Series 9 Episode 8 discussion

[NightOwl]

(09-11-2010 03:10 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  

(09-11-2010 01:32 PM)NightOwl Wrote:  Let me start shouting:

Seriously? It's Richard Armitage's fault and not the writers? Seriously?

So if RA hadn't given his notice, Lucas would have what? What's the "real" ending the that the writers wanted that would have pleased us all but RA thwarted. How was this mess of plot actually supposed to end? All would be forgiven? Lucas would have returned as Section Chief and lived happily ever after?

The writers chose Lucas's fate, plain and simple. They created the idea of the Dakar and false identity. They had Lucas sell Albany to the Chinese. It seems quite clear to me that the writers knew at least halfway through the series that RA was not returning. (Although who made that decision, RA or TPTB, is not clear.) They made the choices that lead directly to the rooftop scene, not RA.

Please don't defend the idiocy of the the writers by slurring the actor.

I am defending the writers because NONE OF US know what went on behind the scenes this series, and whether this ending was rushed or not, or had to be changed at the last minute after filming finished in July. I was putting forward an argument based on the evidence presented which is that the ending seemed to "not quite fit" compared to past series, and that perhaps Lucas North MAY have had a better ending, had Richard Armitage not gone for the Hobbit. I'm not blaming him. Who am I to blame him. I am just putting forward a reasonable argument as to why Lucas' end, was as it was. I don't think I was slurring the actor either so do not slur me by saying I was. Anyway, who wouldn't leave for an opportunity like that.

There is no point shouting and screaming at this because it is just a TV programme and as I say (again) none of us know what went on behind the scenes in terms of RA leaving. As for keeping actors in the dark about their fates, do people here have inside knowledge about the actors contracts with Kudos and the various get out clauses? I don't think so, so how on earth do any of us know what has gone on? We don't know. How can you defend what you don't know?

You can't defend what you don't know, and you are right that none of us know what went on behind the scenes. But you are the one who began to speculate about RA and the writers. You are the one who suggested criticism for the Lucas debacle may lie with the actor rather than the writers. You're engaging in blatant speculation about the writers' motivatation based on no facts at all.

"I have a feeling that this was not the ending Kudos wanted."

and

"Things are never just black and white and if people are thinking that this was a strange ending for a Spooks series, then there is probably more to it than we know."

Your words, not mine.

You aren't putting forward a reasonable argument or offering "evidence" about why the Lucas storyline/ending didn't "quite fit." You're simply offering up your subjective feelings and thoughts. That's fine, but that is not the same thing as presenting facts or evidence.

You are suggesting, without any evidence, that the actor may not have been professional enough to provide the writers with sufficient notice to create a exit for the character that meets the show's standards. That is defending the writers' decisions at the expense of the actor, IMO. That you don't "blame" RA for going for the Hobbit is mighty big-hearted of you considering the nobody has actually presented any evidence that the movie had any effect on Lucas's storyline.