Series 9 Episode 5 Discussion

[FATBOY]

Re. lwhite53 spoiler - check out femaleBertieWooster's spoiler (and my response) on page 14 of episiode 4 disccusion

[GridGal]

Wow, lwhite53 and tyme4tea- your predictions of what could happen are interesting. Either could be a possibility. You never know what twist will happen on Spooks.

[FATBOY]

Spoiler: show

... suppose the idea if Ruth being a traitor is not without precedent - remember Connie ...

[RoninExec]

Being on a trip in the UK I stumbled onto this episode last nite... Woa!!!
Could it get any worse really ?

We are still at S7 here, but S9-5 just confirms the trend since S5... They went towards an American-type show, and traded plausibility and Britishness for a cheap replica of "24". Pathetic.

Characters have no depth (Beth is dull and boring, Dimitri looks like a cheap Adam Carter wannabee. Even wears the same suits), and seems unable to express themselves without a recourse to gunfire.
Plot lines are ... well, déjà vu... A terrorist cell wanting to derail a peace conference huh ? Sounds like another two or three similar episodes tome... Running out of steam Writers ?

The most appalling trick that made me burst laughing: Dimitri pulling out of thin air a Leatherman tool that must weight at least a pound and can't just be stowed in a pocket !!

This show is getting really ridiculous now.

I won't be buying S9.
Thinking of it, I won't be buying S8 either.

[spykitten]

I loved this episode of Spooks!

While I couldn't take my eyes off Lucas/Richard Armitage I think I saw him get out of his car infront of the hotel and it was an Audi when he got back in it was a Lexus.

I'm going to check it again on iplayer - if it's true it must be the best spy car ever! Maybe James Bond can order one for his next film.

Can't wait for the whole Lucas/John truth to come out - but what do the Chinese want with him (Ep 4) or will they use him to get to Vaughn??

He's made it right to go off with Maya - I have a bad Carlito's Way feeling about how this series will end.

I've now watched the episode on iplayer Lucas's car in that particular scene is a lexus but he was driving an audi earlier in the episode. He was going so fast the emblem as was blurred and confused me.

I still think it's a good idea - maybe Q Branch at 6 can work on it and Lucas/John can use it to drive off into the Sunset

[RoninExec]

You are right. I thought mentioning the continuity issue in my previous comment wasn't necessary in order to underline how appalling this show had become.

[BravoNine]

(19-10-2010 09:59 PM)RoninExec Wrote:  You are right. I thought mentioning the continuity issue in my previous comment wasn't necessary in order to underline how appalling this show had become.

Then don't watch is the best way for you. Clearly it is not your kind of show anymore.

As for it being a cheap pathetic knock-off of "24", I can most certainly say that Spooks is WAY WAY WAY BETTER than 24 could ever be. If you want to talk about plausibility or British-ness, then 24 is nothing. That show was never plausible to began with as if one person can foil some multi-member terrorist conspiracy in just 24 hours apparently without eating or going to the bathroom.

At least in Spooks, events are spread out, not within 24 hours. Every show in this kind of genre needs suspension of disbelief, and what is done in Spooks is not entirely unrealistic as many of my friends from the military or people I know who formerly worked in the FBI and such, loves this show and actually tell me that what is shown in Spooks could possibly or have occurred in real life.

Obviously some episodes are gonna sound similar, there's only so many ways one could do a terrorist attack or foil some secret plan. But as an American, I can say with certainty that Spooks is nothing like any American-type shows, the show may occasionally write in some dialogs that pander to American markets, but this show is not American in any sense. Serious dramas like Spooks are few in America where everything is glamor and hollywood. Spooks is still very much British as far as I'm concerned.

As for the characters, I find them to be engaging, these new characters are a different generation than the old school Spooks who came before. Beth and Dimitri are still learning through experiences, if they're not too amazing, then it's only because they are newbies, they are still trying to find their footing, not every spy has to be some amazing character. And I haven't seen them show that much gunfire unless it was needed.

Perhaps one should actually watch a series from beginning to end before making judgments simply based on just one episode.

And as for a trend, it's more like changing with the times.

Every series has its strong points and its weak points, even the previous series of Spooks have made its mistakes or have done things that are inplausible.

I still enjoy Spooks, and as someone who have watched A LOT of American television, there is nothing like Spooks in the US, not even 24 can ever compare to Spooks in intensity or unpredictability. It is still the only show I have ever known where I cannot absolutely predict how a storyline or the fate of a well beloved character is gonna turn out to be. Believe me, American shows are highly predictable, hell I've nearly predicted almost every storyline of every show that I watch here in the US. But I can never do it with Spooks. I wish shows like Spooks exists in the states.

UK should be proud of having a show like Spooks.

And even as an American, I am proud to be a Spooks fan!

[Quill]

Hear, hear, BravoNine!

[A Cousin]

Totally agree BravoNine. Now, back on topic:

(19-10-2010 06:38 PM)lwhite53 Wrote:  The next part is total speculation, so I'll put it in spoiler tags.

Series 9.5 Spoiler: show

I had the terribly strong sense as I watched this ep that Ruth is being set up as "the ultimate betrayer." Some of the parallels between Ruth and Anna are striking: a life focused on keeping one's country safe; no real personal attachments, even to those who one should be close to; being sacrificed and left out in the wilderness; someone who's a part of the inner circle and trusted; one's entire being always caught up in the "mission."

I was really struck by Anna's lines to her father: "Don't pretend we did this together. We both want it. We both worked for it. There is no together." In some ways, this would seem to be the opposite of what R says to H: "We can't be more together than we are now," but is that really so? Was R really saying the same thing as Anna -- all we really have in common anymore is the mission? And then, Anna tried to scuttle it and lost herself "quietly in the world." Lucas and Harry's discussion about Anna could just as easily be about Ruth, who clearly isn't the same person in s9 as she was in s8.

Please shoot this down, as I am not at all happy at the prospect.

Oh, lwhite53, this is something I have been going back and forth on the whole of the series. Even since the first teasers came out about S9.

Series the rest of series 9 Spoiler: show

Someone mentions the idea in the Ruth thread (I think) some time ago. One day I think that may be where it is going and another I can't believe Ruth to be that dishonest, deceitful and vindictive. For me, I think the only way it would work is if it isn't the stock traitor/mole scenario. Outside of that being too damn predictable and overdone, it just seems out of character to me. Perhaps if Ruth is forced to make exactly the kind of decision she has been unable to forgive Harry for making vis her and then finds she has lie to him about it. Just guessing. Time will tell. I'd hate it but we'd talk about it for months

[AnnMarie]

I second the here, here BravoNine