Robin Hood 3x03 "Lost in Translation"

So I took a bit of a break from my rewatch for the past two weeks to write fanfiction for the show instead. There was the My Gang To Me event on tumblr for the Robin Hood fandom and I finished up a one-shot I'd been working on to publish it on the day of the event and then since then I've had a plot bunny that's been nipping at me for awhile that I decided to finally bring to light. I haven't published it yet because I'm the type of person who likes to actually write multi-chapter fics in their entirety before publishing any of it so that I know exactly where I'm going with it and know I won't leave it unfinished. I've managed to write 21 chapters (they're mostly short chapters though) and I'm on 22 now and I've managed to write myself into a corner, so now I'm taking a break from that and giving my mind some time to recharge and brainstorm some ideas to get out of it and I figured I'd come back to the rewatch. I actually remember a bit of this episode and I'm kind of excited to watch it, so let's begin!

Thoughts While Watching:

• This is such a creepy opening to the episode. I love it, it feels like a horror movie.
• It's interesting to hear how terrified the sheriff is of Prince John and how he says he's been trying to please him this whole time. I'm not giving the sheriff a pass for anything he has ever done because he makes it very clear that most of it comes from his sadism, but I wonder how much of it was also out of fear.
• LMAO this is so overdramatic! This poor guy really didn't do a great job with the acting here. Either that or they directed him to totally overplay it and cheese it up.
• Much is so adorable. It's interesting how he knows quotes from the Bible but doesn't know that that's where they're from.
• Poor John. He's obviously terrified of the idea of his soul being damned to hell and genuinely believes that the abbot has the power to do that. I like when the show gives us these tidbits on how the characters view their religious beliefs. I'm wondering now how this episode might've been different if Djaq had still been here.
• Tuck is John 2.0. Any order from Robin he doesn't agree with, he ignores. At least he's usually less violent about it.
• UGH...this scene. This privy scene. I hate this. I hate this kind of humor and it's so common in British television. Thank God it's usually absent from Robin Hood. Doctor Who and Merlin were full of it and it made me kind of hate those shows. 
• I love Allan: "I don't trust that monk." Yeah...me either, Allan. I know he's actually a good guy and all and he's legit, but he's shady about everything all the time. I like that Allan holds onto his suspicions after the stunt Tuck pulled two episodes ago.
• It's interesting that Allan perceives the church declaring that they're heretics as "mumbo jumbo" which is in stark contrast to John's panic over it. Also interesting that way back in 1x10, John and Allan were the two who were the most terrified over something they perceived as satanic or demonic and that Allan has expressed a couple times that he believes in the supernatural or witchcraft (1x05 and 1x10 both stick out, I don't remember if there were more). Has he always believed the Church's power was mumbo jumbo and just believed in supernatural stuff separately or as he become more atheistic since working for the sheriff?
• I like that despite Kate obviously wanting them to leave to protect the village, she still must not believe that their souls are actually damned and still cares about their well-being since she's willing to risk herself to hide them. I respect her for that.
• If I went through all the trouble of translating THE ENTIRE BIBLE over TEN YEARS by HAND, I too would be willing to let Robin Hood (an outlaw I'd never met) die to prevent my work from being burned. I won't lie to you. That's a lot of work to see go up in flames, especially if I knew I'd be going up in flames with it. 
• I love this Allan/Much bromance thing going on this season.
• Oh, Much...there's a time and a place. This isn't either. And your sales pitch here needs a lot of work. I'd reject him too. I'd be much nicer about it, but a guy who I barely know randomly coming up to me at the worst possible time to tell me he thinks I'm perfect and wants to protect me? Pass.
• But geez, Kate...what the hell? I'm with you on the rejection, and if he kept pushing the issue over and over, I'd even be with you on being nasty about it, but he didn't. This is his first attempt. He's obviously not used to this and it took a lot of courage to even come talk to you, can't you at least pretend to be nice about it? "You're dirty, you smell, and you're trouble. The best thing you can do is just vanish." Was that entirely necessary? Couldn't you at least leave out the part about him being dirty and smelling? Is that too much to ask? I even hated it when Djaq pointed that out about all of them in the S2 finale because it was cringey and came in the Barn Scene of Ick, but at least she had some right to say it since she was actually their friend and had to live with their dirty, smelly asses. Here it just sounds mean. Although...if two different women have pointed this out...maybe it's time to start bathing on a regular basis, I'm just sayin'.
• Poor Much...my heart breaks for him though. He went about that all wrong, but Kate was just nasty. Poor baby.
• I love the sheriff lmao
• I love it when people just ride John. Much does it here, Djaq did it in 2x04, that one kid did it in 2x03, it's great.
• I like getting to see a medieval church service and I really like that they put in Gregorian chants because I love them.
• Allan's so brave, being willing to stay and cover for Tuck's escape. I love him.
• These villagers turned quick. They're all out there chanting to burn Robin Hood's gang. What the hell? Who's been feeding you people for the past couple years?
• The sheriff is literally the most sadistic asshole in the world. He literally wants to put murder on a little child's conscience for the rest of her life.
• Good job on Kate saving the day. And the abbot too for doing the right thing in the end. I feel more bad for him than anyone. 

Final Thoughts:

I really like this episode because it gives us a chance to see the role religion played in the lives of the people and gives us a better idea of the religious views of the characters. If I remember correctly, it's not the only episode this season that does that either and that's one thing I really like about season three. It all really makes me wish that Djaq was still here, because I think these episodes that focus on religion would be so much more interesting if there was someone who wasn't Christian in the main cast to get their perspective on it.

I'm torn on Kate. On the one hand, I think she has a tendency to be unnecessarily bitchy and the way she treats Much in this episode is the worst example of it. But on the other hand, I do understand that she felt she needed to make it crystal clear because if he kept coming around, it could literally mean their lives. I just think the way she went about it was extremely and unnecessarily cruel. I don't go for that. It was totally the wrong time, the wrong place, and the wrong words to use and that's all on Much and I get that. And if she wouldn't be interested no matter what, that's fine too. Rejecting him isn't the problem, it's the way she did it. It takes a lot of courage to approach someone and tell them how you feel and getting rejected sucks enough even if the person is nice about it, so there is just NO REASON to be cruel about it unless they keep trying over and over after you've already made it clear. At that point, their feelings don't matter because they clearly don't care about yours and you can be as mean as you want, but that's not what's happening here. 

I also think, regarding the Much/Kate stuff, that it is nearly impossible to look at it and not project. Everyone has been on one side of that or the other at some point and I've been on both ends. I've been rejected, but never harshly like that. The person in question just ghosted me for weeks afterward after giving me a non-answer. I got the picture. Being ghosted sucked enough, I can't imagine how much worse it would be if they were nasty like that. I also know that I'm extremely protective of Much because he's one of my all time favorite characters and such an innocent sweetheart so I also realize that I'd be protective of him no matter what, but I still feel that even if it were someone else, I'd hate this. It almost feels like it's supposed to come off feminist nowadays when a woman harshly rejects a man and we're supposed to laugh at it or something, but I just think it comes off like bullying if the guy hasn't earned it. If he says something rude after being rejected or won't take no for an answer, have at it and I'll cheer you on. Otherwise, be a nice person. It's not that hard. On the other hand, I've been in the position where I've had to do the rejecting and I was way too nice about it for way too long, so maybe I need to pick up a few things from Kate. It got to the point where I was practically being stalked and it's happened with more than one guy, although there was one in particular where it got to a truly horrendous level. I just can't relate to Kate here at all. I can't understand being that nasty to someone just for getting up the courage to tell me that they're interested in me. I've been there and I've never been that nasty even when it was warranted, so I can't imagine being that nasty right off the bat no matter what.

That all being said, despite the fact that I think Kate was horrible to Much and I'm upset with her over it, she did prove useful multiple times this episode. I know that most of us in the Robin Hood fandom have given her hell for being useless many times and so far in the show, she pretty much has been, but not this episode. She helped hide them and didn't buy into the abbot's claim that they were damned at personal risk to herself and her family and then she slipped Robin the arrowhead at the end to help them escape, so good for her.