Lucas North Speculation

[ignatz]

(29-12-2010 08:24 AM)BoHenley Wrote:  But the bit that still doesn't make sense (apart from a heap of others) is why would Lucas choose to make that old life come back just because Vaughan turned up? Why didn't he say "Bugger off" and walk away, or better, shoot him and say "That life's over." I know there'd be no series story arc, but why wouldn't he choose his better MI5-life? In other words: AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

First off, thank you for your kind words. Getting back to the above. I think that this really was the breaking point for someone who was still rather fragile deep inside and as it became clear (to someone spiralling into panic) that Vaughan was not going to just "go away," Lucas felt trapped. He didn't want to leave MI5 but the lengths he needed to go to avoid that happening just kept digging him in deeper. I think he knew he should go to Harry but the fear of a) completely losing Harry's respect/faith/trust was horrifying to him, b) the terror of returning to jail without the cloak of nobility or concern by the team was just too much. I agree, he should have just shot Vaughan but going back to his mental state I think Vaughan's hold on him as an authority figure made that difficult. I think his greatest fear -- losing MI5 -- had him not thinking clearly.

(29-12-2010 08:24 AM)BoHenley Wrote:  I've finally come to the conclusion that I just plain hate what they did to the character of Lucas. There, I said (wrote) it.

Oh, I one hundred percent agree because in my opinion there was absolutely no reason or justification for going down this road in the first place. I'm just trying to devise some explanation for what the intent might have been, no matter how unnecessary (in the eyes of fans) & incomprehensible. Meh Trust me, I cried. I'm not a "Lucasa above all other characters" person, but I thought he was oh so fascinating. There had to be a better way to spin the breakdown and poor choices without going to these lengths. And I do think that Harry "I wish you had met me first" could have handled things differently, though I imagine his disappointment had him behaving equally out of character.

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(29-12-2010 04:30 AM)BravoNine Wrote:  I don't have an issue that this show kills off characters, it has been the way of Spooks for a long time. But what the writers did with Adam, Zaf, or Danny is not the same as Lucas. The other three died doing their jobs, they died loyal to their teammates, loyal to their country, and all of them knew the risks and consequences of the choices they made and understood that they could die in the line of duty.

To play devil's advocate -- and that's all I'm doing, as I'm pretty firmly in line with much of what you've written (and I've read a lot of it) -- I think the fact that the "line of duty" thing has been done many times with all the other characters, the thought was to break that trend. I can imagine the writer's room discussion, "who is the person least likely to go down this road? Lucas! Let's do it different." Not fair, but changing up expectations is typical. However it was clumsily done and an insult in the eyes of anyone really invested in the character. Not saying i appreciate it -- at all -- but can kind of see some of the storyline motivation.

RA definitely needs a change of pace/tone and I think the Hobbit (provided they don't totally f' up that story line -- honestly, RA is way too good looking to be a dwarf but we'll have to wait and see.) He's said himself that he needs a role with some levity, because Lucas was a very dark and emotional locked-up character. John Porter wasn't much different & neither was Thornton in North & South.