[spoilers] Harry and Ruth Strike Back

[Nitrus]

I know HR is a touchy subject where many of you are concerned, however I would like to remind everyone that this forum is a platform for free and open debate and discussion. Despite how dear you hold HR to your heart, others might have different opinions that shouldn't be ridiculed.

I've been on the sharp end of the HR sword myself and it can be very intimidating, so please try and be a little more welcoming of other people's opinions.

[JHyde]

(18-04-2010 07:29 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  I'm such a ditz. I never linked the two comments together. In 8.4 Harry says to Ruth on the bench "there will always be something else Ruth." Well that's Ruth's famous line isnt it, "there's something else" but she has always said it and then continued, but on the bench with Harry in 8.4 she asks it as a question to him "but there's something else too?"

To be honest, I ever interpreted it as the link between these two comments but hey, what do I know?

The reason I love this remark is that it means so many things for both of them. It's one of those delicious lines that I just don't want to dissect and talk about. It's too damn perfect.

But I'm not sure it was a link back to 3.4.

[SPOOK91]

I always assumed that that line "Something else." Was a callback to 5.5 with the "Something wonderful."

[Silktie]

Yeah, I also thought it was a reminder of the "something wonderful" line in 5.5, but with these two you never know. Since most of their relationship takes place in the ether of subtext, we are free to interpret it however we wish. So it could just as well be a callback to 3.4.

I'm kind of sorry that we didn't see the scene where Ruth got to tell Harry that his daughter was not the agent. I'm sure the relief at hearing that might have actually moved Harry to allow Ruth a glimpse of some real emotion from him.

ETA: I just remembered about Ruth's diary - so how about it, JHyde, will you give us this scene in your entry?

[Silktie]

We've had many a discussion on this thread about when Harry and Ruth fell in love. My view is, and has been strengthened by the rewatch, that episode 3.5 is the point where Harry admitted to himself that he felt more than professional admiration or friendship for Ruth. He acts kind of weird the whole episode, first by not confronting Ruth himself but sending Sam to spy on her, and then snapping at her after Sam told him that Ruth was really falling for Fortesque. Then, to top it all, he actually holds a disciplinary hearing with her over the incident, which seems quite an overreaction. I think if it had been anyone else, he would have confronted them and ordered them to put an end to it, and that would have been it.

[Tea Lady]

Yes I think my view has changed during the rewatch Silktie. I had originally gone for mid series 2. I think it is clear from 3.5 that Harry is struggling a little with his emotions and as usual, it all comes out wrong and he tries perhaps to be a little too harsh on Ruth, to disguise his growing feelings for her. As for Ruth, she definitely likes Harry up to this point but perhaps hasnt admitted it to herself which is why she went for Fortesque. I still don't think it is obvious to the rest of the team yet though that something is brewing between them.

Harry perhaps let it carry on with Fortesque because he knew he would win either way. Either Ruth would mess it up herself or Harry would step in and stop it. Perhaps Harry thought the first option would make his life easier so let things take their own course.

[Aria]

Completeley agree Silktie and Tea Lady. Ep 3.5 is the moment when Harry admits to himself that his feelings for Ruth go beyond the professional. I think he spends most of the episode hiding his jealousy which is why he is so off. Getting Sam to find out what Ruth's up to is a clear indication of his jealousy, up till that point he has never shied away from confrontations with staff about their personal lives.
Loved the part in Harry's diary about the disciplinary hearing and Ruth not taking any BS from him.

[lwhite53]

Yep, I agree with you all -- 3.5 is the ep where we see the relationship start to show on Harry's side. Don't think Ruth has gotten there yet, however; at least, not obviously.

[JHyde]

(19-04-2010 06:39 AM)Silktie Wrote:  ETA: I just remembered about Ruth's diary - so how about it, JHyde, will you give us this scene in your entry?

3.5 isn't actually my entry. But we have been talking a lot about 3.9 and that will be a collaborative entry.

The problem with that disciplinary hearing is that it was held 3 months after the fact, according to Harry's Diary. We're playing along with that timing, because I think it works better in the context of Harry mulling over it and over it and then eventually deciding to reprimand her for it. And then a matter of weeks later he gives her the first birthday present.

[yorkshiretyke]

Good Morning,

I have just been reading the series 9 rumours and spoilers, I am a little concerned about the PF and RA comments "PF says something like, the surprise in S9 is the second last person you would expect it to be, who are not what they seem" ....I dont think I could bare it if Harry or Ruth betrayed each other!!...not after we have waited for 3 years to get them back together...