Episode 6 Discussion

[penfold]

(04-12-2009 10:33 PM)whufan Wrote:  

(04-12-2009 10:04 PM)almh Wrote:  Why do I have the feeling that we're going to have some very depressed RG fans - that was so believable and we had the whole is it true or not, and I can't believe he resigned!!!

I would have been if someone hadn't posted a spoiler somewhere else so I knew it was coming. My fear had been that he would have disgraced himself and been kicked out of office so I was pleased that he resigned with integrity and with Harry mentioning that he was a decent politician.

I can see further developments when Harry and Co sort out who's framed him with the £4m bank account. We've seen the last of him as Home Secretary, but real politicians have a habit of coming back, don't they?

[Lucasfan]

May I just add that there's one good thing about spoilers?

Seriously...

They make me very excited about watching the episode itself (as I will tomorrow......)

[bccmee]

I thought that GOR did a great job as Sarah but I really disliked Lucas this episode. What is he, on crack? as the kids like to say. Why did Lucas say, "Take me with you" ? I thought Sarah shot herself but a friend said that was the door slamming. It looks like one of us is right.

Frankly, I would fire Lucas after his incompetence between last week and this. I liked the Lucas the first half of this season much better. Vulnerability is fine, but ignorance and incompetence is not.

[Nitrus]

If Christine 2.0 HAD shot herself, you would've seen her body in the shot with Lucas at his knees shortly after the sound. As this is not the case, I am 99% that she slammed the door upon leaving.

Also, the noise sounded nothing like a gunshot.

[femaleBertieWooster]

(05-12-2009 05:37 AM)bccmee Wrote:  I thought that GOR did a great job as Sarah but I really disliked Lucas this episode. What is he, on crack? as the kids like to say. Why did Lucas say, "Take me with you" ? I thought Sarah shot herself but a friend said that was the door slamming. It looks like one of us is right.

Frankly, I would fire Lucas after his incompetence between last week and this. I liked the Lucas the first half of this season much better. Vulnerability is fine, but ignorance and incompetence is not.

I think the writers are pushing Lucas' vulnerability aspect way too hard. I'm afraid he's not going to have any more relationships after this one. Can anyone see him falling hard for someone again after his (can we even call it) bad judgment? We'll all be rolling our eyes along with all the characters in the episode. I hope he plays the next episodes with a look of "OK I'm an idiot" on his face.

That was a pretty good fakeout with the door slam. I wasn't even sure until I read here that the ending wasn't a repeat of last week.

Someone mentioned Lucas' getting revenge on her. He was lucky she didn't execute him. The best revenge is getting the door slammed on you instead of lots of gushing blood.

The guy who played Baisley (sp?) was really good. Sarah's accent was in cascading meltdown this week.

Also, I never noticed the shelves with objets d'art in Harry's office before. Nice touch.

[lwhite53]

Christine 2.0 did not kill herself. First sound (a click) was her releasing the hammer of the gun; second sound was the door slamming as she left.

Now that that's cleared up, this was the best ep of the series so far, imo. We finally know what's up with Nightingale (a CIA op, naturally), and that C2.0 is involved up to her fluttering eyelashes. All those "honeys" aside, she is a seriously evil woman! And she's finally been unmasked.

I loved Ros in this ep -- still conflicted about Jo's death, needing to save Baisley to prove something to herself (her own self-worth maybe?). The scene with the bank pres and the chain lift was great -- she was going to stop at nothing to get what she wanted. We're starting to see her famous steely control start to fracture. And she is getting reckless, much as Adam did after Fiona's death

Spoiler: show

which I think may be the set up for her exit.

Really felt for the HS -- ensures the country's financial stability and is, ironically, brought down by rumors of financial impropriety. Terrible way to go out, as a disgraced politician. But he was noble to the end and his last scene with Harry was poignant. Great acting by RG -- hope to see him back at some point.

Harry seemed to spend most of the ep worrying, about Ros, about Lucas, about the HS. He's watching his team self-destruct and lost one of the few bosses he's ever admired and/or trusted. Then Ruth asks him if he wants to have a drink (go Ruth) and it takes him a few beats to figure out if he's heard right! But Tariq screws even that up. Tough ep all around for Harry.

We did get a good bunch of quotable quotes:
Ros: Nice little holiday in Algeria. Spot of water sports.

Harry: Saving Baisley won't bring Jo back
Ros: No, be nice for Baisley though.

Ros: I believe Saddam Hussein was a client of yours. Regular saver was he? Prudent?

Harry: Tariq, cometh the hour, cometh the geek.

Lucas: Is that all? Can't we just break the fundamental laws of the universe?

Is it my imagination or did both PF and HN look particularly haggard in this ep?

One of the things I found most interesting in this ep was the obvious focus on people lying (something we've discussed throughout S8 eps). Ros underscores that when she says: "Yes, I lied. I lie a lot. I have to." Harks back to David Wolstencroft saying his original intent in creating Spooks was not to do a program about MI5 per se, but about how spies cope with living lives that are essentially lies.

[femaleBertieWooster]

lwhite53, I thought Peter Firth looked younger in this episode.

[lwhite53]

(05-12-2009 07:35 AM)femaleBertieWooster Wrote:  lwhite53, I thought Peter Firth looked younger in this episode.

In the first scene with the HS, I thought he looked really tired and jowly (sorry PF).

[whufan]

(05-12-2009 07:29 AM)lwhite53 Wrote:  Is it my imagination or did both PF and HN look particularly haggard in this ep?

Not sure about Peter but I think Hermione needs to eat more, she has got so skinny and that makes her look older.

[JHyde]

Fantastic episode, that had the ring of early seasons in how the story was put together. It really did have everything - a bit of Harry+Ruth, Lucas realising he really shouldn't get involved with women, Lucas playing Russian (my favourite bit...until the last minute), Tariq having fun and embracing his nerdy genes, awesome one liners that have already been mentioned, and lots of Ros. Loving Ros these days.

Spoiler: show

God, I hope she sticks around. I'd hate for her to leave now I'm a fan.

Ros is getting all the great stunts this season. And I agree - the casting of the main guest stars this season has been excellent. Baisley continues this run, Ewen Bremner was great. I liked the resolution for this character, it was appropriate without being preachy. And there'll be a nice little rant about continuing themes of season 8 in the thread of the same name. It tapped into many of the same motivations expressed by the terrorists of episode 3. Baisley was more sympathetic, and neither are right obviously, but who doesn't see that same inequality and bristle? Especially when they're the movers and shakers who can whisper in a politician's ear.

I've probably been Genevieve O'Reilly's biggest fan on the forum. I saw her in 2 plays some years back at different times and she was phenomenal in two completely different roles. But yeah, the accent's not too crash hot now. It's slipping like a face of makeup after a big Saturday night out. I'm hoping this is just an aberration for her.

And no, she didn't shoot herself. She slammed the door.

(I think this is my shortest review of a Spooks epsiode to date. Give it up!)