Episode 5 Discussion [re-watch]

[Silktie]

Yeah, me too. The overall feeling this episode left me with is one of desolation and isolation. It's as if it hammered home the point that you cannot do this job and come out unscathed on the other side. Both Adam and Danny have to live with themselves after assassinating another human being, and is struggling with it. Danny is also alone amidst Zoe's happiness and can't help but destroy that happiness for her in the end. Misery does love company. Ruth cannot find love and companionship outside of her job, and neither can Harry. That image of him alone on the roof after speaking to Sam stays with me, as in the end he is just as isolated as Ruth is, and Malcolm for that matter. Zoe, who at the beginning of the episode is telling the new recruits how wonderful it can be dating someone outside the service, at the end realises just how spectacularly it can go wrong, and what an incredible amount of trust is needed to make such a relationship work.

The only one who seems relatively untouched is Sam, but even she is forced to spy on her friend and reporting her actions to her boss. On some level they must all know that even your friends in the service are always watching you, and will report you if needs be. How deep can these friendships really be then?

(25-04-2010 02:54 AM)Adam Carter Wrote:  My other issue isn't necessarily with the execution of the episode, but more to do with Danny and Zoe's characterization. I have a major problem with the fact that both of them simply couldn't bring themselves to kill the guy DESPITE the obvious fact that he was a clear detriment to not only British security but humanity as a whole. To me, you have to look at the big picture and see how much of a danger this guy was. That seems fairly obvious. And the fact that Danny and Zoe couldn't see this makes them across as weak.

Agreed. I also felt it made them look incredibly naive and out of sync with the amount of experience they both have.