Spooks : Episode 2.1

[melwil]

Matt's back up north, so it's time for more reviews. Here's some 2.1



2.1

Malcolm has to be the workplace health and safety guy for the grid. He's the one organising drills and telling people off for standing on chairs.

Dead man in an elevator. Is it wrong that I find that mildly amusing? Blame the children.

Oh Sam! Sam with your fluffy hair, and your fugly boots. And Zoe is so brusque at the beginning, and you've got to remember that Tessa's just been tossed out. And Zoe's obviously distraught. Sam's so eager to please here - she lacks social skills as much as the others do.

War Criminal with a taste for genocide - I love the writing back in this season. It's sharp and witty and said without pause to allow the words to sink in. It's like West Wing on its best day in that regard - one of those shows where you have to be listening to every single word. Then you need to stop and watch it again.

Zoe and the 'old school friend' - this makes me think heaps - I've got a 10 year reunion next year and it's starting to look like it will be quite the event. Imagine a world where you can't risk attending that sort of thing (not that the invitation would ever make it to you)

Now it's Zoe and the smarmy guy. I forgot how mulit-layered the stories became during this season. There's so many stories going on at the same time,and sometime a scene's just setting up the story for two or three episodes down the track.

Tom has a bad record for letting himself in to Danny and Zoe's place. Thinking about it, after watching season one - at the beginning of the series it felt like Danny and Zoe were fairly new - they didn't know each other or Tom real well. Now - after Helen's demise and Peter's betrayal, Tom seems to have no one to turn to when Ellie and Maisie leaves, but the co workers he's probably really only known for a year. For someone who doesn't really trust easily (most of them don't) he's pretty quick to trust Zoe and Danny

"Tessa's no longer someone we talk about" - LOVE the way Danny turns to look at Zoe. Just gorgeous.

I love Colin and Malcolm "Would you wear it the next day?" "Yes" "She wasn't talking to you." They really geek it up in this episode. Adore "BLOODY NORA!"

Oops. Danny got beaten up. Silly boy. Of course it introduces us to psycho!Vicki. Oh how I've missed psycho!Vicki. Danny recovers pretty quickly though. Bounces back to the grid pretty quickly.

I find I don't hate Ellie as much as some fans do. I'm looking at her through the filter a few people discussed last week - she's a confused woman, who thought she had the perfect guy. He loved her, he loved her daughter. Knight in shining armour. But then the knight disappears into the night more often than not, and you find out he's a spy with a different name - and there's a totally new world to deal with. Then you finally decide to trust him - and you're almost blown up by a bomb. I'd be getting the hell out of there too. Staying is almost neglectful to your child - you don't go putting your children deliberately at risk.

We hate her because we love Tom, and she gives him ultimatums and that's kinda sucky. But she tries, again and again. Few people on the outside would be strong enough to deal with that.

Tom Quinn is so so so very broken. And then Harry talks with him, and he's trying to mend him up enough to keep going. Matthew MacFadyen is a master of silence.

Then of course - the awesome helicopter shot. Perfect ending. It mirrors season 1, though. There Mary Kane was sent to Florida, when she was promised a non-death penalty state. Now this guy is sent to Egypt on a wrongful accusation. I wonder if it's a deliberate choice to do that.

The scene when Tom packs up at the end? Heart breaking. And mirroring the way they continually pack up their lives into boxes - the way they are forced to compartmentalise their lives. Look at Zoe in this episode - she's Zoe at work, Zoe the housemate, Zoe the old school friend, Zoe the flirt, Zoe on an operation . . . and she wasn't the absolute focus of the episode.

Lots of thoughts from this one. The quality is better here - the actors are comfortable in their roles, no one's overwriting Harry, and the story is complex and engaging.

Comments

[shezan.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean about Ellie, and really, I would be furious and scared for Maisie in her place; but if she can't tell Tom is trying his damnedest to keep them three together, she's a whiny nincompoop. I disagree about people "on the outside" not being strong enough, or are we accepting the television prime time news/Daily Mail/Diana's funeral version of your required emo interviewee blubbing on cue for the camera after the 'orrible event/car crash/bomb/whatever? I'm 44. There hasn't been a moment in my lifetime when Churchill was Prime Minister. Weren't we taught a measure of self-control and patriotism even later?

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Oh, and completely agreed on the actors being more at ease in their parts, & the writing shining through. I'm amazed at how Tom is written in a way that foreshadows his ultimate breakdown, even tough I'm not even sure that was on the cards at the time - when did the press cotton on to MMF's affair with Keeley Hawes?

[melwil.livejournal.com]

See, as an Australian, I never factored in the stiff upper lip part of it. It's a cultural difference which you just don't think about. And then you have to start thinking about Ellie and her background - what happened in her background to shape her decisions? Was she kept away from any kind of danger in her formative life? That might explain her quick return to Maisie's father.

I'm really fascinated by this idea. It throws a completely different filter on a lot of different events of the series.

I think Ellie's 'big bad decision' in this episode was moving too quickly. She acted completely on the spot. If she'd taken the time to think and talk to Tom, it might have been different.

Of course, they probably only have one episode to get rid of the characters*g*

[melwil.livejournal.com]

sangerin and I have a theory that Tom was showing cracks from after 1.2. To that theory, I add one that all the characters are somewhat broken. They just alter in how they deal with it.

I'm not sure when the press found out - it would be interesting to compare it.