Episode 8: The King is Dead, Long Live the King

Sorry to be so late again. This week has been insanely busy.

Somewhere in London, a craftsman slaves away over some mysterious object. A man enters behind him, and expresses congratulations on a job well done. Before stabbing him in the back. The plan which is being carried out can have no witnesses.

Later, in Sherwood forest, the gang is alerted to a royal coach driving towards Nottingham, with King Richard's insignia on it. They follow it, and are shocked when Lord Sheridan, keeper of King Richard's crown, declares to all of Nottingham that King Richard is dead.

Loudest of all in lamenting is Prince John, who throws himself down on the coffin in desperate weeping. However, his weeping is short lived, for someone, of course, must be crowned as a new king, and Lord Sheridan has convieniently brought the royal crown with him. The Archbishop is reluctant to believe that King Richard is dead, and perform the coronation, but when he sees the body with his own eyes, he has no choice.

Robin Hood cannot believe that King Richard is dead. He refuses to believe it, until he has seen the body for himself, so late that night, the gang sneaks into the crypt of Kirkless Abbey, and opens the casket. It is Kate who realizes what Robin doesn't, at first glance. The body is made out of wax.

Just then, they hear Prince John riding into the courtyard, and have no choice but to hide in a pair of coffins. As they wait in silence, Prince John comes and takes out his frustration with the real king on the wax model, pounding it's face in. Then he orders some guards to burn it, and leave no evidence. By the time people realize there is no body, he will already be king.

Robin and the gang are too late to stop the wax model from being ruined, but Robin gets another idea. To prevent Prince John from becoming king, all he has to do is steal the crown...

The Good:

The 'waxwork of the king' thing was very clever, and Prince John gave another amazing performance. I really wish he was a regular, because Toby Stevens just lights up every scene he's in. I'd even give up Kate if he stayed!

The Archbishop was very good, as well as Lord Sheridan who reminded me a little of the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The Izzy/Gizzy situation took a very interesting turn this week, as Guy was on the run, and most definately out of PJ's favor. Isabella, on the other hand, is alternately in and out of PJ's good side, because of various situations. At first Guy comes and threatens to kill her (marvelously acted scene). He holds a sword to her throat, but just can't seem to bring himself to do it. Then they agree to a tenuous alliance, where Izzy will speak to PJ about pardoning her brother. Her only condition is an apology. Of course, if Guy were to apologize he would be admitting something he did wrong. And he can't to that, so she poisons him instead, and ties him up to show Prince John.

All of this was very well acted by Lara Pulver and Richard Armitage. Despite the fact that Izzy seems to be switching sides every five minutes, Lara does a great job of making this credible.

As cheesy as the motion sensative ropes in the dungeon were, I have to admit, they were kinda cool. Watching Robin crawl carfully through them on the way to the crown and then just bust through all of them on the way out was comical.

The final scene in the church, with Guy, Robin, and Prince John in a stand off, was pretty cool. Gizzy having to choose between shooting Izzy or PJ before Robin shot him was interesting, and Izzy diving in front of PJ to save his life was well thought of. Earned her the Sheriff spot, it did.

The Bad:

Allan and Much had more to say this week, but if they're going to turn Much into pure comic relief, and Allan into a brainless idiot, I'd rather they just stopped talking. Kate continues to be annoying, and holds the show record for getting into trouble. Has there been a single episode where she wasn't captured, wounded, or otherwise troublesome? I truly can't remember one. If the writers are trying to get us to like Kate, by having her stand up and tell Much and Allan to stop protecting her, it's not working. Why should they stop protecting her when it's obvious she can't take care of herself?

Oh, and by the way, Much's only crime was aceeding to Lord Sheridan's demands becasue he had a knife at Kate's throat. Just like he would have done if it had been Robin, or Tuck, or Allan, or LJ. Kate acts like it was something special for her, and yet, it's no more than would be expected from a member of Robin's gang. They don't let bad guys kill their friends. Now, of course, Robin, Tuck, Allan, and Little John wouldn't have let themselves get in that position anyway.

With the Allan rescue, I felt that him blowing the scam thing, was way way way out of character. This is Allan we're talking about! If he talked in his sleep he would lie then. Sure, he has become more honest lately, but that's no reason to think that he's become some niave idiot. When he 'saved' Kate, he could have easily called her his sister, or something like that, without blurting out 'you ruined the plan!' Oh, really, there's a plan? However, her chewing him out for it, was not exactally what I had in mind, since she was the one in trouble. I maintain that Allan rescued her because of a brotherly affection for her, not out of jealousy. That makes him right, and Kate wrong, and all is right in the world.

The whole, 'we'll blind them with our shiny shields so that they think we're King Richard thing was lame. Couldn't they come up with anything better? So cheesy. However, I think I need to remember what show it is that I'm watching.

The Ugly:

Allan and Much fighting about Kate! Seriously? I wanted to gag. And then Kate tells them to cut it out. *strangled cry of rage*

Kate is really useless for anything other than being a liablity and love interest. She has to be the most bland annoying character this show has ever had. I feel quite sorry for that actress.

In Summary:
This episode was ok, but didn't hold up to analysis. I enjoyed it more than average, but it was nothing great.

Next week we get Isabella as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and meet her husband, Squire Thornton. Oh, and it looks like she tries to kill her brother. That should be interesting.

~Paige