[spoilers] Sir Harry Pearce 2.0

[almh]

Hehe, good reason lwhite53! I think they all made him look good, so he probably paid for the drinks

[Aria]

I was thinking it would be good for the writers to show Harry's relationship with his son Graham. We have had a partial reconciliation with daughter Catherine in season 3 and Graham, I feel, would be a more interesting character due to his criminal past. Maybe he could be involved in some criminal activity that necessitates Harry's involvement. This could work character wise as Harry has felt guilty about Wes for Adam's death and Nico for George's death. Possibly a pipe dream but I will continue to hope for genuine character development in season 9.

[Silktie]

Great suggestion, shazia! That would be interesting to see.

I was thinking about Harry's actions in 2.5 and his inability to grasp the emotional impact the exercise would have on his officers, and Tom in particular. I think Harry genuinely expected Tom to be able to see the bigger picture afterwards, and to understand that the exercise was necessary to ensure preparedness in order to defend the country in time of crisis, and to not take Harry's actions personally. Harry himself shows in later episodes that he has a great capacity to do this, and to forgive personal betrayals if it were done for the good of the country. So because Harry himself can make this distinction, he assumes everyone around him can do the same.

[lwhite53]

That's a good point Silktie. He probably does forget that his officers haven't had his breadth of experience yet, but I also think that the only way to grow those callouses is to constantly be put on the firing line. The EERIE is designed to do just that -- it's pretty much sink or swim.

[HellsBells]

Of course, Harry may not have been responsible for the EERIE exercise. The form and intensity of the exercise may have been a decision made elsewhere in MI5, and Harry was just a player in the situation. It seems more like a human resources exercise !

[Aria]

The EERIE exercise does seem to be one of those scenarios human rescources and higher management would like. I always felt that Harry greatly underestimated the effect that it had on the participants. They all had hours to contemplate the fact that their lives had irrevocably altered and then Harry comes out and they all realise it was a test and other members of the grid all come in clapping and envying them their participation.

[lwhite53]

I'm not sure that H wouldn't have been in on the planning of the exercise. HR types tend to plan for the lowest common demoninator. H would certainly have been more aware that his officers generally took the EERIE's for granted and may have wanted to shake things up a bit and get rid of the complacency those kinds of exercises generated.

[Silktie]

Episode 2.6 is a great example of what we discussed before, namely how expressive PF's face is. He gets a bit more comedy to do in this episode and does it wonderfully. Harry gets a lot of reaction shots, and they are all hilarious. It's one of the things I really missed in the later series, where he gets very little comedic moments.

Also, is this the first time we see Harry reprimanding Tom?

And the man does wear a tuxedo really well. Love that shot with the bowtie hanging loose around his neck.

[Tea Lady]

Yes Harry didnt seem to have much to do in episode in 2.6 apart from pulling cute faces. I loved his face when the American crate was carried past the meeting room door in full view of them all. I am not sure we had many cute faces from Harry in series 8, or series 7 for that matter. Perhaps when he made the geek comment to Tariq.

I thought it was a real shame he didnt keep the tux on the whole episode. Keeping fingers crossed we get a tux moment in series 9. I cant think Harry has worn a tux since 2.6. I need to now do some insurance and stop thinking about Harry in a tux.

[Aria]

Hope the Spooks writers take note that Harry fans would like a complete episode with him in a tux for us to enjoy. Perhaps we can start a petition!!

Now that season 9 is considered gospel, I hope that the writers give Harry some more humour. P.F's facial expressions and deadpan delivery were criminally underused in season 8.

Apart from more H/R what would others like to see for Harry in season 9?