Episode 8 Discussion [rewatch]

[A Cousin]

After an initial reaction of WTF!?! with the first scene, I loved this episode the first time I saw it. Andy Serkis is brilliant. And Adrian Lukis turns in a good emotional one too. I like the episodes where the team is not working in a bubble peopled only by themselves.

I also think this episode very successfully portrays the price of fame and the lengths people completely motivated by their emotions (or libido) will go to court it or avoid it - depending on how it will best benefit them. I think the counter point idea that MI5 is not a willing participant in either the R&B or Sylvester cases is well presented. It also shows the voyeuristic nature of the human race. As Harry says, "The national soap opera continues."

I totally bought the idea of Riff being knighted; other rock stars have been. While most are great artists, their knighthoods could be seen as a debasement of the idea of what a knight is supposed to be and uphold. I suppose I shouldn't "go there" as I am a cousin and this is not in my collective cultural subconscious, but I bought it. No disrespect is intended.

My only quibble would be that the Riff & B plot line overtakes the better plot line about Sylvester but that may have been intentional. As Mace says to Sylvester they just have to find "a good day to bury bad news." The Sylvester plot line has to be secondary because it would be buried. I still would have liked to have seen a bit better balance between the two.

Now all that said, is this an episode that I watch again by choice. Nope. Spooks is best when it is balancing the fun spy stuff with good character development. The only character development that occurs in this episode is Fiona and Harry/Mace and even that, while informative, is marginal. This episode only takes one viewing to get the message and then I'm done. It certainly is not the most subtle but I don't think it "jumps the shark."