This seems like such a sausage fest now that Djaq and Marian are gone, but I don't even want to complain about it because I know Kate's coming soon (maybe this episode?) and it will only be worse once she gets here. Who knows though...maybe she'll grow on me. It's doubtful, but maybe. I don't remember what this episode is about at all so I can't give any kind of introduction to it, so let's just start watching.



Thoughts While Watching:

• I like how the second episode of season three starts with a montage of the gang stealing stuff just like the second episode of season two did. But this time it all mainly centered around Robin instead of the gang.
• So Robin decided to use the tactic he used way back in the first episode of making it seem like there were more people than there really are. Nice. It's gotten much more advanced though with the arrows. What if one of those arrows would have accidentally hit someone though?
• That was nice. I liked the callbacks to earlier episodes.
• UGHHH IT IS KATE, DAMN IT.
• Kate's already being a dumbass in her very first scene. She should've just stayed where she was with her mom and not called attention to her brother, but if she was going to go try to move the cart, why would she stop to talk to him? Might as well just put a sign up saying someone's hiding in here.
• Guy's still a villain. Just so we're clear, he's undoing all kinds of character development from last season.
• Robin is such a condescending little prick though. Did he really just call her "young lady" in that tone? What the hell? Sexist Robin is back.
• I'm dying lmao
• Much: *appears out of the trees, sees Kate, insta-crush appears* Who's that?
• Allan: Eh, some girl we just saved.
• Kate: My name is Kate!
• Allan: 
  
• Thank God for Allan and Much, honestly. They're the only things worth watching this season. (source for gif)
• "Stories are important, stronger than truth. Heroes inspire us." I like that quote from Tuck. I agree with that. But Allan's hysterical: "Tuck always talks like that. Just nod and smile."
• Aww, Much! You deserve so much better, don't get involved with her!
• I AM DYING. 
• Much: I'm uh, Much...by the way. And don't worry, I'll make sure you're looked after. I mean, we'll make sure you're looked after.
• Kate: I can take of myself. *walks away*
• Allan: *walks up to Much with a giant smile on his face, laughing* What are you doing?
• Much: Shut up, Allan. Just shut up.
• So we find out Guy's mother was French. I actually remembered that.
• Kate just pulled a Leeroy Jenkins.
• Ugh...Allan, don't defend her Leeroying. 
• OHHH...Tuck, learn your fucking place. You're the newest member of the gang. Everyone else has been here since the beginning. You've been here for one episode. Everybody just instinctively knows that John is the leader when Robin's not around, dude.
• Allan: Hold on, Tuck. Who put you in charge?
• Tuck: Well, somebody has to lead in Robin's absence. 
• Allan: Well, I don't see why it should be you.
• Tuck: Well you think it should be you after your reckless display earlier?
• John: *only one with actual leadership skills and the only one paying attention* Where's the girl?
• Allan: Ughhhh......
• Okay, so I've gone into this theory of mine before in previous posts about how I think that all of these characters (and maybe everyone in real life too) are naturally either leaders, followers, or loners. I can already see that Tuck has a leader personality. He wants to be the leader of the gang and just use Robin as a figurehead, seeming to want to reduce Robin to a legendary figure that can serve as the face of the mission to the public to inspire hope, but he wants to call the shots himself. He even kidnapped Robin last episode to force him to make the decision he wanted him to make and now as soon as Robin's gone, he immediately tries to step in as leader even though he's the newest member of the gang. Allan, on the other hand, is much more of a loner, as I've said before. He can get along well in a group, but he has issues with following a leader and doesn't usually seem to have any desire to lead himself. When in doubt, he'll go his own way, even if it bites him in the ass. I don't think he was even suggesting that he should be the leader in Robin's absence, he probably just thought it should turn into a democracy or that they should follow John. As soon as Tuck assumes that he should be leader, Allan immediately has an issue with it, which is entirely in character for him. He's always had issues with authority, especially people that he thinks are acting high and mighty, like they're better than everyone else, not taking his feelings into account, or who haven't earned it. I think this was a major contributing factor to his betrayal last season and his issues with Robin and I can already see it starting with Tuck. For what it's worth, I side with Allan 100% here. Tuck is out of line. I never warmed up to him and I'm starting to remember all my reasons why.
• The sheriff and Guy's relationship is interesting. Guy has finally started standing up to him, but it's too little too late. The time for that was in 2x13. And the sheriff seems to be becoming increasingly unstable now that he's desperate and losing power.
• I like how Allan just kinda smiles at Much and shakes his head at him for his obvious crush on Kate.
• "Stay if you want to, Much, but don't expect us to come back and rescue you." Hey, Tuck, shut the hell up.
• Kate, oh, Kate...You really can't take care of yourself like you claimed you could. You make everything worse every time you try. I appreciate the feminist sentiment that you were going for and I can agree that Robin and Much were being a bit sexist toward you, but your uselessness isn't because you're a woman. It's just because you're useless. You've gotten your brother caught at the beginning of the episode, you've gotten yourself caught now, you just put your brother's life in immediate danger by talking back to Guy and causing a scene, and now you just put a target on Robin's back too, even though he's the best chance your brother has of survival. Stop trying to fix this.
• And Guy, I guess you never did love Marian or give a damn about the real her or her values, or you wouldn't be acting this way. 
• Brothers and fathers have a very short lifespan on this show. That scene was genuinely sad though.
• The sheriff is such an idiot. He could've killed Robin a hundred times over if he'd just actually kill him when he captures him.
• This Kate/Tuck scene is interesting. I agree that they should rescue Robin first, but not because he's "an idea" or whatever philosophical nonsense Tuck was going on about. That doesn't make his life worth more than anyone else's. I think they should rescue Robin first because, 1. He's their friend and a member of the gang (same with how rescuing Djaq was more important than Guy's treason in 1x08) and that matters more than any philosophical or political nonsense, and 2. Having Robin alive and fighting on their side is the best chance they have to save those men that were captured. So I agree with Tuck's stance, but not his reasoning. And I agree with Kate that putting Robin's life over other people's lives just because he's famous is absolute garbage. Yeah, he inspires people. Martyrs inspire people too. If his gang kept fighting and turned his image into that of a martyr, it would likely still work. His life is not inherently worth more because he's legendary. 
• One of you? You might be fighting a tyrant, but by buying a slave army, you have become a tyrant yourself.
• That mouse is cute. Or rat. I don't know what it is.
• Interesting that Robin sort of prays when he's in trouble. Fits with my theory that he still actually has faith that I brought up in 2x12. 
• This Irish dude fakes starting a fire to plan a rescue and the sheriff catches on immediately and says, "An old trick *fake cough* but a very good one." That's a throwback to when Djaq used the same trick on him in 1x08!
• Neither of these two brothers are entirely good or evil, they just both seem like they have terrible leadership skills and they're both self-centered and incompetent. 
• I don't know why Kate's mother decided to pin all the blame on Robin. It doesn't even make sense except to give the show a chance to push Tuck's bullshit about Robin being an idea.
• I'm glad Robin defended that mouse. He got so intense about it too.
• Allan's still salty and sassy about Tuck's claim that he should be leader. I love Allan and so far, I hate Tuck.
• See, if Tuck had just said, "You take orders from us." instead of "You take orders from me." I wouldn't have half as much of a problem with him.
• How did they know the chain would hold? How was it even attached?
• Is that Allan's birdcage to put the money in from last season?
• Much! You dumbass! I love you, but damn.
• Allan's face when Robin's just floating down with a makeshift parachute is amazing.
• So...what's happening? Are the men following the one brother anyway by choice? Are they outlaws now for disobeying the sheriff? I can't really follow this.
• Oh, yeah...doesn't Guy leave the show for a few episodes and then he comes back and then the sheriff leaves for a few episodes when he fakes his death?
• Okay, I guess they are addressing the village men. So they're going to hide in the forest until it's safe to return to the villages. Why don't they all join the gang? Like the gang could have a core group and then an extended circle. Kind of like how John's gang in 1x02 had John, Roy, Hanton, and Forrest in the inner circle and dozens of other men who were kind of associated with them and ready to defend them or work with them if necessary.
• Allan seems tired of Robin's speeches. He's seemed tired since 2x01 when he walked in on the "We are Robin Hood" cheesefest and he still is. And he's sick of Tuck's shit too. I relate to Allan so much.

Final Thoughts:

Ugh. Tuck and Kate are so self-righteous and obnoxious, both of them. I miss Will and Djaq. At least Kate hasn't joined the gang yet. If I remember correctly, that doesn't happen until either next episode or the one after that, but I know it's coming soon. 

Alright, so, let's talk about Tuck. I don't like him. I think his character had a lot of potential, but I just can't warm up to him. I'll see if my opinion changes as the series goes on, but as of right now, he's on all of my nerves. I'm glad they decided to include the character because Friar Tuck is such an important character in the original legends. In fact, I'm shocked they didn't put him in until season three. I also liked that they decided to go a different route with him and make him a serious character rather than the kind of goofy character he's often portrayed as, because we don't need another Much. Much is fantastic and doesn't need any competition. I also like that they cast a person of color to play the character so it's not a fully white cast since Djaq left, but I think it'd be nice if they sort of gave a backstory to go along with that and I don't remember if they do. I like some of his talk about Robin being a legend and legends being important, because I think he is right to a certain extent, but I think he goes overboard with it. 

My main issue with him is that he seems to think he's the leader of the gang despite being the newest person to join. He hasn't earned it and he doesn't deserve it more than anyone else. On the one hand, I think everyone in the gang should be equal, but on the other hand, seniority also matters. I don't think his opinions should be worth any less because he's new, but I certainly don't think they should be worth any more just because he thinks they should. Robin is undoubtedly the leader, but John has stepped up as leader in his absence for the past two seasons because he was leader of his own gang before Robin was outlawed and the two gangs sort of temporarily merged (before Forrest and Hanton left and then Roy died). Everyone naturally follows him when they can't follow Robin. John is second in line here, not Tuck. John, Much, and Allan have all been here since day one. Allan betrayed them and left for awhile, so he may have lost seniority for that, but Much has been Robin's friend for years and John has been outlawed for years and neither of them ever left the gang. They're founding members who have been here the whole time. If something were to happen and Robin couldn't be leader, it is absolutely asinine to assume that a character who joined last episode should take over as leader, even temporarily, over people who have been in the gang for years, especially when one of those people who has been in the gang for years has leadership skills and a history of being second in command. Tuck is out of line. I also don't like how he seems to be manipulating Robin to get control of the gang entirely. Robin's more than an idea, he's a person, and a person who's been leading this gang the whole time. Now, don't get me wrong, I have major issues with Robin's leadership skills. I find them extremely lacking. I think the whole gang should speak up more about his failings as a leader and I think they should've been doing this the whole time. But I don't like some new person who just joined trying to take over and turn Robin into a figurehead and bullying the rest of the gang into submission. That's bullshit. 

Anyways, Much and Allan are the best things about this season. They're absolutely adorable and I love how close the two of them have gotten. See you next time in 3x03!