Episode 2 Discussion

[MataHari]

(06-11-2009 10:44 PM)nothingisasitseems Wrote:  Brilliant! Fast paced and compulsive and IMO better than the opening episode.

The Harry/Ruth relationship is really being cranked up - you could just feel the chemistry yet deep pain between them when they met on the bridge. This is going to be a highlight of this Season although my own guess is that Ruth will get killed off at the end of it.

I thought I had read that there was going to again be an underrunning theme but there would now appear not to be.

And Tariq looks like a good addition. Again I had heard nothing about a new team member.

Good news about the opening episode too - it won it's time slot with 6 million viewers.

Yes I agree the second episode was much better than the opening one. I still think the scriptwriters are short on ideas, probably because things have been pretty quiet on the political/terrorist front during filming of series 8. Personally I think they could do worse than look at some archived material from years back and give it a 21st Century spin, nothing really changes in the long run. MPs still have dubious liaisons, are certainly corrupt and open to blackmail (does the Prefumo affair ring any bells?), and if a new government is likely MI5 will be sending shredders into overdrive!(I reckon Gordon Brown will be bugging everyone and anyone in order to manipulate his fellow politicians - Use Harold Wilson and MI5 archives for a template here!)

I love how the character of Lucas North has developed. He seems to have undergone a huge metamorphosis and is completely different from series 7. Okay he had just been released from a Russian prison and undergone waterboarding and other torture methods but he seems to have really upped his game since his last outing. I love it! I wonder just how much input Richard Armitage has had to do with the development of his personality? He seems to have a wry sense of humour beneath the smooth operator surface or am I just imagining it? That twinkle in those blue eyes?

I love the new member of the series, Tariq, very much the new boy. Shame Malcolm had to retire, but I think storylines will be more exciting because of his replacement.

I love the interaction between Lucas and Sarah Caulfield, sparks are going to fly between them and I hope this storyline gets carried over into series 9 (if there is a series 9?).Obviously each thinks they are going to get one over on the other and discover secrets during "pillow talk". They are well matched. I like the character of Sarah. She's smart and sassy and Lucas North's equal any day! A good introduction.

To be honest without such good actors to make up for such a weak script I'd have been reaching for the remote.

I must mention that in episode one I thought Harry was talking like Marlon Brando in the Godfather, very husky and over the top. A bit more realism please scriptwriters, don't over egg it!