How did you feel about Season 9?

[Belle]

(17-11-2010 01:59 PM)BravoNine Wrote:  

(17-11-2010 01:42 PM)harrbd Wrote:  I think it must be quite difficult to be a writer especially when an actor has another part which will clash with filming Spooks and when you have a history that you need to tie in with. Actors / actresses can't all leave the same way (killed by bombs for example!) and this was original. It isn't beyond belief that someone with Lucas' past could be that screwed up and I should imagine that anyone in a Russian cell for 8 years would be desperate to have love in his life. The storyline did keep us guessing about whether he was really bad etc and the ending was great - Lucas overcame John and did the right thing. Most importantly it gave RA full scope to show his talents in this series, alternating between good and bad, and he did it brilliantly.
It is TV and is supposed to be entertaining and I think this series did entertain us. It certainly kept us watching and has given lots of talking points ! Yes, there are mistakes and holes in the story line but there are plenty of things in real life that are unbelievable as well !

They could have gone with the same ending but tie it into the history of Lucas's past rather than creating this new persona of John. They could have used already stated history and dig deeper into the past that a lot of fans wanted to explore and see, instead they came up with a strange-full-of-holes-and-contradictions plotline that hardly made much sense.

My issue is not that this wasn't original or that Lucas didn't die a hero. He could have still died a broken and shattered man without this whole John-thing! They could have used his prison years in Russia as the foundation for this change or show how his psyche was messed up by what happened. However original this storyline may be (and it's not that original), they could have easily gone with a storyline that actually delve into untapped character potential and kept the credibility and integrity of the character instead of making him a coward and destroying every good thing he's ever done, and twisting everything that had meaning and significance in Series 7 and 8 into something dark and twisted.

It is not hard to tie in a good credible history for the character, nor is it hard for writers to deal with filming conflicts, and for a role that RA would be doing in the Hobbit, the writers would have at least gotten a heads up that he could possibly end up on that film, and even then, a credible storyline can easily be made up. I am a writer myself, and from my point of view, it just seemed that the writers instead of wanting to take the effort to tie in already stated history into a working storyline, they just went with the more sensational, fanciful, and shocking storyline.

To me, it just didn't work. I've never seen a storyline with so many holes in it, and I've watched a lot of TVs and written many stories. There easily could have been a more exciting and plausible story about Lucas that equally give RA the material that he can show his range with. If even I can think of it and be able to work it out, then I see no reason why the writers can't take the effort to.

I wholeheartly agree, it's not that we couldn't see, (or for that matter, accept)that Lucas was messed up and that he probaly would end up dead, it's just that the storyline of John came from nowhere! His relation to Maya was as flat as a pancake and he himself was so unnecessary, they could easily used Lucas' past in order to write out his troubled mind and the choices he eventualy made. In fact, instead of making things easier for themselves, I think the writers made it more hard on themselves by creating this whole nonsens storyline, which they, indeed, finaly couldn't get out of in a decent way. So they chose a plot that lacked everything in terms of believability and cincerity, almost like Spooks is an ordinary soap, where you don't ask yourself too much questions when you watch it!
Lack of time or the fact that an actor has other things to do, should never be an excuse for messy writing, they could have waited a couple of weeks before airing S9 to insure the continuaty of the story, and I'm sure they could come to an agreement with the actors and producers involved to delaye other filming, I mean everbody likes to be able to be proud of what they do, no?
P.S. I'm sorry if my English isn't quite good! Hope you understand what I'm trying to say.