The second season of BBC's new and updated Robin Hood series kicks off with a bang following the dramatic conclusion to the first. The Sheriff (Keith Allen) and Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) have gathered together all their cohorts for a meeting in Nottingham Castle. Under the name of "the Black Knights" they plot to kill King Richard when he returns from the Holy Lands and divide England amongst themselves. Everyone looks to Robin Hood (Jonas Armstrong) to stop them and he has to act fast, but no matter how much he wants too he can't just outright kill the Sheriff. Because if the Sheriff goes missing Prince John will send an army to kill everyone and burn Nottingham and the surrounding areas to the ground. The race is on to come up with a plan before the Black Knight's sign their pact of alliegance.
Robin also has some troubles with Marian (Lucy Griffiths). They are finally free too be together, but she is too impulsive to follow his orders and he doesn't want to risk her getting hurt. A much bigger problem however, is the fact that the Sheriff suddenly seem to be several steps ahead of Robin and his gang every time they put together a plan to steal something from him. It's looking more and more likely that they could have a traitor in their midst...
Overall this second season is bigger and better than the first. Most of the first season’s flaws has been ironed out. The fights for instance which had some irritating quick-cuts and random flashes in the beginning of the series are handled much more realistically this time around and are overall more brutal. There are some too spectacular archery feats here and there, but that is par for the course in a Robin Hood tale.
The threats from the Sheriff and his men and allies are also greater than ever and Robin has trouble keeping his own gang together. There's so many great storylines and twists that it make most of the episodes feel as important as last year’s finale. For instance when the Sheriff disappears and the army starts marching towards Nottingham as Gisborne and Robin desperately try to find him or when the Black Knights all get together to sign their pact. Most of them are seemingly stand-alone, but some plot points ties together towards the end. The season finale, where we finally get to see King Richard, is very good, although the ending was quite surprising (if a bit of a rehash from last year...) and it could bring down the third season.
Robin Hood is still a lighthearted and fun-filled action adventure, however, and should not be taken too seriously as it doesn't make any attempts to be anything else. There's not much more to the characters than what you see on the surface and there's quite a few clichés thrown around. The series doesn't exactly strive to be historically correct either. The language is very modern and some things appear chronologically long before they should (like gun powder and metal armor), but it's all presented in a relatively plausible way and "put back in the box" afterwards so that it doesn't change the dynamics of the series too much.
Despite these drawbacks the series is still high quality entertainment and it has very good production values. Though some computer effects might stick out here and there you always feel the big scope of the series. There definitely isn't a lack of wide shots of forests or villages. Nottingham and the castle also look good and, though I'm not expert, it looks very much like England to me despite the fact that it's all filmed in Hungary.
The characters themselves are also improved a bit and all get times to shine and handle it pretty well. Jonas Armstrong seems much more comfortable with the role as Robin now than in the first series. He pulls off the characters new conflict between being a little too cocky and self-centered and at the same time genuinely concerned for the people of Nottingham very well. Robin's also a bit more brutal this time around after he dropped his no killing policy last year. Lucy Griffiths does a good job this time around too as Marion has to tend to her sick father and at the same time try to help Robin gather information. That is much harder now as her double life as the vigilante "Nightwatchman" is close to be revealed and she is watched closely by Gisborne and the Sheriff at all times.
The rest of Robin’s gang are smaller roles, but there are a few episodes which focus more on each of them. All round they do good jobs, but don't really stand out more than in series 1 except for "the traitor" who goes through some very interesting developments.
The villains of the tale are once again the great Keith Allen as the Sheriff and Richard Armitage as his right hand man, Guy of Gisborne. Allen continues his fantastically menacing and sarcastic portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham as he sets his new master plan into motion. Armitage's Guy is one of best characters in this show and this time he starts out much darker because of the events in last season’s finale. He's a lover scorn and dedicates himself to hunt down Robin and his gang, sparing no means. The character does lighten up a bit again towards the end however and even gets a heroic moment which makes Marion regret that she left him, but he is still very much the Sheriffs loyal and obedient guard dog.
Overall this second series is a big improvement on the first. The stories feel more important and it's filled with fun and interesting developments. There's still the fact that it's far from a realistic view on the Hood myth, which might turn off some, and some of the characters could be rounded out a bit more, but as a fun action adventure this is top notch.
9 / 10
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