[spoilers] Sir Harry Pearce 2.0

[Silktie]

(12-04-2010 11:43 AM)Tea Lady Wrote:  I'm not sure Silktie. Did Harry act the way he did because of some loyalty to Harakat and the promises the British Government made to him or was it to get one over Mace and 6, to keep them at arms lenght, where Harry thinks they should be. Harry certainly seemed to be enjoying himself in this episode.

Interesting view - I hadn't thought of that. I don't think though that this was purely about getting one over on Mace. If that were the case would Harry have made that speech to Mace at the end, where he tells him that the country made a promise to Harakat and should have honoured it?

[lwhite53]

I agree with Silktie. I think, for Harry, keeping the promise to Harikat was important, as was not following the American's dismantling of civil liberties and Geneva Convention practices. Getting one over on Mace was just an added bonus!

[Silktie]

Episode 3.4 is a great Harry episode, as we learn a tremendous amount about the character.

Who would've thought that Harry is the sentimental type that keeps a box of mementos about his daughter in his office? It is also the first time we see Harry cry, isn't it? This episode does show that once that veneer of invulnerability cracks, Harry is a bit of a softie underneath.

I felt incredibly sorry for him when his daughter said that he was dead, or might as well be. It is, however, pretty clear from other things she said (calling him a bully that belittled what she's achieved) and his own comments about his children (the brother was the one with the brains, Catherine choosing emotion over intellect, and calling her stupid and naive as well as making derogatory comments about her film) that he must have been a pretty terrible father who had no clue how to relate to his children emotionally. All this makes the tentative steps the two make towards a better relationship by the end of the episode that much more poignant.

PF gives a great performance in this episode.

[JHyde]

There's a comment that he makes in his diary and he uses it in relation to Ruth too were he calls her 'little' as part of explaining how they don't know what they are speaking of. It's a great pity that with Harry he sometimes splits women into those two categories (even Harry!) because you could never see him using that term to describe Tessa or Juliet no matter how pissed off he was with them. I don't wish to imply that he thinks of either his daughter or Ruth as weak (and regular readers will know that nor do I) but it is a belittling turn of phrase. Quite literally.

[Aria]

I loved this episode as it shows how vulnerable Harry can be. The scene where his daughter says he might as well be dead and then the close up of Harry was brilliant. I did feel he manipulated poor Danny for his own ends but this also sets the precedent for Harry protecting those he loves to the utmost if they are in trouble.

PF was again brilliant and shows his versatility as an actor.

[picard1109]

That IS a very good Harry episode and I agree that it was heartbreaking to hear his daughter saying he may as well be dead. But I agree with SilkTie and JHyde that Harry does seem to compartmentalise women. (Mind you, don't get me started on my opinion of Ruth...Grrrr)

I've watched 8.1 repeatedly. I think it brings out Harry's inner strength. The way PF says the line

Series 8 Spoiler: show

"What ARE you going to do with me?" and the footage of the supposed execution always brings a lump to my throat, even though I've seen it several times! And when he says "I won't tell you...if you do, or if you don't...I won't tell you", risking Ruth's hatred forever and not knowing what else might be done to him or Ruth

is a real signal of how strong he is.

And I love the ep where he's excluded from the Grid...can't remember which season/ep and watches day time TV with Scarlet...a refreshing glimpse of normality for Harry.

[Tea Lady]

I won't write much here as I have already commented that I was not a big fan of 3.4. I think it actually painted a really bad picture of Harry as a father and if you hadn't read Harry's diary you would be wondering what on earth he had been up to, to make his daughter change her surname.

Harry in my opinion came across as sexist at the start. He was really talking about his daughter as if she was still 8 years old. He talked up his son in front of the whole team but then admitted to Catherine in private that Graham wasn't doing very well. Was Harry trying to make it look like, to the rest of the team, that he had at least one child that was "normal?" Well he was lying wasnt he.

Harry batted off Ruth in this episode and used her to funnel some of his frustrations. Harry wasn't treating Ruth with the respect she diserved whether Ruth minded or not.

I agree with the rest of you that it was good acting though by PF but I wish Harry didn't wear that grey suit (not the series 7 grey suit) but the series 3 grey suit. Makes him look rather large.

As I say, I won't write much here.......

[picard1109]

Harry can come over as a bit sexist at times - can't remember the episode, but he refers to MI-5 as a 'brotherhood' and when Ruth tries to get him to use a more inclusive term, he says "no, I prefer brotherhood". But then, he may just have been being perverse for the sake of it.

[JHyde]

I love that scene. Classic Harry.

I don't see him as being sexist by and large. I see him as having issues at certain times, with regards to his daughter, possibly his ex (going by his diary) and sometimes Ruth. I think he prefers brotherhood because it's a nifty turn of phrase not because it excludes women.

He's a boss I'd want to have, let me put it that way. Maybe not a dad. (I'm almost sure Neil Cross makes a similar point in 5.9's commentary.)

On the issue of clothing, Tea Lady - he does wear my fave coat. Is that the one Silktie calls the George Smiley coat? HAHA!!

[Tea Lady]

(18-04-2010 07:51 PM)JHyde Wrote:  IOn the issue of clothing, Tea Lady - he does wear my fave coat. Is that the one Silktie calls the George Smiley coat? HAHA!!

Is it this one?