Series 10 - Episode 2 Discussion

[zpelland]

I loved the episode !

For a moment I thought that Elena was going to kiss Harry at the ballet and at first I thought she was just still in love with him the cctv sequence I think it was an act.

I don't think that Ruth's a traitor she is just a step ahead of Harry like always and she convering is back or somethings like that. ( In my eye Ruth can't be bad )

My favorite moment was when Harry and Sasha got rid of the body. I thought it was such a cute secret agent father and son bonding moment

[Lucasfan]

poor Tariq.....

[JHyde]

Super episode for lots of reasons. I agree there were holes in it but I was totally gripped the whole way through. This plot was not only very believable (the assets in this episode I suspect are a lot like most of the ones employed by Five) but also very modern.

I have always been on Tariq's team so I quietly wept when he died, even though I was expecting it. He was in the plot outline on the BBC website and that whole little monologue (heartfelt though it was) delivered to Callum was clearly a 'this is what I stand for, now I die' moment. (In much the same way as Ros got in her last episode or Jo in 8.2, the episode before she died.) Truly heart wrenching stuff.

I disagree with TL's characterisation of Martha as naive. She was most impressive and I don't think it's naive to expect that in return for excellent intelligence and stellar service that she might be protected when push came to shove. (Remember that she hasn't been watching Spooks for 9 seasons and knows how it goes.) It's not even like her job was fantastically dangerous compared to some of the other assets we have seen in the series. She was absolutely justified in being pissed off and frightened. I think the Service cutting her out was a bastard move and negligent given the circumstances. Is anyone really going to tell me that they couldn't have protected her if they had really wanted to? Martha's role in the story worked really well, I was on the edge of my seat as she escaped from her workplace, willing her on to safety.

Exquisite set for Elena and Harry's meeting. Lovely touch and beautifully shot. Also enjoyed the shots of Harry through the blinds and glass of his office, they always look good.

I'm withholding judgement on the Sacha storyline for now. I just hope it's going somewhere better.

Nice little addition to Harry's personnel file was the inclusion of Bill Crombie - welcomed by us Harry diehards! I don't buy that his file would be so thin though....

The best scene of the episode was undoubtedly between Harry and Erin in his office. Just fantastic stuff. Lara Pulver is more than a match for PF and that dynamic is a really interesting one, it's not much like any of the others that have come before, so cheers to that.

I'm really excited about the rest of the season.

[Sparky]

I'm in the camp that loved this whole episode. It seemed once again like a real ensemble piece with the focus more on Erin and Harry. The actress who played Martha was fantastic and really portayed her dispair at being 'played' by the State. There probably were a few plot-holes (this is Spooks after all) but on the first watch I didn't see any glaring ones, the pace of the episode was just about right and kept me hooked.

I'm liking the Gavrik's. I think Ilya is the best 'obvious' bad guy that we've had in a while, and I'm convinced now that Elena (and Ilya) are playing Harry and have been all along. Sasha is growing on me enormously, you could feel his anguish as he tried to protect his mother while all the time realising that she stood against all he believed in.

With Harry and Ruth, I'm getting the feeling he's trying to push her away to protect her. I think he knows that there is more to come and his coldness towards her when she tried to talk to him about Elena was a defence mechanism both for himself and to help her! The anguish in both their eyes in the scene in his office was quite telling! I also think he talking (at least in part) about Ruth to Erin at the end of the ep. As much as I love Harry and Ruth and would love a happy ending, I'm very glad their relationship isn't the major focus and very much a C or D focus at the moment. I think that it'll come to the fore in eps 5 and 6 and will be snatches for the next couple of episodes!

Erin and Calum continue to grow on me, they both had scenes in this episode that showed a more warming side to them. Calum's in the scene with Tariq offering to buy him a drink; and Erin in the scenes with Martha and especially the scene with Harry in his office!

And finally, I was sorry to see Tariq die, I always liked him though he was very much a back room Spook, even in series 8 and 9 and was very rarely at the forefront of a scene never mind a full episode!

[Tea Lady]

Don't get me wrong JHyde, the way she was treated was disgusting and if it was me, I think I would have took my chances going to the press. Harry now openly admits he ruins peoles lives. Here's another one to add to that pile of guilt. I still think she was naive to think the political situation would remain as it is for ever and that she wouldn't eventually get caught. If she had been caught, did she really think the Brits would go in and rescue her? Surely not. Why would she think it was the same now, just because the Russians had not physically detained her.

As for Elena trying to seduce Harry??? Sorry, but there was no evidence of that at all. Elena is quite hard to read, deliberately so, but she needed to talk to Harry. Her life is in danger. She had to take the risk of being caught. Of course there was going to be a moment between them, they had a son together.

As for Ruth being a villian because she had Harrys file out, you must be watching another show. She's worried about him. She knows he isn't telling her everything. As an analyst she is trying to fill the gaps herself. Simples.

[JHyde]

I notice on twitter a LOT of people think Ruth is the bad guy.

[elz_01]

(25-09-2011 11:08 PM)kaytea411 Wrote:  

(25-09-2011 09:15 PM)elz_01 Wrote:  Ruth Evershed is a villain

Gotta ask: Why do you think so?

I thought her review of Harry's file was just like a spook. He won't discuss the issues, despite the confrontations between them, so why not do you your own investigating...especially with their history. You don't think she has his best interests?

Have to agree with the comments about Elena. Defintely her silhouette in Tariq's video.

She told Tariq to go home, therefore she new he was going home and would find the evidence against whoever had the briefcase.
She's constantly on Harry's back asking if he had spoken to Elena, why is she constantly asking these questions?

It's just a hunch.

[Nitrus]

I loved this episode, much more than the first one. Ruth annoyed me a bit by being so needy and needing to be told everything by Harry about everything, I think Ruth was being a bit selfish in this episode and she was acting strange all episode.

I don't understand why Tariq went home? That seemed to be done just so we had the classic Spooks scenario of someone finding something out but being far away and in an unsafe location so noone else finds out before they die.

(25-09-2011 09:44 PM)picard1109 Wrote:  Oh, poor Tariq. But some annoying plot faults:

* Sasha seems to have left his and his mother's finger prints and DNA on that mobile phone
* Why on earth would Calum walk to MI-6 with a secure laptop? He should have gone in a car - he'd have been driven out of MI-5s secure car park into MI-6's gated entrance.
* Why didn't Harry make sure neither he nor Elena were followed?
* Why would MI-5 allow a secure link at Tariq's home and let him phone in a request? Secure links should be done through online encryption.
* Why didn't he have a spare mobile phone so he could talk to Harry in the taxi and get to a hospital?

And they really should have pulled all the assets as soon as the laptop was stolen...they never learn, do they?

Ok, too nerdy...but a bit of common sense wouldn't have gone amiss!

Completely agree with 2, 4 and 5 of your points. All of that just seemed to be to feed the storyline instead of being what is a possibility. The only explanation I can give for not having a spare mobile would be that maybe Tariq didn't have the same training as a normal field officer?

[KoiGal]

Very sorry to see Tariq bumped off and agree that there's no way that he should have been working on such sensitive data from home, in spite of setting up 'secure' networks etc.

I also noticed Ruth's suggesting he went home (possibly knowing that he would work on the material).

The figure in the footage does appear to be Elena. But why wouldn't it be if she was operating with the assumption that she was working with/for Harry again? Or maybe she's a triple agent?

I would heartily expect this series (which is super brilliant BTW) to all boil down to personal rivalries. Coaver mucking it up for Harry in collusion with Gavrik because of what happened between Harry and Elena. And, as for Ruth being the ultimate betrayer, I think that it's totally plausible.

There are hints that Ruth's loyalty is to be tested in other ways as the HS as already suggested to her that her talents are wasted.

All in all, super series and I'm savouring every moment. It's a short one after all....

[lottanyman]

Great episode again. The hour flew by and I really want it to be Sunday again to watch the next one to know what's going on. And the plot thickens for sure. So much that I don't want to do any speculation because I'm rubbish at that and would probably be proved wrong the next second.

Some people on Twitter said that the overall storyline would be too clear but I don't think so. There are some clever set ups and people are being played but by whom we can't be sure of at the moment. It seems much too easy to present either Elena or Jim Coaver as baddies already, there must be some twists and turns coming.

I liked the week's storyline and even though there were elements we already had in previous series and some plotholes which are debatable, I really liked it and especially the actress who played Martha Forde and her story.

I'll miss Tariq, really liked him and if there was one thing clear in this episode than that something was going to happen with him after he made his little speech. However while I was waiting and dreading what they would be doing with him I surely didn't expect it to be done so casually…

As for the lack of H/R in this episode which also caused a bit of anger with some fans it seems quite clear that Harry is trying to keep her out of the whole thing as much as possible even though he knows she may be the only one he can confide in. Also I truly don't know if we could really expect any positive development between H/R as long as the Sasha/Elena storyline and the shock for him of them being there is still relatively fresh.

I don't think Ruth is acting strange. She and Harry worked on the same level in the first episode so she's just expecting him to continue with this and asks for full information. It seems clear for her that there's more to the story than he's telling her so she investigates in Harry too.

Maybe the feel of her acting strange is a fall out of the Albany thing. Her reaction would have been different if Harry had told her that Albany would not work so now she really tries to get all information before things get out of hand.

Also I really liked Erin in this episode and her contradicting Harry in his office that even in their position a happy family life could be possible. Maybe this will make Harry feel again that he failed personally and that he can't just blame his job for the problems he's had with that.

And last but not least, I feel a bit for Sasha. He seems really confused at the moment and tries to protect his mother from something he obviously can't put his finger on.

Only four episodes left now :-(