Robin Hood (TV series)/Recap/S01/E01 Will You Tolerate This?

Robin of Locksley and his manservant Much return home from the crusades, and following a series of adventures with some guards apprehending a poacher and a weaver and his daughter digging a ditch, discover that the Sheriff of Nottingham and the interim lord of Locksley, Sir Guy of Gisborne, are brutalising the people. Robin receives a hostile welcome from the former Sheriff, Edward, but is pleased to find his daughter, Marian (to whom Robin was once betrothed), is still unmarried.

Robin confronts the Sheriff at the Council of Nobles and suggests abolishing all taxes, but the Sheriff bites back; later, Robin learns that Will and Luke Scarlett, as well as Allan-a-Dale, are due to be hanged the next day. He meets in secret with Edward and Marian, who inform him that it is a test, and that he should not interfere, instead playing the "long game".

The next day, Robin is to oversee the hanging of the four men, and after a failed trick to protect them under benefit of clergy, the hanging begins. At the last moment, Robin has a change of heart and rescues all four of them, plus Much, who was being held hostage by the Sheriff. Robin, Much, Will and Allan retreat to Sherwood Forest, where they are confronted by Little John and his men.

Tropes

 * Brief Accent Imitation: The first appearance of this talent of Allan-a-Dale's.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: The Sheriff's decision to hang four men for stealing flour.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: In these first two episodes the director seemed fond of an editing technique that involved split-second cuts that showed certain scenes from different angles or close-ups. See Robin backflipping from the weaver's house, or the zoom-in on Marian's hair-clip.
 * Rousing Speech: Robin. "Will you tolerate this injustice? I, for one, will not!"
 * Title Drop: The episode title, in Robin's Rousing Speech (see above).
 * What Happened to The Mouse: Ultimately subverted with Luke Scarlett, who reappears a series later in The Angel of Death. Played straight with Benedict Giddens (the fourth man due to be hanged) and the man who pretends to be a priest as part of Robin's first attempt to stop the hanging, neither of whom appear or are mentioned again.