||SPOILERS|| There were moments early on in this episode where I thought we might be in for something fun and exciting, but then a particularly terrible subplot and a lion made their appearance...Guy (Richard Armitage) is back, sending local women's hearts all a-flutter, having somehow convinced Prince John that he isn't to blame for the failure to capture Robin Hood (Jonas Armstrong). Now he's been given autonomy and a personal army of highly-trained soldiers to capture Hood's men, before unleashing his "secret weapon" (oo-er, misses.) Deep in Sherwood, Robin helps a beautiful woman called Isabella (Lara Pulver) avoid Guy's men, and she becomes embroiled in the dastardly villain's scheme to carefully herd Robin's men into a forest clearing, where his secret weapon is revealed to be... a hungry lion.
Little John (Gordon Kennedy), separated from the others after they temporarily split up, chances upon a travelling circus led by Bertha of Bath (a bloated Denise Black), a fiery woman on her way to Nottingham with her troupe of gladiators and children. She offers Little John sanctuary from Guy's men, but only if he'll agree to become a gladiator and fight as entertainment in Nottingham Castle's courtyard. John agrees, but after Bertha's ordered by the Sheriff (Keith Allen) to give him an extortionate amount of her takings, she persuades him to accept the public death of one of Hood's men as payment, and thus makes plans to ensure Little John's unwittingly participating in a gladiatorial fight to the death.
The script by Lisa Holdsworth (Waterloo Road, New Tricks) features a lot of running around, often apparently in search of a decent story. The Little John subplot felt undercooked in the extreme; so much so that when John forms another bond with a cute kid (Walt, played nicely by James Buckley), the relationship is never one we really believe in, or care about. Denise Black tries her best as Bertha, but it's a bland role in a story that feels like padding.
Robin's storyline is a bit more engaging, at least to begin with. It's about time Guy just combed through the forest with a ridiculous amount of men to catch Hood, but he makes another fatal error by overcomplicating matters. Why get a hungry lion involved, when a circle of men each firing a crossbow would do the trick? Robin's means of escape from that situation (shooting pouches of mustard powder thrown into the air with arrows, to asphyxiate the lion and Guy's army) probably worked better on the page than it did when filmed.
On the plus side, Lara Pulver feels like a worthwhile introduction as Lady Isabella (who we later learn is Guy's sister he sold into servitude), and an unlikely contender as someone to heal Robin's broken heart -– which would certainly toy with Guy's affections for his sister, if she starts dating his mortal enemy! I guess Kate (Joanne Froggatt) will have to pick between Much (Sam Troughton) and Allan (Joe Armstrong), then? Tuck (David Harewood) might be celibate and Little John would probably snap her like a twig, see.
Overall, "Let The Games Commence" was the usual baudy nonsense, but it was nice to see Guy back on the scene (one of the few actors whose presence raises the show a notch.) It's just a shame Robin Hood is so resolutely determined to undermine itself in the details (dubbing "tweeting birdsong" when John is struck about the head, and yelling "Gladiators, reeeady!" like referee John Anderson), and the storyline ultimately felt meandering and a bit pointless.
25 April 2009
BBC1, 6.15pm
Writer: Lisa Holdsworth
Director: Patrick Lau
Cast: Jonas Armstrong (Robin), Richard Armitage (Guy), David Harewood (Tuck), Keith Allen (Sheriff), Gordon Kennedy (Little John), Sam Troughton (Much), Joe Armstrong (Allan), Lara Pulver (Isabella), Joanne Froggatt (Kate), Denise Black (Bertha), James Buckley (Walt) & Matt Devere (Elite Guard)
