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clo_againSo the second series of Robin Hood started tonight. And
Is it just me or has this show grown up somewhat or is at least making in the right direction? There's still moments of daft slo-mo and still bits and pieces of dialogue that had me going "DO NOT SAY THAT. DO NOT SAY- YOU FREAKING SAID IT, HOW COULD ANYONE WRITE SOMETHING THAT BAD, JESUS HOW?!" with the sheer cheese factor but there's proper plotting. There's Robin's well-meant fuckwittery getting him into believable tight spots. There's an excellent reason to keep Marion and him apart (which, awesome because the canon couple together is always nothing but dullness) and even better, a great (if a little contrived) reason for him not to shoot the Sheriff. They couldn't have kept up last series' 'not wanting to kill anyone' thing going and this one is good.
Few other thoughts, good things and bad:
- I didn't find Marion annoying at all in this episode. Which is- good. And if it continues, will move her way up there on my list of favourites. No doubt she's the mature one in the relationship now and for all that Robin could do with her around 24/7 to bitchslap him for every stupid idea, locking her in the castle is going to make for interesting times. I'll hazard a bet here and now that she'll be the one to find out about Alan or the first to suspect Gisbourne has an insider. And that she's discovered as the Nightwatchman by this series' halfway point because dude, Gisbourne. You're starting to look *really* stupid now.
- Speaking of Alan, what a freaking awesome B/over-arching plot. Alan's not expendable like whathisname last series, he's liked and loved and even when you're willing to bet (again, there's a theme here) on him coming out on Robin's side in the end, there's just that little niggle of doubt. Which...
- ...there totally wasn't at the beginning when Robin was lying there 'dead'. I get that they wanted an opening shot of him for the new series and I get that it was a freaking awesome shot because I bought that he was just chilling in the forest until the slow zoom focused on the arrow and there was the "WHUT?!" reaction but then it went oh hah hah. If it was John or Will or Much, there really would've been that extra moment of "Wait, they wouldn't start the series off by killing...?" and it would've pushed the con that bit further. Still, I'll trade the further for that slow panning zoom shot through the falling leaves. Gorgeous.
- And not just that shot either. So it didn't totally wow me with the beautiful camerawork but then, aside from the slo-mo and even that wasn't overused until the end, it wasn't making me cringe like Torchwood does either.
- That said, they really need to kill the slo-mo. That and the cheesy music over the 'reunited with Marion' scene at the end made me want to kill my TV screen for the first time in the whole episode. Really, it takes nothing short of surviving the Apocalypse itself to make me buy a relationship enough for music that bad and even then you're pushing your luck. Dear director, plz to be getting your cheesedar updated.
- The whole snake thing was- silly (Robin, there had to have been a less roundabout way to get out of that pit. Like, when the rope was long enough, just swing across to the edge. Idiot. It's a good thing you're pretty). But it's the first episode and everything else was good enough to make up for it. But I'm now itching to write a fantasy book where the villains kill the heroes on the spot because jesus, even after the Sheriff pegged the Nightwatchman as a distraction, no one went back immediately to check on Robin. That's stretching believability a little. Really. Leaving your enemies alone on their easily-escapable slow way toward death? A CLUE, SHERIFF. NO. JUST NO.
- Much-bashing continues. If you keep laughing at him getting mocked Robin, one day he's going to turn around and kick you in the balls. And I will applaud. Git.
- Sheriff's sister = dominatrix. Given that the Sheriff keeps apet right-hand man with a leather fetish around, this comes as no surprise. She and Gisbourne should've got together to swap tips about leather and thirteenth century remedies for chafing. Related note; I'm really starting to wonder about the creators of this series and their fetishes. Because really, pit of snakes? Just sayin'.
- Apparently prosthetic make-up has been around for eight hundred years. Who knew? Then again from the look of the trailer for next week, so (now you see why the betting theme?) have casinos. REALLY PUSHING YOUR CREDIBILITY HERE. It makes me afraid for next week, even though I know I like that whathisface who's guest-starring. Then again, there is Djaq kicking ass in a dress and whathisface kissing Marion and really, there are worse previews. Just, proper green gambling tables? So they have dice back then, fine, but gambling tables?
In conclusion: YAY, IT'S BACK AND I LOVED IT AND IT IS WITH MUCH WITH THE GOOD. But I'm not going to proclaim its brilliance until next week impresses me. Same with the Bigger Plot of taking over England; I like it and it's great to see the show growing but I'm waiting to see how well it's pulled off before giving them the kudos. And let's face it, it was a fairly obvious step to take so they need to be original with it.
I'm so happy I have good TV back to look forward to. I was bouncing about new 'Hood and Top Gear earlier and the parental was all disparagingly "Life does not revolve around what's on TV."
That said, he asked me several times with excessive casualness if I was recording 'Hood. Mwahaha, good autumn TV suckers in all.
Is it just me or has this show grown up somewhat or is at least making in the right direction? There's still moments of daft slo-mo and still bits and pieces of dialogue that had me going "DO NOT SAY THAT. DO NOT SAY- YOU FREAKING SAID IT, HOW COULD ANYONE WRITE SOMETHING THAT BAD, JESUS HOW?!" with the sheer cheese factor but there's proper plotting. There's Robin's well-meant fuckwittery getting him into believable tight spots. There's an excellent reason to keep Marion and him apart (which, awesome because the canon couple together is always nothing but dullness) and even better, a great (if a little contrived) reason for him not to shoot the Sheriff. They couldn't have kept up last series' 'not wanting to kill anyone' thing going and this one is good.
Few other thoughts, good things and bad:
- I didn't find Marion annoying at all in this episode. Which is- good. And if it continues, will move her way up there on my list of favourites. No doubt she's the mature one in the relationship now and for all that Robin could do with her around 24/7 to bitchslap him for every stupid idea, locking her in the castle is going to make for interesting times. I'll hazard a bet here and now that she'll be the one to find out about Alan or the first to suspect Gisbourne has an insider. And that she's discovered as the Nightwatchman by this series' halfway point because dude, Gisbourne. You're starting to look *really* stupid now.
- Speaking of Alan, what a freaking awesome B/over-arching plot. Alan's not expendable like whathisname last series, he's liked and loved and even when you're willing to bet (again, there's a theme here) on him coming out on Robin's side in the end, there's just that little niggle of doubt. Which...
- ...there totally wasn't at the beginning when Robin was lying there 'dead'. I get that they wanted an opening shot of him for the new series and I get that it was a freaking awesome shot because I bought that he was just chilling in the forest until the slow zoom focused on the arrow and there was the "WHUT?!" reaction but then it went oh hah hah. If it was John or Will or Much, there really would've been that extra moment of "Wait, they wouldn't start the series off by killing...?" and it would've pushed the con that bit further. Still, I'll trade the further for that slow panning zoom shot through the falling leaves. Gorgeous.
- And not just that shot either. So it didn't totally wow me with the beautiful camerawork but then, aside from the slo-mo and even that wasn't overused until the end, it wasn't making me cringe like Torchwood does either.
- That said, they really need to kill the slo-mo. That and the cheesy music over the 'reunited with Marion' scene at the end made me want to kill my TV screen for the first time in the whole episode. Really, it takes nothing short of surviving the Apocalypse itself to make me buy a relationship enough for music that bad and even then you're pushing your luck. Dear director, plz to be getting your cheesedar updated.
- The whole snake thing was- silly (Robin, there had to have been a less roundabout way to get out of that pit. Like, when the rope was long enough, just swing across to the edge. Idiot. It's a good thing you're pretty). But it's the first episode and everything else was good enough to make up for it. But I'm now itching to write a fantasy book where the villains kill the heroes on the spot because jesus, even after the Sheriff pegged the Nightwatchman as a distraction, no one went back immediately to check on Robin. That's stretching believability a little. Really. Leaving your enemies alone on their easily-escapable slow way toward death? A CLUE, SHERIFF. NO. JUST NO.
- Much-bashing continues. If you keep laughing at him getting mocked Robin, one day he's going to turn around and kick you in the balls. And I will applaud. Git.
- Sheriff's sister = dominatrix. Given that the Sheriff keeps a
- Apparently prosthetic make-up has been around for eight hundred years. Who knew? Then again from the look of the trailer for next week, so (now you see why the betting theme?) have casinos. REALLY PUSHING YOUR CREDIBILITY HERE. It makes me afraid for next week, even though I know I like that whathisface who's guest-starring. Then again, there is Djaq kicking ass in a dress and whathisface kissing Marion and really, there are worse previews. Just, proper green gambling tables? So they have dice back then, fine, but gambling tables?
In conclusion: YAY, IT'S BACK AND I LOVED IT AND IT IS WITH MUCH WITH THE GOOD. But I'm not going to proclaim its brilliance until next week impresses me. Same with the Bigger Plot of taking over England; I like it and it's great to see the show growing but I'm waiting to see how well it's pulled off before giving them the kudos. And let's face it, it was a fairly obvious step to take so they need to be original with it.
I'm so happy I have good TV back to look forward to. I was bouncing about new 'Hood and Top Gear earlier and the parental was all disparagingly "Life does not revolve around what's on TV."
That said, he asked me several times with excessive casualness if I was recording 'Hood. Mwahaha, good autumn TV suckers in all.
