Spooks, season 5, and a Doctor Who rec
Dec. 28th, 2008 04:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe fanfiction first: the Christmas special is already inspiring people to write, and this morning I found the utterly delightful story The Yes Man, or four times Jackson Lake made the Doctor change his mind, and one time didn't have to say anything. It's the kind of story which leaves you with a silly approving grin on your face, and I love it.
Now: one of my Christmas presents, by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kathyh, has been the fifth season of Spooks.
You know, one big advantage this show has is that you really fear for the characters if they're in danger, because of the ongoing huge turnover rate. Characters really die, and if they quit or are fired, they really leave, instead of returning two episodes later. At this point, Harry is the only season 1 character who is left, and while I am almost sure they won't kill him off or write him out before the end (unless the actor quits), it's just an almost, not a complete certainty.
The opening two parter was a bit too over the top for me. Not that I can't believe democracy is in serious danger and has been these last eight years, but here, it felt unreal. A group of establishment conspirators as boo hiss villains might have had something to do with it. Perhaps if one or two hadn't been presented as utterly despicable or with motives that went beyond a general disdain for the masses and wish for control, it would have made me believe in their reality more. (And no, I don't exempt Ros' father; "loves his daughter" is not a personality-giving character trait.) Plus showing people were willing to demonstrate for civil liberties as a sign the conspirators were wrong and democracy was saved by more than our heroes was all very well, but why show the entire police force as tools? I'm thinking of the demonstrations in East Germany before the wall fell. The fact none of the cops shot at the demonstrators was important.
I'm also not sure about Ros' introduction: the later episode in which she becomes a handler would have worked better, imo. Not because in the opening two parter she works for the opposition but because they simultanously try to sell the audience on Ros being good at her job and show her failing (Adam sees through her at once), and show her as tough and naive at the same time. It's as if they hadn't decided yet whether she was supposed to be a reformed bad girl or a good but ruthless character or a misled innocent, whereas the writing for the character from episode 3 onwards is far better, consistent, and managed to make me interested in and sympathetic to Ros. Also, I like the actress; another example of British tv having actors who aren't conventionally pretty but immensely compelling and charismatic.
Not completely unrelated: when Ros and Adam flirted in the opening two parter, I was afraid that my s4 fear they killed off Fiona to make Adam available for various romantic storylines and we'd get a replay of Tom Quinn's dreary love life would be fulfilled, but no. Not only was there no more flirtation (which in itself had been a fake, of course) between these two but the thing closest to a romance Adam did get, with Jenny the babysitter, didn't take up much narrative room and was treated as part of his increasing breakdown while mourning for Fiona and trying to do his job. Grieving-but-working Adam was way more interesting than angsting-about-normal-girlfriend Tom in s1 or involved-with-Christine!Tom from s2, I must say, but then I like Adam more in general.
The big heartbreak of the season was of course what happened with Ruth. I mean, I was sad about Colin's death as well, but oh, Ruth. Incidentally, as opposed to the opening two parter I did not have to suspend my disbelief for the plot of the Ruth farewell episode. (Because the decision to use torture on prisoners was all too realistic, sad to say.) What I had a bit trouble believing before was Ruth being so gunshy about getting involved with Harry, but okay, working situation and all that. And at least it avoided the cliché of letting her and Harry get together just before she leaves, and made her sacrifice for Harry all the more poignant. It ends on a nice note of hope, though, and I'm sure there is fanfiction where they get together once Harry retires, and make that trip through Europe, sitting in cafés.
Sidenote: Whereas in earlier seasons the replacements were introduced in the same season a character leaves/gets killed - i.e. Adam and Fiona in s3 before Tom Quinn and Zoe respectively left - , there hasn't been a new character to fill in for Ruth.
Because MI5 as run by Harry as the one secret service interested in preserving democracy, not just in winning is an ongoing theme, there aren't many plots any more in which what our heroes themselves do is shown as ambiguous or shady. Two exceptions were the episode I already mentioned, where Zaf infiltrated an Al Quaida cell, and Ros was handling the former girlfriend of a man they wanted to turn, and the episode about the African conference in which one of the African heads of state crucial for the conference's success turned out to be also planning genocide. I don't think it's a coincidence that these were probably my favourite episodes of the season. Not that I disagree with the general direction - in a real life situation where Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib exist, I don't want my fictional characters to be shown approving of this, so I'm all for Harry drawing lines etc. - but part of the attraction of a spy show is that the characters often are in situations where the right thing to do isn't clear.
Lastly: given how often MI6 is presented as the bad guy, it amuses me to think that Harry keeps recruiting people from it - Adam, Fiona and now Ros. I think Jo - as a civilian - is the only one who didn't come from MI6 after season 2. Though I can't remember where Zaf was originally from.
Now: one of my Christmas presents, by
kathyh, has been the fifth season of Spooks. You know, one big advantage this show has is that you really fear for the characters if they're in danger, because of the ongoing huge turnover rate. Characters really die, and if they quit or are fired, they really leave, instead of returning two episodes later. At this point, Harry is the only season 1 character who is left, and while I am almost sure they won't kill him off or write him out before the end (unless the actor quits), it's just an almost, not a complete certainty.
The opening two parter was a bit too over the top for me. Not that I can't believe democracy is in serious danger and has been these last eight years, but here, it felt unreal. A group of establishment conspirators as boo hiss villains might have had something to do with it. Perhaps if one or two hadn't been presented as utterly despicable or with motives that went beyond a general disdain for the masses and wish for control, it would have made me believe in their reality more. (And no, I don't exempt Ros' father; "loves his daughter" is not a personality-giving character trait.) Plus showing people were willing to demonstrate for civil liberties as a sign the conspirators were wrong and democracy was saved by more than our heroes was all very well, but why show the entire police force as tools? I'm thinking of the demonstrations in East Germany before the wall fell. The fact none of the cops shot at the demonstrators was important.
I'm also not sure about Ros' introduction: the later episode in which she becomes a handler would have worked better, imo. Not because in the opening two parter she works for the opposition but because they simultanously try to sell the audience on Ros being good at her job and show her failing (Adam sees through her at once), and show her as tough and naive at the same time. It's as if they hadn't decided yet whether she was supposed to be a reformed bad girl or a good but ruthless character or a misled innocent, whereas the writing for the character from episode 3 onwards is far better, consistent, and managed to make me interested in and sympathetic to Ros. Also, I like the actress; another example of British tv having actors who aren't conventionally pretty but immensely compelling and charismatic.
Not completely unrelated: when Ros and Adam flirted in the opening two parter, I was afraid that my s4 fear they killed off Fiona to make Adam available for various romantic storylines and we'd get a replay of Tom Quinn's dreary love life would be fulfilled, but no. Not only was there no more flirtation (which in itself had been a fake, of course) between these two but the thing closest to a romance Adam did get, with Jenny the babysitter, didn't take up much narrative room and was treated as part of his increasing breakdown while mourning for Fiona and trying to do his job. Grieving-but-working Adam was way more interesting than angsting-about-normal-girlfriend Tom in s1 or involved-with-Christine!Tom from s2, I must say, but then I like Adam more in general.
The big heartbreak of the season was of course what happened with Ruth. I mean, I was sad about Colin's death as well, but oh, Ruth. Incidentally, as opposed to the opening two parter I did not have to suspend my disbelief for the plot of the Ruth farewell episode. (Because the decision to use torture on prisoners was all too realistic, sad to say.) What I had a bit trouble believing before was Ruth being so gunshy about getting involved with Harry, but okay, working situation and all that. And at least it avoided the cliché of letting her and Harry get together just before she leaves, and made her sacrifice for Harry all the more poignant. It ends on a nice note of hope, though, and I'm sure there is fanfiction where they get together once Harry retires, and make that trip through Europe, sitting in cafés.
Sidenote: Whereas in earlier seasons the replacements were introduced in the same season a character leaves/gets killed - i.e. Adam and Fiona in s3 before Tom Quinn and Zoe respectively left - , there hasn't been a new character to fill in for Ruth.
Because MI5 as run by Harry as the one secret service interested in preserving democracy, not just in winning is an ongoing theme, there aren't many plots any more in which what our heroes themselves do is shown as ambiguous or shady. Two exceptions were the episode I already mentioned, where Zaf infiltrated an Al Quaida cell, and Ros was handling the former girlfriend of a man they wanted to turn, and the episode about the African conference in which one of the African heads of state crucial for the conference's success turned out to be also planning genocide. I don't think it's a coincidence that these were probably my favourite episodes of the season. Not that I disagree with the general direction - in a real life situation where Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib exist, I don't want my fictional characters to be shown approving of this, so I'm all for Harry drawing lines etc. - but part of the attraction of a spy show is that the characters often are in situations where the right thing to do isn't clear.
Lastly: given how often MI6 is presented as the bad guy, it amuses me to think that Harry keeps recruiting people from it - Adam, Fiona and now Ros. I think Jo - as a civilian - is the only one who didn't come from MI6 after season 2. Though I can't remember where Zaf was originally from.
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-28 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-28 03:53 pm (UTC)Yes, that's it exactly. And I can't say I could come up with a better solution without going in the 24 direction. Did you see the Al Quaida cell episode? Because there Adam (and Harry) ordered Zaf to let an execution proceed (because otherwise his cover would have been blown), and Ros' way of using the girlfriend to start turning the other cell member they wanted as a double, while effective, was definitely presented as morally shady. The girlfriend herself was a sympathetic character, and the potential double someone human, not a caricature. And at no point did some other goverment agency the blame for the operation.
And yes, don't worry re: Adam's love life. He's mourning for Fiona all through the season, having flashbacks while denying anything is wrong with him, and the thing with Jenny happens because she wakes him up from a nightmare in the middle of the night. He doesn't get involved with anyone else.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-28 04:02 pm (UTC)On a somewhat related note, have you come across the comics series "Queen & Country"? It's about a group of MI-6 agents and has a similar feel to early 'Spooks' (as well as the old UK show 'Sandbaggers') as well as a very memorable heroine.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-28 03:49 pm (UTC)Ros does suffer from uneven characterisation but when they get her right, as they have done recently, she is absolutely awesome. Unfortunately I can't say anymore for fear of spoiling you.
Glad you enjoyed the series :)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-28 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-28 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-28 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 10:08 am (UTC)