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**Silktie** · 21-09-2010, 05:50 AM

Ha! Me too. I loved how strong she was throughout this episode. When Harry faltered, she was there to push him to make the right decisions. And Blake describing her as a dogged brilliant bitch was great too. Loved that.

So it seems she's decided that she will live only for the work, now? I find that a little out of tune with the woman who loved her "simple and elegant" life in Cyprus so much. Surely she must know, now, that there is so much more to life than this. So why won't she dare to take it?

Tea Lady · 21-09-2010, 08:15 AM

Things don't quite add up with Ruth and perhaps that just fits in with the storylines that will come up over the next 7 weeks, but I don't understand why she is so afraid. She also still seems quite angry.

Series 9.2 trailer at the end of 9.1 Spoiler: show

**JHyde** · (This post was last modified: 21-09-2010 10:35 AM by JHyde.)

I though it was very telling that Ruth responded to Harry's 'sad' about the HS with 'not really'.

Doubters of Ruth, drop out now. This woman has changed.

Then again, she did have a return to Ruth of old with 'It'll be all right, Harry.'

**Kazters** · 21-09-2010, 11:02 AM

i found ruth to be very differnt in this ep, i dont know if events of ep 8 affected her or what but riuth was not herself. certainly with regards to how much harry was suffering with ros, the HS etc she was rather cold! and her stupid reason for saying no as well!

**JHyde** · 21-09-2010, 11:11 AM

It's interesting a lot of people have come down so hard on her. I think she was very honest in that monologue she had at the end there.

I do think part of it is avoidance, I'll give you that.

molecatcher · 21-09-2010, 12:06 PM

(21-09-2010 08:15 AM)Tea Lady Wrote: Things don't quite add up with Ruth and perhaps that just fits in with the storylines that will come up over the next 7 weeks, but I don't understand why she is so afraid. She also still seems quite angry.

Series 9.2 trailer at the end of 9.1 Spoiler: show
The fact that we saw Ruth's flat in this clip makes me think we will see more of Ruth on the home front, especially as Beth will be living with her. Ruth didn't look too happy at that. There is potential for some comedy moments though.

Ruth's been through an awful lot in the past few years what with having to leave Harry and disappear, then her happy life in Cyprus was destroyed by his single-minded determination not to give in to threats in 8.1 so found herself back in what she admitted she felt a bad dream so had to become hardened to survive. If Harry continues to struggle with his demons she will be by his side to support him but I think she's also being realistic about their relationship with so much water under the bridge. The sexual tension certainly hasn't gone so anything could happen, just not marriage and everlasting happiness.

**A Cousin** · 21-09-2010, 02:25 PM

I freakin' love NW as an actress and hope they really let her sink her acting chops into this series. So far, so good.

That said, I think Harry has slipped off his pedestal for her a bit. The result is the honesty she displayed towards him in 9.1.

Quote:Only our Ruth, could be carrying around a great big bloody file at a funeral. Come on girl, get a life. I really laughed when she dragged that out of her handbag.

I found it funny too and I am not sure where that came from. It harkens back to very early in her time on the Grid when she tells Tom that work is her life. I alternate between that idea and the idea that perhaps this was premeditated on her part. Dodgy

Quote:So it seems she's decided that she will live only for the work, now? I find that a little out of tune with the woman who loved her "simple and elegant" life in Cyprus so much.

I am not convinced that that life was working for her so very well. If it was, why didn't she just marry George? Why did she have a go bag packed?

Quote:I though it was very telling that Ruth responded to Harry's 'sad' about the HS with 'not really'.

Brutal honesty from Ruth again. Love. It! She knew exactly what he had done and he knew it too. I agree with JHyde, Ruth's final speech is very honest and real. The only way they can live honestly with each other and themselves is on the grid. Off it they would have to repress it all. A relationship cannot function in dishonesty. She knows that very well because she was not honest with George and it killed him.

lwhite53 · 21-09-2010, 11:03 PM

(21-09-2010 02:25 PM)A Cousin Wrote: I agree with JHyde, Ruth's final speech is very honest and real. The only way they can live honestly with each other and themselves is on the grid. Off it they would have to repress it all. A relationship cannot function in dishonesty. She knows that very well because she was not honest with George and it killed him.

I don't really get this at all. How is Harry being dishonest by asking Ruth to marry him? Why does Ruth assume that being married equates to conventionality (living in a cottage somewhere)? Is she saying that any relationship borne of love is now out of the question? I'm more inclined to believe that she's the one being dishonest -- she's basically denying everything that's happened over the past 8 years.

**A Cousin** · (This post was last modified: 22-09-2010 04:02 AM by A Cousin.)

(21-09-2010 11:03 PM)lwhite53 Wrote: I don't really get this at all. How is Harry being dishonest by asking Ruth to marry him? Why does Ruth assume that being married equates to conventionality (living in a cottage somewhere)? Is she saying that any relationship borne of love is now out of the question? I'm more inclined to believe that she's the one being dishonest -- she's basically denying everything that's happened over the past 8 years.

I'm glad you got to see it and are joining the conversation. You always really get me thinking and force me to verbalize my opinions. Smile

I didn't say that Harry was anything but 100% sincere in his intentions towards Ruth by asking her to marry him. In a bucolic meadow. At Ros' funeral. Just that the impetus to do so in the moment he asked her for the wrong reasons: because at that moment he didn't want to die alone and he wants to give the life up for something simple and elegant, if I may be so bold. I think that Ruth was quite right to refuse him in that moment.

I'm gonna channel Meryl Streep for a moment and deconstruct what I think is one of the best monologues to come through Spooks and, I will add, brilliantly executed by NW. Here 'tis just because its fabulous!

I've been thinking about why I said...um...to you know....because it would be a lie, Harry. Can I you even picture it? Us in a little house in Sussex? What would we do? What would we talk about when the neighbors came round? I think we've forfeited the chance for that kind of life, Harry, you and me. The things we've seen together. The things we've done. And here we can face all that in the open. There, we'd have to hide it away. We couldn't be more together than we are right now.

What she is saying is that if he retires to look for the peace he clearly seems to need, and with her, it will be a lie. She talks about the house in Sussex as part of that retirement package. In that scenario, they would have to live a lie by not talking about all the horrible things they have seen and all the horrible things they (but particularly Harry) have done. They would have to hide it from all they came in contact with. She is saying that they are better off loving each other in a place where they can be completely honest about the decisions they have to make on a daily basis. The only thing missing from their relationship is sex and cohabitation. I think their connection is deeper and more profound than that.

I do not see this as a rejection of Harry or a denying of whatever the odd "thing" is that they have had over the last 8 years. I see it as a blunt and honest affirmation and acceptance of the kind of life their jobs force them into and a statement of her love for him as it exists for them in the reality they have chosen. I think that she has finally taken him off the pedestal, seen him for what he is, accepts it and wants it to stay truthful.

And if this diatribe does not make my interpretation of Ruth's, to me, understandable POV, then I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Lord knows we have done it before! Big Grin

Aria · 22-09-2010, 07:03 AM

(22-09-2010 03:08 AM)A Cousin Wrote: What she is saying is that if he retires to look for the peace he clearly seems to need, and with her, it will be a lie. She talks about the house in Sussex as part of that retirement package. In that scenario, they would have to live a lie by not talking about all the horrible things they have seen and all the horrible things they (but particularly Harry) have done. They would have to hide it from all they came in contact with. She is saying that they are better off loving each other in a place where they can be completely honest about the decisions they have to make on a daily basis. The only thing missing from their relationship is sex and cohabitation. I think their connection is deeper and more profound than that.

I do not see this as a rejection of Harry or a denying of whatever the odd "thing" is that they have had over the last 8 years. I see it as a blunt and honest affirmation and acceptance of the kind of life their jobs force them into and a statement of her love for him as it exists for them in the reality they have chosen. I think that she has finally taken him off the pedestal, seen him for what he is, accepts it and wants it to stay truthful.

I agree completely, A Cousin. That's how I choose to interpret 9.1's H/R interaction. Ruth's had enough of the lies and not being truthful (with George) and she values the honesty in her relationship with Harry. I think its the beginning of something rather than an end.