episode thoughts
Focusing on 4.05 through 4.07, but spoilers for everything that's aired.
So is it just me, or is this season featuring way more interagency and intragovernmental politics? Like, The Enemy is still those outside, including the U.K.'s allies, but the insider threat has been bumped up a thousandfold. The National Security Coordinator, with the interference from higher-ups now coming in the person of the very personal relationship with Juliet Shaw. A "club" within the intelligence services. Five vs. Six. Fiona keeping secrets. It's spiraling closer and closer in. Personally, I'm fascinated by that, because it's true: the government (any government) shoots itself in the foot more often than it gets shot in the face. But this does feel like a new direction for the series. Maybe because more of this infighting and bad blood is coming to light in the U.K. and the U.S.?
Anyway.
I don't know whether the writers have changed their minds and are writing Harry/Ruth, or whether Peter Firth and Nicola Walker have said the equivalent of "Damn TPTBs" and taken matters into their own hands, but oh my goodness. While there's been something extra there all season, 4.05 (the one with the tell-all book) was...wow. My first thought is that it'll never go anywhere, but then they keep giving us these little moments and interactions, and Harry has apparently gotten involved with co-workers in the past (see: Juliet Shaw) and they've made a point of Ruth wanting to reach out to someone (see: last season's wanker from the choir and evil tech guy). So, maybe? Whether or not we get it officially, every scene they have together simply makes me happy.
Harry on his own, though, was wonderful. We've been getting more and more glimpses into Harry's life and thoughts this season, but this was so much more. I thought the episode last season with his daughter would be my favorite Harry episode of all time, but 4.05 might actually tie it. The other was Harry's family demons coming up against his life being his work; this was was his work-as-life imploding, to a certain extent. He's not new to infighting, but this is a new level, I think, moving from infighting to betrayal.
And in 4.06 it was nice to finally get more of the person behind the character of Zaf. His frustration and anger over his government's disregard for innocence were just what I wanted, because we needed something to tell us who he is. "Cocky" and "young, but good in the field" were a start, but not a whole character. The little moments with Jo while they were waiting and waiting also helped, showing how he feels (and tries not to feel) about the disconnection that comes with this job.
Speaking of the new girl... She really shouldn't work, especially in 4.05, but she does. Maybe as a fellow young, female journalist I had a soft spot for her when she first appeared, but I only felt twinges about the pat and perfect role she filled in that episode. I think it was that there was something so innocently natural about her trying to get in touch with Roger Thornhill again, and her determination to figure out what the hell was going on once she saw something was up. But more, I think, it was her reaction to seeing the two men heading into the safe house: she didn't rush in, she didn't shout out, no, you could tell she was thinking, "Holy shit," before she started thinking. And then she went and freaked out a bit over on a doorstep around the corner.
What's impressed me and made me truly like her character, though, is how they've continued easing her in over 4.06 and 4.07. I like the sense that there was enough of a time-gap between 4.05 and 4.06 to put her through training. I like that her initial involvement in operations was to write, because yeah, speechwriting is different from news writing and feature writing, but you've read enough press releases and covered enough speeches, believe me, you can write one. I love that her first time officially in the field she's freaking even more, and is basically left with comforting and keeping the mother out of danger freeing up the experienced agents do what needs to be done. And in 4.07 they continue to hammer at her need to learn the basics of the job, especially knowing a cover inside and out. She's not out saving the world by her third episode; she's serving basically as window-dressing for Fiona doing the job. At the end, she's an overwhelmed newbie who fucks up, but it's an understandable mistake, one that, really, how was she supposed to avoid, and she does her best to recover.
The believable way this show eases out old and eases in new characters astounds me. (Which says something good about the show, and bad about tv media in general, I think, but that's a separate matter.)
That brings me to Fiona. Damn it. It's been forshadowed from the beginning, though, that something was going to happen. I can't remember who I said it to (maybe
vonnie_k?), but after the first episodes I'm pretty sure I told someone that Fiona's doom-and-gloom attitude, her insistence that she and Adam were taking too many risks, made sense to me. That I could see how she would feel that she should be dead, that she cheated fate by not dying when Danny did, or instead of Danny, and so every day that she was still alive and happy and in love was a day when she was tempting fate. Add in the fear that she carried about Adam because of her, a fear that she had hidden from him more than anyone... I wish we had seen more hints of that before 4.07, although I'm now tempted to go back and see if they were there and I just didn't notice. Whenever we got it, it fits into how I see her character, so I don't entirely mind getting it RIGHT BEFORE SHE DIED.
Oh, poor Adam. I think I'm going to wait until after next week's episode to talk about him, because OW. I do quite like the idea that he only saw the obvious fear (the fear of what could happen to any of them doing the job they do) and completely missed the deeper, more personal fear. I hope he doesn't fall completely apart, though. I don't think he will -- unlike Tom, he's got people, and family, there to anchor him -- but with this show, you never know. And I'm happy not knowing, so please don't tell me any casting news, thanks.
So is it just me, or is this season featuring way more interagency and intragovernmental politics? Like, The Enemy is still those outside, including the U.K.'s allies, but the insider threat has been bumped up a thousandfold. The National Security Coordinator, with the interference from higher-ups now coming in the person of the very personal relationship with Juliet Shaw. A "club" within the intelligence services. Five vs. Six. Fiona keeping secrets. It's spiraling closer and closer in. Personally, I'm fascinated by that, because it's true: the government (any government) shoots itself in the foot more often than it gets shot in the face. But this does feel like a new direction for the series. Maybe because more of this infighting and bad blood is coming to light in the U.K. and the U.S.?
Anyway.
I don't know whether the writers have changed their minds and are writing Harry/Ruth, or whether Peter Firth and Nicola Walker have said the equivalent of "Damn TPTBs" and taken matters into their own hands, but oh my goodness. While there's been something extra there all season, 4.05 (the one with the tell-all book) was...wow. My first thought is that it'll never go anywhere, but then they keep giving us these little moments and interactions, and Harry has apparently gotten involved with co-workers in the past (see: Juliet Shaw) and they've made a point of Ruth wanting to reach out to someone (see: last season's wanker from the choir and evil tech guy). So, maybe? Whether or not we get it officially, every scene they have together simply makes me happy.
Harry on his own, though, was wonderful. We've been getting more and more glimpses into Harry's life and thoughts this season, but this was so much more. I thought the episode last season with his daughter would be my favorite Harry episode of all time, but 4.05 might actually tie it. The other was Harry's family demons coming up against his life being his work; this was was his work-as-life imploding, to a certain extent. He's not new to infighting, but this is a new level, I think, moving from infighting to betrayal.
And in 4.06 it was nice to finally get more of the person behind the character of Zaf. His frustration and anger over his government's disregard for innocence were just what I wanted, because we needed something to tell us who he is. "Cocky" and "young, but good in the field" were a start, but not a whole character. The little moments with Jo while they were waiting and waiting also helped, showing how he feels (and tries not to feel) about the disconnection that comes with this job.
Speaking of the new girl... She really shouldn't work, especially in 4.05, but she does. Maybe as a fellow young, female journalist I had a soft spot for her when she first appeared, but I only felt twinges about the pat and perfect role she filled in that episode. I think it was that there was something so innocently natural about her trying to get in touch with Roger Thornhill again, and her determination to figure out what the hell was going on once she saw something was up. But more, I think, it was her reaction to seeing the two men heading into the safe house: she didn't rush in, she didn't shout out, no, you could tell she was thinking, "Holy shit," before she started thinking. And then she went and freaked out a bit over on a doorstep around the corner.
What's impressed me and made me truly like her character, though, is how they've continued easing her in over 4.06 and 4.07. I like the sense that there was enough of a time-gap between 4.05 and 4.06 to put her through training. I like that her initial involvement in operations was to write, because yeah, speechwriting is different from news writing and feature writing, but you've read enough press releases and covered enough speeches, believe me, you can write one. I love that her first time officially in the field she's freaking even more, and is basically left with comforting and keeping the mother out of danger freeing up the experienced agents do what needs to be done. And in 4.07 they continue to hammer at her need to learn the basics of the job, especially knowing a cover inside and out. She's not out saving the world by her third episode; she's serving basically as window-dressing for Fiona doing the job. At the end, she's an overwhelmed newbie who fucks up, but it's an understandable mistake, one that, really, how was she supposed to avoid, and she does her best to recover.
The believable way this show eases out old and eases in new characters astounds me. (Which says something good about the show, and bad about tv media in general, I think, but that's a separate matter.)
That brings me to Fiona. Damn it. It's been forshadowed from the beginning, though, that something was going to happen. I can't remember who I said it to (maybe
vonnie_k?), but after the first episodes I'm pretty sure I told someone that Fiona's doom-and-gloom attitude, her insistence that she and Adam were taking too many risks, made sense to me. That I could see how she would feel that she should be dead, that she cheated fate by not dying when Danny did, or instead of Danny, and so every day that she was still alive and happy and in love was a day when she was tempting fate. Add in the fear that she carried about Adam because of her, a fear that she had hidden from him more than anyone... I wish we had seen more hints of that before 4.07, although I'm now tempted to go back and see if they were there and I just didn't notice. Whenever we got it, it fits into how I see her character, so I don't entirely mind getting it RIGHT BEFORE SHE DIED.Oh, poor Adam. I think I'm going to wait until after next week's episode to talk about him, because OW. I do quite like the idea that he only saw the obvious fear (the fear of what could happen to any of them doing the job they do) and completely missed the deeper, more personal fear. I hope he doesn't fall completely apart, though. I don't think he will -- unlike Tom, he's got people, and family, there to anchor him -- but with this show, you never know. And I'm happy not knowing, so please don't tell me any casting news, thanks.