Why do I like Harry? Hmmm . . . probably because he's a noble but flawed man who's trying to do an impossible job. Even when he fails, he's mentally strong enough to get back into the game. He may despair but he never gives up.

I like Harry because he's intelligent, resourceful, compassionate and can be ruthless when required and he does an almost impossible job with dignity, integrity and grace. I think he deserves some happiness.

Yep, definitely clucky over Harry!

He has the ability to bring out a very deeply, deeply (really deep) nurturing side in me (Oh baby - come to mummy!)...and a very primal animal tendency (Oooh BABY! Come to MAMA!!!)

(20-05-2010 09:47 PM)picard1109 Wrote:  Yep, definitely clucky over Harry!

He has the ability to bring out a very deeply, deeply (really deep) nurturing side in me (Oh baby - come to mummy!)...and a very primal animal tendency (Oooh BABY! Come to MAMA!!!)

picard1109 - I think you are more that clucky over Harry - You are cuckoo over him!

I Harry too!

(20-05-2010 04:43 PM)JHyde Wrote:  molecatcher said something really interesting over on the Harry and Ruth thread and I think it might be worth discussing here.

"It's his [Harry's] lonely existence that makes for such an endearing character..."

What do you guys think? Is this part of the reason we like Harry, that he's a trifle sad when it comes to his personal life?

Are we all clucky over Harry?

I really liked him even before we found out how sad his personal life has been. I think it's the quirky sense of humour and his way with words that does it for me. I do like that there's one part of his life that he's not brilliant at, it makes him human. But his social awkwardness is actually shown off best when he's trying to interact with Ruth like a normal human being in my opinion.

OK, having posed the question it's my turn to answer it.

If I think back to season 1 Harry, I loved his quick wit, his willingness to protect his staff and mourn their loss and his hard moral line (I happen to agree with his stance in 1.6). I also like that he wasn't prepared to play politics and he tells it how it is, a big plus for me.

I would never say I was clucky over Harry. I think it's more his mind and his awkwardness that I really like.

Yeah, I like those bits too. I wish we could see more of his sense of humour, particularly his sense of irony and his sarcastic side.

I think Harry, like anyone in that line of work, has a moral ambiguity - he has his own moral code and there may be a line he will not cross, but the means to an end may include 'bending' or acting totally outside the bounds of what may be acceptable to most of our society. (Not just Harry, of course. And certainly not just spooks.) And I like that aspect of him, too!

Yeah, I think Silktie and I had a brief discussion of that back after rewatching 3.6 when he tells Zoe that truth is a 'highly elastic concept'.

I do think his line has shifted a bit over the 8 seasons.

I had never really thought of Harry as 'having a lonely existence', especially in the earlier series he is seen going out, sometimes in dinner suits. Just because he is on his own he is not necessarily lonely. He may not want anyone in his life and prefers his job to a partner.

I agree HellsBells, I think he is alone by choice. Married to the service as it were.

Why do I like Harry? One word: integrity. (Not the XY chromosome combination, as Juliet would have one think!) I did not like him a first. I found him to be unforgiving and patronizing. It didn't last long. Theater is at its best when you are watching ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. PF and the various writers have slowly weaved a very human character with some very human flaws placed in some very extraordinary situations. That slow reveal adds to Harry's appeal.