Series 9 Episode 6 discussion

[BravoNine]

(26-10-2010 08:29 AM)khandy Wrote:  I have to say that for me no matter how they spin this Lucas did cross the line he let that girl died. I actually felt sick watching it the way he said those words of comfort.

I felt that gut-wrenching sickness too when watching Lucas with the girl in his arms. Personally, I think he more crossed the line into insanity than anything else. Whether it's cowardice or just plain desperation, I can see that as a spy, he could reason that the girl's death was unavoidable, that she was going to die either way, that sometimes one has to make unsavory choices (i.e. don't try to save the girl) to protect others (i.e. make sure Maya stays alive).

(26-10-2010 08:29 AM)khandy Wrote:  I really cannot see any plausable reason that the writers can come up with that can resolve that scene. It doesn't matter that she probably would have died. The problem I have is I could buy this whole Lucas story line if he always shown more ambuguity or cruelty but in series 7 and 8 he was at core a very moral man.

Lucas has always had shades of ambiguity, always toeing the line between right and wrong. Cruelty is not in his character but he does have a dark side that is a result of his tormented and tortured psyche. I can believe that if pushed to the brink, or backed to the wall with nowhere to turn to, Lucas's hold on stability can be fragile where desperation will push him into doing things he normally wouldn't do. There is a part of Lucas that is a survivor who will do anything to survive, if he didn't have that side of him, I don't think he would have survived 8 years in Russia.

Yes Lucas did let that girl die in fear that she would talk about Albany, but that decision clearly weighs very heavily on him as one can tell from his expression and his eyes. This choice is eating him up inside and he hates himself for doing it. I think having to face the guilt inside himself everyday is a punishment in itself, and one that Lucas rightly deserves.

(26-10-2010 08:29 AM)khandy Wrote:  The acting from Richard Armitage is absolutely fantastic I can't imagine hiow draining this series must have been for him. The image of him in the cat at the begining was just heartbreaking.

The absolutely sick feeling he gave me as he held Danielle.

The switches from cool Lucas to emotional wrought John. It is just the sheer range he has to show that amaze me.

Richard has indeed displayed amazing ability to switch from one persona to another, and in his eyes you can tell what Lucas is thinking and how much fear, desperation, and hatred he feels. How he wants to stop this more than anything, but he can't. There is so much torment within Lucas, and Richard is able to bring all that darkness to the surface.

(26-10-2010 09:25 AM)Silktie Wrote:  One thing is certain, though, Lucas is dead to me after what happened in this episode. If he hadn't lost the blonde one's security detail in the first place to go after Malcolm, they would have known much sooner something was wrong on the Grid. Plus, he would have had help during that ambush, and Danielle would probably have survived. Lucas definitely ended the call to the emergency services the moment Danielle uttered the word Albany, and then only pretended to make it to fool her. He then took his fingers off her wound so that she would bleed to death faster, and probably then called the emergency services again so no-one would realise what he'd done.

LOL, sorry, the "dead to me" quote had me giggling for a bit. A character on a show I used to watch always said "You're dead to me" to other characters who betrayed him. It was like a catch-phrase!

Yes, Lucas made quite a mess of things hadn't he. I'm not gonna defend his choice and actions even though I still love him very much. But he messed up, and frankly, he will be carrying that guilt and the consequences with him forever. Something is not functioning correctly in his head, whatever it is, it's wrecking havoc on Lucas's mental stability because he is really losing it. This Albany thing has turned him into one crazy person.

(26-10-2010 09:25 AM)Silktie Wrote:  The main problem of the Lucas storyline, for me, is that we still don't know what happened in his past to make him act like this. Now we have no idea whether it is something that is really so terrible that he cannot go to Harry and confess all, and we have no perspective on why this has had such an impact on him. Harry, it seems, is unwilling to believe anything bad about Lucas, and I can't help but think if Lucas had only gone straight to Harry the moment Vaughn contacted him, Harry would have been willing to help him sort it out.

Ah but if Lucas had confessed, we would not be having this mind-twisting storyline eh?

I have the same problem that you have with this storyline, I just wanna know WHAT secret that is so terrible that Lucas would go this far to let innocent people be hurt to cover it up?