Series 9 Episode 7 discussion

[Apicius]

I just wanted to pick up on a few points made earlier in the thread.

Spooks is usually very good at integrating the ongoing plot line and the current operation, however the operation regarding the Mafia guy and the French assassin seemed to not really fit in, other than for linking with Dreery and demonstrating that Ruth seems to be having a bit of a break down. I think there is much more relevance to this op than it seems. Especially as the Chinese seemed to be talking to someone in French - the French Assassin...?

(03-11-2010 02:18 PM)A Cousin Wrote:  

(03-11-2010 12:54 PM)HellsBells Wrote:  I have some questions concerning 9.7.
1) At the beginning after Harry and Lucas get back from seeing Vaughn, Vaughn calls Lucas and the Chinese are listening in, do the Chinese then make a phone call and speak french ?

Yeah, they do. I *think* they are talking to the French assassin.

And while I am on the subject, did anyone catch the tatoo they kept zooming in on? If so, does anyone know the meaning? I tried to freeze on it a couple of times but can only get the text: patria (homeland) legio (legion) nostra (family?). Can anyone see the image? It just seems like it should be significant.

The tattoo says LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA which is from the French Foreign legion.

I think and hope that this seemingly minor plot may be shown to be more important. I agree with many that Lucas/John is linked with Albany significantly, possibly even being Albany. I see there are others who are thinking along the same lines...

(05-11-2010 11:09 AM)Silktie Wrote:  I think there is a greater link between the Russian mafia bloke plot and the main Lucas/Albany/Chinese plot than we realised. That French assassin that Ruth had the run-in with, was in London to kill the Mafia bloke - who was bringing in 50 million Euros laundered money. But we also know that when the Chinese heard Lucas tell Vaughn that he was having problems locating the Albany file, they called and told to a French person that there was a problem. Now, this creates two possibilities:
1. The Chinese were working on their own, planning to steal the laundered money to pay for the Albany file, using the French mercenary to kill Mafia Guy. Maybe French mercenary was also there for another job, namely to kill Vaughn, Lucas and anyone else who knows about China's plans re the Alabny file.
2. The Chinese and Russians are working together to get Albany, and the Russians knew about the mafia money shipment and decided to steal it with the help of the Chinese (and the French mercenary would do the dirty work), then neither government would have to come up with the money to pay for it.

I've read the ideas about the tattoos and links to William Blake and Albany, however even if he is Albany (without knowing it) how would he or the other Russian prisoners know this symbolism in order to tattoo it on him? Unless Albany is much bigger and the Russians are in on it somehow but I think this is unlikely and a bit of a red herring.
However one of the (many) things I can't get my head around is why Lucas/John seems to be trying to track down the Albany file still in Ep 8. Vaughn was the go between with the Chinese, who were wanting the file. If Vaughn is dead then why would Lucas/John still be wanting it - unless the Chinese had contacted him? They did make it sound as though they were grand chess masters controlling all of the pieces.
In Ep 6 the Russians and Chinese were shown to be working together. Could this still be the case? With Lucas/John's longstanding links with Russia, there are plenty of theories that could be drawn from this, especially focusing on his 8 year stint in the Russian prison. Thoughts of Tiresius come flooding back.

Anyway, think that's probably enough waffling for now!

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Sorry, another point.

On re-watching the flashbacks they aren't necessarily alternatives. What I mean is that although the spoken accounts are different the actual clips can fit together nicely, with Vaughn's account just fleshing things out as opposed to contradicting the 1st clips. For example we don't see Vaughn shooting Lucas North, just Lucas/John kneeling next to the body and then in the 2nd set taking the passport.
However, I do agree that while Lucas/John is listening to Vaughn's account he does look genuinely surprised and shocked. I keep getting thoughts of a Borne type scenario.