[spoilers] Lucas and his tattoos

[Byatil]

(07-01-2011 11:30 PM)binkie Wrote:  Certainly, he never gets into a conversation with her about "what I did on my holidays", but he does reveal to her, before he does so to anyone else, that he is on very uncertain ground with Harry. As early as 7.3 he instigates, and presses, a line of discussion with Ros that calls into question Harry's trustworthiness and reliability as a moral leader. I think he recognises in Ros - as she recognises in him - someone who is uncomfortable surrendering conscious autonomy to a system, or to a representative of a system (Harry, in this case), especially where the system has failed to live up to its side of the bargain. Lucas and Ros do not chit-chat, but, in their way, they talk a lot, and they talk about incredibly personal concerns.

...and so we link nicely back to Blake

Yes, I thought Lucas and Ros had a fabulous rapport. I think the way Ros treats him in 8.4 is very telling; she tells Harry "I'll look after him". I suppose to an extent they must see elements of themselves in one another, and they do have some notable parallels in their characters. Ros never seemed to be one for small-talk, but I thought it was sweet when her and Lucas shared the "colleagues are okay" moment. They are both very lonely people, who both purposefully shut themselves off from relationships. I may have to watch out for developments in their relationship more closely, because it certainly is an interesting one.

(07-01-2011 11:30 PM)binkie Wrote:  This is so near the knuckle it's down to the bone. What a brilliant description of Lucas' self-destructive internalisation! What has always seemed odd to me is the suggestion that Sarah - an intelligence operative herself - seems genuinely shocked and surprised to learn that Lucas was mistreated in prison. I think this says as much about her own selfishness as it does about his reluctance to carry on a conversation he believes the tattoos have as good as completed.

Hm, well Sarah was an extraordinarily selfish person, and did prove herself to be a fairly incompetent officer! The way Dasharvin took her hostage was rather crude, you really would think she'd have noticed a man lurking in the back seat of her car. It does emphasise her totally self-obsessed persona, but I just can't believe someone would be so ignorant!

It's interesting that Sarah only ever seems to ask about Lucas' relationships with Harry and Oleg (or whoever she may assume Oleg to be). In fact, she doesn't seem very interested in Lucas' issues or past at all. She teases him for not being able to sleep and asks "what are they doing to you?" when she sees him in a state of distress, but if my memory serves me correctly, she never asks him anything else. She may well have read his files of course, but in a relationship... it does seem odd that she wouldn't question him a little. Although of course, Lucas probably would have enjoyed the fact that she treated him 'normally'.

Also, Sarah never asks about his tattoos, if I remember correctly. She traces the crucifix's on his back, but never asks him of their significance. I wonder if she already knows what they signify, or if she's simply not that interested?