Episode 1 Discussion [Rewatch]

[lwhite53]

The actual story of this ep (Gradic and Rado) doesn't really start until about 14 minutes in -- all the action prior is about finishing ep 1.6. By the end, a lot has happened:
-End of Tom and Ellie (and the annoying kid)
-Building of relationship between Tom and Harry
-Rough justice meted out to Gradic
-Set up: Zoe and guy in bar
-Set up: Tom and Dr. Vicky
-Intro of Sam
but the bridge between s1 and s2 was not as seamless as I would have hoped.

Thre were some interesting moments. I liked McCann's attempted defection: "The terror game's changed, Davy, I'm telling you. It's scary" -- tells us what we need to know about the times. Also, it's the first time they've used the "mole" scenario with the MOD guy. The cufflink scene was nice -- showing that both Colin and Malcolm were sweet on Zoe.

The change of the COBRA venue was very well shot, though not terribly realistic given the time constraints:
-@ time 47.47: painting behind Harry is guy in red coat and horse.
-@ time 49.19: see bottom of pic frame
-@ time 50.11: painting behine Harry is 3 children.
Total of 2 mins 24 secs to get everyone to a new meeting place doesn't work in real time.

I liked the scenes between Tom and Harry a lot -- growth of mutual respect, H's concern for T and mentoring of him -- very well portrayed by both actors.

Sending Gradic to Egypt as a supposed pedophile -- is that justice? Another instance of the good guys crossing the legal line because they could, yet winning a moral victory.

Best lines of the ep, imo:
MOD clerk: What's going to happen to me.
Tom: Bad things.
MOD clerk: I want a solicitor.
Danny: Shut up.