Series 9 Episode 8 discussion

[lwhite53]

Not at all a satisfying ep, imo. I've thought about it for 24 hours now and the only thing I can say is . . . I'm disappointed. There were no revelations, no epiphanies, no emotional subtext that we didn't already know from earlier eps. Oh, except maybe that Albany was a fake. So what?

Don't get me wrong -- the acting in this ep (as well as the whole series) was outstanding. PF, NW and RA were just superb and, trust me, it's extraordinarily difficult to make something this convoluted seem realistic, especially when the Grand Canyon would fit comfortably into the plot holes. But I found the writing, in general, wanting and even the best actors can't save a bad script. I cringed when Lucas told Harry that he was "bad" before he joined MI5 -- how RA ever delivered that line with a straight face I'll never know! Several people have already said they thought the writers were "lazy" -- I wholeheartedly agree.

The high points, for me, were the interpersonal scenes -- between Harry and Ruth, Ruth and Lucas, and Lucas and Harry. However, and to my eternal unhappiness, we never got the real nitty gritty Lucas/Harry scene, the one where they hashed out Lucas' 8 years in Russia, how he got there and why it took so long to get him back. I've waited three years for that discussion and I guess now I'll never get it. What a let down!

An unfortunate and senseless end for Lucas (and nowhere near what RA should have gotten) and a flat ending for a series that started with such promise. I think the writers really killed this one with an idea they tried way too hard to make work. They force fed a plot that never really made rational sense and the more they tried to fix it, the more confused it became.

Ridiculous, yes. Spooks, no way.