I gave it a fair amount of leeway, given it's a first episode and all, but there were bits which really had me wondering what they were playing at. Sexy vixen tries to seduce handsome stranger while her father isn't looking... in a house without walls. A trench is dug for no clear reason. What's going on?
The arrow-time is unnecessary and irritating, the choppy editing likewise. I can only guess they're going for grabbing the younger viewers who know nothing of the mythos, and wanted the pilot to be flashy, as the second ep does tone it down a bit.
On the positive side, I really like Much. He reminds me of someone (one of the hobbits, probably) and is immensely likeable. Kind of a scruffy Xander. In fact, this is where I think the show is headed: an attempt at a "male" Buffy. Conflicted relationships and angst; awesome powers which must be kept in check most of the time; ensemble cast with an arboreal Scooby Gang. Gisburne could well develop into an interesting character (possibly the show's Spike), as he is simultaneously very nasty yet has much more depth than the mugging Sherriff.
However, they need to make everything a bit less shiny. It's all just too damn clean, and those settlements are tiny - Nottingham seems to be just a castle. Another point in its favour, though, is that it's not just Robin aginst the Sherriff in a vacuum, as the counci puts the dispute into context. There are laws, the Sherriff may think he's above them but he's not entirely. The link to the crusades is also interesting, and (albeit a bit clumsily) is used as a metaphor for modern imperialism, a theme which I think we'll see develop, but whch would be more interesting if the Bush/Blair character wasn't such an old panto dame.
I think the best thing to do is to treat it as an entertainment show with pretensions to quality drama. It's certainly not in the realms of the Praed/Connery show and doesn't want to be. |
