Spooks Rewatching Discussion: 3.2
Sep. 18th, 2007 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melwilI'm not feeling great, so I'm home from school today. So I watched another episode of Spooks . . .
3.2
This is going to be a tough one.
The establishing shots in this episode are great - Tom walking, regular people moving around, Danny and Zoe with the camera, Adam and Tom in the corner. Already, just in the way they stand, we're seeing differences between Adam and Tom. Tom's uptight, nervy. Adams mostly relaxed.
Love the little switch in music as Harry appears in the university - the foreboding tone.
Is Harry telling the truth about the Nobel? Should we be questioning all the Nobel Prize winners? Oh, this is rummaging up big thoughts . . .
Why does Helen (the wife) refer to Harry as 'the vile man'? Is it because he invited himself to their party? Or is she just getting a bad feeling about it?
Top stories. Bottom stories. Very confusing. I wonder if there's a bottom story to Howard's jump in the polls . . .
I love the way Danny and Zoe conduct the briefing with Fred - they're just a little less than sure of themselves, enough to suck him slowly in, to make him trust them more.
Tom is so dismissive of Adam, isn't he. I guess he's wondering why Adam's still hanging around.
Tom's smile while he watched Helen and Fred fall apart is the creepiest, scariest thing I've ever seen. And the conversation with Harry about whether or not he's up to it is so beautifully shot from the side there, you can't see into his eyes, but there's all these little things telling you that he's about to totally lose it.
Zoe is hilarious when she notices Will. In fact there's a lot about her relationship with Will which is kind of hilarious. In a lot of ways, though, he's the best sort of partner any of them have met. On the outside, so less likely to DIE in some horrid operation, but cluey - he already knows her - he reads her extremely well. I don't know if I particularly like Will, himself, but if some of the others had found partners which met those requirements, there might be some happier stories . . .
Love the way people start leaving the lecture theatre as soon as they realise he's not going tell them a story *g*
"How do you live with the fear?"
"You learn to love it"
"It will destroy you though."
Oh, the scene with Harry and Zoe talking about Will is so lovely and perfectly shot. With both Harry and Zoe sitting in the middle of really wide shots, and Harry almost a cross of father and older brother to Zoe.
Eeek. I never realised that Zoe and Will only made it as far as the couch! Wonder what Danny would think if he knew? Good thing he didn't come home early . . .
When did Tom get too wrapped up? 2.9? 2.5? 2.2? All three occasions plus more. Somewhere along the way he lost himself, the Tom that was there back at the beginning of Spooks.
I think Tom's identifying himself with Herman Joyce too much - he sees the parallels between them - the manipulation and the lies. The bending of people for their own ends. What he's not seeing is that the ends are drastically different.
The fake post cards. I wonder if that'll be important later . . . ?
The differences between Tom and Adam are so extreme. Adam's reasons are better thought out, his words are more confident. Tom's jittery, all over the place.
Tom's so broken.
Tom's riff about following orders is an old one too. Very obvious in 2.8 with the army episode. But there's been other signs all over the place. He really hates being manipulated.
Tom goes to the flat to find Zoe, and only finds Danny.
"are you for me or against me"
Those words are really terrifying no matter who they come from. I wonder if Danny knew Tom would be coming, whether he was briefed for it. He paused before making the phone call in.
Despite the fact Tom thinks he's been manipulating the professor, Fred reads him so well. So does Ruth, of course.
Tom's really lost it now - he's forgotten that most of the manipulation was carried out by Herman Joyce, and now equates it with the service. He blames the service for everything in the same way Joyce blamed him for everything.
That helicopter shot is cool. (*end shallow*)
Despite his complete misgivings, Tom still wants to be an officer. He still wants to be involved. It has become the only thing he knows.The only thing he thinks he understands.
LIAR! Adam does understand to some extent where Tom is coming from. He doesn't agree at all, but he's too smart not to understand.
NOOOOOO NOT THE DOG!
Tom going through all his boxes . . . Matthew Archer . . .I really do love the shot where we see Danny, Zoe, Tom and Harry all in a line with two panes of glass between them.
Tom's face is so much clearer and more open here - he's already made peace with himself. And his look at Zoe is just beautiful at the end there.
3.2
This is going to be a tough one.
The establishing shots in this episode are great - Tom walking, regular people moving around, Danny and Zoe with the camera, Adam and Tom in the corner. Already, just in the way they stand, we're seeing differences between Adam and Tom. Tom's uptight, nervy. Adams mostly relaxed.
Love the little switch in music as Harry appears in the university - the foreboding tone.
Is Harry telling the truth about the Nobel? Should we be questioning all the Nobel Prize winners? Oh, this is rummaging up big thoughts . . .
Why does Helen (the wife) refer to Harry as 'the vile man'? Is it because he invited himself to their party? Or is she just getting a bad feeling about it?
Top stories. Bottom stories. Very confusing. I wonder if there's a bottom story to Howard's jump in the polls . . .
I love the way Danny and Zoe conduct the briefing with Fred - they're just a little less than sure of themselves, enough to suck him slowly in, to make him trust them more.
Tom is so dismissive of Adam, isn't he. I guess he's wondering why Adam's still hanging around.
Tom's smile while he watched Helen and Fred fall apart is the creepiest, scariest thing I've ever seen. And the conversation with Harry about whether or not he's up to it is so beautifully shot from the side there, you can't see into his eyes, but there's all these little things telling you that he's about to totally lose it.
Zoe is hilarious when she notices Will. In fact there's a lot about her relationship with Will which is kind of hilarious. In a lot of ways, though, he's the best sort of partner any of them have met. On the outside, so less likely to DIE in some horrid operation, but cluey - he already knows her - he reads her extremely well. I don't know if I particularly like Will, himself, but if some of the others had found partners which met those requirements, there might be some happier stories . . .
Love the way people start leaving the lecture theatre as soon as they realise he's not going tell them a story *g*
"How do you live with the fear?"
"You learn to love it"
"It will destroy you though."
Oh, the scene with Harry and Zoe talking about Will is so lovely and perfectly shot. With both Harry and Zoe sitting in the middle of really wide shots, and Harry almost a cross of father and older brother to Zoe.
Eeek. I never realised that Zoe and Will only made it as far as the couch! Wonder what Danny would think if he knew? Good thing he didn't come home early . . .
When did Tom get too wrapped up? 2.9? 2.5? 2.2? All three occasions plus more. Somewhere along the way he lost himself, the Tom that was there back at the beginning of Spooks.
I think Tom's identifying himself with Herman Joyce too much - he sees the parallels between them - the manipulation and the lies. The bending of people for their own ends. What he's not seeing is that the ends are drastically different.
The fake post cards. I wonder if that'll be important later . . . ?
The differences between Tom and Adam are so extreme. Adam's reasons are better thought out, his words are more confident. Tom's jittery, all over the place.
Tom's so broken.
Tom's riff about following orders is an old one too. Very obvious in 2.8 with the army episode. But there's been other signs all over the place. He really hates being manipulated.
Tom goes to the flat to find Zoe, and only finds Danny.
"are you for me or against me"
Those words are really terrifying no matter who they come from. I wonder if Danny knew Tom would be coming, whether he was briefed for it. He paused before making the phone call in.
Despite the fact Tom thinks he's been manipulating the professor, Fred reads him so well. So does Ruth, of course.
Tom's really lost it now - he's forgotten that most of the manipulation was carried out by Herman Joyce, and now equates it with the service. He blames the service for everything in the same way Joyce blamed him for everything.
That helicopter shot is cool. (*end shallow*)
Despite his complete misgivings, Tom still wants to be an officer. He still wants to be involved. It has become the only thing he knows.The only thing he thinks he understands.
LIAR! Adam does understand to some extent where Tom is coming from. He doesn't agree at all, but he's too smart not to understand.
NOOOOOO NOT THE DOG!
Tom going through all his boxes . . . Matthew Archer . . .I really do love the shot where we see Danny, Zoe, Tom and Harry all in a line with two panes of glass between them.
Tom's face is so much clearer and more open here - he's already made peace with himself. And his look at Zoe is just beautiful at the end there.
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on 2007-09-18 09:51 am (UTC)The bit that always gets me is when he salutes (or is it waves?) at the camera as he walks off at the end with Harry watching.
I need to track down these first S3 episodes and watch them again.