Episode 6 Discussion [rewatch]

[A Cousin]

(13-07-2010 05:50 PM)lwhite53 Wrote:  

(13-07-2010 03:25 PM)A Cousin Wrote:  It is an interesting Juliet episode as well. She is right when she says that the consequences will be worse if they admit that that are/were wrong.

I'm not sure I agree with this (WMD, the Iraq war and the disastrous political outcomes for a number of countries come immediately to mind). When govts. play the CYA game, bad things happen every time. They made a mistake -- admit it and move on.

Of course you are right in a general sense. To the WMD and the Iraq debacle I would add a myriad of other things from all over the world and across history. Of course, Governments and those serving in them should be held accountable for their mistakes and bad decisions. The fact remains that when they come clean, we don't let them simply move on. And we shouldn't. I believe that we should always be able to question our governments. But I can see how that would make it difficult to deal with a clear and present danger.

Taking this back to the case of this particular episode, I am with Adam when he says that no matter what happened in the past their job is to concentrate on the present danger. Paul Seymour, self-serving jerk that he is, does grudgingly admit that Special Branch made a "mistake" but if it were to be made public at that moment they would lose the chance to stop the current threat. Seymour's past self-serving action in arresting the wrong Malik has created their own monster, and they have to deal with both of them in what may not be best of all possible ways in the best of all possible worlds but in the most expedient way. Harry has to find another way to "punish" Seymour, and with Ruth's help, he does so very satisfactorily. And Juliet doesn't seem to fight him very hard on it.