Recap / Robin Hood S 03 E 09 A Dangerous Deal

Robin tries to negotiate a working arrangement with Isabella in her role as Nottingham's new Sheriff, but soon finds himself forced to help her with the return of her repulsive husband, Squire Thornton. Meanwhile, Guy, languishing in prison awaiting execution, finds a sympathetic ear in the most unlikely place.

Tropes

• Aborted Arc: The last five episodes have heavily featured a Love Triangle between Kate, Allan and Much. As of this episode it gets dropped like a hot potato, never to be seen or mentioned again.
• Achilles in His Tent: Much takes a 10-Minute Retirement after Kate asks him for help in hooking up with Robin. He returns as soon as he realizes the gang is in danger.
• Ancient Tomb: Meg knows of an ancient Viking burial mound filled with treasure, using it to distract Thornton from harming Isabella.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Squire Thornton is a complete monster, and the brief glimpse of Meg's father demonstrates he's no prize either.
• Arranged Marriage: In her first act as Lady Sheriff, Isabella liberates Meg from her father's attempts to force her into one of these.
• Awful Wedded Life: An extremely dark example, as when Thornton finally turns up to collect his wife, it becomes clear why Isabella was fleeing from him in terror in the first place.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason why Guy and Meg end up falling for each other.
• Character Shilling: Taken to new heights of excess for Kate, who is described by Little John as “worth more than any treasure” and Robin as “brave, compassionate and beautiful,” with no on-screen demonstration of either claim.
• Demoted to Extra: Allan’s contribution to this episode is two sexist remarks and an ignorant comment regarding what Valhalla is.
• Disaster Dominoes: The events of this episode, particularly to do with Isabella's state of mind, lead directly to the deaths of Allan, Guy and Robin himself in the Grand Finale.
• Disposable Woman: Poor Meg, whose ultimate purpose is to exist as an Expy of Marian, provide Guy with someone to project his guilt and misery onto, and die tragically in order to motivate his Redemption Quest.
• Extremely Short Time Span: The final four episodes of the show (starting from the end of this one) take place over only four days and nights. This is notable since long stretches of time can and have passed between episodes in the past, but the events that occur from this point on make any interim gaps between the episodes impossible.
• Facepalm: See page image.
• Forceful Kiss: How Kate lets Robin know she's interested. Thornton also forces one on Isabella when he interrupts her inaugural speech as Sheriff on the steps of Nottingham Castle.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Isabella and Kate, towards each other.
• Ignored Epiphany: Two episodes ago, Robin ended his relationship with Isabella based on the fact that he was Married to the Job, with a side-helping of It's Not You, It's My Enemies and a conscious decision to avoid Moving Beyond Bereavement. At the end of this episode, he decides to begin a romantic relationship with Kate, despite all the reasons he broke up with Isabella still applying.
• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Despite his broken heart, Much agrees to help Kate in her romantic pursuit of Robin.
• Informed Kindness: Incredibly, Robin describes Kate as “compassionate” at the end of an episode in which she’s been self-absorbed at best and downright viperous at worst – and certainly hasn’t demonstrated an ounce of compassion to anyone at any point.
• I Surrender, Suckers: A variant: when Thornton threatens to kill her, Isabella falls to her knees and begs for her life, promising never to disobey him again. Satisfied that she's suitably cowed, Thornton tells Isabella to get up, allowing her to get close enough for a killing blow.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Thornton spends the entire episode (and it's implied, twenty previous years) abusing Isabella for no reason but his own amusement. He dies when Isabella finally has enough and kills him.
• Left Hanging: After Kate kisses Robin, he demurs from her desire to enter a relationship, citing Much as a reason not to. This leads to Kate asking Much to tell Robin they're just friends so that he feels free to pursue her. Much sadly agrees, but though there's a brief scene in which he approaches Robin with "something to tell you", the presumed attempt to give his blessing is interrupted. By the end of the episode, Robin and Kate have hooked up without giving Much any further thought, despite both knowing he was an obstacle to any Relationship Upgrade. Much's feelings on the whole matter, which the writers have drawn ample attention to, are left completely up in the air and never touched on in any subsequent episodes.
• The Millstone: Though this is a rare episode in which Kate at least does not get captured or held hostage, her presence makes life considerably more difficult for everyone, whether she’s pestering Robin to reciprocate her feelings, manipulating Much to near-fatal distraction by asking him to be her Romantic Wingman, or acting sulky and resentful that the outlaws are attempting to cooperate with the new Sheriff. Robin grows visibly more exasperated by her behavior over the course of the episode, and at a critical moment she outright prevents him from shooting Thornton, which leads directly to a much more violent and consequential confrontation between husband and wife in Isabella’s bedroom. As ever, events would have gone much more smoothly had Kate not been involved.
• Morality Pet: Meg is this for Isabella, and then for Guy, helping the latter come to terms with his murder of Marian. When Isabella discovers Meg trying to free Guy from imprisonment, it becomes a case of Kick the Morality Pet.
• Murder by Inaction: Kate attempts this twice, first when she prevents Robin from taking a killing shot at Thornton while he's chasing Isabella into the castle, and later by attempting to stop him from returning to Isabella's bedroom to finish Thornton off once and for all. Both times it's very clear that she's hoping Isabella will be killed by her Abusive Spouse.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Guy gets the chance to bond with Meg (clearly an Expy of Marian), winning her trust and gaining her affection, and then attempting to save her life rather than taking it. Unfortunately, she ends up dead anyway.
• No Sympathy: Aside from a brief acknowledgement that Thornton "really is a pig", Kate and the other outlaws don't care in the slightest that Isabella is being stalked by an obviously unhinged Abusive Spouse. By the end of the episode, Kate is actively encouraging Robin to leave Isabella to a violent death at his hands.
• Not Distracted by the Sexy: Touched upon in the brief conversation between Isabella and Little John, which ends up being John's fatal mistake. When he tells Isabella that Robin has no further romantic or sexual interest in her, and instead "has eyes for Kate", Isabella realizes that she has no power over him and decides to break their deal.
• Oblivious to Love: Robin is uncharacteristically rendered speechless when Kate suddenly kisses him, despite the fact she hasn’t exactly been subtle in her romantic interest.
• Out-of-Character Moment: The usually taciturn Little John inexplicably decides to start meddling in Robin's love life, becoming a Shipper on Deck and The Matchmaker for Robin/Kate. First he warns off Isabella by informing her that Robin "has eyes for Kate", and then urges Robin to hook up with Kate, saying: "she's worth more than any treasure, so don't let her slip through your fingers." There's really no In-Universe reason for him to do any of this — he jeopardizes the necessary alliance with Isabella, he doesn't actually know Kate that well, and it's very apparent that Robin is still grieving for Marian (plus, who Robin choses to be with is none of his business anyway). As such, it just comes across as the writers piling on even more tedious Character Shilling for Kate.
  • Allan scoffs at the thought of Isabella becoming Sheriff, sarcastically muttering: “sure, and let’s have a donkey for Archbishop.” He’s never been heard to utter any sexist sentiments like this before, having deeply respected the capabilities of former female teammates Marian and Djaq.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Much decides to abandon the other outlaws on realizing that Kate is in love with Robin, though he returns on realizing that his friends are walking into a trap.
• Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Kate by proxy. When a terrified Isabella is being chased by her Abusive Spouse, who is clearly intending to inflict serious violence upon her, Kate physically tries to prevent Robin from going to her aid, stating: “she doesn’t deserve our help!” The moment is considered the absolute nadir of an already deeply unpopular character.
• Romantic Wingman: Kate tries to talk Much into becoming this for herself and Robin, breaking his heart in the process.
• Shipper on Deck: Little John encourages Robin to enter a relationship with Kate, telling him: "she's worth more than any treasure, so don't let her slip through your fingers."
• Skewed Priorities: Little John, Much and Kate are more interested in Robin's love-life than anything else going on in the episode, which also includes Guy of Gisborne's imminent execution, an Abusive Spouse hellbent on killing his wife and taking her place as Sheriff of Nottingham, and a secret treasure hoard belonging to the Vikings.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Even those among the outlaws who dislike Isabella sympathize with her for having to suffer marriage to Thornton.
  Kate: [about Thornton] He really is a pig, isn't he?
  Robin: At last, something you and Isabella agree on.
• Tears of Remorse: Guy sheds some of these while he's awaiting execution, finally admitting he has no one to blame but himself for Marian's death.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Tired of being abused by her husband and dictated to by Robin, Isabella ends the episode firmly in this territory.
• This Cannot Be!: Thornton's reaction when Isabella fatally stabs him. Clearly, he never believed his wife would ever stand up to his abuse.
  Thornton: [dying and disbelieving] What have you done?!
  Isabella: What I should have done years ago.
• Tragic One-Shot Character: Meg, whose purpose is to act as a Replacement Goldfish for Guy, allowing him to finally come to terms with his murder of Marian. This time however, Meg forgives him before dying prettily in his arms after a Last Kiss, essentially giving Guy the chance to play the role of savior instead of killer this time around.
• The Unfair Sex: When Thornton arrives in Nottingham, he plants a Forceful Kiss on Isabella in front of the crowd, which is rightfully portrayed as a violation. But not five seconds later, Kate bestows a similarly Forceful Kiss on Robin. Even though Robin is visibly uncomfortable, she's not depicted as having done anything wrong.
  • Likewise, the previous episode saw Kate scolding Much and Allan for letting their romantic interest in her distract them from concentrating on the mission at hand. In this episode, she's constantly interrupting missions in order to pursue her interest in Robin, and nobody ever calls her out on it. The writers seem completely oblivious to this Double Standard.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Little John. Robin attempts to forge an alliance with Isabella, and the two come to a tenuous agreement. Unfortunately, Robin asks Little John to escort Isabella home, during which John feels the need to tell Isabella that Robin "has eyes for Kate". This achieves nothing except pissing Isabella off, making her question just how much influence she has over Robin, and leading her to turn on him at the next available opportunity. Nice job antagonizing the valuable ally, John.
• Villain Has a Point: When Isabella decides to turn on Robin, she tells him she's sick of being threatened and isn't particularly interested in taking orders from him, especially after his shabby treatment of her. It's hard to argue with that logic.