Episodes 1 & 2 [re-watch]

[Silktie]

These episodes are certainly a cautionary tale that we should all take our civil liberties and responsibilities seriously, and I love that. That speech Adam makes about what it takes to move the British population to take action is, sadly, true in most countries. I also love that the team this time does not use force to overcome the evildoers, but instead inspires the population to stand up to defend their rights. That's great stuff.

I loved Jo and Zaf in these episodes - they both make telling contributions to the success of the operation. Although I have to say that one of my favourite moments is Harry's reaction to the news that Jo had lost Rowan.

Other moments I liked:
- I too loved the face-off in the dungeon. For some reason it makes me think of those scenes in the Godfather when two opposing 'families' meet on neutral ground to discuss their differences. Maybe it's because the scene has the same feel of underlying tension, mistrust and treachery running through it.
- Loved the moment at the start when Harry is phoning Adam, with Ruth hovering over his shoulder. Heh, Ruth has Harry well-trained by now.
- There are many Harry moments I like - when the Police stops his car and he tells the policeman there's no such thing as a temporary detention order, and orders his driver to drive on; then when the policeman puts him in the patrol car he refuses to let the guy touch him to protect his head; love how he asks for his dead officer back when Collingwood says they're not barbarians, and when told he won't be going back to work, he asks for a bottle of Scotch; and loved his reaction to Malcolm calling him a 'pompous old fool', when everybody expects him to get angry, he just accepts it as he knows it stems from Malcolm's grief.
- Colin's death really touches me - I think it is one of the worst in the series so far for me, precisely because he's not a field agent. He hasn't chosen to be an action hero like Adam or Zaf has; he's just a techie. The horrible way of killing him by hanging, and his little speech about how he's weaker than them, but that he won't let them humiliate him, is really sad.

I have a huge problem with the way Ros is introduced into the team, which I've talked about at length in the thread on this topic, so I won't repeat it all again. She annoys the crap out of me in these episodes specifically for the following reasons:
- She knows from the start that her father and Collingwood's aims are to force the PM to introduce more draconian security laws. She also knows that Collingwood is sending the PM's son threats, and later helps him to get Rowan's location in order to get their hands on Rowan. So she is clearly okay with the tactic of threatening an innocent (Rowan) in order to put pressure on his father to do what they want.
- Then later, the fact that Collingwood and her father was willing to kill the HS is not enough to convince her that what they're doing is wrong; instead she merely tries to limit the damage by offering to be a channel of communication.
- She gets her hands on that disc showing that Collingwood etc planned that plane crash, yet when Adam brings her in and asks her to help them stop her father, she refuses. She only agrees to help them when they show her that Daddy dearest took bribes and cavorted with whores. So, in the end she is not moved to change sides because she realised that what they were doing was horrible and wrong, but because she found out her father was not a great man.
Yet, after all this, she becomes a member of the team? Gah.

The main thing for me is - the whole premise of this show is about loyalty to your country, and to do the right thing even at great personal cost. She does the right thing only under duress and for the wrong reasons, and I'm supposed to believe the rest of the team members have no problem with her becoming one of them? I don't buy it.