It's the episode where Prince John finally shows up!!! He's been talked about throughout the entire show but only finally makes his first appearance in mid-season three (and if I recall correctly, he's only in a few episodes). He's worth the wait though; he definitely lived up to my expectations. Such a fun character, such a great actor, great writing for him, perfect amount of camp. Loved him. I'm looking forward to this!
Thoughts While Watching
Thoughts While Watching
- I love how Prince John has the mentality of a sociopath toddler. This opening scene is oddly erotic. But we have the setup for the episode now! Prince John wants Guy to kill the sheriff and it turns out that all of Vaisey's paranoia was reasonable.
- "I didn't stop and actually count them! I can't actually count." I love you, Much.
- It's so hard for me to care about this Prince John vs. King Richard stuff. They were both terrible. King Richard is not the hero Robin likes to think he is. And of course, I know that ultimately, historically, Richard will die young and without an heir and John will be king anyway so it's all for naught.
- I like this tactic of using the villagers to fight. I'm surprised they haven't tried it before. Although, given how I know it turns out in this episode, it's probably best that they didn't.
- Kate's fighting skills really aren't that bad, even if she did get injured right away. She did pretty well up until then.
- Aww, notice how Much and Allan were the ones who ran over to her, not Robin. Why did she end up obsessed with Robin?
- Okay...I hate this. Instead of turning Tuck into a replacement for Djaq, why didn't they just KEEP DJAQ?! Writing her off was the dumbest decision ever. The gang needs a medical expert and they had one, they didn't have to write her off the show and then make Tuck a medical expert in her place.
- Aww, Much and Allan both go running again for water for Kate. But ugh...Robin is the one who actually gave her some and she gave him the gross bedroom eyes.
- And now Prince John tells the sheriff the same thing: he wants him to kill Guy. And the sheriff and Guy will spend the rest of the episode secretly trying to kill each other. I love it.
- The scene with Prince John in Locksley and burning the church is wonderfully creepy. Thing is, I'm pretty sure if he hadn't done that and just greeted them and blessed the wedding and showed he cared enough to show his face, he would have genuinely won their love and support. King Richard never cared about them like that, he never showed his face in the villages, all he did was go off to a war that raised their taxes. Their loyalties would likely still lie with Robin first and foremost, since he's the one who's been feeding and protecting them for the past few years, but it would be much harder for him to convince them to support Richard over John if John was the only one who showed that he actually gave a damn about getting to know them. But of course, John's golden opportunity to get the love he craves goes up in flames along with the church.
- Okay, honestly, even if he did have to be a full blown sociopath that burned the church, he could have at least pretended that it was a natural disaster and put on a show of "saving" them by putting out the fire. That would have really sealed the deal. He would have earned the love of everyone in that village, all the surrounding villages and Nottingham, and eventually when news spread, all of England. The vast majority of the common people in England would have instantly supported him over Richard and he'd absolutely have the love, admiration, and loyalty he so desperately wants. But he doesn't think. Vengeance is more important so instead he has to let them know they're being punished by him for disloyalty.
- Isabella instantly goes from hardcore flirting to terrified of him and completely appalled. I love that she's brave enough to speak up.
- I LOVE that scene where the sheriff is trying to kill Guy and accidentally saves his life. Those little waves and smirks they exchange. The sheriff muttering, "oh, bother."
- Prince John just said "bored now." As a Buffy fan, I approve this message.
- Honestly, Robin has some nerve. Marian was "with Gisborne" too (although in a very different way from Isabella). He should know better than to judge someone for simply being a noble (he was one, Marian was one) or for having connections to the castle. If she's there helping to try to put out the fire and you know why she was on the run back to Guy in the first place and what she's been through, just shut up already.
- Why are they even bothering to try to put out this fire though? It's clear that the church is a lost cause.
- Robin/Isabella have a million times more chemistry than Robin/Kate.
- I LOVE that they're using Allan's insider knowledge of the castle. Nice callback to last season.
- Tuck, how does the physician owe you? You owe him. You didn't help him at all really, but he saved Kate's life.
- I absolutely love Isabella's over-the-top fake reenactment of her encounter with the outlaws. She learned exactly how to play Prince John.
- Everybody in this show knows weird magic potions. Robin knew how to make Allan foam at the mouth and look like he had the fictional "Turk Flu," Djaq knew how to make Robin appear dead, now Tuck knows how to make Kate look like she has scrofula. It all gives the show a very supernatural feel to it even though it's not a fantasy show.
- Guy and the sheriff have moved on to openly trying to kill each other now. I wonder how long Guy has secretly wanted to beat the shit out of the sheriff. Probably since Marian died.
- Ooo!!! I was right! I forgot about this line, but Guy just confirmed that he blames the sheriff for Marian's death. All this rage and hatred he has built up really was because of Marian. Personally, I think Marian's death was Guy's fault, but I can see how living with that guilt made him want to put the blame on literally anyone and everyone else.
- So...I can't decide whether or not the sheriff was telling the truth here. He says that he loved Guy as a son and that he knows Guy once loved him as a father. Honestly, I don't think the sheriff really knows how to love so I don't think that's true, but maybe he loved him as much as he is capable of loving anyone. On the other hand though, I do think he genuinely loved his sister, so maybe he is capable of love. But I don't think he ever loved Guy the way he loved his sister. He loved having someone who looked up to him, who depended on him, who he could mold and control, but he didn't love him. Maybe that's how he loved his sister too though, we didn't get to see much of their relationship so I can't say, but she certainly thought that she had to act like him to earn his love and didn't know she already had it. However, I do think the sheriff is right about one thing: Guy used to love him like a father and the way the whole entire Marian situation was handled destroyed that.
- I still remember how absolutely shocked I was during this fight scene the first time I saw it, especially when I thought the sheriff died. My jaw absolutely hit the floor.
- Did Guy just give Prince John the sheriff's fake tooth as proof that he killed him? LMAO
- I like that little hand twitch at the end to let us know the sheriff's not dead. I was so relieved. Evil as he is, I love him. Best villain ever. Although, if I'd known what he was going to do when he eventually comes back, I'd be more okay with him dying permanently.
Final Thoughts
This is such a fun episode and I really love it. I love that Guy and the sheriff spend the whole episode secretly trying to kill each other, I love their final fight, I love Isabella, Prince John is amazing, it's just overall a great episode. And despite Kate's reputation in the fandom of being useless, she really wasn't. She fought well before she was injured and I don't think she can be blamed for getting hurt in a fight. Everybody gets hurt sometimes and she's less experienced than the rest of them, it happens. She'd probably have an easier time fighting though if she'd ditch the stupid dress! Djaq always wore pants and I love that about her, but even Marian, girly as she was, wore pants when she lived in the forest. It's just stupid to wear a dress as an outlaw. She looks ridiculous. And Kate was willing to put her life on the line with the scrofula thing so that wasn't useless either. I know Tuck's little magic potion wouldn't have killed her, but Prince John might have for disproving his theory.
Overall though, even though I'm defending Kate here, I just really don't care for her or Tuck and I wish we had Will and Djaq back. Even if they still added two new outlaws to the mix, I wish we could have kept the old ones. It feels like they took Djaq's character and split her in half to get Kate and Tuck. Tuck has the knowledge of languages and medicine and Kate fills the role of "girl in the gang." And Kate sort of serves as the replacement for Will too as the representative of the Locksley villagers. They just feel like cheap replacements. I wish we could have kept Will and Djaq and let Kate and Tuck be their own characters rather than just having them fill the void left behind. Plus, I think having them interact with Will and Djaq would be great. Will and Kate would likely remember each other growing up in Locksley together so they'd have some history there (I've read fics where they had a romantic history before Robin returned from the Crusades and I kinda love the idea), Tuck and Djaq would have plenty to bond over because they have a lot of common interests and a similar educational background but would also have to reconcile their different religious beliefs, and Djaq and Kate could have bonded over being the only two female members of the gang. We could have had it all.
Honestly, if I ever have the time and motivation to do so, I'd love to do a rewrite of season three where Will and Djaq never become an official couple and stay in the gang, but Kate and Tuck still join. I think Marian would likely have to stay dead because her death changed too much of the plot, but who knows. I mean, in a rewrite anything goes. Ideally, we could have a Will/Djaq/Allan love triangle and a Much/Kate/Allan love triangle simultaneously (so therefore also a Djaq/Allan/Kate love triangle too I guess? And maybe add in some slight hints of prior Kate/Will for the drama but I think his heart is absolutely set on Djaq), ditch the Robin/Kate garbage entirely, and I think it would have been gold. That's how I wish the season went. Can you tell I grew up watching stuff like Dawson's Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer long before I became a Robin Hood fan? I love a good love triangle as long as it's properly handled and not over-the-top.
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