Tom & Harry, my alternative ending

[Collected]

I've always felt more could have been made of Tom featuring in the final episode, here is how I would have scripted it..

So Harry visits the house Ruth was going to buy, we see those scenes. Then the car journey with Harry where the Home Sec phone call. Then they cut to the river thames. It's dawn. Very quiet. The city of London is in the foreground. It's a little foggy. We see Harry stood at the river side for a while, his hands in gloves resting on the railings. He looks contemplative. It's a very quiet scene. Only the sound of the river.

Then the camera cuts to the silhouette of a figure approaching him. It's a slow reveal, and you don't get to see who it is until they speak.

Tom: Harry.

Harry then turns and greets Tom, and they both stand together at the river side looking at the city, and the following dialogue takes place:

Tom: Harry I'm sorry about Ruth.
Harry: Why do we do it?
Tom: Do what?
Harry: This job.
Tom: You once told me we make a difference.
Harry: Ruth made a difference. Me, I'm not so sure. Replace me.
Tom: Harry..
Harry: Replace me as section chief. You're the only one I can trust now. You're the only one who ever questioned what we did, questioned the morality of it all. If one thing can come from Ruth's death, it's a change in direction. I can't watch any more people die on my watch. Not for the wrong reasons.
Tom: Why now?
Harry: I've got to go somewhere. At least wait until I return before you make a final decision. For me… no, for Ruth. I can't send anyone else to put this right. It has to be me.
Tom: Ok.

And then instead of Harry at his desk, it would have been a scene with Tom flowing through the security door at Thames House as if he never left. The other staff would have looked unsure of who he was. What this meant. And instead of cutting to Tom walking through the garden to the house of the bad guy, it would have been Harry instead. The final shot would have been him walking through the gate.

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Just my own little take on how it could have ended and this seemed like the right place to share it. For me the scene at the side of the river would have been brilliant due to the conversation between Tom and Harry. Seeing them stood together with London towering in the foreground. Two men questioning why they do what they do. It would have been brilliant. But alas, it will have to exist only inside my imagination.

[ihatetivo]

I don't see a "like" button on this forum's posts, so I thought I'd just reply and say I liked this script idea. I'm quite partial to the Tom Quinn character, so that biases my opinion. Still, I tend to enjoy Spooks more when the show is logically consistent and leaning a bit more on the realistic side. Therefore, objectively, I can't say it is at all realistic that someone who'd been dismissed because of a personal meltdown could be suddenly made section chief. Despite this, it is a very compelling idea to have Harry connect w/ Tom in a more fully developed way to close out the final episode. Since Tom's meltdown was triggered by ethical questions about the nature of the service, he'd be a great person for Harry to confide in after losing Ruth to discuss the meaning of it all.