Robin Hood 105: "Turk Flu"

In which miners strike, slaves are brought in to replace them, Robin attends an archery competition and the gang gets a new member.

It's time for one of Robin Hood's most famous adventures: the archery competition! Which as we all remember is usually a trap concocted by the Sheriff for Robin, whom he knows can't help but show up and win it. Various versions have involved various more or less elaborate disguises and daring escapes, this one of course does the same.

Instead of doing a traditional take on the competition, here it was incorporated in a more elaborate scheme to once again foil Gisbourne and the Sheriff, involving an iron ore mine, slaves and a good dose of prejudice and superstition. Plus some well-applied Saracen science. 😉

Spoilers below!

This isn't one of the show's better episodes (it's a bit too "all over the place" with the various storylines that are a bit over the top and don't necessarily fit together as they should), but the archery competition is always a fun tale. The episode begins with one of the series' many anachronisms: a strike! (I'm not a historian, but I'm pretty sure that term did not exist in the Middle Ages, and that in any case the laborers who worked in lands and mines and were pretty much serfs would never have dreamed, let alone dared, to stand up to the nobles like that).

Unsafe conditions in a mine lead to deaths, which lead to a strike, which leads to the Sheriff bringing in Saracen slaves to replace the workers. Slaves that Robin and his gang free, but only after they slip among them so they can infiltrate the mine to destroy it and strike a blow at the Sheriff. They're helped by some solid superstition - fear of catching "Turk Flu" just from being in proximity to the Saracens - and Robin's knowledge of forest mushrooms. 😝

At the same time Gisbourne is courting Marian, inviting her to join him at the Sheriff's archery competition as his personal guest. Unfortunately for her, the son of one of the dead miners finds out about Guy's wooing and decides to kill her in retaliation for the killing his father at the mine... Of course Robin finds out, gets there just in time to see Marian talk him down by convincing him to punish Gisbourne by winning the archery competition instead of killing her, and using the silver arrow to feed all the miners' widows. And she tells Robin to "make sure he wins".

Robin "disguised" as Rowan, son of Dunne.

The episode wraps up with the gang getting a new member in the form of Djaq (a.k.a. Safiya), one of the Saracen slaves who pretty much saved them out at the mines through her knowledge of science and medicine. 

Straight out of Sherwood (or not!)

• The Sheriff organizes an archery competition with a silver arrow for the winner as a trap for Robin. Robin goes in disguise and wins it himself... except this time he makes it look like someone else wins it and takes the prize (at Marian's request).

The archery competition shows again how well the Sheriff knows Robin... it's a well-laid trap because he knows Robin can't resist it! Even if Robin pretends at the beginning of the episode that he's not interested (and fooling no one), his whole plan with the mine is part and parcel of his plan to get into the archery competition undetected and win it! 😈

"Much: I knew you'd be like this. If you're so bothered about the archery competition... 

Robin: I'm not! 

M: If you're so bothered, we could always have a little competition here. 

R: I don't want to be in the archery competition! Even if there is a silver arrow for the winner. 

M: Just as well, because by the time we've done a little hunting and had ourselves a decent feast, there will be no time to go to Nottingham and get ourselves hanged!"

Note: The notes for this post were taken when I started the series rewatch last summer, but got carried away with the episodes and never stopped and looked back to finish polishing the posts and adding photos, so posting them now. 😅