[spoilers] Sir Harry Pearce 2.0

[yorkshiretyke]

Nor will he...

[watchstrap]

**waving from sick bed!**

I think that Harry would ideally want to retire on his own terms, not when pushed by an inquiry or by the death of a colleague, hence leaving all bitter and twisted.

I also agree that he seems almost too resigned to it all when he got that call from the HS. The 48 hours must be relevant or why bother putting it up as a caption? They could have just said 'later that day'.

Hopefully something significant happened in the lost 48 hours . No more cake for me until stomach settles .

[Silktie]

Or maybe the 48 hours thing was simply to allow enough time for the HS to have handled the fallout with the Chinese. Enough time had to have elapsed for the Chinese to have figured out that Albany doesn't work, and for Britain and China to have negotiated the deal which the HS mentions to Harry. That sort of thing would certainly take more than half a day.

If Harry leaves, I would rather see him do it on his own terms than being pushed out, so for that reason I hope he puts up a good fight at the Inquiry. Also, it will make great television. An opportunity for Harry to be at his cutting best, and to do that politicking behind the scenes which he's so good at. Bring it on!

[HellsBells]

If the Inquiry is a major part of series 10 then I hope we get to see the strong fighting Harry as Silktie suggests. However if he has been too affected by Lucas's betrayal and his feelings for Ruth he may just be ready to leave the Service for good and not want to fight for his career.

[Tea Lady]

Yes I agree that Harry will fight, because it will make great tv, and there doesn't seem much point in having a series 10, if he doesn't fight. But they still have to give us a reason why he will fight, considering everything that has happened to Harry in series 9. I don't think "saving his reputation" is enough justification for Harry suddenly coming alive, and fighting those that wish to put him out into the cold. I wouldn't buy that. When has Harry ever really cared what a politician or the DG or head of the JIC thinks of him? If Harry left under a cloud, do you think that would really bother him? I can't see it. Therefore there will have to be another motivating factor that makes Harry fight this, IMO.

[A Cousin]

I think if I were in that situation and had chosen to fight rather than give up, I would do it to prove to myself that I hadn't wasted the last 30 some-odd years I had been in the job. I go back to the S9 idea of it all being "about maths" - Ruth to Harry in 9.1 and Lucas to Ruth in 9.8. Esp. after Harry's "series of self doubt" of S9. Harry is not perfect hero; he has done some really questionable things in just the last 10 years - Kachimov, Blake, to name a couple. I think he is going to have to look very hard at what he has achieved in his career and decide if he is still "in credit" or if he even cares?

I have been going back to basics and rewatching S1. Work was a lot simpler for Harry then. Once you start caring about the individuals, the big decisions get more complicated.

[Silktie]

That's the brilliant thing about Harry - he developed from what I found to be a rather one-dimensional character in season 1 to this very complex character we have by the end of season 9. Would Harry, as we knew the character in season 1, have given up a state secret to save just one life?

And A Cousin said more eloquently what I was trying to say re Harry fighting the Inquiry - I didn't mean that he would do it so others would think better of him, but that he would do it for himself, for his own peace of mind, and for the right to go out on his own terms. And perhaps to prove to himself that he hasn't yet lost all of his humanity to this job.

[A Cousin]

(15-12-2010 05:46 AM)Silktie Wrote:  That's the brilliant thing about Harry - he developed from what I found to be a rather one-dimensional character in season 1 to this very complex character we have by the end of season 9. Would Harry, as we knew the character in season 1, have given up a state secret to save just one life?

He's like a shark....!

In watching 1.3 last night, I noticed an interesting moment with Danny and Harry. Since I am not sure if I need spoiler tags, I am going to err on the side of caution and put them anyway.

Series 1.3 Spoiler: show

When Danny starts to clear out Helen's desk, there is an awkward moment with Harry who is being all stoic and cold and professional. When Harry returns to his desk, there is moment of hesitation and distress (?) just before he deletes Helen's file. I wonder if, even then, PF had plugged into it on some level. Certainly not to the extent to which Harry has evolved though.

[Forever Secret]

That's the great thing about Harry, he really has developed as a character, in Series 1 it seemed like he was just the leader giving orders from the top, but as the series go on we see more of him, the other side to Harry, the more personal side I think it really starts to kick in, in the episodes where his past catches up with him, like (Is it 3.4?) where his daughter appears

Agreeing about that, I don't think back in Series 1 that he would've given up a file like Albany to save one life, but would he have given the file up in Series 9 had it been Beth, or Demitri in Ruth's situation? I'm not so sure, and in the investgation into his career that could play a part in it, that his personal feelings go in the way of his duty to MI5

[Silktie]

Here's a suggestion as to how they can make this Inquiry thing even more interesting: The Chinese (or Russians) find out about the Inquiry into Harry, and decide that he may just be disgruntled enough to be turned. They approach him to become a double agent for them. Harry sees an opportunity, and accepts. He goes straight to the HS, informing him that there is an opportunity to play the Chinese/Russians. The Powers That Be take the opportunity, and the Inquiry lets Harry off so that he can continue in his role as triple agent.

The Chinese/Russians send one of their most senior officers to handle Harry, and he eventually turns his handler, thus giving the UK its first senior Chinese asset.

I think that would make a cool thread to run throughout season 10, as well as provide a neat way to get Harry out of the spot of trouble he's in.