[spoilers] Lucas and his tattoos

[Byatil]

(06-01-2011 10:23 PM)binkie Wrote:  Byatil, you are my SF crush Never assume that an idea you have at 4:00am is an invalid one! I hope you don't think I am not keeping track of what you say (I wish that sounded less creepily stalker-ish ). I realise you have discussed at some length the question of Lucas' sense of self-worth. I asked for your impressions because I thought you had, once again, made a genuinely insightful point that deserved more attention. I wonder if you appreciate how much you pack into a little sentence

Well, if we're being confessional... I have to admit that you're my SF-crush as well! A discussion with you is always a very welcome one, and I wholly appreciate being able to read your brilliant posts.

My 4am ramblings don't always lead to valid analysis, but sometimes it's easier to think things through when you're lying in the dark with nothing better to do. I was just worried that I might be repeating myself more than anything else. Haha, short sentences are my only vice! They're too tempting to use at times, my prose can become horribly over-crowded with them

(06-01-2011 10:23 PM)binkie Wrote:  I don't think I've seen this point mentioned anywhere on this board. Admittedly, none of the Spooks exactly excell at the touchy-feely-sharing thing. However, as HellsBells says, your comparison of the different responses to trauma expressed by Lucas and Jo is important. Jo wants to talk, but feels she shouldn't because it will suggest weakness and irrelevance. She almost talks to Ben; she almost talks to Connie; then Ros talks to her and her appreciation of the situation changes. When Ros tries to get Lucas to talk to her in 8.4 ("Tell me about Oleg Dasharvin"), he deflects her efforts with an annecdote about nineteenth-century literary appreciation. He talks, but he talks about something else inside the subject at hand. As you suggest, he controls his environment by controlling what is in it.

Indeed, it's interesting how Ros is the character Lucas seems 'closest' to at times, yet he still reveals very little to her. Even when he is in a relationship with Sarah he refuses to acknowledge that he has problems; the question "What are they doing to you?" remains unanswered, and he responds to other queries with cryptic jokes "What is it with you and Harry Pearce anyway?" - "Me and Harry? It's a sexual thing". He is only willing to give away enough information to satiate the other person's curiosity, whilst subtly hinting that he is unlikely to tell them anything else.

(06-01-2011 10:23 PM)binkie Wrote:  In keeping Dasharvin alive, the script reinforces the extent to which Lucas triumphs by asserting and managing control over something which is practically outside his ability to influence it.

Exactly Lucas is apparently unable to escape his mental anguish - the phrase "the prison is within his mind" comes to mind. He continues to torment himself for not being what he perceives to be 'normal', or 'good enough'. He has left prison, but prison has not left him. The tattoos are a visible reminder of that fact. Maybe he feels he will never be truly free unless he regains control over everything, and as you point out, whilst Dasharvin (and arguably Harry) is alive, he can never have full control of his situation.