[spoilers] Ruth

[HellsBells]

I thought 3.7 was a great episode for Ruth as we saw both her brilliance in her work but also the loneliness in her life. But when she did get to Cyprus, a warm and slow life, she didn't really find love.

[YourFutureMuse]

She found companionship and a family though, what most people settle for. Perhaps she would miss her cats lol

[JHyde]

This, for me, was the episode when I learned to love Ruth. Until then I don't think I had been a big fan, but the way she cares for Danny and goes about solving this problem made me love her to bits.

I'm not sure she 'liked' Andrew, I think it was more a a case of trying him on for size. Plus, it's nice to have someone pay you a bit of attention every now and again.

[Silktie]

What I also found interesting is that when you listen to all the things Ruth said to Andrew, you get the impression that she isn't all that enamoured with her job, but sticks with it because she is afraid of change and probably because she's so good at it. Yet when you watch her figure out all these little clues and see the tremendous enjoyment she gets out of it, she does seem to love her job. A bit of a contradiction.

[JHyde]

I think a lot of it with Ruth is that she feels she *should* be having a family or a more active social life - she's in her mid thirties, after all - most other women she knows would have settled down. But she loves her job more than she's prepared to admit, yes.

There's also the fact that she is very lonely. She is the odd one in the office, at least until this point of the show. She works ridiculously long hours and seems on the borders of life. She watches.

I think Ruth knows she needs the intellectual stimulation of her work very much. It was the main reason she wanted to work at Five. I'm stunned she lasted as long as she did at GCHQ.

[A Cousin]

I'm just going to throw something out there that I have been chewing on and trying to get a handle on.

It has been mentioned to me in other places that Ruth brings femininity to the grid but I do not buy that. I think she brings humanity to the grid. I have always grappled with the idea that she is love-lorn lonely as it seemed kind of desperate to me. The lynch pin of her character is that she needs human connection as much as she needs her data. In fact, I will go as far as to say that there is little delineation of the two for her. Analyzing other people is as stimulating to her as any data she may come across. That is why Harry becomes so interesting to her: he is a mass of contradictions. I think she is the one who comes up with that one missing piece to the puzzle others miss (to name one: the Homeric reference to the son of Kronos in Spiders) because she filters everything through her humanity.

[JHyde]

I think that is a very reasonable observation Cousin, and one I wholeheartedly agree with.

There's certainly been an ongoing line throughout every discussion going that includes Ruth where most of us argue for Ruth as being the compassionate one on the Grid. Jo fufilled this role well, I think, in the years Ruth was missing, but in Ruth's case I think her intellect is a huge part of that.

I absolutely agree with the fact that Ruth is as good at observing people as she is at analysing data for her work. She's perceptive, she pays attention.

[HellsBells]

I agree that Ruth brings compassion to the Grid. She sees people as individuals with feelings and can empathise with them far more than anyone else. However if every spook was like Ruth they would never be able to take the tough decisions, therefore I think Ruth brings balance to the team.

[Tea Lady]

I was thinking that Ruth seemed to struggle in 3.9 with her conscience as to whether to bring Harry the information about Morgan's daughter. I have to say that I think series 8 Ruth, would have hidden that information, and would not have disclosed it. Anyone agree?

[SPOOK91]

After what happened with Nico perhaps she would be far less compelled to do that. Especially after being tortured herself. However, I think in the end her duty would have won over and she would have given Harry the information.