After leaving us with such a climatic ending in season 2, Robin Hood, his gang and the bad guys are back with new adventures in season 3. This season was actually a rollercoaster, a rollercoaster of plot holes, weird story direction and, in our opinion, a fountain of lost opportunities considering possible story developments. The wardrobe was much better though, even if they could hardly do worst.
Back in England again both Robin and Guy of Gisborne are grieving Marian and can only think of revenge. The young outlaw is even determined to end his career as savior of the people but there arrives a sassy know-it-all monk who manipulates him into going back into the battle of good versus evil.
I’m afraid the wacky humor of the previous series is quite absent here as this series seems clouded by darker undertones. Robin can only think about killing Gisborne and after deciding that is exactly what Guy wants, he seems to forget him and devote himself to free the people from the Sheriff’s claws. Gisborne’s death wish leads to him finally grow a spine (we are quoting) and challenge the Sheriff. Meanwhile, Gisborne does continue to be humiliated and defeated by everyone (sometimes in the most ridiculous and unbelievable situations) in the earlier episodes which feels like an attempt to bring him down totally.
This series also sees quite a few new characters joining the story. Newcomer Kate is a village girl who sees her brother being killed by Gisborne and later joins Robin’s gang. While becoming the object of Much’s affections she only seems interested in Robin and quite frankly we found her a bit (ok, a lot!) irritating.
Isabella Gisborne is so much more interesting, Gisborne’s sister whom he married at thirteen to a villainous husband, Squire Thornton (of all the names to choose…). Isabella is looking for her brother’s protection now that she ran away from her husband but also of a way to revenge herself on him for giving her away. She starts at first by being an ally to Robin, and his love interest, and later to become an important piece of the story in her own right.
With so many women interested in him we have to wonder where Robin’s grieving went… By the middle of the series he seems to have completely forgotten about Marian and how she was the love of his life.
Another addition is Friar Tuck and we can’t really say we were impressed with him. He always knows exactly what to do in any situation, no matter what. Throw in the mix a constant patronizing attitude and there you go. He got constantly in our nerves and we were bewildered to see how well Robin and his Merry Men put up with all this. How incredibly boring! Just as boring as Robin’s arrows always hitting the intended target no matter how unrealistic or impossible that may be.
Enter the guest star of the series – Toby Stephens as Prince John! We greatly enjoyed this “over the top”, selfish and egocentric prince who kept Gisborne and the Sheriff at their throats till one finally won. He wants to become King and he uses, and kills, everyone he can to achieve that goal. And that means getting rid of the Sheriff (is he really gone?) and eventually let Isabella be the next Sheriff of Nottingham. Too bad Prince John was only in it for 3 episodes; he had quite a few humorous lines that only added to his charm. And his episodes did have some of the best fighting scenes. He was fun in a camp way, excessive in every situation and we couldn’t help but love him, just like the falsely charming and ruthless Prince John.
Looking back the only complaint we could have with his episodes is that they don’t match the constant darker tone and slightly less humorous dialogues of this series, and that we so much enjoyed in the previous series.
From the 9th episode onwards the story arc seems to take a new direction. Gisborne, imprisoned by his sister, finally comes to terms with what he did to Marian when he meets Meg, a fellow prisoner who makes him once again reveal his softer side. The softer side, by the way, that always allowed Marian to best him in seasons 1 and 2 and Isabella to take the better of him in season 3. One only wonders at the end if Gisborne was grieving for Meg, Marian or both. And episode 10 starts the revelations that lead to the series finale. Apparently Guy was not always bad and Robin was not always good, in fact there seems to be an explanation to Guy’s hatred of Robin but none for Robin to hate Guy. And so it starts Gisborne’s road towards redemption… we liked that! Armitage can do much better than just being a card board villain and even if the plots of these last episodes were a bit on the unbelievable side they did allow him to give Guy a more interesting dimension. We also really enjoyed Robin and Guy’s relationship development – they did work well together, proving that they weren’t that different. And Archer, the newcomer that is both of them long lost brother. Well, one thing we can say already, we liked Archer! He was fun and selfish and kind of swashbuckling. Certainly a more manly version of RH, and we feel he should have been introduced a few episodes earlier so he could have been better developed.
So everything was in place for the ending, and the first part of episode 12 is actually very good. Except for one little thing, Allan’s fate. He was one of our favorite characters, he deserved a better fate! But as a whole these two episodes were actually pretty good, yes the body count was bigger than ever and the bad guys do kill the good guys (they must have forgotten that this was a kiddies show but to tell the truth so did we…), not to mention close relatives killing each other but the confrontation between Robin, Guy, Archer and Isabella, Blamire and the Sheriff was great, ok not great considering its end, but ever since the first series that we’ve been waiting for Gisborne to get what he deserves and now, after all that happened, he finally does. It was heartbreaking, gut wrenching and as good as we knew Richard Armitage could deliver, his face, his voice… If there’s a character whose evolution was a journey it’s Gisborne and his demise is as heroic as it could be. He gives his sword to Archer and unarmed tried to save Robin, would you have believed it just a few episodes ago? ” It’s the end” “For you and me both my friend” says Robin, who still has time to blow up the bad guys before going to find his fate in the forest and meeting Marian (was she channeling LOTR’s Arwen?) once again.
This Robin Hood is over, as you all know we’ve been watching it mostly for the bad guys and one bad Guy in particular. Now we feel we’re done with it even if a season 4 had been commissioned. Somehow this ending was much better than what we were expecting (and fearing!), it at least seemed fitting and much better than the earlier episodes of season 3. Like part of the cast we’re off to greener pastures! Now fess up, how many of you did get teary eyed with Guy’s final moments?
Our reviews:
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Fantastic review, Ana T.! I only watched the first 6 episodes and I totally agree with you so far. Some of these new characters were soooo annoying, except for the dashing Prince John.;-)
I haven’t even watched the second season but with such a great review I’m tempted to do it quickly to get to this one. :-)
I was SO sad to see Guy go! Like you and the rest of the human race I won’t watch season 4 (if there is one) with no Guy.
A. and A. thank you! I hope you see it soon so we can chat about it.
Jenny there won’t be a season 4, the BBC announced it yesterday. :-)
So nice to hear Guy is redeemed at the end. Guess now I should watch the rest of the first season and work my way up through the other seasons… :D
I was so sad to see Guy die, too! I cried seeing die to Guy… I won’t watch season 4 without Guy.
Your new site looks great, congratulations.:) I enjoyed the third season of Robin Hood – thought it was probably the best so far. I don’t really see how a season four would have worked without Robin, Guy or the sheriff, but I’ll miss the series all the same.
Thanks, Ana T. Nice review! Season 3 is darker, and as you said, lack the wacky humor, which I miss a lot. So far I like season 2 the best. The new characters in the gang had very little charm for me. If Kate is the most annoying character ever, then Tuck should be the most boring character. Isabella’s character was very interesting. But ever since the womanizer Robin disappointed her and she killed her husband (indeed, of all the names to choose!), which served as the prelude of her being officially bad, she started to become a 2D character – an angry, goldfish-eyed psycho obsessed with killing Robin and Guy, and a sheriff as terrible as her predecessor. (It is curious why everyone had to be so bad as soon as he/she became the sheriff.) At least Isabella had a relatively complicated, screwed-up childhood to make her character interesting, but Kate! Kate is such an unfortunate character. She didn’t contribute much to the gang, and she and Robin just don’t have the chemistry. It’s already hard to see Robin with another woman after Marian died, and yet such women as Izzy and Kate are so utterly unlikable! I don’t recall Robin ever said he loved Kate, and it is very irritating to see her forcing Robin to say that he needs her. Come on! Her weapon is “her imagination”! Why would Robin need her?! Thanks to Kate, now I know how much I like Marian! I couldn’t help but thinking that the writers for this season are misogynists, given that both the women characters are so unlikable, especially as Robin’s love interests. Also, I feel that both actresses further damaged their characters by trying too hard.
The reason I started watching RH was because of Richard Armitage (let’s count who wasn’t…), and I feel quite satisfied with his ending, however sad it was. Guy always believed that Marian would cleanse his sins, and he strove to possess her even though her heart belonged to Robin. But in the end, it was his long-term enemy Robin, who cleansed his sins. Because of Robin, Guy was redeemed. In terms of Robin-Guy relationship, I think it is well done.
I am glad there is no season 4, although Archer should be cool…
Great review, Ana. I’m just in the process of watching season 3 on YouTube now. I’m up to episode 4 and am finding it all a wee bit boring. However, I shall plod on through ‘cos I’m kind of looking forward to those later episodes that you’ve told us about. I definitely can’t pass up a few more views of Guy!
It seems we are all more or less in agreement about this third series.
Whitelady and Dee, looking forward to your thoughts on the subject when you watch it. ;-)
I’ve now watched the whole season. I got in to it more as the episodes went on, but was pretty disappointed on the whole. I think I felt that Guy and Robin’s demise could have been a little bit ‘more’. I missed the funny one-liners of previous seasons, and thought that Izzy and Kate were cardboard cutouts. Toby Stephens was great though. It’s a credit to his acting that I always need to look closely at Toby Stephens and ask “…is that Toby Stephens?” – he really seems to become his characters. The one really good laugh I had of the season was when he was when he was about to get crowned and he was playing the crowd …”Do you love me? Do you love me?”. The other line of his that I’m going to steal for using at work is “Yes, bored now. You can leave.”!!
LOL Toby Stephens’ lines were just hilarious!! But yes, the humour was quite toned down this season and yes I too felt a lot of things could have been more developed. I did like Izzy before she turned that crazy evil woman and thought she had potential. Unfortunately it was another loose end…
I suppose Guy’s demise couldn’t take long as they wanted center stage for Robin but that whole scenario with the return of Marian didn’t convince me…
I’m among who started watching RH because of Richard Armitage’s Guy. Watching Season 1 and 2 was a delight but with this third one…it was different. I still loved Richard’s portrayal of Guy but I couldn’t bear all the rest. My favourite espisodes were 9/10/11. I think Richard made the right decision leaving the show. We’ll never forget his Guy but we’re longing for something new. I’ve written two posts in my blog about Guy
1 . http://flyhigh-by-learnonline.blogspot.com/2009/06/it-is-easier-to-forgive-enemy-than-to.html
2. http://flyhigh-by-learnonline.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-lived-in-shame-but-thanks-to-you-i.html
BY THE WAY …Your blog is my dream world! I’ve linked it to mine. I’ll be back.
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