[spoilers] Lucas. Just Lucas.

[KitKat385]

Wow, binkie, what a great a thorough analysis! I've found that on forums, I tend to keep things shorter than when I ramble on in real life (granted, that normally ends up off topic...), but you went into every minute detail and explained it! Figured this might have taken you a little time, so you deserve some congrats

What is so amazing about RA's acting is that he puts in so many subtle little gestures that really build up his character - and a good chunk of it is ad-lib. He mentioned in one interview that the scene where he debated hanging himself (episode 8.4 I believe?) was all improv. The only line on the script was 'Lucas thinks about hanging himself'. He knows his character well enough to accurately portray what he thinks and how he responds, so much that we see Lucas as the complex person he is.

I recently watched season 7 all over (it got added to Netflix Instant Watch, so I had to celebrate haha), and you really pointed out all the minute areas that make the episode click. The whole thing seemed the usual cut-and-dry spy stuff to us, but Lucas floated through a little, quite shocked and unsure in several scenes.

When he mentioned (going from memory here, so sorry if I miss a couple words) "Those Russian prison are like holiday camps; they have mattresses and everything", but then had so much trouble sleeping, I felt such pity for Lucas. He's been through so much, and it's not referenced as heavily in S8 as the previous season (since by then we'd established 'Yeah, Lucas went through a crape-load of horrible stuff'), which tends to make me forget just how hard those eight years must have been (it's really scary to me as a viewer...it may be a fifth of his life but it'd be half of mine!). For Lucas to wake up in such a progression like you've pointed out brings it all back.

Wish I could argue (don't see where I could though), or go more in-depth on a point, but you covered a good deal of the bases! I'll just end pointing out: seeing all the brilliance and expectations season 7 had only serves to make season 9 seem worse We've been cheated out of a lot.