Series 10 - Episode 6 Discussion

[Tea Lady]

(28-10-2011 03:18 PM)Gillymac Wrote:  ---Reality Check Time. Please Don't Shoot Me--

From a practical point of view, consider for a moment what would have happened if H&R had got their happy ending or if Ruth had lived (both of which were entirely possible, if not my personal preferred course of action)? The people on the forums now asking for an alternative ending, would be bombarding Kudos with requests for "spin off!" "more!". Looking at this from a purely business perspective it is my opinion that Kudos wanted to (maybe had to - money looked short this series) 'end' spooks - for the meantime anyway (and certainly in this incarnation), because, lets face it, the door hasn't been closed entirely shut. It is entirely possible that it was worth alienating that minority of fans (the loss in DVD sales, by my reckoning, won't bankrupt them) to be rid of it, and they never would have been without this particular course of action. They aren't going to base decisions on the wishes of maybe 100 viewers out of five and a half million. The hard fact of the matter is that that's not how the business works.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "to be rid of it" Gillymac. Do you mean the Harry/Ruth relationship? Do you mean the "thing" that kept many many people watching Spooks and helped attract a new generation of fans? Do you mean the relationship and on screen chemistry that kept millions of people glued to their tv sets (not 100 viewers, I beg to differ) and had the critics praising Peter and Nicola from the rafters?

It's quite possible that without Ruth coming back, Spooks would not have made 10 series. I doubt very much that Kudos felt it was an albatross around their necks, forcing them into this final decision. If that was the case, why bring Nicola back in S8? Why have the proposal in 9.1? Why not Harry have his "Connie" girlfriend in S7 as was muted. This relationship helped Kudos. Fact. They used this relationship and it helped the series last as long as it did.

I wanted an alternative ending. I am not a unicorn fancier and many H/R fans are also not. I just get the feeling "we" are all being clubbed together like a single entity. I have previously stated my ideas for an alternative non fluffy ending and won't repete these. Just because you are a Harry/Ruth fan does not make you a complete nutter, dressing in blue wrap dresses all the time and going to bed wearing a "Harry loves Ruth t-shirt." I would not have bombarded Kudos with anything if there had been an alternative, happy/open/non Ruth death ending. And I certainly would not have asked for a "Terry and June" type spin off show.

Kudos chose the ending they did, because it was what "everyone" had come to expect from Spooks. Why go down a different route and do something different? Because it's not Spooks. Yeh, ok. I hear you. I can see the read through now of episode 10.6, they just took the script from episode 4.7 and crossed Fiona out and wrote Ruth's name and crossed Adam's name out and put Harry's name there. What a fitting tribute to ten years of Spooks. Another miserable, same old, same old, ending.