Robin Hood 106: "The Taxman Cometh"

In which the Sheriff sets yet another trap for Robin, but gets more than he bargained for.

This story appears to be all original, although it does involve stealing of taxes and continues to play with disguises and trickery and people who are not what they seem in order to trick either Robin or the Sheriff.

Appearances can be doubly deceiving...

That and Gisbourne doesn't let up on his wooing of Marian.

Spoilers below!

The main storyline of this episode involves a Tax Inspector, an Abbess and quite a bit of subterfuge...

Remember what I've said about the dialogue being a bit off? Check out the mouthful a captured taxman tells Robin and his gang:

"This is 1192 my friend, the time for heroes is gone. This is the age of the bookkeeper now."

 *cringe*

This taxman comes with wonderful news: all the taxes from the North are being held in Nottingham Castle before being transferred to London. Which of course leads to Robin thinking up some scheme of how to get into the vault and steal it all.

The Taxman agrees to help them (they keep his son hostage), gets them to the vault... then locks them in! He's a fake in cahoots with the Sheriff to trap them... Of course they get out thanks to some quick thinking on Will's part, and treat us to some good swashbuckling and a fun hostage situation on their way out. 😉

Is the Sheriff happy to be in Robin's arms? A clue. No!

Meanwhile an Abbess shows up alone in Nottingham, after her entourage was attacked by outlaws while they were on pilgrimage to Canterbury. Gisbourne shows a surprising bit of humanity here, as he seeks to protect and help her, only to be mocked by the Sheriff for it. 

It's interesting to hear the Sheriff's criticism the Clergy, mirroring a frequent criticism of the leaders of Convents and Monasteries by politicians a few centuries later during the Reformation (and also similar to Robin Hood's arguments when he robs high ranking members of the clergy in old stories)

"They call themselves Father Abbot and Mother Superior. They call themselves by parents' names so we don't notice they're getting fat at our expense. They are parasites dressed as pious." Sheriff to Gisbourne

The third axis of this episode continues Gisbourne's wooing of Marian, who brings gifts as he renews his attentions. She keeps trying to politely rebuff him, but he doesn't want to get the message. Her father thinks she should accept, tries to order her to do so, and stop being the Nightwatchman, or else leave the house...

"Marian: Please, I do not need gifts. 

Gisbourne: No. You need a husband. This world is not safe for a woman alone. Outlaws."

Marian tells Robin she wants to leave home so she can do what she wants to do, what she thinks is wise. The current situation is not enough. She goes to see the Abbess and tells her she wants to join an Abbey as a novice, for a year to learn "patience", to find her place. Of course Gisbourne is wholly unhappy with this turn of events.

But lo and behold, it turns out the Abbess is a fake, in league with the fake taxman and they stole the tax money! Of course Robin figures it out, and steals it from them,

In the end Marian convinces her father to accept her for who she is and support her, as well as protect her "from the Gisbournes of this world", in exchange for not going to the abbey. But he already knew by that point that the Abbess was a fake (Gisbourne stopped by), he agreed to her terms unnecessarily because he realized the daughter he had was the daughter he wanted.

Straight out of Sherwood (or not!)

• Crooked Clergy - Even if here it's fake clergy, the references to their dishonesty echo many of the Robin Hood stories.
• You end up getting used to it (similar to the off dialogue bits), but it does seem weird to see Marian in her very modern clothes (trousers!) and riding astride all the time instead of sidesaddle...

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. 😅