[spoilers] Harry and Ruth Strike Back

[Tea Lady]

Having just watched 2.08 I think Harry had decided to make Ruth permanent before she confronted him about it, but for some reason he couldnt tell her yet. It was just the way he had his hand on his head and couldnt look at her when she was yelling at him a little, in his office. He was obviously feeling hot under the collar about it all and a little uncomfortable as he had to shift his neck in his shirt to compose himself just like in 8.8 when Ruth confronted Harry again about the Home Secretary.

As to when they fell in love I think it was between 2.05 and 2.10. I think for Ruth, it possibly was the EERIE exercise and for Harry, well perhaps it was the EERIE exercise and the thought of losing her to GCHQ. I think their love grew from genuine fondness to love over that period. By the third series I think they both are in love with each other and it grows even more over the next two series.

[Aria]

I've always felt that Harry was physically attracted to Ruth right from the start (that awful joke and mutley like laugh) and then this grew as he came to know her better. For both of them, I think, it was a gradual process with them not even being aware when mutual like and attraction turned into love.
I think that the episode where Ruth helps Harry for his DG interview is when both of them realise that the feelings are deeper than previously thought.

[Silktie]

That's a great scene when she's confronting him in 2.8, I love that. I agree that Harry had probably already decided to renew her secondment before she confronted him. I don't think that there was a particular reason why he couldn't tell her, I think it was probably his own decision. It seems to me like something Harry would do to keep his subordinates on their toes. He was probably thinking that if he made it too easy for her, she would realise how highly he rated her work and maybe become complacent. Like we said earlier in the Harry thread, his compassion and people skills needed a bit of work at this stage.

As to when like turned to love, that is very difficult to pinpoint. I think at this stage (late season 2) they probably already had crushes on each other, but still kidded themselves that it was respect rather than something deeper. My opinion is that it is only around 3.9 that they actually realised it was love rather than like. Maybe it was the catalyst of Harry possibly getting the DG job and the realisation that they would possibly not see each other every day anymore that brought it on. Ep 3.9 is to me, the first time where you can overtly see them gazing at each other and sharing little moments and looks.

JHyde, what's a barrel organ?

ETA: shazia obviously types faster than me!

[JHyde]

Silktie and I are once again in agreement, which means I must be right.

You know the expression of being a broken record? I twist this slightly and say I'm a barrel organ because I play the same song over and over.

I think there are hints of it throughout season 3 and we know Harry gave her a gift on her birthday in April of 2004, so there was affection and curiosity, certainly. And then - I think it just hit them both like a tonne of bricks but at slightly different times.

[SPOOK91]

I agree that it would have been late series 3 when they had begun to realise there was something more there than just a bit of a crush. I do think that Harry was attracted to her from the beginning though but didn't dare think that she felt the same.

I'm not sure who fell for who first though, I would like to say Ruth but in some cases I'm not entirely sure, its Harry who asks her out after all, 4.1 is a good episode in this respect as they clearly need each other.

[Silktie]

I thought some more about JHyde's earlier question of when Harry and Ruth fell in love and when they realised they had. I think Harry probably acknowledged that fact to himself before Ruth did, and that it happened just after Ruth falling for that Fortesque guy. We know that he acknowledged in his diary that he was jealous of the guy, which is as good as an admission that he had romantic feelings towards her. We can also see it in his behaviour in 3.7, when he reacts strangely to her being so happy to see Forrestal whom she knew from GCHQ. Definitely some jealousy there too. Ruth, I think, probably only admitted it to herself in 3.9, when there was the chance that Harry would leave for the DG job.

I found it interesting to watch the change in the dynamics of the team during 2.9. Up to this point Ruth seemed to have almost a hero worship for Tom, but during this episode she seems to be gradually shifting those feelings onto Harry. He is now the first one she runs to with every new piece of information, and of course it didn't help that Tom shouted at her unnecessarily during the operation. We also see Harry almost amused as well as bemused with Ruth storming into his office at regular intervals, but he certainly doesn't seem to mind it that much.

[Tea Lady]

(14-03-2010 05:43 PM)Silktie Wrote:  I found it interesting to watch the change in the dynamics of the team during 2.9. Up to this point Ruth seemed to have almost a hero worship for Tom, but during this episode she seems to be gradually shifting those feelings onto Harry. He is now the first one she runs to with every new piece of information, and of course it didn't help that Tom shouted at her unnecessarily during the operation. We also see Harry almost amused as well as bemused with Ruth storming into his office at regular intervals, but he certainly doesn't seem to mind it that much.

That's a good point Silktie. I think that Ruth was idolizing Tom a little too much. Even when she found out about the mole she still went to tell Tom first and not Harry. Perhaps she was a little scared of telling Harry maybe, perhaps because of what Ruth did in the past with passing on information. Even though Harry made his point to Ruth about bursting in, he really didnt protest too much. Also by now Harry should realise that if Ruth does burst in, she always has something important to tell him. She isnt bursting in to talk about the weather. Ruth still seems quite nervous around Harry though.

[lwhite53]

So Harry and Ruth have the first of what will become a long series of riverside chats on "their" Embankment bench in 2.10. He confides in her his suspicions about Tom and she takes H's side. Ruth shows a clear change of allegiance from Tom to Harry in this ep and, I think, this is when H and R's relationship really begins.

[Tea Lady]

Yes Harry certainly opens up to Ruth a little on that bench. She reacts to him and his trust in her, by standing by him. She never really goes back on that throughout the following series. Ruth totally respects Harry at this point and I think starts to realise the sought of decisions he has to make and how lonely it can be, for the one making those decisions. Ruth finally realises that she is worth something to Harry.

[Silktie]

On the other hand Harry didn't have much of a choice at that stage. Zoe and Danny were missing in action together with Tom, and Harry has never had a high opinion of Sam's abilities, which really leaves only Ruth as an option for help to Harry. I do think her reaction is telling, though, as she needs very little persuasion to see things Harry's way. Ruth knows that Tom has become emotionally unstable since that undercover operation in the army, I think making it easier for her to see Harry's point of view. Her unwavering support probably meant a lot to Harry, and cemented his unwavering trust in her from that point on.