Tattoo? What tattoo?
My head is spinning from last night's Robin Hood. Must watch again asap (er, watched twice already). So have some thoughts, anyway (NB I write these before reading anyone else's reviews - I needed them to be my own thoughts).
We're up tot he eighth episode now, which is weird. It seems like yesterday that I took one look at Robin Hood and thought it was awful. And like only last night that I decided it was the best thing since sliced bread chocolate.
Anyway, this one was... well, as I said, it left my head spinning. In some ways it was so right, and yet in some ways it made me reevaluate everything I've been thinking about the characters in the last week or so (as shown by my strangely prolific fic-writing).
Firstly, I have to say what everyone must surely be thinking. So it turns out Guy is Batman! That explains where he gets the black look. Batman turned bad or something. Seriously though, I can't quite imagine a Medieval man with a tattoo like that. But then who am I to judge?
Right, onto the episode. It started off brilliantly. I love the Crusades, and we were treated to a little dream-memory of what happened before Robin and Much headed home. As I suspected, they were sharing a tent :) And I love Much bare-headed, why does he wear that silly thing all the time? When Robin was wounded, his reaction was so sweet and unbelieving, it was lovely. And Robin got to be all knighty, which was nice. Nice to see him fight with a sword (thought I think adding the RH theme tune to the fighting was mis-timed and inapprpriate, but that was just a little thing). The best thing was when Robin woke up and Much knew what he had been dreaming about. I felt in that moment that I'd got their relationship just right in my fic-writing - they're close, very close, and when it's just the two of them it's perfect and sweet and lovely because of all their shared love and experience. When Robin decided to gatecrash Guy's party, Much's reaction was perfect - he told Robin there was something wrong with him, but there was a hint of a smile. As the credits rolled, I was sure I had got it just right.
Anyway, then plot ensued. Actually, who cares about plot? Guy and Robin fighting for 45 minutes would have satisfied me :) but anyway, have a resume of the plot: Guy announces his marriage to Marian, Robin bursts in and steals everyone's jewels (including Marian's ring), he fights Guy and sees his tattoo (the tattoo the attacker in the Holy Land had) and realises it was Guy who tried to kill the King and perpetuated the fighting in the East, Robin runs off as the Sheriff gets there and doesn't notice that they've got Djaq, Guy follows him and ends up tied to a tree, Robin gets all nasty and wants to torture him; meanwhile, everyone else thinks Robin is mad and the others (except Much) knock Robin out and go to get Djaq, who is being pressed into making some Gone Powder stuff-that-melts-iron by the Sheriff; Robin and Guy fight more, Robin upsets Much, the others cock up the rescue, Much fetches Marian to talk some sense into Robin, they knock Robin out again, and they take Guy to trade for Djaq, which exchange Robin finally agrees to in a sweet sort of way. I'm loving the plotting of RH, it's pleasingly complicated :)
Anyway, now I'mm going to comment on some individual things.
1) My first big wibble is about Robin and Much. Much can't stop himself giving in to Robin and letting him go or telling what he shouldn't, because he's incapable of resisting. I get that. That was the relationship I though they had: Much is a slave to Robin, in a good way. But it got a bit more sinister. Much was standing for everything that was right and good, and Robin had gone off the rails: OK, I understand that too, that's what the episode is about. And Robin thinks a bit too much of himself, with all his principles that he thinks are too complicated for anyone else to grasp, but we, and more importantly Much, already knew this. And Robin shouted at Much and called him simple, and then later told him to go. But that was when I realised that I hadn't got it right at all - I got Much completely wrong. If I were writing a fic, Much would be in a huff and maybe cry at this. But that's not what he did - first he just put up with it, and then he didn't go off in a sulk but went to get Marian to try to sort Robin out. This makes something very clear to me: Robin has been mistreating Much for far too long. There was melancholy in his lovely big blue eyes as he went around doing what was right rather than feeling sorry for himself. And he accepted Robin's mood swings like an actual suborinate, like he really does think of himself as a servant who merely aspires to be his friend. I actually found it upsetting that Robin didn't apologise to him or anything at the end. The end credits rolled after they'd all had some food together, and it was supposed to be all better - there was a look between Robin and John, as if Robin forgave him for knocking him out twice, but what about Much?
2) Wrt 1), I think we should launch the LJSPCM (LJ Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Much). Or at least a Treat Much Right campaign.
3) Wil is in love with Djaq. Allan also seems to be in love with Djaq. I wasn't expecting this. I know I should have been, but I wasn't. It's a shame for all those people who ship Will/Allan, but not really for me.
4) Guy is rather sinister, isn't he? One thing he said in particular made me realise that he may have some nasty intentions towards Marian. He said that *if* the King returns, he would still win because he'd have Marian. But it seemed quite clear that he didn't really expect or hope that the King would return. So what is he really planning for her? Will he try to really win her heart? Or is he playing for time and planning to trap her in some other way?
5) Robin and Guy fighting and fighting was just so right. That's exactly what they needed. And no, I'm not reading a slashy subtext here! They just need to hurt each other for a bit, it will make them both feel better. Isn't it wonderful how their faces hardly suffer at all though? Oh yes, let them beat the hell out of each other, but we don't want black eyes and split lips on such beautiful specimens of mankind :) (well, *I* think one is much more gorgeous than the other, but I do like Robin and he does have a sort of naughty sparkle)
6) The Sheriff told Marian that he hadn't even noticed Guy was missing. WTF? We know Guy is his little pet and he loves him really. Could I have got that so wrong? I can only conclude that he's lying about not having noticed he was there. Or maybe their relationship is less interdependent than I thought - Guy needs an authority figure and someone to obey, and the Sheriff likes having a pet but essentially considers him expendable. I'm not quite sure about this, I think I may have to watch them all over again (*sigh* what a difficult task).
7) Robin Hood has now started detecting kinks I didn't know I had. First it presented the perfect man (to summarise: sadistic, dark, gorgeous, sneering, dressed in black *with gloves*, sometimes in rain and sometimes pulling off gloves with his teeth). This week, we got all that (apart from the rain/teeth bit), and we also got him fighting and rolling around on the forest floor. With messed up hair. *And*, tied up and gagged. I didn't know I had these fetishes, but I think I have now ;) Wow, how is it possible to look so good tied up? Or indeed after going ten round of fisticuffs with Robin? Wow. He's a god.
8) Am I the only person who just wanted to hug Guy and make him better when the Sheriff burnt his tattoo off? I think this is a slightly strange reaction to someone I appreciate essentially for his nasty, sadistic side...
9) I no longer feel irritated when John says "X I/we do not do/like" (though it amused me that they compared him to Yoda in the TV Times!). I also realised that Allan has a catchphrase, "I'm not being funny, but..." :)
We're up tot he eighth episode now, which is weird. It seems like yesterday that I took one look at Robin Hood and thought it was awful. And like only last night that I decided it was the best thing since sliced bread chocolate.
Anyway, this one was... well, as I said, it left my head spinning. In some ways it was so right, and yet in some ways it made me reevaluate everything I've been thinking about the characters in the last week or so (as shown by my strangely prolific fic-writing).
Firstly, I have to say what everyone must surely be thinking. So it turns out Guy is Batman! That explains where he gets the black look. Batman turned bad or something. Seriously though, I can't quite imagine a Medieval man with a tattoo like that. But then who am I to judge?
Right, onto the episode. It started off brilliantly. I love the Crusades, and we were treated to a little dream-memory of what happened before Robin and Much headed home. As I suspected, they were sharing a tent :) And I love Much bare-headed, why does he wear that silly thing all the time? When Robin was wounded, his reaction was so sweet and unbelieving, it was lovely. And Robin got to be all knighty, which was nice. Nice to see him fight with a sword (thought I think adding the RH theme tune to the fighting was mis-timed and inapprpriate, but that was just a little thing). The best thing was when Robin woke up and Much knew what he had been dreaming about. I felt in that moment that I'd got their relationship just right in my fic-writing - they're close, very close, and when it's just the two of them it's perfect and sweet and lovely because of all their shared love and experience. When Robin decided to gatecrash Guy's party, Much's reaction was perfect - he told Robin there was something wrong with him, but there was a hint of a smile. As the credits rolled, I was sure I had got it just right.
Anyway, then plot ensued. Actually, who cares about plot? Guy and Robin fighting for 45 minutes would have satisfied me :) but anyway, have a resume of the plot: Guy announces his marriage to Marian, Robin bursts in and steals everyone's jewels (including Marian's ring), he fights Guy and sees his tattoo (the tattoo the attacker in the Holy Land had) and realises it was Guy who tried to kill the King and perpetuated the fighting in the East, Robin runs off as the Sheriff gets there and doesn't notice that they've got Djaq, Guy follows him and ends up tied to a tree, Robin gets all nasty and wants to torture him; meanwhile, everyone else thinks Robin is mad and the others (except Much) knock Robin out and go to get Djaq, who is being pressed into making some Gone Powder stuff-that-melts-iron by the Sheriff; Robin and Guy fight more, Robin upsets Much, the others cock up the rescue, Much fetches Marian to talk some sense into Robin, they knock Robin out again, and they take Guy to trade for Djaq, which exchange Robin finally agrees to in a sweet sort of way. I'm loving the plotting of RH, it's pleasingly complicated :)
Anyway, now I'mm going to comment on some individual things.
1) My first big wibble is about Robin and Much. Much can't stop himself giving in to Robin and letting him go or telling what he shouldn't, because he's incapable of resisting. I get that. That was the relationship I though they had: Much is a slave to Robin, in a good way. But it got a bit more sinister. Much was standing for everything that was right and good, and Robin had gone off the rails: OK, I understand that too, that's what the episode is about. And Robin thinks a bit too much of himself, with all his principles that he thinks are too complicated for anyone else to grasp, but we, and more importantly Much, already knew this. And Robin shouted at Much and called him simple, and then later told him to go. But that was when I realised that I hadn't got it right at all - I got Much completely wrong. If I were writing a fic, Much would be in a huff and maybe cry at this. But that's not what he did - first he just put up with it, and then he didn't go off in a sulk but went to get Marian to try to sort Robin out. This makes something very clear to me: Robin has been mistreating Much for far too long. There was melancholy in his lovely big blue eyes as he went around doing what was right rather than feeling sorry for himself. And he accepted Robin's mood swings like an actual suborinate, like he really does think of himself as a servant who merely aspires to be his friend. I actually found it upsetting that Robin didn't apologise to him or anything at the end. The end credits rolled after they'd all had some food together, and it was supposed to be all better - there was a look between Robin and John, as if Robin forgave him for knocking him out twice, but what about Much?
2) Wrt 1), I think we should launch the LJSPCM (LJ Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Much). Or at least a Treat Much Right campaign.
3) Wil is in love with Djaq. Allan also seems to be in love with Djaq. I wasn't expecting this. I know I should have been, but I wasn't. It's a shame for all those people who ship Will/Allan, but not really for me.
4) Guy is rather sinister, isn't he? One thing he said in particular made me realise that he may have some nasty intentions towards Marian. He said that *if* the King returns, he would still win because he'd have Marian. But it seemed quite clear that he didn't really expect or hope that the King would return. So what is he really planning for her? Will he try to really win her heart? Or is he playing for time and planning to trap her in some other way?
5) Robin and Guy fighting and fighting was just so right. That's exactly what they needed. And no, I'm not reading a slashy subtext here! They just need to hurt each other for a bit, it will make them both feel better. Isn't it wonderful how their faces hardly suffer at all though? Oh yes, let them beat the hell out of each other, but we don't want black eyes and split lips on such beautiful specimens of mankind :) (well, *I* think one is much more gorgeous than the other, but I do like Robin and he does have a sort of naughty sparkle)
6) The Sheriff told Marian that he hadn't even noticed Guy was missing. WTF? We know Guy is his little pet and he loves him really. Could I have got that so wrong? I can only conclude that he's lying about not having noticed he was there. Or maybe their relationship is less interdependent than I thought - Guy needs an authority figure and someone to obey, and the Sheriff likes having a pet but essentially considers him expendable. I'm not quite sure about this, I think I may have to watch them all over again (*sigh* what a difficult task).
7) Robin Hood has now started detecting kinks I didn't know I had. First it presented the perfect man (to summarise: sadistic, dark, gorgeous, sneering, dressed in black *with gloves*, sometimes in rain and sometimes pulling off gloves with his teeth). This week, we got all that (apart from the rain/teeth bit), and we also got him fighting and rolling around on the forest floor. With messed up hair. *And*, tied up and gagged. I didn't know I had these fetishes, but I think I have now ;) Wow, how is it possible to look so good tied up? Or indeed after going ten round of fisticuffs with Robin? Wow. He's a god.
8) Am I the only person who just wanted to hug Guy and make him better when the Sheriff burnt his tattoo off? I think this is a slightly strange reaction to someone I appreciate essentially for his nasty, sadistic side...
9) I no longer feel irritated when John says "X I/we do not do/like" (though it amused me that they compared him to Yoda in the TV Times!). I also realised that Allan has a catchphrase, "I'm not being funny, but..." :)