It's possible, Aria, but I don't see what threatening Harry with exposing the affair would gain her. It's not as if he's still married, and an affair is not actually a career-ending move nowadays. She would have more to gain by threatening to tell that he covered up the fact that things went wrong on the operation because he acted against orders, and then covered up the fact that it caused someone's death. That part would not be on file anywhere, as only Harry knew and he covered it up.

Isn't it in Harry's Diary that they found out about the affair and both were officially reprimanded and Harry had to then leave 6 to go back to 5? Also I noticed Juliet was not wearing a wedding ring in 4.1. I assume like Harry, her marriage didn't last.

On a shallow note, I thought Harry looked fantastic in episodes 4.1 and 4.2. Not only did we get him tieless and in shirtsleeves, but he looked really good in those scenes in the HS' office. The way they lit him in those scenes brought out the colour of his eyes nicely.

(15-06-2010 05:31 AM)Silktie Wrote:  On a shallow note, I thought Harry looked fantastic in episodes 4.1 and 4.2. Not only did we get him tieless and in shirtsleeves, but he looked really good in those scenes in the HS' office. The way they lit him in those scenes brought out the colour of his eyes nicely.

Nothing wrong with a shallow note occasionally
For me, I think it was the ripping off, of the tie that did it for me.
Begs the question why we had no tieless and shirtsleeves scenes (apart from a small meeting room scene in 8.8) from 8.2 to 8.8???

Hey everyone, I've been reading through this thread over the past few days and some brilliant posts have been written here about Harry. There's some great analysis of Harry's character and some points that I hadn't even really considered.

I find the poll quite difficult to answer though.. I'd agree that Harry is the lynchpin of the show. He's developed so much over eight series that to no longer have him in Spooks would cause a negative impact. Ruth is brilliant too, but Lucas is my favourite leading man out of all the series, so it's hard to choose.

I've rewatched Series 1 over the past two days and I adore Harry from the very start. What I love about him is his sarcastic and dry sense of humour. He has some cracking one liners, "What do you want? My tongue down your throat?" "Stroke him.... see if he meows!".

I do believe he sees his team like a family in Series 1. Harry treats Danny and Zoe like his children, sometimes refusing that they are involved in the bigger operations and keeping secrets from them, like a parent trying to maintain some of their child's innocence. He does this with Danny and Zoe in a way. There are some things he'd rather they didn't know, as they aren't yet experienced. He treats Tom more like their older brother, who is allowed to be in the know about certain things. He takes Zoe and Danny under his wing and is rather sympathetic towards them - Harry taking Danny's credit cards after he fiddled with his credit rating, but not coming down too hard on him and showing some compassion towards Zoe but politely telling her to get it together after she confesses Tessa's betrayal. Treating the team like a family helps give you the sense that Harry doesn't have a close family of his own, so uses his MI5 team as a replacement for that. Maybe he treats his team like this, as he regrets how he treated his actual family (e.g. Catherine) in the past so he sees his team as a second chance to right his wrongs? Or I could be looking too deep into it..

Getting rid of Tessa showed to us how secure he wants to keep his team. No matter how long he knew Tessa for, he was willing to push whatever personal feelings he had aside and do the best for his team or "family".

3.4 is one of my favourite episodes because we see that different side to Harry. That emotional side where he is forced to connect with his personal feelings and confront his regrets, something you feel he'd rather he didn't do. I hope in Series 9, we have an episode where his son Graham features.

HAHAHA don't worry The Grid. The poll was firmly tongue in cheek when I posted it along with the new thread. Harry is my pick amongst the men, but Lucas runs very close behind. And I know there are others who have a similar thing, either way around.

Neil Cross said something great on one of the commentaries - that Harry is the sort of guy you'd love to have for a boss but not as a dad. But I do think he brings some of his fatherly instincts with him into work.

Great post too

(16-06-2010 02:51 PM)The Grid Wrote:  I do believe he sees his team like a family in Series 1. Harry treats Danny and Zoe like his children, sometimes refusing that they are involved in the bigger operations and keeping secrets from them, like a parent trying to maintain some of their child's innocence. He does this with Danny and Zoe in a way. There are some things he'd rather they didn't know, as they aren't yet experienced. He treats Tom more like their older brother, who is allowed to be in the know about certain things. He takes Zoe and Danny under his wing and is rather sympathetic towards them - Harry taking Danny's credit cards after he fiddled with his credit rating, but not coming down too hard on him and showing some compassion towards Zoe but politely telling her to get it together after she confesses Tessa's betrayal. Treating the team like a family helps give you the sense that Harry doesn't have a close family of his own, so uses his MI5 team as a replacement for that. Maybe he treats his team like this, as he regrets how he treated his actual family (e.g. Catherine) in the past so he sees his team as a second chance to right his wrongs? Or I could be looking too deep into it..

I agree with this especially the bit about Zoe and Danny, I think in later series it is not as obvious as if Harry is more distant from the team

I think you have a point there YFM. He does seem to treat the team as his family in the earlier series. He will do anything to protect them but then he becomes more distant as the series go on, perhaps to protect himself as he loses officers one after the other. I don't think he ever really got close to Ben, Jo, or now Tariq.

(16-06-2010 03:02 PM)JHyde Wrote:  HAHAHA don't worry The Grid. The poll was firmly tongue in cheek when I posted it along with the new thread. Harry is my pick amongst the men, but Lucas runs very close behind. And I know there are others who have a similar thing, either way around.

Neil Cross said something great on one of the commentaries - that Harry is the sort of guy you'd love to have for a boss but not as a dad. But I do think he brings some of his fatherly instincts with him into work.

Great post too

Oh haha ok no worries

I think I'd love to go for a drink with Harry - his sense of humour really appeals to me and I think we would have a right laugh. He is better as a boss it seems, opposed to a father.

YourFutureMuse - I agree that in later series, we see less of Harry as a father type figure. I'd love in Series 9, for Harry to adopt a father type role again if there are some new recruits that join from training - protecting his country like as if it's his own child, as well as protecting the new recruits of his team like they are his son and daughter. A lot of emotion within the team has been lost, so a return to this dynamic would be great!

Wanted to comment on the Harry and Ruth scenes in 4.3. Harry seemed to have given up trying to hide his interest in Ruth in this episode. Whenever they're in a scene together, he gazes at her adoringly, and he's doling out compliments and telling her how much he trusts her at every opportunity. Oh, Harry, you really have it bad, don't you?

ETA: Oops! Wrong thread. Sorry, I meant to post this in the Harry/Ruth thread. I'll copy it to that thread.