In Review: Robin Hood (S1 – EP7) Thieves with a Purpose

Synopsis: In Thieves with a Purpose, Marian leaves Rob, and he strikes at Baron Warick. Prince John enters the story — and Marian is drawn into a dangerous romance and spy game.

The Story

Picking up from where last week left off: Marian has found out that Rob was involved with the unfortunate death of her brother and meets with him to ask if it is true. Rob, regretful, reveals the truth — that he and the gang were being hunted, and her brother was sadly killed in the chaos that ensued. So she leaves him, and throughout most of the episode Rob is brooding about the loss of Marian.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff is determined to catch Rob and is taking his horse and soldiers out every day to scour Sherwood Forest to try and find him. But Rob is proving to be as elusive as a ghost. The Sheriff learns that the Earl of Huntingdon, who is unhappy with his approach with Rob and the Saxons in general, has been conspiring against him. He rides onto the Earl’s farm, gives him a beat-down, and warns that if he continues to go against him, he will die.

Back in London, Marian has returned to Court after having been rescued by Prince John, who has returned to England to stake his claim to the throne. However, his mother Queen Eleanor is very much aware of his plans and is going out of her way to prevent him from gaining the throne from his father. To that end she promotes Lady Marion to Maid Marian, lady-in-waiting to the Queen, and assigns her the task of spying on Prince John and using whatever means are necessary to unravel what his plans are.

Back in Sherwood, Rob’s mind is a little clearer, and he gives a roaring speech to his gang on the reasons why they should rob Baron Warick’s home and take all of his gold. After all, Warick callously burned down Saxon fields, wiping out their entire crop to make a point. So in Rob’s eyes, and those of his gang, Warick owes them — and he’s going to pay.

Acting

Jack Patten ups the ante as Rob, aka Robin Hood, and gets an absolutely stirring monologue that he performs beautifully. So much so that I very nearly got out of my chair and started digging around for a lightsaber or something (oops, wrong genre). Graeme Thomas King makes an immediate impression as Prince John, who initially comes off as the dashing prince when he saves Marian from some muggers, but as he gets more scenes we slowly see the manipulative mastermind that Prince John is, which is quite funny given that in older movie interpretations of Robin Hood, John has always been portrayed as entitled, bumbling, and not too bright. I like King’s take better and look forward to seeing how it unfolds, as I’m pretty sure he is onto Marian already — which might be me reading too much into the subtext, or maybe I’ve just seen this kind of story play out so many times that I’m anticipating events.

Overall

Overall, I enjoyed this episode and loved the sequence where Rob leads the raid on Warwick’s castle. The action was quick and fast, while the scheming in the court of the Kingdom of England was so sly it would have made JR Ewing blush. I look forward to seeing how the power dynamics play out between Queen Eleanor and Prince John, and feel a little sorry for Marian, who is like the little ball of cotton caught in the middle of two cats playing sophisticated spy games.