Sherwood S1 E3

## Plot

I should mention that this show is rated TV-Y7, meaning it's meant for children seven and up. I mean, I can think of other shows (*Star Wars: The Clone Wars*, *Star Wars: Rebels*, Code Lyoko, Elena of Avalor, etc.) with the same or similar rating that go darker than this, and this is set in a realistic dystopian future! Also, Robin is specifically fourteen years old. Or was it fifteen? The wiki isn't super helpful except when it comes to names. For example, Iniko's submarine is called Amphy, he walks around barefoot, and he has webbed hands and feet. He doesn't have gills, so it's simply assumed that he can hold his breath longer than most people, and that's why he's never shown using a futuristic rebreather like everyone else. Gripper is based on Little John, Juba is based on Much the Miller's son, Rose is based on Will Scarlet, and Iniko is based on Will Stutely, and possibly also Maid Marian. Most adaptations of the legend only keep Little John and Maid Marian. Gisbourne and his father are looking at the upgraded Drobos. These ones will be functional at all depths. They've been in the tanks for 72 hours now. They won't know if that's long enough until they test them in the field, and the sheriff orders Gisbourne to get them out there immediately. Robin, Iniko, and Rose are running away from Drobos. I love Iniko's design and voice, but I think his giant fish hook weapon is stupid. It looks too much like Robin's staff, and it also makes Iniko, who is a thief and a pirate, look like a shepherd with a crook. I doubt this is intentional, but it's also another word for a criminal, so at least there's that neat tidbit. Anyways, Robin takes out the two Drobos, and says they should hide as another one comes. She wonders how they keep tracking them. They let the other Drobo in on purpose. It goes straight for Rose. Robin gets behind it and shuts it down with the gauntlet. She still has no idea how they keep following them though, and decides to lose them in the market. Gisbourne tells his father that the tracker is working perfectly, and the sheriff reminds him that while "she" is more valuable alive, he can do what he has to. Who are they talking about? They either mean Rose because of the tracking device, or they mean Robin because of the gauntlet. Which is it? Your audience should not be confused about such basic things while watching your show, unless it's the intention for them to be confused, and only momentarily as a bait and switch or something. Meanwhile, Juba is watching Gripper fish while singing a song in another language. I think it's either in Gujarati or Hausa, meaning Juba and Gripper are either Indian or they're from an African country, possibly Nigeria. Anyways, Gripper is teaching Juba how to fish. Robin, Iniko, and Rose show up, and Iniko points out more Drobos. Gripper tears off one of their tentacles, and Juba takes it. I don't really like the fight scenes. Nothing really feels like it has an impact. I don't know how to describe it. Nothing feels heavy. It's like everything is a tenth of what it would weigh in real life. Anyways, they go into the water to escape, and Gisbourne deploys the upgraded Drobos. An old turbine almost pulls them in, but Gripper is able to temporarily jam the blades. One of the Drobos is destroyed when it starts spinning again, everyone else is pulled inside it, and Gisbourne has lost Rose's tracker signal. All throughout the episode, Iniko has been questioning Robin on why she gets to be the leader and make all the decisions. Now they're in an old hyper-gyre turbine. Rose points out that both of them thought that Drobos couldn't swim, but they were clearly wrong. They couldn't, until today. They knew what they were planning to do before they did, like they have someone on the inside. Juba can't resisting touching stuff, and when she scrapes the tentacle against a machine, it suddenly activates a vandal alert and locks them all inside the room. Four out of five faces are red and frowning. Gripper tries to force the door open, but can't, and when he bangs his normal arm against the door, the final face also turns red. Basically, they're trapped. Rose wonders what they'll do now, and Iniko tells her to ask their fearless leader. She may have just gotten them out of a mess, but then she led them into an even bigger one. An old computer turns on and chimes. Now three of the faces are yellow, and two are red. Juba experiments with the tentacle and finds out that it has a claw inside it. Gripper taps something, which activates a presentation… about humanity's tragic past. Specifically, Africa, the lost continent. Something called the Lighthouse Review said, "If only we could go back to this amazing time." Oh no. They're in an old people's history museum. They're amazed to see so much green land and no water. Rose identifies the animals as giraffes. They used to live in a place called Africa. Gripper didn't know what they were, and Robin is amazed that they're real. Rose tells them that a place called the Serengeti was filled with animals, like gorillas and birds, and all sorts of vegetation. That's a protected ecosystem in Tanzania. Gripper says that's fancy talk for a sea cropper. He thinks that's the kind of garbage someone would learn in a nice Upper City school. Rose claims that it's just something she heard. And then they hear the voice of none other than Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, and the first African-American one, making a speech about climate change in 2016. God, I miss him so much. Iniko thinks his name is 2-0-1-6, but Rose tells him that it's a year before the floods. She thinks that climate change was a hoax though, and the floods were inevitable. Oh god. Robin tells her that's garbage. Tui knows better. Rose says if it was real, then why didn't anyone before them do anything to stop it? Ironically, while the year 2020 seemed determined to end the world with a global pandemic, all of the lockdowns, quarantines, and lack of travel were actually good for the planet. The air and the sky were so much clearer than they were before, but it's obviously not an instant fix for every environmental issue ever. Gripper says that land is gone for good, and that's that. The lights come on as the five faces all turn yellow. Iniko wants to bring the vintage tech back up with them to the surface, and says upper crusters buy them for… duseums, and Rose tells him that it's museums. He gets a photo taken of himself. Robin tells him that waltzing into the Upper City and selling antiques is a bad idea. Iniko says they could trade it. If it's old, it could be worth something. However, trying to pull it out of the wall triggers the vandal alert again. All five faces are red, and the lights turn off. Gripper says he can see something. Robin tells Rose that she's glowing, but she says she's not. The lights turn back on. Robin says there's something in Rose's neck. She looks at it with the gauntlet, and sees the tracking data that she downloaded from the Drobo. It's tracking whatever is inside Rose's neck. Gripper thinks she's a spy, but she says she's not and claims that she's from Sherwood. Iniko admits that Gripper has a point. She knows things that they don't, and she has fancy clothes and gadgets. She admits that she is from the Upper City, but she didn't want to be there. She reminds Robin that she was a prisoner in the Cube and helped her escape. More like you tagged along, but whatever. She was in there because she ran away, and she ran away because she wanted to get out. Gripper points out that she never had to look over her shoulder or worry about where her next meal came from. She says it's not a luxury. They're always being watched. It's like a living death up there. She was put in prison because her own parents reported her. If you don't report illegal activity, you could lose your residential status and get deported, or worse. Gripper doesn't bother to even pretend to feel bad for her, and she says she didn't know they put a bug in her neck. They set her up. Robin says she should've told her that she was an upper cruster. She put everything at risk: Them, Juba, Tui, and the kelpotein. I love that even in universe, Robin doesn't treat Juba as a part of their group. I like to imagine that she realizes how useless she is. Rose apologizes and says she didn't tell them the truth because she knew how much they hated the Upper City. Robin says she should've trusted them like they trusted her. Um, Gripper has never trusted her. And we're only three episodes in. This almost broken pedestal type fight between the protagonists usually happens towards the end of the story, just before the climax. Robin tells Rose that it's too late, and Iniko says that for once, he agrees with her. Rose insists that she's on their side, but when Gripper tells her that's just what you'd expect from a cruster, she asks him if that's all he sees, and says that maybe her parents were right about his kind. The machine can tell that they're fighting, which makes the faces turn red again, and causes the room to flip upside down. Gripper says they're doomed thanks to Rose, and all of the faces turn red again, which makes the room flip again. Iniko calls Robin Miss Leader and asks her where her bright ideas are now. Robin has finally figured it out. The room's AI can hear them, and it's reacting to them fighting. Since they're freaking out, it's freaking out. She pushes something in, which makes the room spin again. The AI is confused from all of the different vibes they're giving off, but it is listening. Now there are only two red faces. Robin calmly tells Rose that unlike her, they don't get to choose where they live, because her people left them there to die after the floods. On top of clearly being about the environment, the show also has a socioeconomic angle, since it's about the lower class rising up and overthrowing a dictator, and probably also the upper class people who benefit from their abuse, but as Rose shows, it's not exactly a picnic for them either, and while they are being educated, important information has been purposefully omitted to color their world views and make their horrible leaders look good, they're being spied on, and they're threatened with harsh punishments for not doing what their leader wants them to do. Basically, TV-Y7 version of North Korea, China, Russia, or any other fascist or totalitarian regime. Anyways, Rose says that everyone could've lived in the city, but the sea croppers wanted something else. Iniko asks her if she really believes that garbage, and she says she doesn't know. That's what they taught her in school, but now she's down here and sees how they live. She apologizes again and says she had no idea. Gripper says that doesn't matter. They're dead meat because of her. The AI detects his anger as he yells at her for carrying on the great tradition of upper– Luckily, Robin interrupts him when the AI gets to four red faces. Rose understands that they'll never be safe as long as the tracker is in her neck. If they find a way out, she'll surrender to get the bad guys away from them. Juba, who has been dead silent since the presentation began six TV minutes ago, doesn't want her to though. She uses the claw from the tentacle to get the tracker out of Rose's neck. How?! Seriously, she's a child, not a surgeon! Robin takes the tracker. Rose thanks Juba and hugs her, and the lights come back on. Gripper tells Robin that she's wrong about Rose and about this place, and bangs on the door again. The faces all turn red again, and they hear water start coming in. Iniko blames him, saying that now they're going to drown. Gripper tells him to do something instead of standing around talking, he tells Gripper to shut up, and Robin yells at them both to be quiet. She knows that the world doesn't have to be like this, but in order for it to change, it's going to take all of them: Sea croppers, sea pirates, salt miners, refugees, and even some upper crusters. The bad guys keep telling them that they can't trust each other. They'll never prove them wrong if the five of them can't even work together. They have to be a team. The water stops coming in, and the AI goes back down to two red faces. Rose apologizes to them all for lying. Gripper says he's a little sorry, and the lights come back on as the AI goes down to just one red face. Robin says they have to think together for the AI to understand them. It works, and all the doors open. Iniko admits that Robin isn't a half bad leader after all, and she says he's the best Drobo bait a girl could ever ask for. Gripper and Rose look at each other. Are they… flirting? Badly? Robin and Iniko that is, with Gripper and Rose noticing it? They get back to where they were at the beginning of the episode, since the hyper-gyre connects to the one in the market. They put the tracker in the deactivated Drobo, and Robin uses the gauntlet to tweak its code. Gisbourne picks up the signal again, and his father orders him to send every available Drobo. They attack each other and blow up. Robin gives everyone an opportunity to back out of the team and go back to working on their own terms, but Iniko refuses and tells her to lead on.