Well Kai is an interesting character.

It’s unclear at the beginning what his function is at the embassy. It appears he is a low ranking official or at least that’s what MI5 seem to think, Beth tells him he’s “not that important” when she is trying to turn him. But then he is able to inform them that the embassy are aware of the break in (at the dead of night) as it is happening. Is he doing overtime or what? Kai does then ‘turn’ quickly.

If I’m not mistaken Kai’s boss turns out to be Shao - the CSS section head. He is also able to turn the tables, at gun point, on two of the highly trained CSS squad when the van is stopped by Lucas, Beth and SO19.

It’s all a bit mysterious.

Did anyone catch exactly what Kai say’s to Beth at the end, before he goes back to the embassy. Something like “Remember me to ‘paulina’ “ ??

Just watched it and loved the plot - fairly neat, well-balanced in terms of teamwork, variety of speed, stealth etc, just enough twists to keep up the interest.

However (speaking as a Lucas fan) I am increasingly frustrated waiting for a great revelation of who he really is. I find it's too drawn out - I'm convinced there will be a twist towards the end but 7 or 8 weeks is a long time to wait.

Albany is just a case name so I'm not sure about reading too much into that one word - Sugarhorse involved neither sugar nor horses

Ok, Stephen Owen is 22yrs old, born 1989. His record says he is an Agent with 8 years service. So...

1) Kudos error.
2) The record is false. Hastily constructed.
3) Stephen really did start working for MI5 when he was 14yrs old.
4) None of the above....

Very sharp-eyed Tea lady !! Can't believe you spotted that.

I'm just going to be rude and barge in with my opinion and read the 6+ pages later!

Filming: Back to basic Spooks camera work this week. It was simple and predictable filming. The steady cam is back. However, just as I would become hyper-aware of it, it would stop, so I didn't get too sea sick. I did notice that they were using the split screen trick well though. They used it only when necessary and not as a matter of course because that is the "look" of Spooks.

Plot: Well, I'm going to have to watch it a couple of times to catch it all. I felt like I had just gotten off the bumper car ride at an amusement park by the end. I felt kind of beat up - but in an entertaining way.

Character:

Loved Kai. Can't beat a sympathetic asset - triple agent or not.

Lucas - stiiiiiilll waiting....

Harry - He's back! Yea!

Ruth - was she just the tits in the field, or what!?!

Beth - great development through Kai. Well done Kudos.

Tariq - I don't understand most of what he is saying but he sounds convincing.

Dimitri - Better development but I would still like more. Loved his line about melting the bomb trigger. Handy that he had a lighter on him. I have been waiting for the motorcycle race through London too.

Towers - I am greatly enjoying the pissing match between Harry and Towers. The expression on Harry's face after Towers says that if your roll over sometimes you get your belly scratched made me laugh so hard that I almost spit water out of my nose.

New CIA dude - Just to get this out of the way - good accent. That out of the way, I didn't buy it when this guy showed up with an audaciously large bag of Fish & Chips and was gobsmacked that it is served with vinegar. I thought, has this guy been living under a rock?!? This is one the strongest cultural stereotypes we have in the US about the UK - Fish & Chips with vinegar and not ketchup! At first I thought it was messy writing but as events unfolded it all became clear. A little surprised that Harry fell for it - or did he?

Loving the way the major themes in the spy plots parallel the themes in the character plots this season--don't remember that in the past, though I wouldn't rule out my just having been too thick to notice.

Really enjoyed Beth and Kai and the friendship/usefulness/trust issues--at least for now I'm choosing to belive that's paralleled with both Harry/Lucas and Maya/Lucas (rather than believe the M/L/Vaughn angle is really a major personality shift).

Can't help wondering it the Turner painting is Harry's message to Lucas about doing one's duty despite personal feelings, much as Kai dealt with in the various stages of his own story.

Or it could be just the strange world of Turner painting as part if security files--what do I know about that

(13-10-2010 12:52 PM)FATBOY Wrote:  Did anyone catch exactly what Kai say’s to Beth at the end, before he goes back to the embassy. Something like “Remember me to ‘paulina’ “ ??

I think he said "Remember me to Li" (as in Jiang Li).

Broadly, I enjoyed the episode. But, gosh almighty, what are the writers doing with Lucas? Totally, totally unbelievable. Wooden, false, literally incredible.

And it's becoming very boring with no more than some poor bloke popping up every so often and threatening Lucas/John. This Albany thing - has it anything to do with South Africa? I found a reference to an 18th century warship on that front.

If Lucas/John decides to harm one hair on Ruth's head to keep her from telling anyone about her seeing Lucas/John in the file room I shall not be held responsible for my actions and I guess I'll have to join a long line of other Ruth fans.

Let's give some story time to both Dimitri and Beth, totally underused which is a great shame.

I was not a fan of this episode. Something about it was way too something. Dunno yet. I still cannot believe that Lucas is running into her arms after setting somebody up like that. I do hope there is more to it because it's just way to something.....
This whole series hasn't been as impressive for some reason.

Bit of a coincidence that Lucas' phone rang just before his house was broken into, don't you think? What if he was being watched by 5 and that was Lucas' tip off that Vaughn was breaking in? Also, just before Maya appeared downstairs in blue shirt, it really sounds like the front door of his flat opens and closes. What is that noise, if not his front door?

So I wonder if Harry tips Lucas off, Lucas goes downstairs and acts surprised to find the photo. Vaughn is stuck in the house somewhere unable to get out. Vaughn gets Maya to let him out through the front door. Lucas hears the front door go and grabs the knife thinking he is still in the house.

Just a thought anyway.