Episode 10 Discussion [rewatch]

[JHyde]

If I was trying to convince someone to watch Spooks, I think this is the episode I would show them. I think it's brill and I never get tired of watching it. Although there are significant developments for lots of characters, it also stands alone in a lot of ways and can be watched separately from others too.

There are so many things I love about it: Lindsey Duncan, my favourite guest star on the show so far (closely followed by Anthony Head in 1.4), the fact that everyone gets at least one or two good moments, the terrific stand off between Ruth and Angela with the sevengola that really isn't, the Coriolanus reference (one of many throughout the show's run, and a comparison which I actually made myself some minutes before Harry did), Adam siding with Ruth about Angela before the reveal takes place - I love it all.

There's also a plausibility to it that plays upon the conspiracy theorist in all of us. In much the same way as

Series season7 Spoiler: show

Sugarhorse in season 7.

Again, it's a beautiful balance between personal and professional beats, with a very strong script, excellent acting and superb direction. The fact that this is an operation built upon things that have happened in Ruth's and Angela's personal lives makes for compelling viewing and allows for so much depth in what might come next. And the terrific HR moments scattered throughout are both hilarious and very revealing. I love that line from Harry's own mouth about how he knows that Ruth sees him as 'a limited man'.

Series season8 Spoiler: show

In 8.2, this line comes back in a slightly different incarnation, but is equally impressive.

One of the reasons this episode works so well is that it is like a play - the bulk of the episode takes place on the Grid in a claustrophobic manner akin to that of 2.5. The difference is that I think this episode remains gripping in a way that 2.5 doesn't - I still sit on the edge of my seat for this one, even though I know what comes next and that Angela's mission is a bluff all along. They both have the same screenwriter too - Howard Brenton. I've done some bitching about various episodes he's written, but I can forgive him almost everything because of this, his final and (I think) best episode on the show. I honestly wouldn't change a thing about the writing on this episode.

Malcolm's freezing up is also the beginning of another phase in his development as a character, I honestly see this as the beginning of Malcolm properly having his own moments that are more than just exposition, comic relief or portents of what is to come. This is where the audience really starts to be invested with Malcolm as one of the team.

There is also, I think, a subtle difference with Adam in the episode. You really feel that he is not the same man as he was before Fi's death and yet he is still the operative with the terrific instincts that we know so well. The cockiness from the early days in season 3 is also back - something that wasn't in season 4 writing so much. Reckless Adam is on his way, well and truly, although there are only glimpses of it in this episode.

Of course, what I love most about this episode is the insight we gain into Ruth. I've said earlier on this thread that lots of people have drawn conclusions about exactly what Peter was to her. (I have my own strong opinions about this one.) But more than any of that, this is the episode where Ruth steps up and becomes more than the exceptional analyst she already is. It's true that we can wonder whether Angela actually knew she was bluffing, nor do we know how close to reality Ruth's story was, but I think what she does is exceptionally brave and the beginning of a new phase for her character. She can mix it with the best of them, because she IS one of them, and NW turns in a terrific performance, one of her best. I also think fan fic writers who portray Ruth as a victim or as overly weepy obviously haven't watched this episode closely enough.

[Silktie]

Great post, JHyde, I agree with all of it. I find that I truly enjoy those episodes where each character get their moment in the sun better than most, something that is sadly lacking in the latter seasons for me.

Some observations not already covered by JHyde:
I think Adam is terrific in this episode, and once again shows what a wonderful team leader he is because he truly cares about the members of his team, and tries to protect them. Not only does he immediately back Ruth against Angela before anybody else knows anything is wrong, but when Harry wants to send Ruth in to talk to Angela, Adam more than once tries to convince Harry that he could do it, because he knows that Ruth doesn't want to. He also tries to switch himself for Jo as the hostage, and when he goes in to brief Angela, he takes time to buck up Jo's morale. Also with Malcolm, he covers for him and doesn't tell anyone that Malcolm froze when he had to cut the wires. I truly love Adam's character for this.

Also interesting to me, is the different approaches Harry and Adam take in their attempts to solve the issue. Adam immediately goes for the direct, all action approach of faking evidence to sell to Angela, whilst Harry opts for the more psychological approach, and almost from the start make the connection that Ruth could be the key to the whole thing. I find that a telling difference.

Harry still finds time to mess with Adam and Ruth and lead them into thinking he was actually involved in assassinating Diana, even though they are in the middle of a crisis. Perhaps not the best time to play with your officers, Harry! I also love his initial reaction to Angela's demand that he orders a lockdown - he tries all the avenues he can think of before giving in.

I also like the way Harry handles Ruth when he asks her to go and talk to Angela, it is possibly the most gentle he's ever been with her - he even apologises for reading her psychological file. It's lovely.

Lindsay Duncan was fantastic, and Angela Wells is a truly memorable character. I love how she calls Jo 'Giggler' and Adam 'Pretty boy' throughout the episode.

Loved Zaf's presentation, it really sounded incredibly plausible.

Nicola Walker was fantastic as well, especially in that scene where she has to talk Angela down. What I love about her performance is the subtlety of it; as soon as Angela gives in, she gives this incredibly small, proud smile to herself and you can just see how chuffed Ruth is that she succeeded, and moments later, when she sees how devastated Angela is by the lies she told her, you can see Ruth's horror as she realises what a terrible thing she did to her. It's brilliant.

[Nia M]

Fabulous posts there JHyde and Silktie. I basically agree with everything the two of you said

I loved the conspiracy theory aspect to this aspect. Being a bit of a theorist myself (well, I like listening to them anyway) it was really intriguing to hear this one. And Zaf's presentation was indeed fabulous.

This is probably one of my favourite Adam episodes - as Silktie said, he really gets the chance to show off his leadership. You can tell how much he cares for his team when he tries to get Angela to release Jo and take him instead, and he covers up for Malcolm but at the same time reassures him that it's okay.

The idea that just a name can be so powerful against someone (it 'dehumanises' then, I think was the word used by Angela about the nickname "Giggler") really got to me, having had several horrible ones myself. The repetition of "Giggler" (and the delivery, which is brilliant - subtely taunting, cutting, attacking - there from Lindsey Duncan, who is just fabulous throughout) you can tell really how much it affects Jo (MR does a brilliant job too here as the hostage).

Adding into the mix the past between Ruth and Angela, and it's an even better episode. Up until this point I hadn't really considered Ruth's background (I doubt I was the only one to do that). What we see of her life really outside of Section D. She's a bit lonely at home, no mentions of family (that I can recall), only her cat. Apart from the Ruth/Harry angle, and her utter brilliance, I might even venture to say she could be a little boring. This episode was the first one where I see that there might be a whole lot more of her that we don't see (and not just her - this extends to all the characters) and I seem to remember it being when I first started thinking about their lives outside the service, and the character histories.

In the case of Ruth/Peter/Angela, this comes around in a brilliant climax to their story. NW plays Ruth so so well - her discomfort at and hatred of the lie she has to tell, how much she hates having to do this to Angela (in spite of what Angela has done to the team), yet how pleased she is of this bit of 'proper' espionage in creating such a cover-story and getting them out of the situation; all just wonderful.

The opening scene of the episode, with Peter's suicide, was another good Spooks moment. Not for the content, but for the great way in which it was shot, and also for the not being too scared to show something like that on TV. Like in 3.01 with the American woman, Spooks often takes risks about showing stuff that could potentially be rather controversial. Yes, it's post-watershed, but it could still be pretty offensive to a heck of a lot of people.

Another reason I like this episode, is that it does make me question even more about trust. In Series 1 we had Tessa turn rogue,

Series 6 Spoiler: show

Juliet in S6

and

Series 7 Spoiler: show

Connie in S7

(and perhaps more I don't remember), but this episode really got me starting to think about who is 100% trustworthy. Once Angela's been caught, the team trust her enough to give her the status of an officer gone cold in the field (interesting to compare that to how Malcolm quite literally does this himself in this episode) but she abuses it by escaping and trying to blow up the Royal Family. So should, even when the alternative is prison, someone who's gone bad have been given this second chance, and trusted?

---

Oh and I'd completely forgotten to mention the "Mice" incident! Absolutely LOVE it

[Tea Lady]

The idea for this episode is so simple but the execution is excellent. It's episodes like this that make me want to scream at my parents who won't give Spooks the time of day.

I find that you get drawn into this episode and it just holds you there, right to the end. I even find myself starting to believe that Harry did have something to do with it, just because Ruth seems so convinced and Harry seems to be hiding something. Even though we know Harry by now, and know that he would never have gone along with such a plot.

I love the way Harry does lose his self-control in that scene with Ruth at the end. He pushes her to the wall, fed up with her thinking the worst of him, that she is the only one with feelings.

I also feel for Malcolm at the end. He doesn't consider himself brave because he didn't cut the wires. He fails to realise that just being there with the explosives, WAS him being brave. He didn't run and he could have, easily.

[lwhite53]

One of the best eps of the whole spooks canon, IMO; and the previous posts pretty much outline why.

Just to reiterate: Lindsay Duncan was stellar, as was Nicola Walker. The terrifying "dance of death" between them was breathtaking -- some of the best acting I've ever seen -- and the added layer of their previous history was a stroke of genius on the part of Howard Brenton. Peter got all of 3 mins at the beginning of the ep but he was palpably in the room during every Angela/Ruth scene. I was amazed that HB managed to give every character their moment to shine (except maybe Jo -- I found her wimpy and whiney) but I was especially grateful that Zaf finally got something substantial to do. And I loved that Harry, who almost immediately understood that the way out of this dilemma was through the Angela/Ruth/Peter relationship, pushed Ruth to go to a really frightening place.

This ep is HB's best -- it's basically a one-hour play and it's theatricality is unmistakable; long, psychologically-based scenes, intensely personal character interaction, suffocating proximity, and a play-within-a-play kind of scenario. An outstanding piece of writing.

I also loved the directing -- nothing was rushed, even though a deadline loomed. The total change of lighting on the grid took the audience away from the familiar, forced you to listen to what was being posited and really seriously consider whether there might have been a PD murder conspiracy fomented by the security services. The spooks "style" didn't interfere with the story, which it sometimes does.

And the cliffhanger was wonderful -- would spooks really be so bold as to kill off Adam and Harry in the same ep?

[JHyde]

You make a really good point about the directing, lwhite. That's a really good way to put it - that it's not rushed. How lucky was Julian to get the two episodes he did? He did a magnificent job with them too.

I think HB was trying to do a similar thing with this episode as he did with 3.8. Now I like that episode a lot more than most, but this is obviously a much more successful execution.

[lwhite53]

I think what really does it for me in this ep is the ruthless probing of the psyches of the various characters -- HB has managed to take what's usually subtextual and made it overt, without sentimentality or over-the-top campiness. Many of the character interactions read like internal dialogues and they're articulated in a way we've never before heard these characters speak. Extraordinarily insightful writing!

[SweetTea]

I recently rewatched this episode and agree with a lot of the comments that have been made thus far - this is a great episode of Spooks and I imagine that it was a little risque due to the sensitive nature surrounding Diana's death.

Little things I noticed: When Zaf is trying to explain how it could have been done, he mentions that 6 sent two senior agents to Paris. The names of those agents? Mace and Siviter, a nice nod to those we've seen in the series thus far.

I love when Ruth and Adam 'accuse' Harry of plotting to kill Diana - PF plays this scene so well, only moving his eyes between the two of them for much of it, then really changing his body language when Adam works out the truth.

I find the mystery surrounding Ruth's relationship with Peter to be interesting because it was left to our imaginations. There had to be something there, otherwise Ruth wouldn't have been able to twist the story to break Angela.

[Noam]

I didn't understand the connection between Ruth and Peter; Ruth said (at least twice) something about the relations between "his father and my mother". If Peter and Ruth were half-brother and sister, then they should have one parent in common. "His father" implies that Ruth's father was not Peter's father, and "my mother" implies that Ruth's mother was not Peter's mother. In other words, no common parent. Had Ruth said "his father and *our* mother", then it would have made sense.

And since when do siblings (even 'half-siblings') have physical relations? It has been shown that children that grow up together rarely develop physical feelings for each other.

If Angela wasn't serious at this stage, then what was the point of making Ruth confess to something which never happened? Maybe it was just to get some form of revenge on Ruth, to make Ruth feel uncomfortable, regardless of what she actually says.

I also didn't really understand Angela's motives, especially as they seemed to change throughout the episode. Maybe I should watch it again (I saw it for the first time last night). The final minute really didn't make any sense, but maybe by then I had stopped listening. I also had dreams last night about whether Adam was killed.

[Silktie]

(11-01-2012 09:44 AM)Noam Wrote:  I didn't understand the connection between Ruth and Peter; Ruth said (at least twice) something about the relations between "his father and my mother". If Peter and Ruth were half-brother and sister, then they should have one parent in common. "His father" implies that Ruth's father was not Peter's father, and "my mother" implies that Ruth's mother was not Peter's mother. In other words, no common parent. Had Ruth said "his father and *our* mother", then it would have made sense.

Peter was Ruth's step-brother, not her half-brother. Ruth's mother and Peter's father got together after Ruth's father died.

Re Angela's motivation, it was to take revenge on the Royals for kicking Peter off Diana's protection detail because of his drinking, after which he killed himself. So her plan was to lure the Royals to that bunker and then blow them all up. In the end, she blamed the Royals for Peter's death and wanted revenge.

I do love this episode, even on multiple rewatches it holds up well.